Chapter 7 - The Price of Silence
The threat against Maya changed the atmosphere of the entire case.
It didn't establish who had sent it.
It didn't prove that Vale, Brandon, or anyone else connected to the ship was responsible.
But it made one thing unmistakable.
Someone wanted Maya afraid.
Cole ensured the threat was referred to appropriate authorities, including those responsible for civilian safety.
I requested no special favors.
No dramatic arrests.
No private security operation funded by military resources.
Just competent people doing their jobs with the urgency the facts warranted.
Maya and her family were given information about protective options and support.
Her legal representative remained involved.
The investigators continued gathering evidence.
And I continued trying to understand how my family had become entangled in a problem that should have been about a ship's maintenance records.
That afternoon, Mom called.
She hadn't called me directly in almost three months.
"Sandra?"
"Hi, Mom."
Her voice was shaky.
"Your father is beside himself."
I looked toward the window.
"That's unfortunate."
"He's been on the phone all morning."
"With whom?"
"I don't know."
"Mom."
She sighed.
"An old Army friend. Tom."
I closed my eyes.
"Thomas Vale?"
"Yes."
I heard a door shut at her end.
Then her voice dropped.
"Honey, I need to tell you something."
I waited.
"Your father wasn't always like this."
I almost laughed.
"Mom, he's been treating Brandon like a prince since kindergarten."
"I know."
"Then what do you mean?"
Another pause.
"Something happened when you were seventeen."
"The year he came back from Fort Carson?"
"Yes."
I glanced at the framed photograph lying beside my laptop.
"What happened?"
"I never knew the details."
"Mom."
"I didn't. He came home angry. He was having nightmares. Tom kept calling. After a while, your father started drinking more."
I remembered.
The bottles hidden behind the lawn mower.
The arguments late at night.
Dad sleeping on the couch.
Mom washing dishes long after they were clean.
"I thought it was the deployment," she continued. "But one night I heard him say something to Tom."
"What?"
"He said, 'We didn't protect him. We protected ourselves.'"
The words settled over me.
"Who was he talking about?"
"I don't know."
"Did you ask?"
"Your father told me to stay out of Army business."
I stared at the photograph again.
Two men signed.
One soldier paid.
"Did Dad ever mention an accident?"
Mom hesitated.
"There was a memorial service."
My fingers tightened around the phone.
"For whom?"
"A young sergeant. I remember because he had a pregnant wife."
"What was his name?"
"I can't remember. It was so long ago."
Then I heard Dad in the background.
"Who are you talking to?"
Mom's breathing quickened.
"Nothing, Richard."
"Give me the phone."
"Sandra, I have to go."
"Mom, listen to me. You don't have to cover for him."
A muffled argument followed.
Then Dad's voice filled the line.
"You're turning your mother against me now?"
"No."
"You humiliated Brandon. Now you're dragging up things that happened before you even joined the Navy."
"Why does the past frighten you so much?"
"Because you have no idea what you're doing."
"Then help me understand."
He laughed bitterly.
"You think those stars make you smarter than everybody."
"No."
"You think you're better than your own father."
I closed my eyes.
"I spent thirty years trying to convince you I was good enough."
For once, he said nothing.
"And now," I continued, "I'm trying to understand why you keep protecting people who lie."
His reply was almost a whisper.
"Because sometimes the truth destroys innocent people."
"Who was innocent in 1998?"
He hung up.
That night, I requested that the anonymous photograph and my father's statements be passed to the investigators as potential leads, without asserting that they proved wrongdoing.
I did not know whether the old incident was connected to Sterett.
I did not even know whether the anonymous source was reliable.
But at 2240, Cole called.
His voice was grim.
"Sandra, investigators have identified the soldier who died after the Fort Carson accident."
"Who?"
"Sergeant Michael Bennett."
The name meant nothing to me.
Then Cole continued.
"He left behind a wife and an unborn daughter."
"All right."
"The daughter is now an officer in the Navy."
I sat down slowly.
"What's her name?"
May you like
Cole paused.
"Lieutenant Emily Chen."
