Coming here had been useless.
He would have to confront her in person. It took a few weeks to figure out where she lived, but he finally had her address.
The first time he drove by her place, his heart was racing so hard he thought he might pass out. It pissed him off that he was afraid to confront the bitch. She’d ruined everything, and she had to pay. A woman like her, someone who killed not once but three times, shouldn’t be allowed to roam around the country.
He had to prove that she’d been beside his brother and pushed him, thus causing his death. There was no way Craig had died in an accident. His brother was too smart to do something stupid like fall off the rail of a pier.
No way would Craig do something like that. Back when they were kids, Craig swore he never would leave him alone. He needed his brother back in his life, and if he couldn't have that, he would end the bitch who'd taken him away.
Chapter 15
Ansley thoughtshe would never finish filling out paperwork. Everyone wanted information, and they all wanted multiple sheets of information.
At one point, she wanted to tell people she would stay in just so she could stop filling stuff out. The days were long, especially when Link was held up in meetings and wasn’t able to text except for a few lines telling her he hoped she had a good day.
On Friday, she heard from Luis. He was coming to see her on Sunday afternoon. He planned on bringing bread and dessert. He'd asked Mindy and Jason to come as well. She was glad to see her old friends. It had been a while since they’d gotten together. Thinking back about their adventures made her smile. People grew apart as they grew older, it was just how life worked, but she was glad they were coming together before she took off.
She was about to head to bed when she got a text. For a moment, she thought of leaving it until morning, but pulled her phone from the charger and saw it was from Link.
Sorry for being so late.We're headed overseas for a week or so. My personal phone will be left here. I'll contact you when I get home. I may text on a burner account if I get stuck. William, my previous roommate, has a key, so if I get stuck out of town longer than a few weeks, you can get into the place by contacting William. I've sent an email with his contact information and info about the house. Enjoy your last few weeks as an active Marine, and I can't wait to see you.
She readover the text a second time and then typed out a reply.
Be careful.Whether I hear from you or not, I'll drive out a few days after I'm discharged. I'm looking forward to seeing you, too.
He heartedher message and she knew he was probably rushing out the door and onto a transport. She'd done a short stint doing translation work for Recon and ended up watching them go from joking around to being on a transport in minutes, headed out for a mission.
She never went into battle with them, but she was around them enough to appreciate how hard they worked. Link’s group was probably a lot like Recon, maybe more intense.
The next day, she turned on the news stations, trying to figure out where Link could have gone, but of course, they didn't have any real information. After an hour, she flipped off her TV and got ready for her friends to show up.
Hanging out with Luis, Jason, and Mindy was nice. Jason was still a Marine, but thinking about leaving. Mindy had gotten out a year ago, and of course, Luis was done.
“So what are you looking forward to the most?” Mindy asked from the kitchen as Ansley came in from the grill.
She’d decided to grill burgers and hot dogs. It was easy to cook outside and wouldn’t heat up the inside of the house too much.
“Learning to sleep late and doing what I want when I want to.”
Mindy laughed. "You know what, that's harder than you think it will be. Especially doing what you want to do. You've spent years doing what someone else told you to do, and now you have no one telling you what to do."
“Yeah,” Luis agreed. “I didn’t adjust easily.”
“I’m not looking forward to the adjustment period. I want to leave, but I know I’ll miss some stuff.”
Jason shook his head. “That’s why I’m not sure if I want to leave or not.”
“You can stay in,” Mindy said.
“Yeah, but if I sign up, it will be years before I can get out. I’m not sure I’ll last years.”
Mindy nodded. "Once I decided I wanted out, it was hard to finish off the end until I got out. Honestly, the day I left base for the last time, it felt a little like escaping."
Luis shrugged. “I’m not happy about what happened to me, but I’m glad that leaving was fast. I didn’t have to stick around and think about going, I was just gone.”
Jason set his beer on the table. “Yeah, what happened sucks. I don’t want to be injured, but I don’t want to have to sit around thinking about leaving for a long time.”
Ansley shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m out in a few weeks.”
