“Boy Toy in thehousssse.” Raine tapered off into a lingering silence, which wasn’t like her.
Jane liked silence, introspection, and patience.
Raine could talk the ear off a mule, made it a practice to comment aloud on whatever she thought when she thought it, and had trouble sitting still.
“What’s wrong?” Jane asked.
“Nothing.”
“Yeah, right.” She huffed. “Just tell me. Uncle Chris already mentioned you’re having some kind of issue.”
“What a blabbermouth,” Raine muttered.
“Where are you?”
“I didn’t say.”
“I know. That’s why I’m asking.” Jane swore she could hear her cousin shrug through the phone and knew a satisfactory answer would not be forthcoming.
“Nowhere special.”
More atypical silence. “But…?” Jane prodded.
A slight pause, then Raine blurted, “I’m thinking about leaving.”
“Your unit? You can do that?” Had the Marine Corps changed so much that Raine could leave her current assignment before her tour ended?
“No, dummy. My job.”
Jane blinked. “The USMC? But you live for the scarlet and gold.”
“I know.” Raine sounded miserable. “The last few ops, I, well…” She sighed. “Things have changed. I don’t like the direction things are taking.”
“Things, huh?” Jane knew what that was like. “If your command is giving you problems, you know you should wait it out. COs come and go. The next spot will be better.” Or worse, but Raine would know that. “But then, you’re Miss Popular with the higher-ups, aren’t you? Use that chatty Raine charm and find a new home.”
“It’s not that, exactly.”
“You can’t tell me?”
“No.” Raine’s frustration came through in a growl. “I’m so pissed at what’s been going on. And I can’t tell anyone.”
“Tell Uncle Chris.”
“Oh heck, no. He’ll bluster and take over, and then I’ll have to shoot him.”
Jane nodded. “Yeah, probably.”
“I just… I wish people would listen when I tell them things.”
“More things?”
Raine talked over her. “I’m not like you. I can’t just sit back and take it on the chin when my boss puts me on mandatory leave.”
Jane straightened in her seat. “Excuse me?”
“I mean, my partner gets shot, I’m all in someone’s face, finding out the truth. Making them pay.”
“What are you saying?” Jane started to get mad.
