“Come,” Collins barked.
“Sir,” she said, “do you have a minute?”
He glanced up from the stack of papers he’d been studying, which were spread across the utilitarian desk. He waved to the only other chair. Industrial aluminum, it was sturdy and light, exactly what a mobile military needed. Placing his pen down, he sat back and folded his arms across his chest.
“Take a seat, T.” When she didn’t take the seat, his brows pinched together. “You’re making me uncomfortable.”
“Sorry, sir,” she said, lowering herself down onto the sturdy chair. “I was wondering if you’d heard anything about my next assignment.”
Pushing the papers to the side, he cleared his desk. “I know you’re anxious for your next duty assignment, and I put out an inquiry the night we got in, but I haven’t heard anything new. You’re in a good position, and you should get one of your top picks.”
“I hope so. I’m sorry to interrupt; it’s just been on my mind lately.” She made a move to stand.
“Stay for a moment,” he said. Then, he got up, walked around his desk, and closed the door. “It’s a good thing you came. We need to talk.”
With the solid click of the door shutting her in, her heart leaped to her throat. There could be only one reason he needed to speak privately.
“Sir?”
His head bowed. Instead of returning to his seat, he came to the front of his desk and hitched a hip on the hard surface. “I had a visit from Colonel Vane last night.”
She swallowed the thick lump in her throat. Her heart seemed to have stopped beating, leaving a hollowness in her chest. No, there it was, sending a racing flutter vibrating through her veins. There wasno appropriate response. At least, not one she could intelligently put together.
“From the look on your face,” he said, “you know what he had to say.”
“I do,” she answered. Her voice came out thick and hoarse. She cleared her throat. “He spoke with me last night as well.”
Collins’s eyes softened, but worry clouded his expression. “As your commanding officer, he came to me this morning to file a complaint.”
Denying Vane’s accusations would place her in a position of lying to Collins. She respected him enough not to insult his intelligence or his integrity. Fortunately, Collins filled in the gap left by her silence. He looked to her lap where her fingers twisted with nerves.
“He had a lot of things to say about you and Ryker.”
“Sir, I—”
He held up a hand. “Listen, I don’t want you to say anything. I don’t want to put either of us in a position of ferreting out the truth.”
Her stomach knotted, and bile rose in her throat, but she remained silent and waited for whatever came next.
“Vane doesn’t know you. He doesn’t understand how hard you work, how vital you are to the team. He’s putting his nose where it doesn’t belong. However—and this is where things get difficult—he holds the ear of more than one general.”
“I understand.”
He arched a brow, reminding her to be silent. “His words carry weight. This isn’t good. But, so far, those words are unsubstantiated accusations. I’m going to spare you the embarrassment of having to address them. You’re one of my best men,” he said and then laughed. “You know I mean that with the greatest respect.”
“Yes, sir.”
Collins never gave her special treatment. He expected her to perform her job, meeting the same physical demands as her teammates, and didn’t make things easier on her because she was female.
“What you and Ryker choose to do or not do in private is between the two of you.”
He wasn’t even asking her to deny Vane’s accusations.Had they been that transparent?Looking back on the past couple of days, she didn’t think they’d behaved unprofessionally—at least, not where others could see.
“Nevertheless, rumors have a way of snowballing into unfortunate misperceptions, and perception tends to become reality. I care about you, T. I care about everyone on the team, and I don’t need to tell you, this is a career-ending event.”
He certainly didn’t need to do that. Vane had explained the AFI and UCMJ codes. He’d laid out exactly what the penalty would be.
“Colonel Vane has asked for charges to be brought against you. He’s talking prosecution.”
