“You know who does. All the guilt presents I’ve had to buy my wife and kids because you tried to break up our marriage—I’m going broke, and it’s all your fault.”
Kate was silent. She still felt guilty even though his daughter had said that he always had a student as a side piece. Maybe she could pay him and he would leave her alone.
“The money is for your penance, and if you don’t want me to sweep the Holbrooks into our little scandal, then I suggest you also set a date on our calendar for the two of us to have one last night together.”
Kate blinked back tears. She did not want to do this. She had to buy herself some time to figure out a solution.
“I can’t do it now, obviously,” she said after a moment. “It will take me a little bit to skim the money off.”
“I don’t need a lot,” Alan said with a mean smile. “Three thousand dollars a month should do it.”
“It will take time,” she repeated, trying not to seem panicked.
“I expect the first payment next month.”
“Fine. I have to go,” she said.
Alan grabbed her again and kissed her. She felt the inside of her mouth bleed where his teeth banged into her lip.
She was shaking as she grabbed her bike and pedaled back to her grandmother’s house in the misting rain. When she got back to her room, she threw off her wet clothes. She felt nauseous and tried not to throw up. She huddled on the floor of her shower, letting the spray run down her skin, washing away her tears.
“What am I doing?” she asked herself.
Three thousand dollars? That was practically her whole monthly paycheck. She would have to give it to Alan. She couldn’t steal from the Holbrooks. Jack kept a tight hold on finances, and they would miss that money. Also, morally, she couldn’t steal from them. If Alan decided to blow up this scandal, she didn’t want them to be involved. Grant would lose it if he found out. She wondered if he would kill Alan as he did the Afghan soldiers. She didn’t want him to go to jail for her; she had to handle this situation with Alan herself.
Kate wasn’t even going to think about how Alan wanted one last night with her. She was going to push that out of her mind. She did not have the mental fortitude to deal with it.
She had to confirm Grant’s appearances and events in his honor in the next few days. Her to-do list running in her head, she settled down for a few fitful hours of sleep.
Chapter 36
Grant
It was very early when they set off for New York City. Kate had Grant’s military uniform in a hanging bag to keep it from wrinkling in the car. Gus was in his carrier, asleep. At the first morning-show stop after Grant spent way too long getting into his uniform, he received a standing ovation when he walked into the studio. Grant shook hands with the hosts, and they gushed over him. He felt empty without his lucky watch, but he had the new one on.
“Our hometown hero,” the hosts announced, “Sergeant Grant Jones!” He settled down in the uncomfortable chair and fielded questions. They were, as Kate had said, softball questions.
“Any special women in your life?” one host asked.
“We’ll see” was all he said.
The hosts giggled. “Whoever the lucky lady is will win the golden ticket. Heir to a fortune, decorated war veteran, and as handsome as all get out!”
“If I wasn’t married, honey!” the other host said, fanning herself.
Grant gave as small of a smile as he could. He did not want to get cussed out by Master Guns.
“So what are your plans after you get out of the Marines and return to the civilian world?”
“I hope to be working at Holbrook Enterprises. I have to pass through the application process. No handouts in my family.”
“As it should be!”
The audience applauded lightly at the host’s comment.
“Your father has a large charity endeavor,” one of the hosts said. “Will you be involved with that?”
“Yes, I will be working at the Holbrook Foundation. There are hundreds of stray dogs that are abandoned around military bases every year. People move there, purchase a dog, then leave it when they are posted elsewhere. As a former marine, I’ve found my stray dog to be instrumental in helping me reintegrate back into civilization, as it were. I would like to use logistics and data management solutions already implemented in other Holbrook Foundation projects to connect stray dogs and veterans together on a large scale. We helped create some of the problem, and we as a community need to help resolve it.”
