"I highly doubt that. She strikes me as fiercely loyal," Walter said, sitting down on the bed. "I'm sure it’s a simple misunderstanding."
"It's not," Carter said, looking at his uncle. "She said that it was for the best because she hates being around all of you. You make her miserable and make her feel like shit."
"I don't," Walter protested. "Jack—"
"It’s all of you!" Carter shouted.
"You're tired," Walter said quietly, "and in pain. Go to bed. We'll straighten it out tomorrow."
Since he knew he was being watched, Carter waited until it was after midnight then dressed in dark clothes and snuck out through the window.
He didn't know where he was going. He wandered to the cemetery. It was dark as he made his way to the familiar gravesite.
"What do I do?" he whispered.
There was no answer from the grave. What did he expect? The dead stayed dead. He had a sudden longing to join them.
"You there!" a man called out.
Carter squinted in the bright flashlight beam that the cemetery guard shined in his face.
"What are you doing?"
"Just visiting my cousins," he said.
The guard shook his head. "The cemetery is closed at night. Come back in the morning."
"Of course," he said.
Carter headed to the water.
73
Allie
When she saw Carter wasn't at work the next day, Allie felt guilty.
"He's probably at home, resting," Liz said, patting Margot.
Since Allie was working late every night and her apartment door still wasn't fixed, she took the dog to the office with her.
"You're right," Allie said. "I shouldn't bother him." She texted him anyway that afternoon but didn't hear back from him.
She sent a message to Kate, inquiring about Carter, when she left the office after another late night. Grant immediately called her back.
"Carter's missing!" he said frantically. "You haven't heard from him?"
"No," she said, feeling panicked. "He's not in the apartment?"
"I sent him to New Cardiff. He disappeared a few hours ago, apparently. Kate and I are on our way there."
"I'm heading over there," Allie said into the phone as she scooped up Margot and ran to the elevator.
"He's still in the at-risk period for suicide, you know," Grant said softly.
"We'll find him. He couldn't have gone far," Allie said and hung up. Then she hopped in her car and drove as fast as she dared to New Cardiff.
Allie knew how serious a risk suicide was among veterans. There had been several occasions just in the few months before she left North Carolina when she had to stay behind at the bar to talk down a marine who was wavering about harming himself. People who she would have thought were fine, but it was as though a switch flipped and then they suddenly couldn't keep up the façade anymore.
