Page 56 of Almost There
Rage coursed through him and he grabbed the gun safe, shaking it with both hands as a scream formed in his throat. A folded letter drifted out and floated down to land on his boots.
He had to physically force his hands to stop shaking and pick up the letter addressed to him. Tears blurred his vision as he sank to his knees in the plush carpet and read her words of pain that he wasn’t here to prevent.
“Didn’t you have a truck?” Sgt. Sierra yelled from downstairs.
“Yes.” Landon ran his sleeve over his eyes to dry his tears before folding the letter to put in his pocket and rising to his feet. I’m coming to get you, no matter what.
“It was that big old ugly blue thing, right?” Sgt. Sierra tried to lighten the mood as Landon somberly made his way down the steps. He needed to tell GySgt. Fuimaono what happened. Then he had to make a plan to leave.
“Hey, maybe she took a short drive somewhere,” Sgt. Sierra offered, giving Landon a wide berth.
His mind was racing. He grunted in response, not trusting himself to speak.
The door in the kitchen was open, light coming in from the empty garage. Landon reached for the top button on his blouse and undid it.
This was it. His career was over. If there was even anything left of it anyway. He unhooked the next button. AWOL. The acronym felt so dirty. A disgrace to your country. Abandoning your post. But it didn’t matter anymore. He shrugged off the top of his uniform and dropped it on the cooler beside the refrigerator in the garage.
They were somewhere out there, scared and on the run. The thought was too much to bear. If the military couldn’t understand why he had to leave, this was a decision he was prepared to live with. Disgrace.
Tessa. He walked forward into the sunlight, blinking in the warm glow. GySgt. Fuimaono stood with his back to him at the end of the driveway and the cat still perched on his shoulders as he spoke with an old man wearing a faded USMC ball cap. It took Landon a minute to remember who it was.
Arthur. Tessa’s letter. The smallest flicker of hope skipped through him. She’d liked this family and trusted them. Maybe they could explain why she felt the need to go.
Arthur removed his cap to wipe sweat from his brow, chuckling softly at the absurdity of it all but the sound had no humor in it. “I never thought I’d see a day like today. An armored vehicle sitting parked on our little street.”
GySgt. Fuimaono stood staring in the distance at the valley down the hill, his face unreadable, and Landon knew that he must have already been told.
“What happened?” Landon turned to Arthur.
The wrinkles on the man’s face creased with a worn and weary look of pain. He reached for Landon’s hand and shook it firmly.
“I’m sorry it had to happen this way, son. But welcome home.”
