The Falling (Brightest Stars, #1)(88)

Afghanistan. Criminal. My daughter. How dare you. Stay away.

I leaned in to the side of the truck and crouched down small, a feeble attempt to protect myself from what I was hearing. I couldn’t make sense of all of it, other than to realize that my dream of happily-ever-after had just ended. And a nightmare had begun.





CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN




I walked toward my porch. What was this? What was happening?

I could barely feel the ground beneath me as I moved across my lawn. My heart ached and with every breath I became more certain that something was very wrong. I hated that my mind was already doubting Kael. The fact that he knew my dad—before I introduced them at dinner—and that something had gone on between them. He never mentioned it, and that confused and hurt me. And my dad, of all people? Could I trust either of them to tell me the truth? The steel wall around me that I’d lowered over the last couple of weeks was rising again. My defenses were on high alert.

As I climbed the porch stairs my father stepped into the house, still with his back to me. When Kael caught my eye, my dad tracked his gaze and turned abruptly.

“Karina,” my dad boomed, pointing at Kael. “Why is he here, in your house? Why the hell is this guy sitting inside your home when you’re not here?”

My heart was pounding. What the hell is going on? Kael was starting to look different, like a stranger again. Something about the way he stared forward, not appearing to even blink, made my blood run cold. My father’s stern voice made me want to vomit.

“I overheard everything you just said. Tell me what this is about,” I demanded, and when neither of them spoke, I startled myself by yelling, “Tell me what the fuck you’re talking about, right now!” I had never screamed in my house before.

Kael reached for me, but I jerked away. “Karina, I can tell you what’s going on, your dad’s—”

With an icy tone, my father cut Kael off before he could finish. “You’ve already overstayed your welcome, Martin. She’s my daughter, and I don’t need you to speak to her. Karina, we can discuss this when he leaves—which will be now.”

“No one is leaving until I get an answer,” I snapped at my dad. My hands were shaking. My whole body was shaking. “This is my house.” I wasn’t sure if I was telling them or reminding myself.

My father’s eyes bore into Kael’s. “You’re so close to that medical discharge you want. And if you don’t watch it, we’ll all be fucked! Your career will end before you even leave Fort Benning. What are you going to do with a dishonorable discharge, boy?”

“I’m not your fucking boy. And I’m not fucking afraid of you.” Kael stood, his back straight while talking to my father. It shocked and impressed me. “There’s nothing else you can do to me, or to Mendoza, to any of us.”

“And how much blood is on your hands, Sergeant Martin?” My dad growled at him before turning to me. “Did he tell you he’s on the verge of getting himself a dishonorable discharge? What kind of future would you have with him, Karina?”

Kael’s attention was on me, and his eyes were glassy like he was holding back tears of anger. “It’s him, Karina. He’s a senile narcissist who has convinced himself he’s some sort of god and he’s nothing.” Kael’s veil of composure was gone.

I stood there between them as their truths swirled around me, trying to stick.

“Are you denying that you came into my office, shivering, your leg all bandaged, and signed your name on the bottom of that page, Martin? You signed official documents, you even got a promotion after that. You signed it. Mendoza signed it. Lawson signed it. All of you! And now you decide, almost two years later, to come back and try to backtrack?”

My dad was in full-on officer mode. It was sickening to watch the way he knew just how to warp the tone of his voice to whip soldiers into submission, like he sometimes did with Austin and me.

Kael spoke in a detached, steely voice. “He was sent into the wrong house. Shots were fired at him because no one did a proper surveillance. You know that you neglected your command, keeping yourself entertained back at camp while Mendoza, Lawson, and I went in. He didn’t know who was inside when he fired!”

“Soldiers and civilians die, on and off the battlefield. It’s a part of the job. It’s what you signed up for. I’m sorry this happened to your friend. At least he’s still alive, unlike most of mine.”

In this moment I saw clear as day why my mom grew to hate the man standing in front of me. His skin was ashy and fell in loose folds around his jaw. That, combined with his shock of white hair, made him look like the ultimate villain. Like the kind of man who conjured up demons or ate children alive. Compared to him, Kael looked wounded and hurt, more hero than antihero. He looked no older than eighteen.

“I did what I had to do to help you, all of you.” My dad pointed an accusing finger at Kael. “I watched you pull a body into camp, barely able to walk yourself. I did what I believed to be right, and I have a hell of a lot more experience with this than you do.”

“You were protecting your own position! You didn’t give a fuck about us or our lives! You only cared about your retirement and not jeopardizing your legacy,” Kael snarled at my dad. “Tell your daughter how you used the lives of young men and women to get promotions and medals. Tell her how you constantly threatened us, making sure we never so much as whispered your name. My fucking friend is losing his mind over the guilt and he can’t even talk to anyone about it.” Kael stepped toward my dad. They were now to face-to-face.