Private Rogue

Chapter 9

“You gonna tell me what’s going on?” Ted asked as Beth returned to the living room.

The place was a museum. The Edward Eisner Museum of Military Excellence, Beth thought, and couldn’t help but smile. There were medals on display and photos of him with senior brass, one with President Obama, others on deployment, and about a dozen of him giving instruction. There was a glass case that contained fragments of shrapnel taken from his leg, along with trophies he’d plundered from Afghan and Iraqi enemies — shell casings, medals, watches with photos of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and other strange keepsakes.

The furniture was old but well cared for, but the television was new and enormous, and Beth guessed it was a source of company. Ted Eisner was a naturally abrasive man. People often thought a heart of gold lay beneath the rough exterior, but she knew his heart was made of steel and was locked away in an ice box. He had been a great instructor, but eventually he fell out with everyone who crossed his path, including Beth. She hadn’t spoken to him for more than ten years, despite living less than fifty miles away.

Danny and Maria had taken ages to settle in the strange house, but were now asleep in Ted’s spare room, Danny on the floor because he didn’t want to share the queen bed with his ‘stinky’ sister.

“Is it your husband?” Ted pressed. Even now, Ted refused to say his name. To begin with, Beth had suspected there was a racial element to Ted’s dislike of her husband, but she came to realize the animosity wasn’t motivated by the fact he was Black; Ted simply resented the choices she had made after getting married.

Beth had tried not to think about her husband too much since the men posing as cops had pulled her over. Getting her kids to safety was her primary focus; she didn’t have time to worry about him at the moment. And she definitely couldn’t allow Maria and Danny to see she that she was worried — they wouldn’t be able to cope if they thought anything had happened to their father. But what else could it be? Beth hadn’t been in the field for more than ten years, and the chances of an old enemy targeting her after all this time were remote.

“I think so,” she conceded, taking a seat on a brown leather couch.

Ted was in an easy chair, nursing a bottle of beer.

“I told you he’d be trouble.”

That was Ted. No empathy, just a dogged belief he was always right. If she hadn’t been so worn down by events, Beth might have risen to the provocation, but instead she stayed silent.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a moment of uncharacteristic reflection, “but you were one of my best. If you hadn’t been a damned woman, and fallen in love, you could have gone all the way. Pentagon material, dammit.”

“Even your apologies stink, Sarge,” Beth replied.

“It wasn’t a real apology. I still think you were a damned fool letting yourself get trapped by life’s baggage. Kids? Damned kids? You were a warrior. You had a great thing going, and you ruined it.”

“Thanks. Raking over my perceived failings is exactly what I need right now.”

“Face the truth, soldier,” he snapped. “If you had anywhere else to go, you’d already be there.”

Beth got to her feet. “You’re as exhausting as ever. I’m going to crash.” She was furious with the old man, but she didn’t want a fight. She wouldn’t put it past him to kick them out if things turned sour.

“I’m sorry for my bluntness,” he said at last. “And that’s a genuine apology. Sometimes, I... well... this damned mouth of mine has killed far too many friendships. You threw it away, Beth. All of it. I find it frustrating, that’s all.”

“I get that,” she said. “Goodnight.”

She left the room quickly, keen not to give him a chance to reply. Within minutes, she was in bed beside Maria. She lay listening to her children who breathed deeply in a peaceful sleep, something Beth knew she wouldn’t get tonight while her mind fizzed with anxiety and anger.