Page 58 of Critical Doubt

He nodded, frustrated by their lack of progress. He paced around the room, too restless to sit.

"Are the bells coming back?" she asked.

"No. I'm just thinking about what we need to do tomorrow, how we can get out in front of this."

"Can you tell me more about Hank and Mason?" she asked, as she got to her feet. "I don't know much about either one. It might be helpful." She moved over to the nearest bed and stretched out, resting her back against the headboard.

"Hank is from San Diego, California. His parents divorced when he was young, and then his mom remarried a few years later. She had a daughter after Hank, who was born with special needs, which took up a lot of her time. I know Hank was fiercely devoted to his half-sister, but he didn't get along at all with his stepdad and not too well with his mom, either. From what I heard, he made a lot of trouble for them. One of the problems with Hank is that he has a short fuse. He lives to fight. He is always looking for trouble, and he finds it more frequently than anyone else. I kept hoping his brain would catch up to his physical skills, which were impressive. He's been into fitness his entire life, and since he left the army, he has gotten back into that and apparently works at a gym in DC. He's running some kind of boot camp program."

"And he wasn't injured in the ambush?"

"No. But he decided not to re-up. He said at the time he couldn't stand the thought of joining a new team."

"So he got along with everyone else on the team."

"I'd say so. They weren't in a position where they had to challenge him or criticize him, so there wasn't as much friction between them."

"What about Mason?"

"Mason is the opposite of Hank. He's super smart, always thinking. He got along with everyone. He and I both went to West Point, although Mason was two years behind me. We didn't know each other as cadets, but we had that in common. Mason lost his leg from the knee down after the ambush. He was the most badly wounded of all of us."

"Does he have family support?"

"He has a sister and brother-in-law and a couple of nieces and nephews. His parents divorced years ago. I'm not sure if they've been around much."

"And what does Mason do now? Or is he still rehabbing?"

"I heard he was working for a weapons manufacturing company—Spear Enterprises. In fact, I think your father got him the job."

"My dad?" she echoed with surprise.

"Todd texted me that about a month or two ago when he was trying to get us all together. Apparently, Colonel Vance is also working there, and your father is a consultant or something."

"I didn't know that, but my dad doesn't share much with me. I thought you hadn't been in contact with your team at all, but that's not true."

"I've gotten some texts, but I've rarely texted back," he admitted, feeling guilty about that. "I didn't want to get together. I needed to deal with my problems first."

"So you shut everyone out—your family, your friends, and your team."

"They didn't need to worry about me or get caught up in trying to help me. I didn't want to make their lives more difficult." He paused, seeing an odd look in her eyes. "What?"

"You think that keeping your family and friends away protects them, but sometimes it hurts them."

"Are you talking about me or your dad?"

"Both. I have firsthand experience with being shoved away for my own protection. My father always said he sent me away because it would be better for me. But the truth was that it was better for him. Shutting out people you love is a selfish thing to do. It's not generous, even if you think it is. Your family is worrying about you more, not less, because they're not with you. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's the way I see it."

Her words stung. Everyone had been treading so carefully around him since he'd gotten hurt. They'd been afraid to make him feel worse, but Savannah had taken a completely different approach with her brutal honesty, and he felt both angry and guilty.Was she right?

"I'm sorry if—"

He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Don't apologize. You spoke your truth. Stand by it."

"I do stand by it. I just probably put a little too much of my own situation onto yours."

"Well, you know what you're talking about, I'll say that."

"I do know, Ryker. You've never been the one who had to stay behind. It's different. I've been in both positions. I've been the person who waited at home and the person who served, and you know what? It's sometimes harder to be the person at home. You're safe, but you're still alone, and you have no control over what might happen."

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