Page 67 of Eight Years (The Trident Trilogy 1)

The next morning, Mr. Dooley called Millie to tell her that Camille had left everything to her—the house and two acres of beach-adjacent property. Millie was shocked. She hadn’t really thought about who Camille would leave her things to after Mack died, but she was certain it wasn’t going to be her. Dooley said there was a note from Camille to Millie attached to the will. He texted her a picture of it.

Millicent -

Your dad gave me a letter when you were a baby to give to you in case he didn’t come home from one of his missions. Well, he didn’t come home from one. I didn’t give it to you then, and I probably should have thrown it away.

He asked me not to read it. I didn’t. It’s probably full of the nonsense you two were always talking. I never understood why he coddled you so much. I’ve told you from day one, you have to be tough. It’s the only way you will survive.

You’ve never listened to one piece of advice I’ve given to you, but I hope you listen to this one. Throw his letter away. Don’t read it. Move on with your life. I’ve left you everything. You’ll have plenty of money to get away from this town, and start a new life without him, and without me.

For once, have some sense in your head. Move on.

Camille

Millie laughed for the first time since Mack died. She didn’t know what she had expected Camille’s last words to her to be, but she thought those were pretty close. She still had Mack’s letter in her purse. She took it out and just stared at it for a few minutes before she opened it. She wasn’t sure she was ready to read it, but she knew she had to.

December 12, 1995

Millie,

If you’re reading this, I’m probably dead. I don’t know how it happened, but I guess it was my time. I’m so sorry to leave you alone in this life, but just know, every day, that I loved you more than anything in the world. Becoming your dad transformed me into the person who I was meant to be. You saved me, Millie, and please know all of the decisions I made along the way were to save you. If you ever need me, just look up in the sky, I’ll be there waiting for you.

With all my love,

Dad

Millie curled up in a ball on her bed and cried for a good hour before she heard Chase and Mariel talking downstairs. She dragged herself out of the bed and went downstairs to tell them about the letter. As she got to the bottom of the stairs, she heard her name.

“Chase, I’ve been married to you for twenty years. I know how the SEAL family works. When someone dies, we all fill in the void, but we can’t be Millie’s parents. She’s almost seventeen. She has to find her own life.”

“Mar, it’s about more than loyalty. There’s something I haven’t told you.” Chase hesitated. “Actually, a lot I haven’t told you.”

“What haven’t you told me?” Mariel’s voice raised a few octaves.

“It’s who Millie is, who her mother is. . .” Chase’s voice trailed off.

“You told me her mother died in an accident right after Millie was born. She was from New York, right?”

“No, she wasn’t, and that’s not now she died. Look, I can’t tell you everything, but Millie’s mom was a woman we worked with in Bosnia named Nejra. She was killed right after Millie was born.”

“Killed? Like murdered?”

“She was from a strict Muslim family. She was single, pregnant. No one knew who the father was. Her brother apparently killed her in what they call an honor killing after she had the baby—to bring back honor to his family.”

“What are you talking about? That’s crazy. And, Mack knew about all of this?”

“Yeah, he only knew after it all happened. He didn’t even know Nejra was pregnant. They had a fling when we were in Bosnia. Nothing serious. We were long gone from Bosnia by the time he found out. He got a phone call like six months after we got back. It was a man. He didn’t know who, maybe Nejra’s brother, told him that she had had his baby, and had been killed for it. He told him where the baby was. Mack told me about the call. I thought it was some kind of set-up. He wanted leave to go over and find the baby. I told him not to go. I begged him not to go, but he was going to go whether I gave him the time or not, so I told him he could take his two weeks personal time. A week and a half later, he shows up back in the States with the baby, with Millie.”

“Jesus, Chase, did he kidnap her?”

“Well, I mean technically, she’s his daughter. He had her tested when he got back but yeah, he just took her.”

“How long have you know about this?”

“From day one, he told me everything.”

“This is crazy, Chase. Mack kidnapped a child from a foreign country. He could have gone to jail. You could have gone to jail for hiding his secret. What the fuck were you thinking? Her family in Bosnia has probably been looking for her all these years.”

“The only family she has is her uncle, and that’s the part of the story I can’t tell you—who her uncle is. But, let’s just say, Mack was right to get Millie away from him. He likely would have killed her.”

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