looked at her. She pulled it out of the frame and handed it over. “Carl would want you to have this.”
He pocketed the picture. “I have to ask you not to tell anyone I was here.”
She set the empty frame back on the mantel and nodded.
“I’m really short on time, Suzanne.” Although he was legally on leave, he had seventy-two hours to conduct a Line of Duty investigation. It was his right as their ranking officer and the only thing that might keep his ass out of a court martial for going rogue. “I need some of Carl’s gear.”
She nodded and went to unlock the hall closet. “It’s all in there. Take it.”
Jack gathered everything he could. Carl was a southern boy who liked his guns and all the toys that came with them. Gear stowed, he moved it by the door.
“I know what’ll happen to me and Lizzie, Jack. I’ve known this since I married a Marine and I’ve prepared myself for it, but what’s going to happen to you?”
It touched him that in her grief she even considered that. “Nothing I can’t handle. Don’t you worry.” He touched her chin till she looked at him. “If the government comes here and asks about me, don’t lie. Tell them I was with them.”
“They don’t know?”
“They aren’t forcing their hand enough to find out or I’d be standing in front of the general right now.” Jack laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Until they catch up to me, I’ll do some looking. I have somewhere to start.”
She nodded and he kissed the top of her head, then pulled her into his arms. He held her as she clung to him and cried her heart out. “You have someone coming to stay with you?”
“My mom should be here in an hour or so,” she murmured, wiping her nose.
Softly he whispered, “Listen to me, Suze.” She looked up. God, she was just a tiny, fragile thing. A widow at twenty-five. “I swear on my oath as a Marine, I will get them.”
“I’ll pass that to Decker’s and Martinez’s family.” She squeezed him and bravely stepped back. “Now go. Because if you’re hunted, they’ll look here.”
Slinging the gear, Jack motioned her away from the back door, and gripped the knob. Before he opened it, he plucked keys from a rack near the door and left her alone in the dark.
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