Chapter 3: THE ALTERNATIVE PLAN
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Officer Bell carefully photographed the note and placed it inside an evidence sleeve.
“Major Nolan, is there anyone who might want to harm you?”
I almost laughed.
Until that morning, I would have said no.
My marriage had not been perfect. Derek complained about my deployments, about raising Lily, about how much time my career demanded.
But I had believed those complaints came from loneliness.
Not hatred.
Not greed.
And certainly not a plan involving my death.
“I need to get to my daughter,” I said.
Officer Bell nodded. “We’ll arrange for another officer to accompany you.”
Before leaving, I noticed something inside the leather notebook.
A photograph.
It showed Derek standing beside a woman I had never seen before.
She was younger than me, with dark hair and a bright smile. Her hand rested on Derek’s chest.
On the back, someone had written:
“Our new beginning. Soon.”
The photograph was dated four months earlier.
While I was overseas.
I wanted to tear it apart.
Instead, I handed it to Officer Bell.
“Find out who she is.”
At Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, Lily was receiving fluids under careful medical supervision.
The pediatrician told me she was dehydrated, undernourished, and frightened, but her condition was improving.
I sat beside her bed and held her little hand.
“Mama?”
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
“Are you going away again?”
My throat tightened.
“Not tonight. Not tomorrow. I’m staying with you.”
She studied my face.
“Daddy said you didn’t want to come home.”
I closed my eyes.
“That wasn’t true, baby.”
“He said you liked the Army more than me.”
Something inside me broke.
I leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
“There is nothing in this world I love more than you.”
Lily wrapped her arms around my neck.
Then she whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“Daddy told Grandma that after Friday, we wouldn’t have to worry about Mama anymore.”
Friday.
August 19.
The same date written in the notebook.
I gently asked, “When did he say that?”
“Before the big ship.”
“Was anyone else there?”
She nodded.
“The lady with the red car.”
My heart began pounding.
“What lady?”
“The one who sleeps in your bed when you’re gone.”
