by Ladew, Lisa
Time stretched and folded and still his mind worked overtime. It was still laboring when his door opened and Sara came in. He looked around for a clock.
“It’s 5:45, but I asked the nurses to call me when you woke up. The President wants a report today on what really happened. The press is already having a field day with what they think happened and he wants to put things straight. So I need to interview you. I should have done it yesterday, but I agreed with the doctor that you needed your sleep.”
JT nodded and gave her a weak smile. “Let’s do it.”
JT recounted his tale, everything that had happened from the moment Sara left them in the market. She asked a few pointed questions, but mostly just let him talk.
“Are you going to interview Dani, too?” he asked, feeling like he didn’t really deserve to know.
“I interviewed her while you were in surgery. She’s already gone with her mom and her dad and one of her sisters. Since her uncle was found dead by the Marines in the hotel room, speculation is running wild. Social media right now is freaking out, and some people are saying she must have been in on it. The news channels aren’t quite going there yet, they are being more careful, but the President has to say something. I don’t even know where they went. I just know they didn’t go home. Their house is probably swarmed with reporters right now.”
JT winced. This was bad news. And he’d been the first. The first to accuse her of being in on it. Guilt shot through him like a spear.
“But she wasn’t in on it, was she?”
Sara’s face was kind. She put a hand lightly on his arm. “No JT, she wasn’t. She was doing the same thing as you were. Investigating him, trying to figure out why he was acting strangely. Her father had just told her that Colonel Clarkson had come into a ton of money and his wife had said some suggestive things about where it came from. Her father was distraught at the thought of his brother being a criminal, possibly betraying his country.”
Sara’s words bit into JT like a small animal with sharp teeth. She had lied. Or omitted the truth. The excruciatingly difficult truth. In a time of duress and hardship. And he’d been a total dick about it. He hadn’t even given her a chance to explain before he had convicted her in his mind.
“I have to go, JT. We’ll talk later.” Sara squeezed his hand and left him with his swirling thoughts.
Chapter 31
Dani paced the small room she’d been given before her live television interview. Her breathing came in short, shallow gasps and she could hear her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Calm down Daniela, get a grip. Take a deep breath, she told herself. Being in front of the cameras and the live audience didn’t scare her. She’d done that hundreds of times. It was always nerve-wracking, but never like this. It was the subject matter that made her feel like she was in a blender.
She was finally going to do it. She was finally going to speak out on the subject of her uncle, the traitor. She was going to act as the spokesperson for her family and break their three-month-long silence. Her mother had practically begged her to do it. Her mother wanted her life back. Her mother wanted to be able to go to knitting group and bingo night with the girls again. Her mother wanted to be able to walk in the grocery store and meet people’s eyes. Dani had an idea that, if this went well, she was planning on uploading the video to YouTube and playing it for people on her iPhone if they hadn’t seen it yet.
Her dad had only said ‘whatever you think is best,’ and nodded his head in a weary way. It was her father she was doing this for, ultimately. The scandal his brother had perpetrated had hit him the hardest. Rocked him to his core in a way. He looked five years older now, and he never left their house either. Amazon delivered groceries, and Mom and Dad slept and puttered and avoided the news and the neighbors and the occasional reporter.
The reasons why her uncle had done what he did were becoming partially clear, even though they thought everything he had masterminded had not been revealed yet. Sara and an intelligence team were working nonstop on the case and every time they had a major update, Sara gave a press conference. Even though it had been three months, public curiosity and demand to know was still high. The President had promised, and so far was delivering, full transparency. Uncle Kevin and his wife had owed money to more than just Dani’s parents. They had owed money to 4 different bookies in Las Vegas and California. And when they were far enough in the hole (1.4 million dollars) that their legs were in danger of being broken again, Uncle Kevin had somehow connected with Musa-Elbenah who had plenty of money to funnel to him, for the right services. First, Uncle Kevin had just placed his units in the wrong place at the wrong time, allowing enemy shipments and soldiers to pass over borders. And then he graduated to selling weapons to the enemy. Dani and her father had taken this admission really hard, both wondering how many U.S. troops and allies had been killed with those weapons. With the money he got from these debacles he had paid off all of his debts and had money to spare, and seemingly tried to stop the treasonous activities. But then something had happened that he hadn’t planned on. Musa-Elbenah, furious at having been cut off, contacted one of the bookies. No one knows how he got the name of the bookie, but maybe Uncle Kevin told him himself, just in normal conversation. Sara had gotten this information from Uncle Kevin’s wife. Musa-Elbenah promised the bookie 5 million U.S. dollars if he could put some pressure on Clarkson and convince him to work with Musa-Elbenah again. They put their heads together and the bookie had some thugs kidnap Uncle Kevin’s son from his new private school. They called Uncle Kevin and had him talk to his sobbing son, and said if he went to the police, Kenny would die. Uncle Kevin hadn’t even told his wife until she had gotten worried and driven out to the school and not found Kenny. All of this was revealed to the public, and they lapped it up like milk, but public opinion towards Dani and her family didn’t seem to change with any of it.
So here she was.
A knock at the door. “Miss Clarkson, you’re on,” a voice called.
No time to get a grip on herself now. Dani grasped the doorknob and headed out through the small hallway to the hot lights of the set.
She heard her name and the murmuring of the audience. She walked out to weak applause, heading for the host, her interviewer, Kirk Kussler. When she agreed to give her own station the scoop, she should have specified who the host would be. She had never liked Kirk. He was handsome in a sort of lopsided, sneaky way, but his looks didn’t do anything for her anyway. She cared about how a person acted, how they treated you, and Kirk barely noticed anyone but himself. She shook his hand and gave him a fake smile. Kirk Kussler, that was the fakest name on the planet. She bet his real name was Dick Widebottom or something. The thought make her smile widen and become almost genuine before it slipped off her face for good.
She sat on the couch and looked to the left, where she knew her parents would be in a private audience box. Her mom waved and her dad gave her a thumbs up. She kept her eyes on them, not caring what it looked like to the camera. She could feel the hostility of the audience already. It felt like a heavy hand, clawing at her, trying to crush her and steal her breath.
“Miss Clarkson, thank you so much for joining us to talk about this heavy subject today.”
Dani nodded but Kirk was diving ahead, barely noticing her.
“Please, tell us how your ordeal started. The world has never heard the full and exact story. It must have been horrible for you.”
Dani took a deep breath. The last thing she wanted was to share the intimate details and dredge up that time in her mind, but she knew she must. For the crowd to drop the hostility, they would need to feel sympathy. And she could bet that as long as the live audience acted hostile towards her, the millions watching at home felt the same way.
“I guess it started a few days before I was actually taken. I was at home, and my father was very upset because he thought his brother was doing something illegal. He told me this and I decided to head to Kuwait to talk to Uncle Kevin myself.”
Kirk nodded, his face set carefully into sympathy lines. “This Uncle Kevin, that’s Colonel Kevin Clarkson, the man who had you taken hostage.”
“Yes.” Dani tried to say. It came out a whisper. “Yes.” That one was stronger. “When I got to Kuwait I called Uncle Kevin and asked him to meet with me. He said ‘OK, tomorrow at noon at a cafe in Kuwait City.’
Kirk nodded. “Uh-huh, uh-huh, and that cafe is where it happened.”
Dani looked at her father again, for strength. “Yes. The men cleared the cafe, and then they came in from the back with guns and ordered us to cars in the alley behind.”
“You and Sergeant Taylor.”
Dani nodded and pushed on, not wanting to talk about JT at all. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since she sneaked her last peak at him in the hospital bed at Camp Patriot. Sara had given her updates the few times they had spoken on the phone, even though Dani didn’t ask. She was glad for the news of him, but thinking of him always called up the pain of him staring at her in anger and saying ‘Is this some sort of story for you?’ And it hurt so much. Too much. There had been the letters though…
Kirk interrupted her thoughts of the unopened letters hidden at her parents’ house. “Please, tell us in your own words what it was like being in the hostage camp.”
“It was horrible. They put a hood over my head and tied me to a chair. My hands were tied behind me for 5 days straight. I didn’t eat. I barely got enough to drink. And I slept sitting up, tied to that chair.” Dani heard a few horrified murmurs from the audience. She chanced a look and sure enough, there was a bit of softening on the faces closest to her. She didn’t dare look at her parents now though. She knew her mom would be crying. Her dad too maybe. She wanted to tell about JT talking to her and getting hit with the gun butt for it. About his bravery and his strength. But the words wouldn’t form in her brain. A tear leaked out of her eye and ran down her cheek. Not for the experience. She’d worked on it relentlessly with a therapist and thought she was ready to put that part behind her. But for her fledgling relationship with JT. The relationship that rose from the ashes of a tragedy and promised to be so good, but instead ended without even a bang in that car in the desert. That rolling ending whose seed had been planted with her lie, and whose roots had been exposed with his flat accusation. That still hurt every day. She hadn’t even told her therapist about that part. She wasn’t ready to get rid of that hurt yet. It was a bad hurt, a horrible hurt. But it was her hurt.
Kirk leaned forward, a hungry look on his face. “And what part did Agent Acosta of the former DCIA play in your escape?”
Dani pushed on. Soon they’d be getting to the worst of it. “Every part. She impersonated one of the women servants, who was little more than a slave, and entered the compound. She cut us loose and led us out of there, then called in missiles from the Navy to blow it up.”
“What happened next?”
“We walked in the desert. The helicopter that was supposed to pick us up had gotten shot down by rebels so Agent Acosta, Sara, led us to the mountains and we slept in a cave.” Even as Dani said this part, what loomed in her mind was the feel of Sara’s gun, bucking in her hands as she shot two men. She wasn’t going to share that though.
“Did you have food, water?”
“We had a little. Sara had MREs on her. She collected water from the plants in the desert.”
“So you walked to St. Marin.”
“Yes, we walked the next day, all day.”
“And what happened in St. Marin?”
Sara looked at her parents. They sat frozen in their seats. She swallowed and heard a click in her throat. “Sara left us in an empty building while she went to arrange for us to get out of town. The villagers found us. And they chased us. We ran, trying to find Sara. Instead, my uncle found us.”
“What did he do?”
“He pointed a gun at us and ordered us to go to his hotel room.”
“And that’s when you knew that he had been behind it all along?” To Dani, Kirk looked suddenly rat-like, and ugly. She knew she was being unfair, anyone would have asked these questions. But he didn’t have to ask them so … so hungrily.
“Yes. That’s when I knew.”
“And how did that feel? How did it feel to know that your Uncle had arranged to have you taken hostage and killed?”
“Like shit,” Dani snarled, watching Kirk recoil and look at the director, flustered out of his greed. Gladness leapt in her heart at his discomfort. She had said it. But he would be blamed.
“Then-then what happened once you were in Colonel Clarkson’s hotel room?”
“Uncle Kevin hit Gunnery Sergeant Taylor in the head, knocking him out. He ordered me to tie his hands up. I did. Then he tried to tie my hands up. I fought with him and broke the window with a phone.” Dani’s voice came out robotic, mechanical. She just wanted this to be over already. She couldn’t believe she had agreed to it. “He knocked me to the ground and kicked me. Gunnery Sergeant Taylor woke up and told him to stop. He lowered his gun to shoot me and Gunnery Sergeant Taylor knocked me aside, taking my bullet. But he fought with Uncle Kevin. I cut the ropes on his hands and he wrestled the gun away. Uncle Kevin had another gun. He lifted it to shoot at us, but Gunnery Sergeant Taylor shot him first. And then Sara found us and got an Australian helicopter to take us to Camp Patriot.” Dani heard the crowd murmuring softly again, but she no longer cared what they thought. Maybe she would move to Australia.
“Wow, that was quite an ordeal. Would you say you owe your life to Sergeant Taylor?”
Fuck you Widebottom, Dani thought. She looked at him, eyes flashing. “Of course I do. Weren’t you listening to what I said?”
Kirk smiled at her this time, and made a there-there gesture with his hands. Dani stared at them, red staining the sides of her vision.
“Have you talked to Sergeant Taylor since the incident?”
Fuck you sideways, she thought viciously, and was dismayed to find that she almost said it out loud. “No.” The word hung in the air like a balloon. Kirk’s smile broadened.
“We have a little surprise for you, Miss Clarkson.” He looked offstage and Dani wet her lips. Oh no, she thought.
JT walked out, wearing a perfectly-fitting, expensive-looking suit. His hair was still cut in the standard Marine haircut, and his eyes sparkled with a joy she’d barely glimpsed during their few days together. God, he was handsome. Knock you on your ass, handsome. Dani heard a woman whistle in the audience and that brought some light laughter. She wanted to climb in a hole and pull the dirt over the top of her. She wanted to disappear into the couch cushions. She wanted to run.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Gunnery Sergeant Jon Taylor.”
During the wave of applause that followed (much stronger than what she got, Dani noted), JT shook the hosts’ hand. His eyes only touched Kirk’s for a second, then they slipped off and found Dani. His mouth moved. Dani saw his mouth form the silent words: I’m sorry.
She realized her mouth was open and she wasn’t breathing. She tried to compose herself and took a deep breath, breaking eye contact with JT. She looked at her parents and saw them sporting identical, wide smiles. Her mom lifted her hand and waved. She looked at Kirk. He was watching her closely, probably trying to figure out exactly what was going on between her and JT.
Nothing. Nothing is going on.
JT walked towards her. She got the impression he was thinking about hugging her. She pulled back a little, not wanting to touch him. Or not daring to.
He must have read something in her face because he made an awkward half turn and sat next to her instead. Kirk ran his eyes over both of them and then addressed JT. “Sergeant Taylor—” JT held up a hand. “Please, call me JT. I’m not in the Marines anymore.” Dani’s heart jumped. Why not?
“Why not, what happened?” Kirk asked, looking slimy as ever to Dani.
“I entered rehabilitation for my gunshot wound, and after a month, the physical therapist
came to me and said I would never gain full response in my right hand again. He said that since I was a gunnery sergeant, they wouldn’t kick me out for that, as long as I could still pass the physical fitness test. But he also said they would put me on a kind of permanent light duty if I decided to stay. So I weighed my options and decided not to stay.”
“You can’t use your hand then?”
JT raised his arm up to the audience and flexed and moved it in a circle. “So far, I’ve regained most of my usage and a lot of the range of motion, but this area is still numb.” He ran his hand from his inner elbow up to the chest. “I can’t feel anything there.”
“How did you fight with and shoot Colonel Clarkson if your hand wouldn’t respond to you?” the host-from-hell asked. JT looked at him for a second, as if he were trying to decide where such a senseless question came from.
“With my other hand,” he said quickly. “But Kirk, I know you’ve already heard exactly what happened from Miss Clarkson here. Do you mind if I take a few minutes of your show to apologize to her?” But he wasn’t looking at Kirk when he said this. He was looking at Dani. Dani felt every eye in the place swivel to her and imagined she could feel the cameras pan in tight on her face. She struggled to keep her face neutral. What is going on?
“Apologize to her for what?”
“Well, when I discovered her Uncle was the one who was responsible for the mess we were in, I did something reprehensible.”
Kirk smiled indulgently and chuckled lightly, like JT was a four year old using a big word for the first time. Dani fought an urge to punch him in the face. “What did you do?” Kirk asked.
“I didn’t give her the benefit of the doubt. I assumed that she maybe had something to do with what had happened, no matter how remote. I jumped to horrible conclusions based on my limited knowledge at the time. But I’ve since found out that Miss Clarkson and her family had no knowledge of what was going on, and they are as horrified as all of us.” JT gave the camera a hard stare. “Dani Clarkson was kidnapped on her Uncle’s say-so, because she had asked a few too many questions about why he was acting strangely. She and her family are just as much victims of circumstance as the rest of us.” The audience murmured. JT looked back at Dani, his eyes soft again, and pleading with her. She felt his plea in her gut, way down deep where she stored the memory of her stolen time with him. “Dani, I am so sorry. Will you ever forgive me for what I did to you?”
