Chapter 4 - The Order of Departure
The Marshals led Derek out of the ballroom. His expensive suit was wrinkled, his head bowed, his tears leaving wet streaks on his collar as the cameras of three military news outlets flashed in his face.
Evelyn stood frozen in the center of the aisle, holding the federal summons in her trembling hands. Vanessa was weeping silently into her designer purse, completely ignored by the high-ranking officers surrounding us.
Vice Admiral Vance stepped up to my side. "Ma'am, the medical transport vehicle from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is waiting outside the VIP entrance. A private suite has been prepared for your father."
I looked at my father. He was watching me, his eyes bright with a peaceful, quiet dignity I hadn't seen in his face since I was a little girl.
"Dad," I said softly, leaning down toward him. "Ready to get out of here?"
Arthur let out a raspy, joyful laugh—a sound that chased away twenty-five years of dust and pain. "I've been ready for twenty-five years, Admiral."
I smiled, turning to grab the handles of his wheelchair.
"Maya! Stop!" Evelyn yelled, making one final, desperate move toward us. "You can't just take him! He's my husband! What am I supposed to do?! How am I supposed to pay for the house?!"
I stopped. I didn't turn around. I spoke over my shoulder, my voice carrying clearly across the quiet hall.
"The house in Norfolk was purchased using funds from my private medical trust, Evelyn," I stated flatly. "You have seventy-two hours to pack your clothes into a black trash bag and leave the property. Anything left behind will be donated to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society."
Evelyn gasped, a sound of pure, unadulterated shock. "You... you're throwing me out?!"
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"I'm not throwing you out, Evelyn," I replied, pushing my father's wheelchair down the aisle toward the bright lights of the entrance. "I'm simply letting you experience the path you chose for me."
As we walked down the central aisle of the ballroom, three hundred officers, soldiers, and diplomats parted like the Red Sea, coming to attention and rendering crisp hand salutes as Rear Admiral Maya Barker escorted her father out of the shadows and into the light.
