Chapter 10 - A SOLDIER'S RETURN
Z
The morning light streamed through the windows of my office at Fort Bragg, illuminating the neatly stacked files on my desk.
Outside, on the parade grounds, the rhythmic cadence of soldiers marching echoed across the base. The 3rd Ranger Battalion was preparing for morning physical training.
A knock sounded on my door.
"Enter," I said, keeping my eyes on the readiness report I was signing.
Colonel Renick stepped into the room, holding two cups of black coffee. He set one down on my desk and leaned against the doorframe, studying my face.
"How's your shoulder?" he asked, pointing to the faint scar visible above my collar.
"Healed," I replied, taking a sip of the coffee. "The doctor cleared me for full duty this morning."
Renick nodded slowly, a subtle smile touching his lips. "The Pentagon called yesterday. They read the federal reports on what happened down in county. There were some people in high places who were... deeply impressed by how you handled a complete collapse of civil authority without firing a lethal shot or violating military code."
"I followed my father's advice, sir," I said softly, looking at the framed photograph of my father in his uniform sitting on the corner of my desk. "The uniform isn't a weapon for revenge. It's a promise."
"Well," Renick said, straightening up. "That promise just earned you a nomination for full Colonel. Brigade command opens up in Germany next month. They want you to take it."
I looked out the window at the soldiers marching in formation under the American flag, then down at my phone.
A text message had just arrived from my mother. It was a photograph of a brand-new brass bell, polished and gleaming, attached to a wooden beam above a newly framed doorway on Main Street.
First beam went up today, the message read. Saved a booth for you.
May you like
I smiled, locked my phone, and looked up at Colonel Renick.
"Tell the Pentagon I'll take the brigade, sir," I said, standing up and pulling my beret from my belt. "But first, I've got two weeks of leave left. And I have some pancakes to flip."
