Chapter 6
Hayes looked at the ring and his expression changed.
He knew what it was.
So did Captain Bennett.
Ava held it in her muddy palm.
“My brother wore this through two deployments,” she said quietly. “Staff Sergeant Daniel Monroe.”
The name hit the shed like thunder.
Several soldiers looked at one another.
Derek’s face drained.
Everyone at Fort Redding knew the name Monroe.
Not from posters.
Not from speeches.
From the rescue operation three years earlier that no one in training ever talked about casually.
Staff Sergeant Daniel Monroe had carried three wounded soldiers out of a burning vehicle under enemy fire.
He had gone back for a fourth.
He never came home.
Ava’s voice stayed steady, but her eyes shone.
“He was supposed to be the one standing here,” she said. “Not me.”
Rain tapped against the metal roof.
Ava closed her fist around the ring.
“He told me before his last deployment that courage isn’t being loud. It’s doing the right thing when everybody is watching—and when nobody is.”
Derek stared at the floor.
Ava looked at him.
“You thought I was quiet because I was scared of you.”
She stepped closer.
“I was quiet because I was waiting to see how far you’d go.”
Derek snapped.
“You think your dead brother gives you special treatment?”
The shed went cold.
Even the MPs stiffened.
Ava flinched, but she did not step back.
Sergeant Major Hayes moved first.
His voice dropped low.
May you like
“Private Cole, you are done speaking.”
Read Part 7 to see what happened when Derek finally lost everyone’s support.
