ffice looked down at Leo' s papers,

lat, "Staff Sergeant Mark Johnson

eath

, tapping her screen, "and his wife, Je

i

ss

oments before just stuffy, now felt like ice. My h

it. The

first

o strong I swayed. The cheap

appenin

, clawed its way out from th

s, Leo beside me. Last time, the same word

e, I had

the hollow, the silence thick with unspoken accusations. M

essica, she's just... a friend. Th

ing a hero' s widow, a firefighter' s wife l

ate to believe, had

l near the base, but only as his "neph

k was supposed to wa

ted, always looking for som

owded bus stop while Mark was probably charming some o

ntic calls. The pol

t. The details were hazy, a nightmare fog, but one phrase burned

never confirmed it. The uncerta

dismissed

h. For me. Think of the scan

than, for his precious reputation.

like the only way to stop the pain.

d was the suffocating blac

th

. Leo was still beside me, his small hand warm in mine. T

a'

o go to the county office for Leo' s school papers, the

ond c

y lungs. Not with relief,

Not

uld be no quiet des

Mark Johnso