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Chapter 2

The Letter

Alex burst into her home, dropping her backpack onto the kitchen table. Reaching for the cookie jar, she called out. "Hey Mom, I'm home!"

She heard her mom's voice trailing from down the hall. "Take your backpack up to your room!"

Grinning, Alex put the lid back on the cookie jar. Shoving a cookie in her mouth, she picked up the backpack and ran up the stairs. Kicking the door open, she threw the pack on the bed. Just as she began lifting her blouse over her head, she heard a giggle. Turning, she saw her brothers peer at her, she frowned and kicked the door closed on them. "Brats."

Hearing a roar of giggles, Alex slightly opened her door, bellowing. "Mom! They're doing it again!"

A firm voice came up the stairs. "Boys, get down here, NOW!"

With that, the disappearing sound of steps came through her door. Stripping down, Alex quickly put on her favorite pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She stretched out on the bed, eying the blue bag. Sighing, she hooked one of the straps with her foot and pulled it close enough for her to grab it. Unzipping it, she pulled her notes from the bag. Reading them, she skewered her lips. I wonder what you look like? Her brow furrowed. Would Mrs. Goren have a photo of him? Would she share it with me? Would I dare ask her to see it? Alex shook her head, mumbling. "That will never happen." Pulling a pencil from her backpack, she scribbled a few notes. Sighing, she tossed the pencil down, turning to sit on the edge of the bed.

If I'm fourteen, he must be...what? Twenty-one? Old. What made him decide to join the Army and go so far away from home? She paused, remembering Mrs. Goren's explosive response to her simple questions. If Mom or dad were like that, I'd leave too. She shook her head, retrieving the paper and pencil, she reviewed her notes. Okay, if I get this done today, I don't have to think about it the rest of the weekend.

She tore out a sheet from a notebook and began scribbling. Two hours later, she was lying on her belly , with her legs up in the air with her feet hooked together. She studied the sheets of paper, grinning. There! That's done. She looked around the bed at the crumpled sheets of paper. Sighing she pushed her body in a sitting position, stuffing the letter into her notebook. Picking up the balls of paper, she got of the bed and tossed them into the waste basket. Finding two more on the floor, she bent down and picked them up and lobbed them in the receptacle. She furrowed her brow. I wonder if Dad is home, and if he has time for some hoops before dinner?

With that, she opened her bedroom door and raced down the stairs. She found him in his favorite chair in the living room. He peered over his glasses at his daughter who barely came to stop in front of him. "You are home!"

He grinned at his daughter's energy. "Where else would I be?"

"Hoops?"

Glancing at his wrist watch, he nodded. "I believe we have time. You'll have to spot me five points."

She shook her head adamantly. "Ah, Dad."

"Ah Dad nothing, you beat me by ten last time."

Alex smiled. "Three points."

He laughed as he pushed himself out of the chair. "Deal!"

Ms. Peevy smiled as she laid the three page letter down on her desk. Glancing over towards Alex's desk, her smile turned to a grimace. Alex was sitting at her desk, she had twirled a piece of her hair into a spiral and stuck the end into mouth. Obviously deep in concentration with her currently work, she didn't see Ms. Peevy step up to the left side of her desk. "Alexandra." Ms. Peevy paused, taking a deep breath. "Alexandra, could you please remove your hair from your mouth."

Alex looked up, opening her mouth allowing the offensive object drop from her mouth. "Yes, Ms. Peevy?"

The woman sighed again, extending the papers out to the youth. "You did a very good job writing the letter...though, at times, I felt like you were interrogating him, rather than writing him."

Alex furrowed her brow thoughtfully. "Well, he is in CID, and I am the daughter of a police officer..."

"That's true, but..."

"You did want us to write to them as if we were speaking to them?"

"Yes, but..."

"I figured he was use to talking that way, and I was use to talking that way, it would be easier to for him to read it, and me to write it. And that it would be okay. Right?"

Ms. Peevy stared down in the open face, suddenly realizing that she had just fallen victim of this youth's logic. Pursing her lips, a slow smile worked it's way across the teacher's face. "Alexandra, we never start a sentence with the word And.

Alex smirked as Ms. Peevy turned to go back to her desk. As she sat down, she wondered how Alex won that discussion. Shaking her head, she spied a young man, just about to pass a note to another. "Sam, come up here and pass the envelopes around to the others. Everyone, it's time to address the envelopes. So, pull out your letters and copy the address to the servicemen like I have it on the board."

Weeks later...

"Hey Sargent Goren!" A lanky red haired youth called out to a group of men waving an envelope in the air.

A tall dark haired man sitting alone beyond the group of soldiers, raised his eyes from the book he was reading. His eyes narrowed as he noted the wide toothy grin on the Private. Slowly standing, he moved towards the young man. Robert Goren stood a good head taller, as he stared down into the grinning freckled face. The Private's grin was rapidly fading in the shadow of this man. "You got a letter...Sir."

His voice went up half an octave, suddenly realizing that this tall individual wasn't appreciating the attention of the others in the room. Goren panned the room, finding several sets of eyes studying the two of them. Sighing, he snatched the envelope from the now cowering Private. "So, I get letters." His voice was a low growl.

Without thinking, the youth shook his head. "Not like this, this ain't your mom."

Robert took a threatening step towards him. "You, you read my letter?"

The Private moved away from him, feeling even smaller. "No, no Sir! I, I saw the handwriting."

With that, Robert turned, making his way back to his table. Sitting back down, he held the letter in both hands as he studied the writing. Flipping it over and over in his large hands, he lifted it to his nose, and gave it a quick sniff.

A deep voice came from behind him. "Sargent, are you going to eat it, or read it?"

Goren slowly smiled as he tucked the unopened letter into the inside of his coat's breast pocket. "Just checking it for illegal contraband, Sir."

Slightly turning he faced his commander, a fifty-something man, who had proven himself over the years, but hadn't let the job sour him. The elder officer smiled, noting that the letter had been put out of sight. He nodded his approval. "Better to enjoy notes from home during quiet time."

Robert nodded, relieved that his private life was still his. "Yes Sir."

He pulled out a chair, lowering his bulky form on it. "I want to talk to you about the current case. I have a few thoughts about it."

Goren closed the book, placing his elbows on either side, he leaned forward waiting.