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That Girl

St. Augustine – Deleted Scene, Chapter 40, 'Epilogue'

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Between his fingers, Jed held the envelope that Tom had delivered and remained quiet for several moments until he peered at his son flatly. "So, you're just gonna let her go?"

"She's already gone," Tom answered quickly, his tone a sharp warning that he would not entertain this subject for long.

"To Asia Tommy!" His father erupted. "Do you have any idea what kind of depraved Hell goes on in that place!?"

Of course he fucking did. But Tom held his tongue, because this was the closest his father had come to directly acknowledging what Vietnam did to him in the forty-five years of Tom's life.

"At least tell me you weren't stupid enough to let her go on her own!"

"I convinced her to take Shemanski—"

"But you couldn't talk any damn sense into her and make her see that this is insane!?"

Nostrils flared; Tom stared at the generic mass-produced art hung on the suite's wall and seethed. "Sasha does what Sasha wants. That's how she is… and my opinion stopped mattering to her a long time ago," he responded darkly.

"That girl was the first thing that made you want to live again after Bosnia—and you-you what? Just let her go without a fight!?"

"She resigned her commission! Please enlighten me as to how I could have stopped her!"

"She did what?" Finally, his father put Sasha's letter down, only to leave his armchair to pace. "Goddamn it—you know she's the only reason we went to that cabin?"

Tom stopped avoiding eye contact, and the ire in his stance eased. Silent, he waited for his father to continue.

"She risked everything by leaking what she had to Hokanson." He spoke. "And insisted that he share it with me."

General Daniel Hokanson. Four-star. Former acting Chief of the National Guard, and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff presiding as liaison to the President, Secretary of Defense, National Security Council, and Department of Defense. General Hokanson also happened to be a decades-long friend of the Chandler's.

So this is what Sasha had meant by 'connections in common through the Pentagon.'.

"She called in a favor." Tom deduced. There was simply no other way that someone so high ranking, who should have had intimate knowledge of Dr. Scott's proposal from day one, would be compelled to circumvent his oaths to uphold National Security.

"It's the only way it makes sense to me. And also explains why he didn't just tell me outright that it was your damn ship. He didn't confirm it until after Obama died. I had a hunch, though. After he warned me to get out. The Navy switching your mission like that? Putting you at EMCON?… I kept it from Darien. I didn't want her worrying more than she already did, but I'm telling you, son, the only reason we got out early is because Hokanson told me to." He paused. "Sammy would have been at that same baseball game with Lucas—"

"Stop," Tom rasped. "Shemanski will keep her alive. They've worked together. She trusts him."

His father's silence lingered while he studied Tom, both hands at his hips. "What's really going on here?"

Tom hollowed his cheeks.

"There's no way—"

"I'm done talking about this—"

"What happened to her?"

Teeth clenched; Tom shook his head. "Not gonna work, Dad. Not this time."

Jed's frustrated vexation became intense as the shade of scarlet slowly creeping up his skin.

"Whatever Sasha wants you to know is in that letter." He had to pause to ensure his voice remained steadfast. "She said to wait three months. After that—it either means something happened… or she's not coming back."