“Hey, he’s gone. He’s probably going to get a serious punishment, and then maybe you won’t have to PCS with him.”

“I know. I don’t care about that though.”

“Ohhhh. You’re thinking about Alex.”

I nodded my head, wiping away the loose tear that had managed to escape.

“He’s going to find out about it. You might as well be the one to tell him. Call him.”

“I won’t reach him. He’s a on a plane, on his way back here.”

“So leave him a voicemail and he will hear it when he gets off. You need to be the one to tell him, Cassie.”

“He’s a loose cannon, Dalton. If I tell him that, he won’t even think. He’ll just react and come straight up here. Jeopardizing everything.”

“Cassie, I listened to you when you said not to tell him what had been going on with you and Allen. Now, this—this will surely get to him, and he’s going to be even more pissed. I think it’s better if you tell him. Just leave him a voicemail and discuss it with him once he’s off the plane.”

Dalton was right. I needed to call and let Alex know what was going on, but inside, I didn’t want to. I knew how angry he would be, and I didn’t want to deal with that. I wanted everything to go back to before Allen ever opened his mouth in that courtyard. I wanted to take it all back and re-do it, leaving Allen out of the equation as Dalton went on with his excitement about his new unit and I wallowed in self-pity for mine. All of that seemed so much more enjoyable than what we were faced with now, and the thought of calling Alex and telling him what had taken place, in front of numerous students, made me sick with worry.

“I can’t do that right now, I—“

“Cassie, stop,” he said, raising his voice and drawing attention to us. He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from all of the prying eyes fixed on us. “You need to seriously shut up and listen to me. You do not want Alex to hear this shit from anyone but you. Look at everyone out here. This is going to be the talk of school for days to come. Don’t let Alex hear about it through the fucking grapevine, Cassie. What’s wrong with you?”

I stared at him, completely understanding what he was saying, and agreeing with it, but unable to bring myself to actually do it. The one thing Alex had told me before he left was to stay away from everyone else stay out of trouble. I was in the middle of a big heaping mess of it.

“Call him, Cassie. Go over there by that bush, and call him.”

As much as I wanted to slap Dalton in that moment and tell him to fuck off, I didn’t. Rationality hit me and made me realize that he was absolutely right in everything he was saying and that delaying the inevitable would only make things worse. I stepped away from him, over to the bush like he said, and dialed Alex’s number--knowing he wouldn’t answer-- and readying myself for the voicemail that was sure to set him off.

Chapter 29

Alex

Touching down at Palm Springs International Airport put a smile full of anticipation on my face. I never thought I’d be so fucking happy to look out the window and see the sparse, brown desert laid out before me, but I was. I was excited to be back, and sitting in my seat waiting for everyone to gather their shit and get off the plane was starting to piss me off. The drive back to Twentynine would be another hour or so, but the sooner I was back in my truck and on the road, the better.

I hauled ass out of the terminal, and thankfully, since I carried on my bag, I made my way out to my truck and hopped in, finally powering on my phone. Numerous missed calls, texts, and voicemail notifications buzzed as it finally came back to life. The two newest voicemails were coming from Cassie and Newsome. Whatever Newsome wanted could wait. I plugged the phone into the auxiliary and tapped Cassie’s message, driving off in the direction that would take me back to her.

When her message started, the tone in her voice and the thick lump in her throat I could hear her trying to speaking around froze me.

“Hey, Alex… I um—um, I really need to tell you about something that happened here today—um, it’s pretty serious.”

Every word that came out of her mouth struck fear into me. I wasn’t sure what had happened, and with a million mangled thoughts jumping around in my head, I couldn’t get a clear enough mind to even remotely try and pinpoint one thing over the other. I tried calling her back, but her phone went straight to voicemail. I called again and again, frantically trying to reach her. I finally remembered that Newsome had left me a message, so I tapped on his, hoping it had something to do with Cassie so I could put my ill feelings away.

“Hey. Man. Just letting you know that you’ll have to go in and see First Sergeant O’Hara first thing tomorrow morning. Had to report a sexual harassment incident between Private Allen and Pfc. Bennett—“

As soon as the names were spoken, I stopped listening and floored the gas pedal, weaving in and out of the traffic on the ten freeway. I knew there was something more with that fucking Allen kid than she had led on. Rage, worry, and sickness swirled around in the pit of my stomach, threatening to come exploding out, all over my truck. I forcefully pressed down on the window button, desperately needing fresh air to keep my disgust locked down.

I grabbed the phone and called Cassie again, but again, it went straight to voicemail. This time I left a message.

“What the fuck happened? I told you to fucking lay low. And why didn’t I know more about Allen? Don’t say shit to anyone. I’m coming to get you.”

I hung up and immediately dialed Newsome. He picked up on the second ring.

“Hey, man. Welcome back. How was the flight?”

“It was fine. What the fuck happened?” I was breathing hard and speaking so fast that I forgot to think, and thinking would have reminded me that Newsome was unaware of me and Cassie. I didn’t want to give myself away to anyone else. I took a deep breath, then spoke more rationally. “I mean, what’s going on? Was anyone hurt?”

“No. But I did hear what was said, and I acted on that shit. Allen even tried to stand up to me. I’m telling you, I was about ready to be pulled as an instructor because if that motherfucker had made one wrong move, I was about to deck his ass.”

“Why does First Sergeant want to see me?” My guilt was beginning to seep through my words again.

“I took it to Chief Instructor Gunny Chavez, who thought it warranted taking it to First Sergeant. He just said that as lead instructor for the class, he’d need to see you, to fill you in on what happened, and to brief you on what to do from here on out.”

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief, wiping away the newly formed sweat that coated my brow.

“Alright, man. Good to go.”

“Yep.”

I hung up. My heart was racing as I pressed down on the accelerator, propelling my truck through the mountain pass that would take me into the upper desert that led to the base. I tried calling Cassie again but couldn’t get a signal, making me drive even faster as the road twisted and turned all the way up to the top. When I finally reached the apex of the mountain, I called her again, this time finally getting her.

“Hey!”

“What the hell happened?”

She breathed hard, not answering my question.

“Cassie, what the fuck happened? And why didn’t you tell me about Allen when I asked?” My voice was a low, menacing grumble, scraping the bottom of the barrel on its way out.

“I—I didn’t think it was worth telling you. You’d just lose your shit.”

“You’re goddamned right I’d lose my shit!” I yelled, unable to contain the anger any longer. “That fucking idiot is missing a screw or two, Cassie. Now something happens with that dickhead, and I’m not there to take care of it. Newsome had to handle it, and since he knows nothing about us, he handled it according to protocol which involves higher ups.” I balled my fist and sent it slamming down onto the steering wheel. “FUCK! I hate being out of control, and you took it away from me.”