Page 47 of Have To Be Mine

Corfu at twilight was something else. The streets were narrow and cobbled, lined by terracotta buildings with window boxes filled with bright flowers. The air smelled like olive oil and bread. Or maybe I was just hungry.

“So tell me more about this military career of yours,” I said. “What made you want to join?”

“It’s a family tradition,” she said. “My whole family has military roots. I went to West Point.”

“No shit? Isn’t that hard to get into?”

Krista nodded. “It is. I assume it will come as no surprise I worked really hard and got good grades.”

“Naturally,” I said. “And after that?”

“I did five years of active duty as platoon leader in a logistics unit.”

I looked at her sideways. “A platoon leader.”

“That’s what I said.”

I let that land for a second. I was trying to picture it and doing a pretty decent job, actually. Krista Hedley in fatigues, moving people and equipment across terrain, making decisions under pressure with zero margin for error. Yeah. That tracked.

“And then?” I asked. “You didn’t want to make a lifelong career out of it?”

She was quiet for a beat. “My dad had a health scare. Open heart surgery.” She said it with no emotion but I could tell it was one of those things just like the topic of my father’s death was one of those things. “I was in the middle of transitioning back to civilian life anyway, so I accelerated it. Helped him sell his place and get set up in Florida. Better climate. Better care. He’s stubborn as hell about accepting help, so it took some maneuvering.”

“Stubborn?” I asked. “Sounds familiar.”

She cut me a look. “Don’t.”

I held up a hand. “I’m just saying. I recognize it.”

The corner of her mouth twitched but she didn’t give me anything more than that. “I visit him every other month, sometimes more if I can swing it.”

“Where did my brother find you?” I asked.

“I own a logistics consulting firm in New York. I’m rarely actually home because I’m usually on a job. I like being on the move. I don’t do well just sitting in the same place.”

I didn’t say anything for a moment. We turned down a wider street and the city opened up ahead of us.

“Wow,” I said.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re kind of a badass, Hedley.”

She made a sound that was almost a laugh. “Kind of?”

“Okay. Fully. Completely. An objectively terrifying badass. I might have to think twice about pushing your buttons.”

“That’d be nice.”

“I wouldn’t have lasted a day at West Point,” I said. “Not even orientation. They would have sent me home by lunch.”

She laughed. “You think?”

“I know. They would have taken one look at me and West pointed me in the opposite direction.”

“They would have made you run until you figured out yourself you didn’t belong there.”

“See?” I grinned. “Gone by lunch.”