A Missing Peace by Beth Fred Page A

told you all I can remember. Do you ask anyone else this every time you see them?”
    â€œYeah, I guess that’s why Collins quit coming around. I can’t believe he doesn’t know anything, though. He was Dad’s commanding officer. He should have gotten a full report.”
    â€œIf I remembered anything, I would tell you.” The guy’s voice shook as he said it. I didn’t know him, but I knew he was lying. “But if Collins isn’t telling you, it’s probably for the best that you not know.”
    This guy did not want to talk about Caleb’s dad. He said he needed to get home. He dropped by because it was on his way, and he left.
    I stood up and walked around the couch to retake my place next to Caleb.
    â€œSorry, I should have told you to come out. I figured you knew it wasn’t your brother, though.”
    â€œWho was that?”
    â€œGade. We’ve been friends forever.”
    I nodded. “He was with your dad—in Iraq?” Instantly, I regretted asking. This was fuel for a fight. We were both too emotional about this. We’d both lost too much.
    â€œYeah. The army never told us much about how he died, so I’ve been asking the guys that were there, hoping to get answers.”
    â€œThat guy is lying to you,” I said.
    â€œI know. What I don’t know is why.”
    For an instant, I wondered if it was worse to watch your dad die and not be able to do anything about it, or lose your father and not know what happened. I never came to a conclusion.
    â€œI’m sorry,” I said.
    â€œMe too.”
    I leaned into him, and he slipped an arm around me. We stayed like that, neither of us saying anything, until his mom came home and still we sat in silence. She seemed shocked to see me for about two seconds, but she didn’t say anything other than hello. In fact, she left us alone. This was new for me. Ommy would kill Abrahem if he had a girl over while she was out, and he was grown.
    I stayed with Caleb past midnight, then slipped home, because I couldn’t stay all night. That would be noticed.

Chapter 17
    Caleb
    Gade lied to me, and it was so obvious that Mirriam, who didn’t know him, knew. The way my dad had taken him under his wing Gade could at least be honest with me about his death, but I guessed not. I wanted to kick his ass. No, I didn’t. What I really wanted was to grab him by the neck, push him against the wall, and say, “Tell me what happened to my dad, or your head’s going through the wall.”
    A few weeks ago, that would have been possible. But someone only just confirmed, what I already believed, that he was lying to me, and by now, I wasn’t much of a threat to anyone anymore.
    My phone rang.
    â€œMiller?”
    â€œYes.” To my surprise, it was the recruiter. No idea why. He’d made it clear boot camp was out, and I couldn’t enlist without it.
    â€œIf you agree to go logistics, I got permission to use your ROTC training in place of boot camp.”
    â€œReally? How?”
    â€œI had to pull a lot of strings, but I made it work.”
    Logistics was never exactly what I had in mind. I wanted revenge for my dad, but football scholarships were only good as long as you could play football. That was out, and I had no other way to pay for college. If I was going to have any kind of future at all, this was it. “I’ll do it.” At least, I had a plan for after graduation.
    For the first time since it happened, I was in a good mood, and I hadn’t been out of the house other than going to the doctor since I left the hospital. I figured it was time to take my girl on a real date.
    I sent a text to Mirriam.
    Let’s go to Austin.
    How?
    My jeep.
    It’s broken.
    The guys fixed it while I was in the hospital.
    At school.
    Skip.
    I don’t get in trouble. Not worth it.
    Get sick.
    Good idea.
    Twenty minutes later, someone banged on my back door. By the