It's Always Been You by Jessica Scott Page A

wondered just how much beer it would take to get Sorren to open up.
    There would be time for that some other day.
    “I’ll do my job, First Sarn’t.” He had no idea how he was going to do that, but he’d figure it out. Maybe start drinking at lunch or some other self-destructive habit. Get Emily to give him some free therapy.
    “I hope so, sir,” Sorren said roughly.
    Instead, Ben set the coffee cup on the conference room table and stretched. “Well, I’m glad we got that out of the way. Want to go take a warm shower together and sing kumbayah?”
    Sorren just looked at him for a minute. A tick at the corner of his left eye jumped. Ben seriously wondered if he’d be able to move fast enough if Sorren tried to take a swing at him.
    Sorren’s sudden laugh surprised him. “All right then, sir.” He stood and slapped Ben’s shoulder and damn near knocked it out of joint. “Let’s go to the motor pool and get some work done.”
    Ben turned around in his chair to see Sarn’t Major Cox standing in his orderly room. Sorren moved to his feet quickly and called, “At ease!” Sorren moved to his feet quickly. Ben turned around in his chair to see Sarn’t Major Cox standing in his orderly room.
    Ben frowned. “Has hell frozen over?”
    As usual, Cox didn’t appreciate the joke. “I need a few minutes of your time, Commander.”
    * * *
    “I’m sorry? I don’t think I heard you correctly.” Olivia reached for her water bottle, hoping to push the lump down in her throat.
    There was a fellow major sitting across from her. He was a thin man—wiry would be an apt description—and his eyes shifted constantly, darting around the office she had yet to claim as her own.
    There was a meanness about Major Denis that had her backbone up. There was something lethal about him that had nothing to do with the bad things in this battalion, but everything to do with the man himself. She’d decided she didn’t like the Death Dealer battalion executive officer the minute she’d met him. Five minutes was all it had taken to turn that dislike into active loathing.
    “I need the files on Captain Marshall.”
    “Again, Major Denis, I’m not sure how you think this works but I deal with your battalion commander on these things.”
    He cleared his throat, shifting in his chair. “I’m working legal actions for the battalion commander. I’m trying to get caught up on the legal situation before the briefing.”
    Olivia felt the anger start to simmer someplace deep inside of her. “I’m under specific orders to deal only with commanders on several of these cases. This is one of them. So while I appreciate your desire to get caught up—” and she made air quotes around “caught up” to emphasize her point just in case he missed it—“I’m not giving you those files.”
    Denis’s face darkened as a flush crept up his neck. “Fine. We’ll see what the boss says about this. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to know how you’re negatively impacting the processing of legal actions.”
    Olivia set the water bottle down roughly and stood. “Don’t threaten me,” she said quietly. “I’m the very last person you’re going to swell up on and try to intimidate. And if you don’t like the way I’m doing my job, go find someone who gives a damn, because I’m not the one.”
    Denis stood and leaned over her desk, trying to force her to either sit down or step back. She did neither. “You think you can come down here and just run things the way you want? We do things differently down here. You’d better learn that.”
    She stood her ground, refusing to back down. She glanced over his shoulder at the man who’d just stepped into the doorway. “Captain Teague, did you need something?”
    Ben stared hard at Denis quietly, but Olivia could see the barely restrained violence in his stillness. Without taking his eyes off Denis, he pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. “Just need a few minutes of your time,