Chapter 5 - THE LETTER CHLOE READ AT SEVENTEEN
Chloe called before the board responded.
She sounded furious.
“You went to lawyers before talking to me?”
“I talked to you on the lawn.”
“In front of everybody.”
“You laughed while your fiancé shoved me.”
Silence.
Then Chloe said, “I didn’t know he was going to touch you.”
Zariah almost believed that part.
Almost.
“Tell me about the letter.”
Chloe stopped breathing audibly.
Zariah waited.
At seventeen, Chloe had found the footlocker while looking for a formal dress.
She opened it.
Inside, she found the letter Zariah had written to Richard Hale.
It described Owen’s final evacuation.
His burned glove.
The ridiculous joke he made about his father criticizing the medics’ technique.
The tag he placed in Zariah’s hand.
The fact that he was not alone.
Chloe read it.
Then put it back.
Years later, when Marcus began pitching Homefront Landing, Chloe remembered the letter.
Marcus needed a personal connection to veteran recovery.
Chloe wanted his project to succeed.
She told him Zariah had been a combat medic.
Eventually she showed him documents.
Then the letter.
“He said Owen’s story could get Colonel Hale’s attention.”
Zariah closed her eyes.
“And you let him use it?”
“We weren’t selling T-shirts.”
“You were asking for money.”
“For housing.”
“With my name.”
Chloe’s voice cracked.
“You never did anything with it.”
Zariah opened her eyes.
There was the sentence she would remember longest.
“You had this whole incredible story sitting in a box. You wouldn’t speak at events. You wouldn’t meet veteran groups. You wouldn’t even tell Mom what actually happened over there.”
“So you decided the story was wasted on me?”
“I decided maybe something good could come from it.”
Zariah leaned against the kitchen counter.
Chloe had not stolen the story because she hated veterans.
She stole it because she believed unused pain became public property.
The justification was almost worse than greed.
Before ending the call, Chloe said one more thing.
“Marcus said you knew.”
Zariah looked at the donor materials again.
May you like
“Then why did he need my forged signature?”
Chloe had no answer.
