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“Why?”
“I’m the captain, the head coach, the commander. I’m responsible for what goes wrong.”
Be
“Of course,” he said, and they went through their water drill again, leaving Be
No time like the present. “I read that about a cadet who died during SEAL training. What happened?” Be
David fell silent for a moment. “You know about that?”
Be
“I don’t want to talk about that now. This isn’t the time or the place.”
“Why not?”
“You’re barely conscious.”
“Hey. Tell me.”
Be
“Well, Cadet Wellington collapsed and died at one of our exercises, during Hell Week, which is the last week of training before graduation. Cadet Wellington was under my command.”
“What did he die of?”
“A heart attack. A defect of the mitral valve, which burst under the strain.”
“No one knew?”
“No one knew, not even Wellington. It was congenital. No exam revealed it, preinduction. Only an ECT would have given any sign of it, and they’re not required as part of our physical. His dad was a big cheese at the Pentagon, and they charged me.”
“I see.” Be
“Once the whole medical history came to light, yes.”
Be
“Yes.”
“Nothing unusual about the exercise?”
“Standard for SEALs.”
Be
“Right.”
“Because you felt responsible.”
“I was responsible. I am responsible.”
Be
“No.”
“Are they suing you, civilly?”
“No.”
Be
There was silence.
Be
David’s face had darkened, his lips unmoving. He was looking out the window, but there was nothing to see this high up except the red brick of the building across the street and the slowly setting sun. Be
“Am I right, David?”
He swung his head from the window and fixed Be
“You suffer, and you don’t have to. Life isn’t about pain. It’s about joy. With the occasional threat of litigation.”
David didn’t smile.
“Did you like training cadets, before?”
“Loved it.”
“If it hadn’t happened, would you still be doing it?”
“Sure.”
Be
“I don’t know.”
“David.” Be
“I wish I could believe that.”
Be
“Be
And her thoughts floated back to the clouds.
39
Yeah!” “Hurray!” “Welcome back, Be
“Boss! You’re back!” Carrier yelled, and Murphy was right behind her.
“Be
DiNunzio was wet-eyed. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Be
“Thanks, DiNunzio,” Be
“Wow!” Be
“That was a sneak preview. I don’t go back for another week,” David answered with a laugh, and Julien stepped forward and gave Be
“I am so sorry,” Julien said into her ear, and she hugged him back.
“Forget it, and remember your promise, right? One year?”
Julien released her. “Six months, you got it.”
Suddenly Julien was pushed aside by Sam, who held two huge bouquets, one of red roses and another of white sweethearts. “Honey, you’re home! Take these!”
“Flowers?” Be
“Please.” Sam sniffed. “The red dozen are mine. The sweethearts are from Chief Judge Kolbert.”
“The chief?” Be
“And that’s not all, folks!” Sam extracted an envelope from the inside pocket of his custom blazer and handed it to Be
“What?” Be
“Ask the femmes,” Sam answered, pointing at the associates.
Carrier gestured behind her, to a wall of boxes. “Well, those boxes are the new documents and files from St. Amien amp; Fils, and those next to it are from LensCo, and next to those are files from Tumflex, and the four on top are from FitCo.” She took a breath, and Murphy took over.
“The boxes against the wall are from Reiss, Inc., those by the coffee table are from CoreMed, and the last two are from MedLens and Cho amp; Company. They overflowed both conference rooms and all of our offices, so that’s why they’re here.” Murphy gri
Be
“Sure,” Murphy answered. “Just like you taught us. We’ve prepared fifty-five complaints for the class-action plaintiffs, all waiting for your signature. And in two weeks, with your approval, we file a motion to be appointed as lead plaintiff. We’re a shoo-in.”
“We’re on the move!” Carrier joined in. “And we need Marie back and two more secretaries and at least another investigator until Lou gets well. We need staff! Warm bodies! Help!”
Mary nodded beside them. “I hired a contract paralegal on Brandolini, but it will take me months to read through all the documents I got from the War Department. And the Circolo raised twenty-five grand in donations, a big hunk from a car dealership in South Philly. So now we’re paying for ourselves and then some!”