He reached into his pocket, pulling out a gold money clip holding fifty hundred-dollar bills, tossing five notes onto the hardwood floor at my feet:
*FLUMP.*
“Here’s five hundred dollars, Carly.
Take your broom, take your little girl, and get off my property before I have the sheriff arrest you for criminal trespass.”
*TACK.*
*TACK.*
*TACK.*
The sound of hand-welted naval leather bridge boots stepping through the pulverized oak splinters of the entrance was unhurried, rhythmic, and concussive.
Walking through the breach behind the tactical stack…
Wearing his full service dress blue uniform, his four solid-silver stars catching the remaining downlights, his broad chest covered in ten dense rows of decorations including the Navy Cross with gold star, the Silver Star with two oak leaf clusters, and the Distinguished Service Medal…
