Page 199 of Broken Oath

Sarah looked toward him.

“And then?”

“We bring your brother home.”

Her eyes held his.

Hope moved through them.

Fragile.

Terrifying.

Alive.

19

SARAH

The warehouse had never felt so loud.

The storm hammered the walls.

Computers hummed.

Coffee steamed on the operations table.

Boots moved against concrete.

But all Sarah could hear was her heartbeat.

Wade survived.

Not necessarily until today.

She forced herself to remember that distinction.

The report proved he had survived the operation and remained alive three months later.

Nothing more.

But after five years of being told he died immediately, three months felt like a miracle.

She stared at his photograph on the monitor.

At the smile she remembered.

At the eyes that had always carried more humor than caution.

Her brother was supposed to be dead.

She had buried an empty casket.

She had listened to military officers speak about sacrifice and courage. She had accepted a folded flag while knowing something about the official account felt wrong.

For years, people told her grief had made her suspicious.

Paranoid.