Free Requiem by Jamie McGuire

mistake?”
    “ Yeah,” Bex said. “No way
could that happen. It would take at least three years for someone
like him...no education, no connections.”
    Jared opened the door with an apologetic
smile. “Hi, Baby.”
    “ Not even a note?” I asked,
wadding up the letter in my hand and tossing it in his general
direction.
    He playfully ducked, as if it were possible
that I could have hit him. “Bex was here. What’s up? I’m three
blocks away, and I’m getting all this irritation from you.”
    “ Did you know about Ryan?”
I asked.
    “ He’s still alive, I know
that,” Jared said, peeling off his coat. He hung it on the rack,
and then walked to me, kneeling beside me on the floor. “You read
the letter?”
    “ He said he’s going into
the Special Forces.”
    Jared thought for a moment, and then shook
his head. “No, the shortest time anyone has been accepted is
eighteen months in. That can’t be right.”
    “ That’s what I told her,
but she doesn’t believe me,” Bex said, rolling his eyes. He walked
over to the wadded letter and reopened it, scanning the words. “But
that’s what it says. Maybe he’s trying to impress her.”
    Jared immediately pulled out his phone and
dialed Claire’s number. Her angry tone carried into the room.
    “ He’s a maniac!” Claire
yelled. “He has zero respect for his limited lifespan and tries to
throw himself on grenades for his buddies every other day,” she
huffed.
    “ Claire…keep your voice
down,” Jared chuckled nervously. He noticed my horrified
expression, and turned his head. “You’re not serious?”
    “ I’m exaggerating, but not
by much. The grenade part is true, but that was just
once.”
    I wrapped my arms around my waist and walked
over to Bex, waiting for more bad news. Bex put his arm around me
with a light hug.
    “ He’s saved every man in
his company in one way or another. He walks around with explosives
on his back while the enemy is shooting at us. You thought your
detail was bad, this is impossible!”
    “ Great,” I said, throwing
my arms up and letting them slap to my sides.
    “ It still doesn’t explain
how he made sergeant in an impossible amount of time,” Jared
said.
    The other end of the phone was silent, and
Jared nodded, whispering something so quickly I could barely
discern his reply at all. “Okay. Watch your six,” Jared said,
flipping his phone shut. He watched me for a moment, and then
sighed. “He still has Claire, Nina. You know her…it’s like he’s in
military day care.”
    “ How did he get sergeant so
quickly?” I asked.
    Jared peered at Bex for a moment before
speaking. “It appears Colonel Brand pulled some strings. The
Special Forces guys are more familiar with how we do things, and it
made it easier for Claire to protect him.”
    “ Sending Ryan on more
dangerous missions will protect him,” I deadpanned.
    “ Well, since everyone has
bad news….” Bex said.
    “ Bex, don’t,” I said
through my teeth, but it was too late.
    “ What is it?” Jared asked,
his eyes bouncing between the two of us.
    “ Nina slept all night. She
didn’t budge until seven this morning.”
    Jared let his words sink in. It was several
moments before he moved, and then nodded. His hand searched for the
closest chair to pull beneath him. He fell into it, and stared at
the floor. “So that’s it.”
    “ Jared, that doesn’t mean
anything,” I said, reaching for him.
    He looked to his younger brother. “Now we
just have to see how far away I have to be to keep the dreams
away.”
    “ This is ridiculous!” I
said. “It’s happened three times, that isn’t a definitive trial by
anyone’s standards!”
    “ So we’ll test the theory,”
Jared said. “Starting tonight.”
    “ No,” I said, shaking my
head. “Absolutely not. I didn’t move in with you to have to sleep
alone every night.”
    “ It’s just until we figure
this out,” Jared said.
    “ No.”
    “ Yes,” Jared said, his tone
final.
    The