Free Apocalypse Burning by Mel Odom

own. And if he gets a judgment against you, you could end up paying him for the rest of your lives.”
    Megan tried to understand all the ramifications. How could everything she and Goose had worked for be taken from them so easily? It wasn’t fair. But she knew judgments like that happened. She’d seen court cases in the news where events had gone exactly as Benbow was describing them.
    Only those people deserved what they got. Didn’t they? Megan forced herself to calm down. “Even if Fletcher got all that, Goose and I aren’t rich. There’s some money, enough to make our lives comfortable, but not enough to interest somebody like this Flynn.”
    “Flynn considers you a stepping-stone. If he gets a judgment against you, he gets a shot at the army. He’s going to try to prove that the post was culpable in the civil matter as well. If Fort Benning hasn’t built a strong enough case against you, he might make it stick.”
    “And if Flynn is successful against me and the army? What does he get?”
    “I don’t know.” Benbow shrugged. “That’s what everyone at the post—and higher up in the military circles—is concerned about. With the present hysteria in the country, with so many people feeling that the disappearances are somehow related to what the American military has done globally, or with President Fitzhugh’s current political stance, a civilian jury could find against Fort Benning. It’s possible they could grant the Fletchers hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in damages.” Benbow paused. “I’ve heard a rumor that Flynn is willing to settle out of court for one hundred million dollars.”
    Disbelief swept through Megan with paralyzing force. “Because I kept Gerry Fletcher in the hospital without his parents’ knowledge—for an hour?”
    “It was,” Benbow said, “the last hour they would have spent with their son.”
    “They didn’t know that then.” Pain replaced the disbelief as she gazed at the young lieutenant. “ I didn’t know that then. I spent the last hour when I could have been playing with my youngest son trying to help Gerry.”
    “I know that.”
    “I gave up that time with Chris.” Saying her son’s name somehow made Boyd Fletcher’s case against her even more hideous. Megan made a fist and pressed it against her mouth in an attempt to control her warring emotions. “I kissed my baby good night and left him. He didn’t want me to go.”
    Chris’s voice haunted her. “I’m just going to sleep for a little while, Mommy, so you can come and get me soon.” Sweet and delicate, despite the fact that he hadn’t wanted to be left in the care center, Chris had curled up, closed his eyes, and pretended to be fast asleep.
    Megan felt her heart break all over again. “I’m never going to see my baby again in this world.”
    “You don’t know that,” Benbow said. “A lot of people are working on what caused the disappearances. Maybe those people, maybe your son, can be brought back.”
    Shaking her head, Megan said, “They’re not coming back. Ever.” Her eyes burned with unshed tears. “See? You don’t even understand what’s happened.”
    “Nobody does,” Benbow agreed. “Not yet, anyway. But we will.”
    Megan wanted to curse and scream. That was something she hadn’t often done. She was so mad and so hurt she trembled and thought she was going to be sick. Jerking her gaze from Benbow, trying desperately to remember that although he wore that uniform, he wasn’t really part of the vast machine presently arrayed against her, she peered through the truck’s windshield.
    Is that what this is coming to, God? she demanded. Is this what You want to do? To tear me completely down? Because if that’s what You’re all set to do, it’s working. How much do You think I have left to give? How much more do You think I can take? She tightened her grip on the steering wheel and tried to hold the tears back. But she couldn’t.
    “Megan—,” Benbow