“Ask.”
Daniel hesitated.
For once, he seemed unsure how to speak to her.
“What do you actually do?”
Samantha considered the question.
“For the past twelve years, I’ve worked as a civilian mission coordinator supporting joint recovery operations.”
Daniel frowned.
“Recovery meaning what?”
“Getting people home.”
“Military?”
“Sometimes.”
“Diplomats?”
“Sometimes.”
“Intelligence?”
Samantha smiled faintly.
“You’re already reaching the edge of what I can discuss.”
Daniel sat back.
Robert stared at her.
“You left the Navy for that?”
“Not exactly.”
Samantha folded her hands.
“When I was in officer training, I met a civilian assessment team working with several federal agencies. They were interested in my languages, logistics background and analytical testing.”
Margaret blinked.
“You never told us that.”
“I couldn’t tell you much at the time.”
Samantha looked at her father.
“But I did tell you I’d been offered a federal position.”
Robert’s expression tightened.
“I thought it was a desk job.”
“It was, sometimes.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is the most accurate answer you’re getting.”
For a few seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Margaret asked the question Samantha had expected all day.
“Were you ever in danger?”
Samantha’s face softened.
“Mom.”
“I need to know.”
“No,” Samantha said carefully. “You need to know whether I’m safe now.”
Margaret’s eyes glistened.
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
It was true.
Mostly.
Margaret nodded.
That answer was enough for her.
Robert remained silent.
Daniel looked down at his hands.
When he finally spoke, his voice had changed.
“So all those times I called you a dropout…”
Samantha waited.
“I thought you had just quit.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you stop me?”
“I tried. Several times.”
Daniel winced.
She wasn’t trying to punish him.
That was simply the truth.
