The Colonel's Daughter Is Gone novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: Departures

"Did the sergeant get you to the airport?" Rodney asked.

His voice was warm.

It always was when he thought he had won.

"He did," I said.

"Good. Once you two are settled in Alaska, I'll book you a weekend at a spa. You can both stop acting like it's a funeral."

I looked down at the boarding pass in my hand.

London Heathrow, gate 24.

"I hear you," I said.

"That's what I like to hear. See how easy it is when you stop fighting me?" He sounded pleased with himself. "I'm at Columbia now with Alana, finishing the paperwork. When the base settles down I'll come up and see you. Put Hattie on."

I handed her the phone.

Hattie held it a few inches from her ear.

"Listen to me," he said, loud enough for me to hear every word. "Drop the attitude. Work hard up there, and learn something. You might even do some good for your country."

"Dad, I'm not going to be a nurse," she said.

She said it softly, almost kindly.

Rodney roared.

"Hattie Rainey, don't you dare back out now! I have pulled every application you ever sent. Every single one! If you refuse Alaska, you can spend your life frying burgers, because no college in America will touch you!"

People in the departures hall turned to look.

Hattie waited until he ran out of air.

"Walk off that plane," he said, lower, "and as of today you are no daughter of mine. Don't come crawling back to me when you have nowhere to go."

My daughter's hand did not shake.

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