Aftercare: General's Daughter, Book 4 (11 page)

“Would you care to enlighten me regarding the circumstances?”
Dr. Quimby asked firmly, looking at Sam.

“English class. Tolstoy.
War
and Peace
.” She shrugged.

“What about it?”

“It was an essay. She wanted to know what was discussed
between Andrew and Natasha when he rejected her. So I wrote it.”

“Verbatim?”

“Yes, sir. Of course.”

Mr. Dell raised his eyebrow; he had not seen this side of the
young girl. She actually could show some respect! How about that? “Please
continue, Miss Lewis.”

“Ms. O’Neil accused me of plagiarism. I simply quoted what
she told me to. In English and in Russian.”

“This is where the problem really began, Dr. Lewis. Ms. O’Neil
is from Moscow.”

“I don’t understand the problem.”

“Are you saying your daughter is fluent in Russian?”

“Yes, Mr. Dell. Also in French, Spanish, German and Japanese,”
the man answered clearly. “So am I. I would like to speak with this instructor,
if you don’t mind.”

“Then she hasn’t been pulling my leg?”

“My daughter is a lot of things, but she is not a liar.”

Dr. Quimby stood politely as the woman walked into the room. She
was tall, slender with mousy brown hair and thick-rimmed glasses. Mr. Dell
introduced them and Dr. Quimby requested her side of the story.

“What made you think my daughter was cheating?”

“It is impossible for anyone to quote a specific prose unless
they knew exactly what was on the test. And then she tried to repeat it in
Russian.”

“She is fluent.”

“Somewhat. That is regardless.”

“No, it is not. Do you have a copy of the book, Mr. Dell?”

“I can get one.”

“Here, Daddy. Use mine,” Sam said, relaxing in her chair. It
brought back good memories of the game they used to play when they discovered
her ability to recall.

“Thank you. Have you looked at this printing?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Mr. Dell, pick any page, any paragraph that you want. Ms.
O’Neil, please stand next to him so you can see for yourself.”

“Page 824, third paragraph from the top.”

Shrugging, Sam began to quote it effortlessly. When she
completed the paragraph, she repeated it in Russian.

“Very good, Samantha. Your accent has improved.”

“Thank you, Daddy.”

“I’ll be damned. That incredible,” Mr. Dell said. “Can we do
it again?”

“Go for it.” Dr. Quimby smiled. He used to do the same thing
and was endlessly amazed by her gift.

“I’m convinced. I’m so sorry to have bothered you,” Mr. Dell
said, dismissing the English teacher from his office.

Dr. Quimby smiled kindly. “She is an incredible little girl. We
do have our issues. I understand that she’s been quite a challenge for you.”

“She’s had a tough time here. She’s so advanced that it’s
hard to keep her interested. You should really think about testing her out of
high school and get her into college.”

“I already did. She’s got a master’s degree. I sent her here
to learn to get along with normal kids in her age group.”

“A master’s?”

“On a PhD program. Both she and her brother are Rhodes
scholars. Did some time at Oxford, even,” Dr. Quimby said proudly.

“Did you act up there, Miss Lewis?”

“Just a little. Not too much or Daddy would have killed me.”
Sam smiled at her father. Her hero.

“I do want to apologize for the headaches she’s given you. She
did speak highly of you when she shared about her difficulties here. She is a
little spoiled, my fault. I’m sorry about that.”

“No need to apologize. I’m glad to have met you. You’ve also reminded
me to never to assume the impossible. Will she be returning?”

“No, I think her work here is done. We’ll find someone else
for her to terrorize.” Dr. Quimby smiled.

Mr. Dell stood to shake his hand, then reached for the girl’s.
He was surprised by her grip. “She might consider the service. I really believe
that could help her focus. I’m prior army.”

“Been there, done that, Mr. Dell. I’m a commissioned Marine
Corps Lieutenant. It still hasn’t taught me to keep my big mouth shut. Let me
introduce myself, 1st Lieutenant Samantha Anne Quimby, Special Ops. Daddy is
really a general, as well as a doctor. We changed my name so the military kids
here wouldn’t single me out as the general’s daughter.”

Dr. Quimby nodded, seeing the man’s surprise. “Yes, it’s true.
I told you her time here would be short. It’s time for her to get back to work
and see who else she can torture. You have a good day, and thank you for
putting up with her. Daughter, to the car.”

“Yes, Father, dearest.”

Dr. Quimby put his seat belt on, held the wheel then looked
at his youngest child. “How the hell do you manage to get yourself in these
messes? We went through that exact same thing at Oxford!”

“I don’t know. Trouble follows me.”

“Yes it does. I did warn you though, what would happen if I
got called to come get you, didn’t I?”

“Daddy! This wasn’t my fault! That’s not fair.”

“Showing off? Admit it, young lady.”

“I was trying to get an A.”

“In English or in Russian?”

“On my test.”

“Smart ass.”

***

 
“It feels so good
to be back. I missed this place.” Sam twirled, entering her lab. After much
yelling and screaming, more from Michael than his sister, Dr. Quimby allowed
her to resume work the next day. By now the entire base knew about the
operation and the results. Three more men from the Armory were identified and
placed under arrest.

Jen hugged her friend happily. “I missed you so much. That
man is an absolute bear without you around! I was this close to drowning him in
the whale tank!”

Michael looked at her with a scowl. “Keep getting mouthy and
you’ll see a bear. Get your butt back to work.”

“Yeah, a polar bear.” Sam giggled. She watched her brother
return to his office. “So catch me up, you guys. What have I missed?”

“Nothing much, ma’am. Like Miss Jen said, a lot of growling
and barking from the commander. He really is at a loss without you here.” Nick
snickered, winking at her.

She tilted her head with an innocent expression. “My crew, of
course, didn’t do anything to make my absence any more difficult for him, did
they?”

“Who us? Never.” Nick grinned back.

“I owe you. You make him appreciate me more. How’s my little
fishy?” She pointed to Ton’s tank area.

Frank shuddered. “He’s been a total asshole with you gone. When
he bothers to come in, he splashes everything he can, including the crew. He
even gathered the bay’s buoys and tossed them over the wall. He made it clear
to everybody that he was not happy with the arrangement.”

“Did Michael talk with him?”

“He tried and got soaked. Even little Splasher avoided the
tank.”

“It’s so nice to be home.” Sam smiled, hugging both crewmen. “This
was one assignment I prefer never to repeat. Give me terrorists any day.”

“We heard they nearly raped you,” Nick whispered.

She nodded. “Way too close for my comfort level. It’s done
and Daddy felt so guilty he bought me three pairs of new shoes.” She giggled. “Okay,
let’s get back to work. Make sure everything stays real quiet to drive my
brother crazy.”

“It should. We were giving him fires to put out twice an hour
daily.” Frank chuckled back. “I would be lying if I said it wasn’t fun
harassing him.”

Michael sat back in his chair, watching the lab activity. Not
one problem, not one question since his sister returned. The blinds were up in
both offices so he could see they weren’t even coming to bother her. How does
she do this? He sighed; he was just happy she was back and in one piece.

Rich came over on the hopper to join the three for lunch. They
walked down the Shelter Island walkway and into the restaurant on the far side
of the bay.

“I want my coconut shrimp. I deserve something good after
putting up with Michael’s cooking the last two weeks,” Sam informed the boys.

Jen nodded. “Me too. I felt like I was being grounded too,
especially with not being allowed to see you or talk. I had major texting withdrawals!”

“I’m sorry about that, Jen. It happens with us sometimes. Speaking
of grounding, have you talked with Daddy and Uncle Scott yet about your time
with Rich?” Sam asked. She knew that incident was still bothering her brother;
along with the fact that the secret was being kept from their elders.

“I really haven’t had a chance. They left for DC right after
we got back, remember? I’ll talk with them tonight, okay?”

“The sooner, the better. They are going to be very protective
of us for a while because of this assignment. Just be prepared,” Sam informed
her.

“It seems like this assignment matured you. I’m not saying
you were immature, but you’re different.”

“She’s harder. She’ll get back to normal in a few weeks. She
killed three men. It’s her means of protection,” Michael explained.

“Rich? You’re really quiet. Are you okay?” Jen asked him,
stroking his arm.

He shook his head. “Not really. I have to process this stuff,
that’s all. I’m still feeling guilty for being so severe with you, and it’s
hard for me to accept your ability to kill.” He touched Sam’s hand.

She squeezed his back. “You know I had no choice.”

“I do. If it were Mike, I wouldn’t think anything of it. But
you…”

“I’m a girl. I understand. Daddy pointed out that there are
some things I really need to change in how I conduct myself with you guys. First,
Michael, I want to say I’m sorry.”

“For what, baby?”

“When Wilkes touched me, I should have let you step in. I saw
you move but didn’t give you a chance. Daddy showed me that it’s okay to let
you guys take care of me whenever you can.”

“It doesn’t bother me when you defend yourself,” Michael
insisted.

His sister looked directly at him. “But it bothers me when
you lie to me about it. I don’t consider you a macho man, but you are my
protector. I need to allow you to take care of me when you can. You too, Rich. I
deserved everything you gave me that night and more. I lied to you and I was
drinking and driving.”

“You were not!” Jen gasped.

Sam grimace. “I also stole Scott’s Hummer.”

“But, you were on assignment,” Jen argued. “That wasn’t fair
to punish her, Rich!”

“Neither of them knew that. I should have told you that I
needed to do something but wasn’t able to give you details just yet. That would
have been enough to make you two understand that something was up. I should
have been able to trust both of you to believe me and respect my secrecy. Especially
you, Michael. I’m so sorry, guys.”

“We’ll know better next time. Use Code – Trust Me. Let’s
just take what happened to heart and not let it happen again.” Michael smiled
sweetly, patting his sister’s hand. She met his eyes. Only he had truly felt
the terror she had faced that night. He had shared it with her, through their
weird link. Only he could truly understand that she needed time to heal. She
was grateful of the link with him. It saved her from having to verbalize her
horror out loud.

“I hope there will not be another next time,” she muttered.

“How have you been doing out of the water?” Jen asked, trying
to change the subject. She could sense the hurt the others were feeling.

“I’m going to need to take a long deep dive real soon. My
turgor is sluggish. Maybe this afternoon. Will that be okay, Mike?”

“I’ll go with you, if you like.”

“Sure. We can swim home. Rich or Jen can drive your car.”

“Sounds good to me. Here.” He handed Rich the keys, shocking
her. He NEVER let anyone drive that stupid car. “Bring Jen to the house after
you run an inspection of her room. I suspect you have been lax in your big
brother duties and let her place fall to pieces.”

“Mike!” Jen protested.

Rich laughed. “By the sound of that, a little reminder might
be in order, yes?”

“NO!” Jen huffed.

Michael chuckled. “Just remember what happens when you need
to feel better.”

“Is Scott home tonight?” Rich asked, snitching a piece of Sam’s
shrimp.

“Mine,” Sam growled, stabbing at his hand with a fork.

“Dad is picking him up at the airport right now. Be careful,
Scott is not the most pleasant of people post-conference and long flight. Especially
if…”

***

 
“There were three
screaming brats kicking my seat. We would never have put up with that type of
behavior from our kids in public. Unbelievable,” Scott complained.

“Why didn’t you fly first class?” Dr. Quimby asked.

“Fucking government screwed up my fucking reservations.”

“Oh, we are in a great mood. Do you need to stop anywhere or
do you want to go home?”

“I should go to the base.”

“Right, with the sole purpose of bullying everyone you cross.
No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. We have to deal enough with the Jenkins induced
PTSD as it is.”

“Fuck you.”

“No, thank you. You’re really not my type.” Dr. Quimby smiled
patiently. The complaints continued during the drive home and silenced only
when Scott retreated to his bedroom to change into swim trucks. Dr. Quimby
sighed, handing Scott a bottle of water as the older man settled into the hot
tub. He knew the complaining would continue for another hour and would cease
when the kids came home. Only with both of them there would life return to
normal.

“Are you listening to me?”

“I’m hearing your colorful vocabulary amidst some sporadic
information. I’m glad your niece isn’t here to learn from you.”

“That girl. Two grand to fix my truck! Did she drive it off
the side of a mountain?”

“No, just into a tree. It will be out of the shop in a few
days. Insurance covered it.”

“Fucking government should pay for it.”