I clicked the transaction ledger tab to go over the monthly direct deposit records.

Five electronic wire transfers had gone through between June and September, sending money out to some outside bank.

I stared at the laptop screen, which showed a zero balance in my deployment savings account.

I lowered the laptop lid slowly so the little plastic hinge wouldn’t click in the dark.

At seven the next morning, the downstairs smelled of dark roast coffee and toasted cinnamon bread when I reached the bottom of the stairs.

Vance sat in my grandfather’s carved oak armchair at the head of the dining table, his boots resting on the wooden rung.