General Ryan Miller was interrupted from his late afternoon bourbon by a frantic knocking on his door.

“Come in,” he stated pleasantly.

He saw his secretary, Penelope bustle through the door with a wild look in her eyes.

“What is it, Penelope?” he queried, already losing patience.

“Uh… Your daughter is on line one. She doesn’t seem pleased,” Penelope slurred the words together, forcing Ryan to focus on each syllable.

“Shit,” he said, knowing his daughter would have a lot to say about and very little would be good.

Ryan swallowed the contents of his highball and sat up straighter in his chair. He reached for the phone only to notice something moving, more like twitching out of the corner of his eye. Penelope. She was bouncing from foot to foot, futzing her hands around. She was obviously uncomfortable.

“You may leave, Penelope,” Ryan sighed out.

“Thank you, sir. Goodbye, sir.” Then she rushed out the door.

Ryan glanced back at the phone, considering just ignoring it and avoiding the call altogether. A spark of regret forced him to do the opposite.

He answered.

“Hello, Suzy Que,” he spoke lightheartedly. He had always called her that, and she’d always hated it. It brought a bit of joy to him though, so he continued to use it.

“Hah. Don’t fucking start with that shit dad,” she responded.

Ryan took a deep breath. No one dared to speak to him like that. He was a damn general after all. Most people skittered around him anxiously like Penelope. But not his daughter. His daughter was an absolute force to be reckoned with, a force Ryan found himself intimidated by. If he wasn’t on the receiving end, he might have been impressed.

“Suzanne, show your father some respect,” he grumbled.

“That’s rich. Show some respect coming from the cheating bastard I have to call my father. Don’t push me, dad. I’m already in a foul mood,” Suzanne seethed.

Ryan gripped the phone tighter as the horrific memories tore through his mind. He had cheated on his wife, lost his family and for what? All for a woman who had deceived him with power and beauty but remained ultimately superficial throughout their years together.

“Suzanne. Please, not this again,” he sighed.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Fine. I didn’t call to berate you about that anyways,” Suzanne conceded.

“Why did you call?”

“Dad, what the fuck is going on with this war? Don’t bullshit me, either because I know your tells,” she spoke in a way that screamed no-bullshit would be accepted.

Ryan clenched his fist but remained silent. He didn’t know how to approach the topic. He had signed countless NDAs revolving around the war and even though a part of him wanted to tell his own daughter, he knew he couldn’t.

“You know I can’t do that, Suzanne,” he finally whipered.

“Ha. Of fucking course, you’re sworn to secrecy. Here I was thinking this one time you’d help me. Obviously I was wrong, never mind!”

“Suzanne, you know that I can’t tell you. It’s part of the job,” he spoke with a regretful tone.

A distinct sob tore through the phone.

“Suzanne, kiddo, what’s wrong?!” Ryan suddenly felt vulnerable and weak hearing those cries. He’d always hated making her cry.

“Dad, Gabe just moved to Caledorn, to the western border…” She choked out the words, “He hasn’t been responding to my messages and I think he… he might be dead.”

Ryan’s face was drained of all color. He had met Gabe. He wasn’t aware he had moved to Caledorn, nor that he was on the western side of the country. Ryan knew if he hadn’t gotten out, there was a high chance he was dead.

“Suzanne,” he began. He then paused to organize his thoughts. “I’m sure he’s okay. The Remdian military has specific orders, and I’m sure he wasn’t caught up in it. That’s all I can say.”

She let out a wry laugh. “Remember when I said I could read your tells?”

“Suzanne,” he started, trying to defend himself.

“No. Fuck you, dad. You know he’s dead and now you’re just trying to placate me. Why? I don’t know. But I do know I’m fucking done. I hope you’ve found peace with this war, because from down here it just looks like senseless murder.”

With that she hung up.

Ryan sat with the phone still up against his ear staring at the wall across from him. Once again, he’d let down his only child. Once again, he’d tried to lie his way out of a difficult situation and been caught in the act.

He slammed the phone down, annoyed beyond belief at the turn of his day. He stood up with a start and began pacing around the lavish office.

“Can I call in a favor and have someone check on Gabe? Can I check on him myself? How do I fix this?” he mumbled to himself.

A quiet knock on his door pulled him from his atrocious ideas. He patted down his hair and attempted to quell his inner turmoil.

“Come in,” he called out, standing nonchalantly by the window.

He didn’t bother to look away from the Remdian skyline as his visitor entered the room. He had an image to uphold after all.

“Ryan,” a familiar voice stated. A voice Ryan was hoping not to hear that day, making him grit his teeth in response.

“Ryan, we’ve got word from the teams invading on foot and by tank. They’ve managed to secure the entirety of Norvern, the largest city in the west. We’re moving at a rapid pace, shall we move towards the capital now?”

“No,” Ryan stated without hesitation. “Station troops to hold the city then move to the north and south. We will want the capital surrounded before we attempt a takeover.”

“Yes, sir.”

The door opened and shut quickly after that. Ryan never looked away from the city.

He grabbed his cell phone and dialed a number he hadn’t thought about in a long time.

“Is this good ol’ Ry calling lil ol’ me. Must be important,” the receiver answered with a chuckle.

“Yeah, Mort, I need a favor,” Ryan conceded.

“This outta be good. Where’s the body?” Mort cackled.

Ryan sighed, one of his best friends from a dark time in his life, Mort Callahan, still hadn’t changed. He was renowned for his ability to be stealthy and play both sides of the law and Ryan needed him to find someone, even it was just their corpse.