Authors: CG Cooper
Papal Justice (29 page)
Cal’s head lifted and he said, “It should have been me.”
Zimmer didn’t know what to say, so he just stood there.
“He was all the family I had left,” Cal went on. “He was the best of us, better than me. He knew right from wrong. He knew what to do no matter the situation. It should have been ME.”
And with that, Cal left the room, leaving only silence behind him.
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Daniel followed at a respectful distance. President Zimmer and Diane were already outside, trying to get Cal to come back, but Cal wouldn’t listen. Daniel knew why.
He joined Zimmer and Diane.
“Is he going to be okay?” Diane asked.
“It’ll take time,” Daniel answered.
“He said he was leaving,” Diane sobbed. “He said I should forget about him.”
Daniel nodded, his eyes watching as Cal took the dirt path that wound up to the private cemetery. Travis was now buried there. But it wasn’t the first time Cal had lost someone special to him. He’d lost his parents on 9/11, the tragedy that had sent him running to the Marine Corps. Then he’d lost his fiancée. Jessica was also buried in the cemetery overlooking the 2,000 acre SSI campus. And now he’d lost Travis. As far as Cal could see, his world was gone. It didn’t matter that he was surrounded by friends that loved him. For all intents and purposes, he was standing in a barren field bereft of love and companionship.
“I’ll take care of him,” Daniel said, stepping off the stairs and onto the dirt path below.
“You’ll make sure he’s okay?” Zimmer asked.
Daniel turned, looked at them both, and nodded. Then he picked his way up the path, ever Cal’s faithful shadow.
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