Years, Not Months
Chapter 07 - Years, Not Months
Captain Reyes called two weeks after the demand letter, voice carrying the specific weight of someone who'd found more than expected.
"I pulled the full account history going back to when the power of attorney was first established," Reyes said. "The pattern didn't start with your deployment two years ago. There's an earlier account, closed and consolidated four years back, showing similar transfer patterns during your first deployment as well."
Emily sat with that, feeling the number in her chest grow heavier than the thirty one thousand dollars already had.
"How much, total, across both deployments," she asked.
"Just over forty seven thousand dollars," Reyes said. "Spanning nearly five years, not the two you initially found."
Emily thought back to her first deployment, five years earlier, remembering a much smaller allotment at the time, remembering asking her father about a modest surplus once and being told it was covering "unexpected repairs" on the family house.
"There were no unexpected repairs," she said slowly, more to herself than to Reyes. "I remember asking. I remember believing him."
"This changes the demand letter's scope considerably," Reyes said. "Five years of documented pattern strengthens the federal case substantially, if you decide to pursue it that far. It also means the restitution figure needs updating before we finalize anything with your parents' counsel."
Emily called Nia that evening, needing to say the number out loud to someone who'd understand exactly what it meant without needing extensive explanation.
"Forty seven thousand," Nia said, quiet on the other end. "Across five years. Emily, that's not a mistake anyone stumbles into. That's a system they built and maintained."
"I know," Emily said. "I keep thinking about every time I called home during that first deployment, asking simple questions about bills and repairs, and getting answers that sounded reasonable at the time. I believed every single one of them."
"You were supposed to be able to," Nia said. "That's exactly why the statute exists. Deployed soldiers can't watch their own money. The whole system depends on trusting the person you gave power of attorney to. That's not naivety, Emily. That's the system working the way it's designed, and them exploiting the exact trust it requires."
Emily thought about her own daughter, someday, if she and Daniel had children, thought about whether she'd ever trust anyone with that same kind of access again, and felt something harden in her chest that hadn't fully hardened until this exact moment.
"I want the full amount," she said. "Not because I need the money, though I do want it back. Because I want the total number on record, five years of it, so nobody in this family gets to pretend it was a one time lapse in judgment."
"Reyes will update the demand letter," Nia said. "You want to be there when it goes to your parents this time, or let it go through counsel alone."
May you like
Emily considered the question, thinking of the dock, of kneeling parents performing concern for wedding guests who'd never know the real number underneath the performance.
"Through counsel," she said. "I'm done giving them opportunities to perform their way around this. Let the paperwork speak for itself this time."
