Home to Stay (The Long Road Home #2) - Maryann Jordan Page 0,30
and stay with my grandparents. When I was thirteen, my dad was killed in an accident during a training maneuver and I moved here permanently with my grandparents. I was lucky to have them in my life. But like many, I was anxious to chart my own way and joined the Army right out of high school. After a couple of years, I was accepted into Special Forces Preparation Course.”
Mace’s lips curved slightly, and John grinned. “It’s my understanding that you were Special Forces, so I’m sure you know this part of my story. SF Assessment and Selection and SFQC. After the year of Qualification Course, I graduated and became the Eighteen C.”
Mace nodded. “Build it, demolish it.”
“Yes, sir—Mace. I was lucky. Had a career I loved and was SF for twelve of my sixteen years.”
“I won’t ask you about duties or missions, well acquainted with all of those. But I am curious about your discharge.”
“It was the last mission I was on. I’d managed the demolition with no problem, but one of my team members was injured, and I went to help. An IED exploded near us, and I took a hit on the left side of my face with shrapnel. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad, but it was the placement of the injury. I had a few pieces in my eye.” He lifted his hand, his fingers touching the already-familiar scars. “I was temporarily blinded but was helicoptered out and lucky to have an ophthalmologic surgeon to save my sight.” He shrugged, but sat up straight, holding Mace’s gaze. “But I have no peripheral vision in my left eye on that side.” He lifted his hand in front of him and slowly moved it toward the left, stopping at a seventy-five-degree angle from his face. “I can see to here, and from then on to my shoulder is black.”
Mace held his gaze, saying nothing for a moment, then nodded slowly. “You would be a liability to your SF team without your full vision.”
Mace’s words were completely true. John knew it. He understood it. That liability was the entire reason he was no longer able to serve on his SF team. It would be the reason for him to have only a desk job if he’d stayed in the Army. His mouth felt dry, and he swallowed with difficulty. He refused to look away from Mace’s close perusal, knowing that the man’s next words were probably going to tell him that his vision would be a liability in any security business and would therefore keep him from being employable with Lighthouse Security. But if that was what was going to come, he'd take it and not flinch. He’d just have to find another career. This is not going to fuckin’ define me.
As though Mace heard his thoughts, he asked, “What defines you?”
He breathed deeply, considering his response. “De Oppresso Liber.”
Mace’s lips curved. “To free the oppressed.”
“You might think I’m full of shit and feeding you a line. But for many years, the motto of the Special Forces defined me. For a couple of months, I admit I let my vision and subsequent medical discharge keep me from feeling the same sense of purpose. But the truth of the matter, Mace, is that I’m a protector at heart.”
Mace leaned back in his seat, the beer bottle dangling loosely from his fingertips, and nodded. Tension eased out of John’s body, knowing whatever Mace’s decision would be, he’d been truthful.
“My background is classified, but I can say that I struggled with a change I had to make mid-mission but knew the position I’d taken would save lives. It was on this special operation that I had the opportunity to work with a multi-agency task force of SEALs, Rangers, Deltas, Air Force Special Ops, and CIA, plus some others. I couldn’t imagine how it was going to work but discovered when egos were checked at the door, the talents and special knowledge from this diverse group of people meant that we accomplished a great deal. It became a dream of mine that when I left the Army I could replicate the idea for a private security business. It took five years, calling in markers for many of my contacts, and a lot of money to create Lighthouse Security Investigations. We run private and government contracts. We pick and choose the missions we feel are best suited for our specialties. I consider my Keepers to be the best in the business.”