She knew there were deployments Jessica could never discuss.
Beyond that, Patricia lived with fragments.
Flight delays without destinations.
Phone calls at strange hours.
Long silences.
A scar Jessica dismissed as “work.”
A funeral Jessica attended without explaining the connection.
Patricia had learned not to ask questions that could not be answered.
Now a captain was humiliating Jessica publicly.
And Jessica was still telling her mother to wait.
That required trust.
Crawford interpreted Patricia’s silence as proof.
“Exactly,” he said.
Patricia glared at him.
“Exactly what?”
“You don’t even know what your daughter is doing.”
Patricia almost laughed.
“You’re right about one thing.”
Crawford frowned.
“What?”
“I don’t know everything she does.”
Jessica closed her eyes for one brief second.
Her mother continued.
“But I know enough to tell you that you’re making a terrible mistake.”
The Marines nearest them became quieter.
Crawford did not.
