Cole watched him carefully.
“I saw your name on the event poster,” Raymond continued. “It bothered me. I couldn’t place it.”
“Names are common.”
“Not all of them come with the same story.”
Cole’s jaw tightened.
“What story?”
Raymond looked toward the crowded entrance.
“Years ago, I heard about a patrol that got caught in a terrible situation outside Fallujah. One soldier was wounded, another was trapped, and the radio was barely working. A young corporal stayed behind long enough to help get the others out.”
Cole said nothing.
“The story I heard was that the corporal injured his knee during the evacuation. He refused to leave until the last man was moving.”
Cole stared at him.
Raymond continued quietly.
“I never knew his full name. But I remember somebody saying Mercer.”
The gym noise seemed to fade.
For a moment, Cole was no longer standing beneath fluorescent lights. He was back in the dust, hearing Daniel Reeves shouting over the noise, feeling the ground tremble beneath him.
