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“No,” General Winter agreed, and a faint shadow came over his features. “But there have been complaints about him in the past. Never this egregious, or you would have never met him in the first place. But let’s just say that between a suggestive history and now two eyewitnesses? I wonder if, when this becomes public, we might not find a few more coming forth.”

“Jesus Christ,” Carter muttered, feeling like the earth had slipped from beneath his chair.

“You can thank him if you wish,” General Winter said, and Cartersworehe heard amusement in his voice. “And while you’re at it, I would pass a word of thanks to Private King, who took a great risk stepping forward and telling the truth. And should you find out who breathed a word to her over this private matter, thank them as well. Oh, and spare thanks for Staff Sergeant Marshall while you’re at it.”

Thatgot Carter’s attention. “What? He can’t stand me either!”

“Staff Sergeant Marshall is a hard man, and he doesn’t tolerate trouble on this base, which is precisely why I placed him where he is. But he’s a fair man.” General Winter frowned.“That does not mean he is not capable of making mistakes. His willingness to make quick judgments and stick with them is one reason, along with other traits, that he leads our policing force. That said, it does…lend a certain quickness to judging people unfairly as well.”

“No kidding,” Carter muttered, not wanting to interrupt the general but unable to help himself.

The general snorted. “Indeed. And hopefully, he’s learned a lesson from all this. As I said, he’s a fair man underneath it all, and after a newfound wealth of information, his opinion changed.”

Carter straightened. “Information? What information?”

“Now, I’m not quite sure where he attained the information, but he provided me with a few...interesting tales of things you’ve done outside this base. Enough to know this is not your first time defending someone at great risk to yourself, nor is it your first time dealing with,” General Winter’s lip curled in distaste, “such ugly situations either.”

Marco. It had to be Marco who had told Marshall about the woman on the street. It was the only way the man would know. No one had identified him, and no cops had ever shown up to confirm. The only source of the information had been Marco.

“Oh, what I would give to know what realization just struck you,” General Winter said with a wry smile.

“I’m...I’m cleared?” Carter asked in sudden understanding.

“Technically, I’m the one who determines if the charges are valid and sends my decision for a hearing up the chain. And I’ve determined, from all the evidence put forth, that you are, in fact, innocent of the charges. After this meeting, you will leave this building and no longer need a cell,” General Winter informed him.

“Holy shit,” Carter whispered.

“Holy shit,” General Winter agreed, smiling brilliantly.

“I thought…” Carter began, shaking his head.

General Winter continued to smile. “I know what you thought. And I’m glad you were wrong. Just as I’m glad I was right about your being here.”

Carter blinked. “Sir?”

“I have found that I have a very good sense of people, even those I’ve never met. This isn’t always true. One need only look at Sergeant Reynolds to see how I can easily miss things. Yet, when I’m right, I am completely and totally on the nose. When I caught wind of your predicament, pushed around from place to place, causing trouble wherever you went, I realized I wanted you here.”

“Why?”

“Because I had a good feeling about you. There was no way someone as apparently difficult as you could have worked well with different teams like you had. And I’ll be honest,” General Winter said with a smirk, “if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that the men other Generals, or those further up the line of command, don’t want to deal with are those I want here.”

“Are you insane?” Carter asked, blanching when the words hit his ears.

To his surprise, General Winter chuckled. “Possibly. Christian has certainly accused me of it before.”

Carter squinted. “Christian, sir?”

General Winter tapped his ring finger on the desk, earning a knock as the metal band hit the wood. Carter blinked. He hadn’t even noticed the nondescript band on the man’s hand when he entered.

Carter took a deep breath, hesitated, then held his lips together. He didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth or shoot it in the foot by voicing the burning question in his throat.

General Winter, however, tilted his head. “Speak freely. You’re practically exploding from holding yourself back.”

“It’s just,” Carter said, forcing himself to hold the older man’s gaze. “If you wanted me here, if you thought I could do well here because you thought I was good…why Marshall? Why Reynolds? Why never say a word to me the entire time I was here until the shit hit the fan…sir?”

For a moment, Carter feared he’d gone too far and that his reprieve would be ripped out from under him. The soft lines on General Winter’s face deepened, and the blue of his eyes turned to ice. Then his shoulders fell, and Carter realized he wasn’t seeing anger, not at him anyway, but something directed inward.

“Staff Sergeant Marshall made an error of judgment, and we’ve talked about that,” General Winter explained. “That aside, the rest of the situation rests on my shoulders. I did not see Sergeant Reynolds for what he was, and looking back at the signs, in the chaos that often bubbles beneath the surface of running Fort Dale, I missed a particularly rotten tree in the forest. I have no one to blame for how long he was allowed to run free or for the damage he caused but myself.”