Chapter 1 - The baton
My name is Lisa Carter.
Before I married Ryan Carter, I was Lisa Whitmore.
That surname meant something in military circles because my father, James Whitmore, had retired as a two-star Army general.
I spent most of my adult life trying to make sure it meant as little as possible in mine.
I was twenty-nine.
A civilian.
A compliance analyst for a defense-support contractor.
No uniform.
No rank.
No salute owed to me.
That afternoon, I was standing in my mother-in-law’s living room when Evelyn Carter struck me across the face with a ceremonial Army baton.
Not a combat weapon.
A polished presentation piece.
Wood and metal.
Heavy enough to hurt.
She had kept it on the mantel for years.
The baton had belonged to her late husband, Colonel Thomas Carter.
Evelyn raised it because I told her:
“I sent the contract files to outside counsel.”
Her face changed.
Then came:
“You should’ve remembered who outranks you!”
The baton hit me.
May you like
I went down.
And my husband watched.
