The Captain's Daughter (Bradley Bradshaw)

Chapter 18

Katie and Maverick went into an empty room, and she shut the door.

"Now. While I am very pissed off, I would like to calmly ask for some answers." She started off.

"I know you would. Hopefully I can give them to you." He leaned against the edge of the table.

"Why did you never come find me. Or come work things out with my mom?" She asked.

"I couldn't find her. I tried finding her on my own for 5 years, but no one would give me any answers. When I went overseas, I was too focused on other missions, that by the time I had come back, I figured she would have moved on and had s husband and more kids." He told her.

"Okay well what about when I was in the Naval Academy? You said Commander Kazansky kept tabs on me for the reason for you to know how I was doing." She pointed a finger in his direction.

"Not just for me but for-" She cut him off.

"But for my mother too, yeah I know. But why? You could have." She was getting angry.

"Well Katie, there's never really a good time to walk up to someone and say "hey you don't know me, but I'm your father." and think it's gonna go smoothly. Especially when you were with Bradley 90% of the time." He looked at her and watched her expression change.

"How did you know I was with him?" Her expression turned cold at him mentioning his name after what he did.

"I got a call one day, from Ice, and he was telling me about you after he had met you, and said that he was waiting for you outside his office. He specifically told me word for word "she's friends with him." Because I knew the "him". It was Bradley. I knew he was gonna go to the academy, so Ice watched him as well." He asked admitted.

"You don't get to call him Bradley after the shit you put him through." She sneered angrily, her voice starting to raise.

He knew what she meant by that.

"Why'd you pull his papers?" She asked.

"Well-" She cut him off angrily.

"And don't give me the shit of saying he's not ready. You and I both damn well that he's a great pilot just like his father. So why did you pull them?" She fumed.

"His mother, Katie. When Goose died I owed it to her to at least help raise Brad- Rooster. I was cleared of any wrongdoing from his death, but it killed me on the inside that he was gone, and that I was the one flying. His mother didn't want him to fly. She never wanted him to be like his father, with the fear the same outcome was going to happen. He told you I pulled his papers because I said he wasn't good enough, no, I pulled those papers because I promised his mother she would still have her son! That he wasn't going to end up like this father!" He yelled, his eyes watering.

Katie stood there in shock.

"Does he know?" She looked at him with a blank expression.

"No. That's why I told him that he wasn't good enough. I would rather take the blame for everything than have his mother be involved too. Especially when she was sick." He started to get angry.

By now she had tears in her eyes, and started nodding her head.

"So you raised a child that wasn't even yours over your own. I got it. Let me make it easy for you. When this mission is over, you'll never see me again. You can go the rest of your life without a child, because you could've told me 30 years ago that I was yours. You could've been there from when i was a kid and forced my mom to hear you out. She was stubborn, but she still had a spot for you. She would always talk about "this guy she knew" when it was you. But you helped raised a child you felt guilty for. So I'll just take myself out of your picture, that way you have no worrying to do about me anymore. And if you don't let me fly this mission because I am your daughter, and think you have the fatherly authority over me, it'll be the biggest thing you regret." She fumed very angrily.