Requiem for a Soldier (Requiem #1)

Chapter 10: Revelations

April 9

Ryan

"You what?" Ana breathes. Her eyes are saucers.

I hadn't planned to tell her about the scene I found in the woods, but I also couldn't come up with an explanation for the firearms that would satisfy her.

"It was last week. I found a helicopter about fifteen miles from here. I think it's the one you came from. You had a bump on your head when I found you. Somehow you escaped the crash with just that injury and made it here."

Telling Ana this bold-faced lie is much harder than I would have expected it to be. I hate deceiving her. She deserves the truth. But if I've learned anything about Ana over the last three weeks, it's that she can't handle this truth. It's a blessing she doesn't remember the incident on her own.

"Why did it crash?" she asks.

"It's hard to tell. The news said it was probably bad weather." Another blatant lie.

Ana's face goes from pale to white.

"It was on the news?"

She looks like she's about to collapse. I wonder if she might have another panic attack. That thought prompts me to speak before thinking.

"Yeah, but it's fine. They reported that you died in the crash too. Everyone thinks you're dead. When I ordered this stuff, I heard about the crash being on the news, since it wasn't very far from here."

"You told someone about me?"

"No." I pause. "Well, he knows there's a woman here, but he didn't put two and two together. I doubt he will. My brother's an idiot. But even if he did, he doesn't want anyone to know about me. He's not going to tell anyone about you."

Ana stares at me. "I thought you said you were hiding from your family up here. Why does your brother know?"

I feel my stomach sinking into my feet. "My family does know that I'm here, but they're the only ones."

"So why are you hiding up here instead of living with them? What is wrong with you? Do you have any idea what I'd give to be able to see my family again, just once? You have a family, and look at all they're doing for you! Surely if they're willing to go to all this trouble of keeping you supplied up here, they'd be able to help you keep a low profile back home. Besides, who cares about some guy who almost died in Afghanistan years and years ago? Why do you need to hide here?"

I don't say anything. So much for her not asking questions about things I don't like speaking about.

"Who are you, really?" she asks, her gaze intense, her eyes boring into mine.

I look down at the table. I don't suppose I have much reason to keep this from her. At first I thought she would tell people about me for the money and fame that information could get her. Now I know that she's interested in neither. I don't really know why I haven't already told her. Maybe it's because she's the first person aside from the guys in the military who didn't treat me differently because they knew who my family was. I liked being just Ryan, not the celebrity, not the person my parents were trying to force me to be.

"Answer me," Ana says, smacking the table with her hand. I look back up at her. She looks angry, but I can still see the paleness in her face from the shock of my revelation about the helicopter. I can't keep lying about this to her. I sigh.

"Do you ever watch reality TV?" I ask.

She looks completely thrown off guard. "What? I - no," she says, her expression becoming confused.