She paused.
“And you never had the right to take it.”
Carter nodded.
There was still distance between them.
There should have been.
Forgiveness was not something Carter could demand.
Lena would decide whether she could ever offer it.
But the name was hers again.
Not because the Army approved it.
Not because Carter returned the tag.
Not even because a new investigation cleared Michael Brooks.
It was hers because it had always been hers.
Her father's name had survived twenty years of silence, a flawed report, fear, ambition and shame.
Carter had once tried to take that name away from her in front of thirty soldiers.
In the end, he could not.
No one could.
Lena turned toward the door.
Behind her, Carter remained where he was.
The past had finally been brought into the light.
And for the first time in twenty years, Michael Brooks's name no longer needed anyone to defend it.
It could simply be remembered.