Cindy Gerard

KILLING TIME

There can be no other dedication: To the men and women of the U.S. military, for all the reasons we know and all the reasons we will never know.

And to Kayla, Blake, Lane, and Hailey. You bless my life with untold riches.

One-Eyed Jack: \w

Noun: 1: being, of, pertaining to, a face card or cards on which the figure is shown in profile, such cards being the jack of spades, the jack of hearts. 2: a loner who has a hard time trusting anyone. 3: Navy term for a greasy hamburger topped with a fried egg. Often served during midrats—midnight rations.

“Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.”

—Michel de Montaigne, February 28,1533–September 13, 1592

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