“You helped him cover it up,” I said.

Claire closed her eyes.

“Yes,” she said.

The word was small, but it filled the room.

“When the audit notice came last month, Andrew panicked,” she said.

“I helped him write the fake correspondence.”

“I used your old signature from the family letters to forge the authorization forms.”

“We needed the audit to pass.”

“If Andrew got the command, he could write off the discrepancies as administrative errors.”

“He told me that once he was in charge, the paper trail would disappear.”

“We just needed to get through this week.”

“We just needed Emily to stay away.”

My father let out a long, slow breath through his nose.

He looked like a man who had watched his home burn to the ground.

“You forged your sister’s name,” my father said.

“To steal from her while she was in a war zone.”

“Andrew said she would never find out,” Claire sobbed, the tears finally spilling over.

“He said she didn’t care about the money anyway.”

“He said she lived in barracks and ate mess hall food.”