JAK. I sat in the driveway with the window down. Waiting had never been one of my strengths. I stared into the passenger seat at the photo album from my past. Reluctantly, I opened the cover. My last entry, a series of photographs of Graham and I before and after our pre-Navy haircuts was on the page facing me. On the top of the page, long locks of each of our hair taped against the page with twenty-year-old Scotch tape. We had each saved them as a reminder of our friendship. Who would have guessed then how useful they would become later. I felt my heart rate increase as the Commander’s car slowly entered the drive. As he cautiously inched his vehicle beside me, he rolled his window down and remained in the car.

Resolving the mystery and moving forward with my life was something I felt I desperately needed to allow me to find peace. Attempting to make sense of everything and fully understanding it would certainly be impossible. Proceeding with living life and allowing myself to heal from the wounds of my past would provide me with a comfort twenty years of fighting could not.

“Kennedy, I’m going to remain in the vehicle. I have no idea where your head is right now,” he explained as he leaned out of the window.

“Match?” I asked.

He nodded his head.

“Positive?” I asked.

I knew a DNA match would be positive. I needed to hear it.

“That’s affirmative, Kennedy. It’s a match. Father-daughter, no doubt,” he nodded.

“Toss it in the window, Commander,” I sighed.

I stared down into my lap. As tears welled in my eyes, I realized I was beginning to cry for more than one reason. Filled with emotion and free of sleep for almost seventy-two hours, I was on the verge of a breakdown; but the tears came naturally from two simultaneous feelings. Love and pain. As the envelopes and a plastic packet landed in the seat beside me, I stared at the thighs of my jeans. His stern voice caused me to look his direction.

“We done here, Kennedy?” he asked.

I cleared my throat. A single tear dripped down my cheek, “Jak, Commander. Remember?”

“Glad you’re back, Jak,” he said as he opened his car door.

“I’ve got to hop on a bird and get back to Wichita. This investigation is almost over, but we’re done here,” I said as he leaned in the window of the car.

Another tear worked its way alongside my nose and collected on my upper lip. Yet another followed. Still focused on me, and never having seen emotion from me whatsoever, his eyes widened.

“Jak, you need a cup of coffee? A place to sleep?” he asked.

“No sir,” I responded as I shifted the car in reverse.

“I need to pick a girl up off the floor until her legs dangle,” I smiled as I wiped the tears from my eyes.

“Fair enough,” he grinned.

He had made the statement many times over the years. I’ve always said we mimic those we admire. I pressed my foot firmly on the brake and smiled the best I was able.

“Fair enough,” I repeated.

As he stood from the car window, I backed out of the driveway. Sitting in the street, I shifted the car into drive and held my foot on the brake as I lifted the DNA test and envelopes from the seat and dropped them into the bag. As difficult as it was for me to accept or understand, I now knew the answer to my little mystery. The top envelope was clearly marked by my hand writing. The name I had scribbled onto it before giving it to the Commander, without a doubt, was Karter’s father.

Graham.