Elites — Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Rowena runs the House, a place for homeless Sky veterans. The House, open only to the women who compose the Elite Squad, has only a few rules: No names, no details, no weapons. The problem? Anything can become a weapon -- even a toilet bowl scrubber. Even a word. Especially a word. A word that could destroy both Rowena and her House.

“The narrator is running a successful halfway house but with everyone having blocked memories of what the stress was, it's too hard to get over the past… The writing is terse and true to the character, and very effective.”
-- Bibliophage's Buffet