Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
B arry wiped the sweat off his forehead with the red handkerchief in his back pocket. Then he wiped the sweatband of his cowboy hat. Honey was lying in the shade. Her tongue lolled out as she panted gently. “Thanks for the company,” he said to his pup, and she wagged her tail happily.
He watched Andrew heading toward him from the big house. He hadn’t said a word about what Edna’s camera had captured, although Ken said it would be all right to tell Andrew. He was still trying to process what the picture could mean, and Ken was working with the State to pull anything else off Edna’s Cloud account.
He leaned against the open tailgate of the truck and waited for Andrew.
“What’s up?” he asked when Andrew reached him .
“I contacted the people I know in Washington. They said it could take a week or so to get the approval to give me the information in an unclassified form. Then, however long it takes the Marines to produce the report. The senator assured me he’d get it approved. He’s owed some favors.”
“A senator? That medal sure paved the way for you.” Barry reached into the old, battered cooler and handed Andrew a bottle of water, taking one for himself as well. He pulled Honey’s water dish out of the shade, emptied it, and filled it with cold water, finishing the bottle after she was settled.
“I would have given anything not to have that damn medal,” Andrew said quietly.
Barry glanced over at him, realizing what he’d said. “I’m a fucking asshole. Son of a bitch, Cap. I didn’t mean it that way.”
Andrew looked over at him. “I know. But, like you, I don’t know when the pain is going to flash.”
“It is a bitch, isn’t it?” Barry said as he settled against the tailgate. “There was a development in the murder case today.”
Andrew did a double-take. “What?”
“Edna Michaelson put a wildlife camera out in the field past the stockyard. She got a blurred picture of a man in a ghillie suit carrying a rifle. The sheriff is pulling the rest of her images down. She was looking for a Bigfoot or something and caught a picture of our shooter. ”
“Full suit?”
“Yeah, and it was blurred by movement. No way to determine who it was, but it was taken on the same day as the shooting.”
“Damn.” Andrew took a drink of his water.
“Yeah, if it isn’t Fish?—”
“It’s not.” Andrew shook his head. “It can’t be.”
Barry continued, “If it isn’t Fish, it’s someone who knows how to wear a suit. I scanned that area hard, Cap.”
“I keep coming back to the question of why they’re focused on you.” Andrew sighed. “The sledgehammer came out of your truck.”
“Could have been dumb luck on that one.” Barry shook his head . But when you couple it with someone poisoning Honey . “Cap, that day we went to lunch with Tegan after I drove Tegan back to the stockyard. We were talking, and I was describing my rages and how I could destroy the stockyard. I told him exactly what I’d do. Then it happened.” He turned to Andrew. “Someone could have been close enough to hear that. Wasn’t like we were keeping our voices down. We were in the parking lot. Plenty of places to hide behind cars and such.”
Andrew narrowed his eyes. “So, whoever this guy is has been here through the winter and been listening, watching.”
“Think so.” Barry tapped the empty water bottle against his leg. “Tegan told me to come out to his ranch, and he’d listen. Then Doc Kate gets assaulted. It’s all connected somehow.”
“I think it is, too, but I don’t know what the connection is.”
“Fish.” Barry would not change his theory until someone told him Fish had been found and buried.
Andrew sighed. “You’re a bit obsessed with that idea.”
Anger spiked through his backbone, and he stood up and started to pace. “Obsessed? Cap, I’ve been having nightmares since I came to just about every damn night since that explosion and firefight. I can see Fish extending his hand to me. I can see him mouthing ‘Help me.’ It isn’t an obsession. It is a memory, and it haunts me day and night.”
Andrew shook his head. “The dreams aren’t memories. They’re your brain trying to deal with what you saw. I was in that fucking dark pit, too.”
“I know the difference between memories and dreams, Cap. This is a memory. It’s vivid, and it is real.”
Andrew stared at him. “If it is, we’re all guilty of leaving him there, not just you.”
“But I saw him.”
“And I was his commander. Which of us would be more guilty of leaving him?” Andrew stood up. “I hate to say this, but I pray you’re wrong. I pray he wasn’t left over there.”
“Believe it or not, so do I, Cap. So do I.” He glanced up and saw a plume of dust coming down the main road to the ranch. “You’ve got a visitor, Cap. ”
Andrew glanced up. “I think we’ve got a visitor.” He smiled. “I called in another favor.” Andrew squared up on him. “This is something you’ll need to keep under your hat. You can’t tell anyone about it.” He stopped. “Well, you can tell Dr. Wheeler. He works for them, too.”
Barry frowned at him. “What in the hell are you talking about? I hear the words, but they aren’t making sense.”
“They will. Remember, I’m taking personal liability here by bringing you in on this, so nothing to anyone but Wheeler. Do you copy?”
“Loud and clear, Cap.” He still had no idea what the hell the guy was going on about. Andrew whistled loudly and waved to the blacked-out SUV as it entered the ranch yard. The truck pulled over to them and then stopped.
A squared-up and powerful man wearing jeans, boots, and a cowboy hat stepped out and extended his hand to Andrew. “Captain, good to see you again.”
“And good to see you. Thank you for coming out. I hesitated to call you, but this situation has gotten a bit crazy, and one of my own is being singled out as the fall guy. This is Barry Marks; he was in my squad when shit hit the fan.”
“Howdy, I’m Roman Alexander.”
“Sir.” Barry shook the man’s hand when it was offered.
“So, tell me what you have going on.”
Barry listened to Andrew tell the man every detail of the situation. He even included what Barry believed he saw. “The murder of that guy from up north isn’t on anyone’s radar except the people who have no leads. He was a meth head, and I don’t know how much resources the State can put on this. The shots were taken at Tegan and Barry, and the destruction of property, plus poisoning his dog, is intentional. And I learned today that one of the ladies in town has a picture of a man wearing a ghillie suit with a rifle.”
Barry watched as the man looked down at the toes of his boots. “I’m going to need a bit of information on this guy named Fish. I’ll run down what I can.”
“I already have connections looking for that. A senator who owes me is working on it. He said they could get me answers in a couple of weeks.”
Roman smiled and then laughed. “Answers he wants or is allowed to give you. I can get the truth in less time. We can also take a look at the evidence and see if we can make some suggestions—anonymously, of course. You won’t be able to do too much with the information; it won’t be official, but you’ll have answers, and you and the sheriff can work backward from the truth and find the starting point of this mess.”
“I appreciate that.” Andrew reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded square of paper. “This is the information you’ll need and the mission's name, which is classified.”
“I assure you my clearance is higher than this classification.” Roman chuckled .
“I have absolutely no doubt about that.” Andrew extended his hand. “Thank you again for driving out here.”
“I was heading north anyway. Not too far out of the way. Barry, it was good to meet you. Keep your ass down, my friend.”
“You can count on it,” Barry said as he shook the man’s hand again. Roman got into the SUV and pulled away. “CIA?” Barry asked.
“Nope. Guardian Security.” Andrew looked at him. “And you never saw or heard any of this.”
“Any of what?” Barry asked.
“Exactly.” Andrew pointed at the back of the truck. “You have more feed to unload.”
“That I do.” Barry glanced at the half-empty truck. He watched Andrew walk back to the house, and then he grabbed a bag. Somehow, the weight of his memories didn’t seem as heavy as they were earlier. Hell, even the feed bags felt lighter. Besides, he had a date tonight, and he would focus on that.