Chapter 14 #3
“It is a hell of a secret, and Peacock took it to his grave. This buddy of his, whether Peacock knew about it or not, was technically giving him exactly what he wanted for a burial or a death, by taking him out in the middle of nowhere. He probably sat down with him beforehand, but I don’t know that, of course,” Joel added.
Turning to Richard, Sterling asked him, “What do you know, if anything?”
Joel frowned at Sterling’s tone, but his buddy sent Joel a you don’t know everything look, with a nod toward Chelsea. That got Joel’s anger up now too.
Richard tried to read Sterling, then shrugged, shook his head. “We’re only guessing at this point. Until we can actually find out who took Peacock out there on the roadside, it’s anybody’s guess as to what actually happened,” he said.
Sterling shook his head. “Christ.”
Joel nodded. “Never in my wildest dreams.”
“No, not mine either,” Richard added, as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “A sniper in town is one hell of a problem.”
“It is, indeed,” Joel confirmed.
“Why?” she asked, looking from Joel to Sterling, ignoring Richard altogether.
Joel suggested, “Because he’ll do all he can to avoid getting this information released.
There’ll be a hell of a military and civilian manhunt if they find out who he is and what he’s done and that’s he’s right here.
The code book suggests that he was involved in a friendly fire killing on a US military base.
So this guy is a sniper with no conscience, no moral code. ”
Chelsea squeezed Joel’s hand upon hearing that. “But there’s one more thing,” she pointed out. “That was only the old man’s musings about it all. It’s not like that’s proof. So, how much danger is this Tiger actually in?”
Joel and Sterling responded in stereo. “Lots.”
Richard nodded. “I’ll defer to you here on the military issue. As for this town, it’s definitely a concern, … a big one.”
She groaned, then sat back, looked at Joel and Sterling, and muttered, “You’re going to tell me that I can’t go to work now, aren’t you?”
Again both men declared, “Yes.”
Richard interjected, “Yet Tiger may have been at the hospital. We have the hospital’s security camera footage of the day Peacock was released.
He walked out with a man. The guy’s face was concealed by the hat he wore.
So we don’t know who that was. However, he is younger than our deceased, maybe by a decade, though it’s a little hard to say because we can’t really tell unless we see his face too.
It can age faster than the body. Yet he’s got more energy, more spirit to his stride, and he’s definitely in better physical shape. ”
“And you’re assuming that’s the sniper?” Joel asked.
“No,” Richard corrected him. “I’m not assuming anything.”
“So, what are you doing now, except for sitting in my house?” Sterling scowled at Richard as he directed this question his way.
“We’ve got people looking for his son, online and talking to other relatives, although Peacock is a familiar surname.
” Richard caught Sterling’s expression and his tone and turned to Joel.
“We need to locate this Paul Peacock, who we think is John’s son.
At least I heard that third-hand as coming from a hospital nurse.
” He bravely turned to Chelsea. “Can you give me her name?” he asked politely.
She gave him only the woman’s first and last name in a clipped tone.
Joel flashed a frown at Sterling, who again gave a nod toward Chelsea.
Richard frowned. “I didn’t get a statement from her.”
Chelsea remained tight-lipped.
Sterling snapped, “Then get one from her. It’s a hospital. How hard will it be for you to find her? You have her goddamn name.”
“Okay,” Richard began. “First, it’s a hospital.
Undoubtedly twenty or thirty people saw this guy, our supposed sniper, but chances are nobody actually saw him.
He was obviously trying to hide his presence, so it’s not as if he would be very visible.
If he’s any good at being a sniper, then he wouldn’t be visible at all in the hospital. ”
He took a deep breath. “Second,” he added, with a look at Chelsea and Sterling, “obviously Chelsea has spoken to you, Sterling, and not yet to you, Joel. Just let me say that I am sorry for what I did and didn’t do.
I’m taking a few days off to step back from this and cool off. But … my apologies again.”
Just then Joel’s phone buzzed. He looked down and then shared with everybody, “I just got a picture.” Richard’s phone buzzed at the same time; so did Sterling’s.
“Great, you guys are all in the loop, and I’m not?” Chelsea frowned at them all.
Joel immediately held out his phone. “It’s a picture of Tiger. Do you recognize this man?”
She looked at it for a long moment and then slowly nodded.
“Yeah, I think I do recognize him,” she admitted, “but not from the hospital. I think this was the man out on the road at Timber’s, standing by the red truck.
” She grabbed the phone, shifted it in the light a couple times, and then nodded, looking back at him.
Her memory suddenly matched his tilt of his head, his profile, his shoulders, and all coalesced into one man. “Jesus, I think it’s him.”