Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
B arry worked in the stall with his horse, who’d he’d been calling Buddy. It wasn’t a real inventive name, but it worked. He used the pitchfork to clean the horse's stall before he would spread new straw out. Buddy stayed on the other side of the stall, but he didn’t cringe in fear like he did a couple of months ago. Barry whistled as he worked, making sure the horse knew where he was at all times. When he finished, he pulled a baggie out of his back pocket and leaned against the stall wall. Buddy tossed his head when Barry held out the carrot. “No?” He popped the end of the carrot in his mouth and took a bite. “Cutting your nose off to spite your face?” He extended his arm again, and Buddy sniffed at it. He took one step closer and stretched his neck as far as he could. He lipped the stalk into his mouth and moved away. Barry smiled. It was the first time Buddy had actually taken something from his hand.
“He’s coming around,” Ryan said, startling Barry. He pushed away from the wall and turned around.
“Taking his time with it,” Barry acknowledged. “What you doing out here so late?”
“Sheriff pulled in and is at the bunkhouse with Andrew. He wants to talk to you.”
Barry dropped his head. “I can’t take this shit much more, Ryan. I haven’t done anything.”
“You don’t know what he wants, so don’t get riled up. You done here?” Ryan nodded toward Buddy.
“Yeah.” He shoved the empty bag into his back pocket and whistled for Honey. The little dog popped off the hay bale where she’d been perched and hustled to his side as he exited the stall. “Ten bucks says he’s here to pin something else on me.”
“I’ll take that bet. Better yet, you buy breakfast in the morning if you’re wrong. We’re picking up feed and helping Gen over at the diner. She has a big delivery scheduled for nine in the morning. Was going to do it myself, but damned if I’m going to hurt my back if I can have a young one use his muscles.”
Barry frowned and turned his gaze to Ryan. “Since when? I thought I was working on that old shed with Dusty.”
“Dusty got thrown again. He ain’t gonna be of no use to anyone for a day or two. So the shed will keep. ”
Barry stopped. “Ryan, I know you’ve been keeping me paired up so I have witnesses to my whereabouts, but I can work on the shed by myself.”
“You could, but we aren’t taking that chance. You’re too damn important to us, so suck it up and deal with it. Friends ain’t going to desert you, my man.” Ryan ambled forward, leaving Barry standing in his tracks. Important? Him? Friends? Since when? He shook himself out of that surreal comment and followed Ryan out of the barn.
As they walked into the bunkhouse, all the hands scattered, leaving the main common room vacant except for Andrew and Ken. He walked over to them and crossed his arms. “I can account for every minute of my day.” Except for the drive from and to the ranch, but he had witnesses to when he left and when he returned.
Ken sighed. “I guess I deserve that. Hate that I only show up when there’s shit going on, but this time, it isn’t about what’s happened, well, directly about it.” Ken rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, that ain’t the truth either. Hell, just let me explain.” He pulled a chair out from around the massive table and sat down. Andrew did the same. Barry wasn’t too keen on sitting with the sheriff, so he kept his stance. Ken looked up at him and realized he wasn’t going to sit. He leaned forward and stared at Barry as he spoke. “That pylon you and Tegan found, we figured out what happened to it.”
Barry’s arms dropped to his sides as his gut dropped to the floor and then bounced back up into his throat. He took a step forward. “What?”
“A new lab tech who was collecting evidence saw the pylon and collected it. She was one of the first to leave the site with the supervisor, and that’s why no one knew what had happened to the evidence. I saw the pictures this morning on a file they forwarded to our office. A courtesy because the State has assumed control of the investigation. I called them immediately, and the tech admitted to taking the evidence without logging it. A newbie mistake, but it also puts this investigation in a bind.”
“A bind? How?” Barry’s mind reeled.
“Evidential chain-of-custody is nothing to mess with. Of course, it’s all a big dust-up about nothing if we don’t catch the killer.” Ken rolled his shoulders. “The colder this case gets, the less chance we’ll find out who did it. That’s just pure hard fact.”
Barry asked, “And the blood?”
“Matches the dead man,” Ken said. “The thought from the gold badge investigators is it was left as a message as you said. What that message was, we don’t have a clue. That’s why I’m here talking to the two of you.” He motioned to a chair. “Would you please sit down? I don’t need a kink in my neck.” Barry pulled out a chair, sat down, and Honey hopped up on his lap. “She’s looking better than the last time I saw her.” Ken reached out and ruffled Honey’s fur. The pup lapped up the attention. “So, fill me in on that thing. What does it mean? What is it used for? ”
Barry looked at Andrew and nodded, deferring the answer to his once commanding officer and now boss.
Andrew puffed out his cheeks and released a lungful of air. “That depended on the squad or unit using it. For us, it was a guide. If one of our guys got separated, we’d build those pylons, and the top rock would indicate the direction of travel. A rock with some type of pointed side indicating the route of travel. With so many variables and units, it could mean anything.”
Which was the truth. Barry hadn’t considered the other units that used pylons. He continued to pet Honey as he spoke up. “There is another option. I brought it up to Doc Wheeler today when I saw him.”
Andrew frowned and tilted his head. “What’s that?”
“Could be Fish.” He stared at his old commander and waited. The expressions that crossed the man’s face were easy to read.
Andrew resolutely shook his head. “He’s dead.”
Ken perked up. “Wait, who’s Fish?”
Barry answered Ken while looking at Andrew. He’d never told Andrew any of the information he was about to spill. “Ben Gill. A member of our unit. I saw him as they were carrying me to the helicopter. His hand was stretching out to me, and he said, ‘Help me.’ We looked into each other's eyes, and I read his lips when he said it. It was as plain as the green paint on that chopper they were loading me on. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t say shit, and then I lost consciousness again. I woke up in the hospital later. Still couldn’t move or talk. Took almost a year before my brain and body synced up. It was the first thing I told anyone who’d listen.”
Ken looked at Andrew. “Could this guy be alive?”
Andrew shook his head. “No.”
“They never recovered his body, Cap. They never found even a piece of him. Blood of his, a piece of uniform, and they found his tags, yeah, but not even a piece of skin. Kathy said something interesting today. She said we could ask for updated information from the Freedom of Information Act. You know, to see if the information you were given after your discharge has changed or been amended.”
Ken nodded. “If there’s a chance this is our guy, I’m willing to try. Andrew?”
The man leaned forward while staring at Barry. “You can’t get that information through the FOIA program. There were fatalities, and it was a classified mission. If you got anything from the FOIA office, it would be redacted into complete blackness.”
Barry closed his eyes and shook his head. “Damn it.”
“But I can call in some favors.”
Barry’s eyes popped open and jerked so hard Honey got up on all fours, ready to leap off his lap. “Really?” He put his hand on his dog to settle her again.
Andrew nodded. “If only to prove to you once and for all that Fish is dead and your recollection isn’t what it seems.”
“Cap, no matter what the answer is, if you can give me solid evidence he’s dead, I’ll be one grateful motherfucker. That memory has been messing with my mind since I woke up in that hospital bed.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone.” Andrew shook his head. “Why?”
Barry drew a breath and glanced around. The doors to all the rooms were closed, but he didn’t doubt a few ears were listening. What the hell, he’d come that far. “If you want the honest answer, I’ll give it. Because I hate myself for not being able to help you and Gunny. I hate that I couldn’t move. My mind was screaming for my body to move, and I couldn’t. If I could have done anything to help, maybe I could forgive myself, but I couldn’t move, and I can’t forgive that. Ever.” Barry let a tear run down his face without swiping at it. “I’m a fucking failure , Cap. I failed my unit, you, Gunny. I don’t deserve to be alive. The rest of them don’t deserve to be dead, and that is the why of all of it.”
Andrew blinked and then stood up, walking over to him and lifting him from the chair. Honey jumped off, and Barry braced himself for the fist he knew would fly in his direction. He wasn’t going to duck it. He deserved it. Only the right hook didn’t come. Andrew held him at arm's length and spoke clearly and loudly. “You can’t take that blame. None of us can. Your body didn’t work because the explosion set that bean you have for a brain on its end. Nothing you could have done would have changed that. Nothing you could have done would have changed anything . Don’t hold this inside yourself. It’ll kill you. I know because I’ve been in the exact hell hole you’re standing in.” Andrew pulled him in and hugged him. Barry let the words pour over him. They hit like fat, heavy raindrops on a drought-stricken patch of land.
When Andrew released him, they both wiped at tears. Barry glanced over at Ken as he stood and damned if the man wasn’t wiping at his face, too. “Andrew, can you really get that information, or do you want me to ask the state investigators to try?”
Andrew cleared his throat. “I’ll get it or raise enough hell that Washington will give it to me just to shut me up.” Barry put his hands on his hips and smiled at the ground. That was his Cap, all right.
“Okay, then.” Ken stood up and put his cowboy hat on. “I’ll keep you in the loop on the investigation to the best of my ability, but I’m not getting much.”
“I’ll let you know what information I get,” Andrew said and extended his hand.
Ken shook it and then clasped Barry on the shoulder. “You take care of yourself. Hopefully, the next time we see each other, you won’t look like you want to take a swing at me.”
Barry chuffed out a breath of air. “Doubtful.” He smiled when Ken did a quick double-take. Ken laughed and headed for the bunkhouse door. When the door shut behind him, Andrew sent a right hook to his shoulder .
He grabbed his arm and held tight to the spot of impact. “What the fuck, Cap?”
“That’s for not telling me what’s been screwing with your head.” As Andrew put on his cowboy hat, he added, “Is there anything else I need to know?”
Barry glowered at the man. “Yeah, you about fucking broke my shoulder.”
“Oh, boo-hoo. What would Gunny say?” Andrew asked.
Barry snapped his head up as if he’d been slapped.
“What would he say?” Andrew demanded.
Barry growled, “He’d tell me to screw my head on straight, stop crying, and show up.”
“Then that’s what we’re going to do. Any questions?”
Barry couldn’t fight the smile that hit his face. “No, sir.”
Andrew spun on his heel and headed out of the bunk room. Barry glanced down at Honey, who was wagging her tail so hard her butt was moving, too. “Come on, girl.” He needed to get into his room before anyone came out. He didn’t want to talk about the shit he’d told Andrew, and ranch hands gossiped way too much for his liking, but fuck it. He didn’t care who knew how screwed up he was. Most of them already had an opinion about that anyway.