by Dale Mayer
Axel winced at that. “Wish I’d have been there. I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” he said.
“Well, we knew it was coming. The doctor ended up throwing him out. If all that wasn’t embarrassing enough, once he left, I upchucked the contents of my stomach all over myself,” she said. “It took a team of nurses and orderlies to come in and to put me and my bed to rights. The doctor also said I’m not getting out of here anytime soon. He said my leg needs to heal longer and that clearly my stamina is lacking, or I wouldn’t have spiked a fever and puked my guts out over a few questions.”
“That son of a bitch. He grilled you hard, didn’t he? He must have if your body rebelled that way. Remind me to shake that doctor’s hand for putting a stop to it.”
“Wait though. I’m not done. The doctor said something else,” she said. “I asked him to tell the colonel what the doc told me, but I don’t know how that works. Then, as it was, the colonel came back looking for the doc. At that point, my doctor said that my injuries clearly happened an hour apart. And he doesn’t see that I could have had anything to do with the killings on the sub because I wasn’t capable of the kind of movement throughout the sub that your body chart would have demanded. I guess, after that first humdinger of a shot to my leg, the shock kicked in, so I could climb into the HVAC system. Then those last two shots were probably the gunman shooting up the HVAC vents overhead for good measure or just out of sheer anger or madness.”
“Yes, that’s good to know,” he said. “Actually that’s damn good. How did the colonel take the news?”
“Well, it’s something,” she said. “And the colonel didn’t like it at all. He was pissed. Said something about an independent review of the medical file. His own medical team, I presume. Now my doctor did say it wouldn’t matter who he talked to, the evidence was clear. Now if push came to shove, would he say that in the middle of a trial? I don’t know.”
“I hear you,” he said, “but I’m sure the colonel will talk to another medical specialist. We just need that doctor to confirm the first doctor’s assessment.”
“Maybe,” she said, “but I can tell you that the colonel didn’t look like he gave a damn, and he’ll probably get someone to back up his theory.”
“Even if he does,” he said, “that’s why we have to follow up on all this. If he can’t be convinced easily, we have more doctors to bring in as well. Let’s let it play out and see how he does.”
“It doesn’t seem like it was anything any of the brass cared to follow up on,” she continued.
He could hear the tears in her voice and searched for a change in topic. “Did you have a chance to look at the diagram I left you?”
“Not really,” she said. “I’m awake again though, so maybe I can.”
“How about I bring you a coffee?” he said.
“I don’t know if you can get it past the guards,” she said. “The doctor told me no visitors. I got too upset over the last one. I told him though that I needed to see you about the chart, and he was annoyed that I was even looking at it.”
“Hmm,” he said. “Good point.”
“What have you been doing?” she asked.
“I went and checked in on your ex,” he said. “To make sure that he had an alibi for the date and times we are looking at.”
She gave a laugh at that. “I’m sure he did,” she said. “He was always one of those lucky buggers.”
“Well, I don’t think he’s feeling all that lucky at the moment,” he said. “In the course of our conversation, I did mention, while his wife was present, why it was logical for me to be asking Carl about an incident involving you.”
She gasped. “What?”
“It made sense,” he said smoothly. “Clearly he hadn’t been honest with her.”
“I still can’t believe you did that,” she muttered. “You didn’t have to ruin his marriage.”
“I didn’t. He did,” Axel said. “But, as somebody who has been vile toward you in the past, we had to know if he was involved in this now. It only makes sense that his wife would have to know about his history.”
“Maybe,” she said. “It just goes along with all the shitty things in my world.”
“Shall I try to come up and see you?” he offered.
“I am still tired and exhausted,” she said. “Maybe tomorrow.” And just enough hope was in her voice that he agreed.
“Fine, I’ll try again tomorrow,” he said. “In the meantime, I’ll keep digging deeper, doing research. All our witnesses, except you, are dead, so I’m at a dead end of people to see, other than your ex. Maybe if we can turn the tide on this,” he said, “everything else will settle out and will be fine.”
“Maybe,” she said. “Somehow it feels like it’ll never be fine again,” she whispered.
“It will be,” he said. “We’ll do what we need to do and get out of this.”
“I wonder,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t even know what that would look like or how it could possibly ever work.”
“Keep the faith,” he said.
When he rang off, he contacted Mason and filled him in.
“I knew they were planning on talking to her,” Mason said. “It’s to be expected.”
“She said it was obvious that they were looking at her as the guilty party. Any new information on Hostettler?”
“We’re working on a cross-check between all twelve crewmembers,” he said. “We’ve found some crossover, like various missions, different departments, some friends, some friends at work only, some wives who are friends,” Mason said, “but absolutely nothing pops as being a traitor.”
“But that’s part of the deal, isn’t it?” Axel said. “Seems like it would be hard to be a successful traitor if you’re letting people know about it.”
“True enough, but, at the same time,” Mason said, “usually something clues us in. Like I said, we’re still working on it. If something should pop later, I’ll send over photos for you to run by Ally.”
“What about the security videos?” he asked. “Any idea who the trespasser was on the sub?”
“No. Voice recognition, facial recognition, body types, nothing’s popping. I’ve taken it to several different places to see if anybody knew who it was, but we’re not getting any confirmation on his identity.”
“So, the only suspect is a dead friend of her dead brother?”
Mason’s tone turned light at that. “We have to love ghosts when that’s the theory we end up with, right?”
“I don’t know,” Axel said. “I’m not getting very far in this investigation.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve sent somebody to help you,” he said.
“Oh? Why is that?”
“Because he’s at loose ends, and he’s got time off. And he thinks it can’t be her.”
“As long as we’re not automatically dissing her from being involved just because she’s a woman,” he said. “Although the doctor did tell her—after he threw out the colonel, by the way—that she wouldn’t have been physically capable of the crime. And this is more important—he told her that her bullet wounds occurred an hour apart.”
“So, in theory, she took the shot that shattered her leg early on, and then took the second bullet much later.”
“And the third,” Axel said. “Don’t forget the head wound.”
“Correct,” Mason said. “So, maybe she passed out with the first one? There is blood loss and shock to consider as well.”
“Or, more likely, she managed to get away and hide after the first one. And then, as she said, he was firing up into the shaft later and tried to take her out then.”
“And we also don’t have any black box record because the sub wasn’t fully functioning. But we have to consider that somebody came down to the hatch and opened it up to let the other guy out.”
“I was wondering about a torpedo tube,” Axel said, “but she said they weren’t functional yet. I’d think another submersible was the most likely egress.”
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br /> “Depends on what his skill set was and what the state of readiness of the sub was. She did mention, didn’t she, something about feeling someone had been secured on the sub?”
“Yes, but she also said that she was unconscious and didn’t remember a ton of what went on.”
“Also not great,” he said, “because that sounds like she’s trying to get out of answering.”
“Well, she might seem like that,” he said, “but it’s hardly fair, considering she was so badly injured.”
“Yes,” he said. “It is a fact of life though that, if you don’t have the right answers, everybody looks at you sideways.”
“Yes. I just feel like we don’t have any information,” Axel said.
“There’s information,” Mason said. “We just have to get to it.”
“Have you tried fitting the framework of the brother’s friend into the time frame that we have?”
There was silence on the other end. And Mason said, “Seriously?”
“I have no confirmation of his death and won’t have any for at least four months. And I don’t know what else to suggest,” he said.
“I’m pretty damn frustrated myself.”
“Understood,” Axel said. “I know you’re off the case, but can you approach the colonel with this medical timing for Ally’s injuries?”
“Sure. Yeah. Why not? Haven’t had my ass chewed out in like two hours.” Mason chuckled. “When you get back to your apartment, you’ll find somebody there waiting for you.” And Mason hung up.
“Gotta research Hostettler. He needs some deeper investigation,” Axel muttered to himself as he made his way back to his apartment. If he was going to have company, he better grab some food. He hadn’t eaten either. He swung by and grabbed several burgers, fries, and a couple sodas. He had no clue who would be there and probably should have given them the opportunity to choose their own food, but Axel couldn’t be bothered. As he pulled up and walked over to his front door, he saw another man leaning against the wall. “Baylor?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “How’re you doing, Axel?”
“Hey, did you volunteer to help us out on this?”
“Sure did,” he said. “I’ve got the week off, and I’m bored stiff. I had plans out of town, but it seems my girlfriend dumped me,” he said with a shrug.
“Sorry, man. That sucks.”
“Not that we were going out for all that long, but she apparently got a better offer, let’s put it that way.”
Axel chuckled at that. “Good,” he said, “because I could use some fresh eyes. I don’t have a clue what the hell’s going on, and nothing is making any sense.”
“What’s this about a ghost or something?”
“Yeah, let me explain,” he said, as he walked up to the apartment. “Have you eaten?”
“Nah, earlier,” he said. “I just figured I’d stop by for a bit, see what the hell was going on, what I can do to help. Then I’d go out and get something later.”
“You may want to rethink that,” he said, “because I picked up enough burgers to last us a while.”
“Sweet,” Baylor said. “Let’s hope that, by the time we get to the end of these burgers, and you’ve filled me in on this mess, we can find a different direction to investigate.”
“I kind of like the ghost theory myself,” Axel said. “Particularly since her shooter from the sub—who looks like her dead brother’s lover, also presumed dead—was walking the halls of the hospital earlier today.”
At that, Baylor stopped and looked at him. “Seriously?”
“Not the first time someone was declared dead who wasn’t, right? But, yeah, she totally freaked out afterward because she’s pretty damn sure she saw him.”
“What was he doing?”
Axel stopped, thought about that, and said, “Pushing a trolley out of her room, dressed like an orderly.”
“Why?”
He shook his head. “You know what? I have no idea. Why would there even be a trolley in her room?” he wondered. “I’m assuming it was just a cover for a recon trip.”
“There shouldn’t have been a trolley left in her room,” Baylor stated. “They would have left the cart out in the hallway and brought her a tray of food. They wouldn’t have brought the food cart or a big trolley full of laundry in there either. They would have left it in the hallway, grabbed up what they needed, and gone in. But no one is checking that close to what others are doing. It would have looked completely normal to any passerby.”
“So, the answer is, I don’t know,” he said. “But see? That’s already a perspective I didn’t have before. So I’m glad you’re here.”
“Glad to be here,” Baylor said. “It’s a damn frustrating crime. And right now, I could use a good puzzle.”
“You got it. Come on in. Let’s eat.”
Chapter 8
Ally woke up the next morning and realized that she’d slept through dinner last night. When the nurse walked in early in the morning, she was surprised to see Ally awake. “What time is it?” she asked the nurse.
“Six-thirty,” the nurse said, reaching out and checking her blood pressure.
“I missed dinner last night,” she murmured.
“You did,” she said. “And rounds. We came in and checked on you several times, but you were out.”
“Maybe from the painkillers the doctor gave me?”
“Maybe,” she said cheerfully. “At least you have an appetite now.”
“I do, but I’d love a shower first.”
“That’ll be a little hard,” she said. “The best I can do is bring you some water for a sponge bath.”
“If I could just bathe myself, fine,” she said. “But, if I can make it to the toilet, surely I can do a quick sponge bath in the bathroom.”
“We might manage that,” the nurse said. “Are you ready to try getting up and going to the bathroom?”
“Absolutely,” she said, carefully removing her leg from the sling. “I do really have to pee.” The nurse helped until she was vertical with the crutches in hand.
“Now take it really slow.”
Ally took a few steps to the washroom, delighted that she was getting this far on her own steam. And the nurse said, “Don’t close the door.” So she closed it a little bit, just enough for some privacy. After she used the bathroom, she stood in front of the mirror and stared at herself. “Holy cow, I need more than a sponge bath,” she cried out. “Oh my God,” she said. “I had no idea my face was so dirty.”
“It’s not that bad,” she said. “Don’t forget you had surgery on that head.”
“You sure I can’t have a shower?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “Hang on. I’m bringing you a stool. Let’s see if we can get you sitting down in front of the sink, and then we can do a full sponge bath on you.” And that’s what they did.
It was awkward and uncomfortable, but, by the time she was done, with the nurse’s help, Ally felt better. “And I suppose there’s no way to do my hair either?”
“Nope, not right now. Can’t get those stitches wet,” she said. “This is the best we can do.”
And slowly, with a fresh gown on and using her crutches, Ally made her way back to the bed, where she collapsed, exhausted. “Just that little bit,” she said, “and I am so tired.”
“Which is why you can’t be on your own for a while,” she said. “You need assistance to make sure that you get some healing in and to avoid hurting yourself worse with a fall.”
“I get it,” she said. “It just sucks.”
“It doesn’t matter if it sucks or not. It’s a short-term deal.”
“Right, I have to remember that,” she said. When the nurse started to leave, she asked, “Any chance of a coffee?”
“You just said you were exhausted,” she said. “Do you want coffee? Or do you want to go back to sleep?”
“Coffee,” she said. “Please.”
“Will do,” she said. “I’ll be back in a few minut
es.”
The nurse returned ten or maybe fifteen minutes later with a hot cup of coffee and a cookie.
“That cookie looks great,” she said. “Where’d you get that from?”
“Well, someone brought them in this morning for the staff,” she said, “but I figured you might like the pick-me-up to tide you over.”
“Yes, that’ll work,” she said. “Am I allowed to have somebody bring my laptop in here?”
“Sure,” she said. “That might keep you from getting too bored.”
“It would,” she said. Knowing that Axel would be asleep, she picked up her phone and quickly sent him a text message, asking if he could pick up her laptop. When he responded immediately, she was surprised. And then when he asked where it was, she frowned. When she didn’t answer right away, he phoned her.
“It was on the submarine,” she said. “Damn. At least my work went well. I had figured out the problem.”
“Yeah, we never discussed that. I know this was the new sub’s maiden voyage and that you had some questions before you took off. So what was the final verdict?”
“That sub was not reliable. We had major work to redo on it before it could be put into action.”
“So was it software-related or hardware-related?”
“A combo of both, as it is often found to be.”
“But you saw no evidence of outright sabotage, did you?”
“I’m focused more on the software, so I’m qualified to talk about the coding, which had some minor bugs in it, but I tweaked that. Hmm. In fact, I had to do that a couple times. However, on the hardware end, absent some engineer contradicting me, the batteries were all wrong.”
“How so?”
“First, they shorted out. So we lost all nav, causing us to sink to the ocean floor. Second, these batteries are known to give off gases, both poisonous and deadly, generating chlorine gas if the sub were to fill with water. Third, the specs for this sub do not call for this type of battery.”
“Okay, so a major fail on the part of the mechanics, I presume, which the navy will be all over. And something I don’t have on my plate.” He chuckled.