“With Joiner? What’s not! Start with Joiner going missing. I mean what kind of a man disappears?! Leaves his pregnant wife and children in the lurch?”
“Put that down. What else?”
“Joiner letting them kill his children rather than doing what they wanted. Holy crap! I have no idea what they wanted or even who they are! I mean I think they’re from the Amazonas region, and Bobby Lopez confirmed the Amazonas region, but he also said Pecos Oil was taking care of the problem. ‘Making it right.’ That’s what he said.”
“Put that on another list – unsolved issues. What happened to those guys the Texas Ranger’s picked up?”
“Mexican nationals there to work on the mine clean up.”
“Decoys.”
“Decoys,” Alex said. “They knew we were coming.”
The awful reality of a leak high up in military command made them pause.
“Here’s another question. Who contacted the Weasel? He gave me all kinds of details but never told me who his contact was.”
“You have to add Carlos to the list,” Jesse said.
“Yeah, Carlos. I mean what the hell? How was he involved?” Alex wrote his name down. “I asked Ben and he just shakes his head.”
“Didn’t want to upset you?”
“I don’t think he knows,” Alex said. “And if Ben doesn’t know...”
“We’ll never know.”
“Right. And what the hell did I do to my lighter?” Alex asked. “So much confusion. I feel like I used to know, really know things but now...”
“Maybe we never really know things, Alex,” Jesse said.
Looking over at Jesse, she saw his face mask with sorrow.
“What’s going on?”
“Maria has been to California three times. She’s meeting with a lawyer there. I’ve tried to go, but I can’t seem to get into his office. I can’t figure out why.”
“Maybe you can’t be around bad people,” Alex said. “You were like… before. Remember how you couldn’t even be around your mother because she was ...”
“Demon possessed?”
Alex nodded.
“I think the lawyer is my Maria’s lover. She’s so joyful when she leaves his office. I want her to be happy, Alex. I do. She’s an amazing, beautiful, wonderful person. She deserves to have another husband to love her but... I guess I’m a selfish bastard.”
“Sounds to me like you don’t have all the facts,” Alex said. “What if I do some investigation? I have to go to that party tomorrow – you know, to keep Troy from inserting his body parts into his sister-in-law so she can have more of his children. I’ll ask Maria tomorrow.”
Jesse nodded.
“Gosh, Jesse, maybe that’s the point.”
Alex went to the table. Pouring the last of her coffee, she took another cookie from the baggie then sat down facing the wall.
“What’s the point?”
“We don’t have all the facts,” Alex said. “Like maybe it wasn’t a big deal to Joiner’s wives that he was gone. Maybe they don’t care. And maybe the people in the Amazonas region aren’t mad.”
“Then we’re missing something,” Jesse said. “Something big.”
“Something big.”
F
CHAPTER THIRTY-six
Five hours later
Tuesday morning
April 1 – 10:15 A.M. MDT
Denver, CO
Driving the armored SUV, Trece was telling the story of his four hour poker game with Bobby Lopez. It had already been a long, tiring morning. Alex took the chance to rest while he rambled. Turning the corner to Charlene O’Brien’s Park Hill home, Alex groaned.
“What’s wrong?” Trece asked.
“The Fey Special Forces Team wives are here,” Alex said. “I’m not surprised. It’s just...”
“They don’t like you?”
“No, they’re fine,” Alex said. “It’s just that they are a them. I used to be part of an us. And now it’s me and Joseph. They’ve been wonderful, truly. They brought meals every day when I was first home from Walter Reed. I think we ate Fey wives food for a year. But there’s still the ‘Why did you survive when my husband is dead?’ It’s understandable.”
“John’s not a part of them?” Trece pulled the SUV to the curb and turned the car off.
“Oooh no,” Alex said. “The wives don’t want anything to do with the husband.”
“I’ve heard that from other Army husbands,” Trece said.
“I guess woman soldiers head out for these grand adventures with their husbands,” Alex said. “There’s bound to be some friction.”
There was a tap on Alex’s passenger window. They turned to see a broad rimmed white hat. The hat shifted and the lined face of Dwight Harris’s grandmother peered into the SUV. Alex opened the door to hug the elderly woman.
“I saw you sitting there Lieutenant Colonel Alex,” Mrs. Harris said. “And I thought, ‘That girl should not be afraid of these old biddies.’”
Alex laughed.
“Mrs. Harris, do you know Captain Ramirez?”
“Trece and I have met Lieutenant Colonel Alex,” Mrs. Harris said.
“Mrs. Harris makes the best Jambalaya I’ve ever had. Mmmmm. Never had better. Ever. Anywhere.”
Mrs. Harris beamed at the massive Trece. The small woman hooked her arms through Alex and Trece’s elbows and they walked toward the door. They were almost there when Mrs. Harris said:
“These old gals are jealous, Alex. You should ask Nancy about it. They used to be sure you were... Well… a Christian woman doesn’t gossip.”
Alex laughed.
“Let’s go in like the much anticipated church choir,” Mrs. Harris whispered.
Alex nodded to Trece and he opened the door.
“Mrs. Harris! Alex!” Dean’s wife, Jennifer, said. “Come in! Come in! We were getting brunch together.”
They were escorted down the hall to a crowded living room. A laughing group of kids cut in front of them carrying muffins. With a squeeze of her hand, Mrs. Harris walked into the kitchen to greet the wives.
“Alex!” Andi, Scott’s flower child wife hugged Alex around her round belly.
“Looks like you have some news!” Alex said.
“There’s a bunch of us. You made the guys bank sperm. Well, I used it! Or Scott’s, that is,” Andi said. “I know Scott wouldn’t have wanted a child, at least until his contract was over. But this way I get a little piece of him and a baby. That’s a good deal.”
“And how are you?”
“I’m good, lonely, but good. I miss Scott. A lot,” Andi said. “I’ve tried to date. I guess we all have. Us wives. We can’t seem to find anyone who even holds a candle to our guys. Well, except Mike’s wife. But Charlene said she was with that woman before Mike died.”
Alex nodded.
“Anyway, we decided to do it together. The Fey wives, you know.” Leaning close to Alex, Andi whispered, “Even Jennifer’s pregnant. She won’t tell anyone until it’s been three months. She was the last to cave.”
“I’m delighted for you,” Alex said.
“Greta too,” Andi said. “We had to do some fancy foot work, but she’s pregnant too.”
Alex smiled. Last fall, Greta arrived at the Fey Special Forces Team anniversary with Paul’s fifteen month old child, Mindy. Paul’s parents had rejected Greta and Mindy in their grief. Between Max’s legal abilities, and Rebecca Hargreaves’s nerve, they were able to get Greta benefits for Mindy. They even bridged the gap between Paul’s parents and her beautiful child.
“We owe you a big thank you for making the guys bank sperm,” Andi said. “Did you hear Maria’s big news?”
“Hey, I saw your fight with that awful Robert Powell,” Jennifer said.
“I saw the fight too,” Tommy’s wife, Paige, said. “You were magnificent! I sent the video around our office. I know they sent it on to their friends. You’re famous, Alex!”
“Quite the superstar,” Jennifer s
aid. “I emailed the link to everyone I know.”
“I tweeted the link,” Greta said. “It was retweeted at least ten times. I even posted it to my blog. I was proud to know you, Alex. That man is so creepy and horrible.”
“I put it on my Facebook account,” Andi said. “I put ‘This is my girl Alex!’ He so deserved a whoop down. Scott hated him.”
“Dwight did as well,” Mrs. Harris said. “I posted the video to my Sparkpeople forum.”
“Your Sparkpeople forum? On the Internet?” Trece asked.
“I’m old, Trece. Not stupid. I meet the nicest people on the Internet,” Mrs. Harris said. “My boy set it up for me so we could email and instant message all those years ago.”
“Our Alex is our hero,” Nancy said. “Did you guys know she’s a Lieutenant Colonel now?”
While Alex blushed, the women clapped.
“Oh Alex! I’ve been catching up on news. I didn’t realize you where here,” Charlene said. Gesturing to the toddler on her hips, she said. “Did you meet this gorgeous Mindy?”
“Hi Mindy,” Alex said.
“Alex!”
“You have special celebrity status with everyone,” Charlene said. “Ladies, I need to talk with Alex for a bit.”
“We’ll see you later,” Andi said.
Charlene passed Mindy to her mother, Greta, and led Alex down a long hallway toward the bedrooms.
“My daughter stayed with me last night,” Charlene said. “Thank you both for setting everything up. I understand Captain Ramirez arranged for the house to be cleaned and refrigerator stocked. The house was delightfully warm, clean and inviting. And what a blessing to make a pot of coffee this morning. The girls have been baking too.”
Trece nodded in acknowledgment of her words.
“I’ve been very concerned about you, Charlene,” Alex said when Charlene closed her bedroom door. “What happened?”
“It was horrible, Alex.”
Like a mask, Charlene’s happy face shifted to the sad, anxious face she wore last night. The woman pointed to an armchair for Alex then sat down in its twin.
“Sir, I will wait outside the door,” Trece said after checking the room.
“Thank you, Captain,” Alex said.
Charlene watched the large man leave the room.
“I always feel safe when he’s around. I don’t know what it is. He’s an angel,” Charlene said. “Talks a lot.”
“No truer words were ever spoken.” Alex smiled. “What happened yesterday?”
“I went out for my morning run and... Well, they waited for me to leave. I always go around the same time, so it wouldn’t have been hard. I set the house alarm. I know I set the alarm.”
“We have your security tapes,” Alex said. “You set the alarm. The people knew the code.”
“That’s what’s so crazy, Alex. How could they know the code?”
“Who else knows it?”
“No one. Charlie was very careful. He made me change the code every two weeks. It’s a habit now.”
“How old is this code?”
“Two days.”
“And no one has it – not the housekeeper, the cook, gardener...”
“No one,” Charlene said. “The last months of Charlie’s life, he became kind of paranoid. I used to tease him that he was getting early dementia. He begged me to be careful.”
“It started when Robert Powell came to work for us,” Alex said.
“Yes,” Charlene said. “He never said anything to you?”
“Not that I remember,” Alex said. “My head is a little scrambled.”
“I took everything of his with me to Nicaragua. Even his clothing,” Charlene said. “I couldn’t bear being separated from what was left of him. Still can’t. I even brought some of it on this trip.”
“The police say nothing was stolen.”
“Right, that’s because they don’t know where to look,” Charlene said. “Alex, they stole all of Charlie’s journals. You know, the little ones he carried with him. I guess he got the whole team to use them.”
Alex nodded.
“They stole all of Charlie’s except the one I gave Steve Pershing and...”
Charlene stood and walked over to a fanny pack. She made her way back to her chair while digging around in the fanny pack. When she sat down, she held up a small journal.
“This is his last one,” Charlene said. “He finished it the day… you know... He left it on the hall table for me to put away then left for base.
“When he left, he’d say ‘My soul is yours. My love and life belong to you. You’re my entire world.’ Every time. For all those years. Then he’d go.”
“You were his entire world,” Alex said. “He loved you completely.”
“I loved him completely. About a month ago… maybe longer… I don’t know.” Charlene gave a sad smile. “I realized he’s not really gone because his soul is mine. I do wish he was here.”
“I miss him too.”
“I know,” Charlene said. “Here’s what frightened me, Alex. After you and that gorgeous guy cleaned out the locker, I received a box with Charlie’s stuff. There were a couple notebooks in the box that were supposed to be Charlie’s. I mean, they looked like his handwriting, but he always wrote in code. Always. These were in plain English.
“And complete nonsense. One entry said, ‘Went to dinner with A in Kabul. Had duck.’”
“Duck?”
“Exactly, my Charlie never ate duck because his grandmother used to make him butcher them. Plus he called you Hargreaves. I don’t think he ever said your first name.”
“He didn’t. That’s definitely strange. Were those journals with the others?”
“No, that’s what’s weird. It’s like they knew what they were looking for. The fake journals were on my bedside table. The others were in a false wall between the bedroom and the bathroom. They stole all of Charlie’s journals but left the fakes. To the eye, they all looked the same.”
“How strange,” Alex said. “Did you bring the fake journals?”
“Yes, they’re in my luggage.” Charlene went to her luggage and took the other two books. “Now Alex, I’ll let you borrow these in exchange for the one Steve gave you. I can’t be without...”
“I have it right here.” Alex took the four inch journal from her pocket. “It still smells like him.”
“It does,” Charlene took the book from Alex and held it to her nose. “I couldn’t bear to be without him completely.”
Alex smiled.
“Do you have something else for me?” Charlene asked.
“I found this in the vault in Paris,” Alex held Charlie’s wedding ring out to her. “I planned to come to Nicaragua and give it to you.”
Silent tears dropped down Charlene’s face. She took her husband’s wedding ring from Alex’s palm and slipped it on the middle finger of her right hand.
“It’s big,” she sniffed. “But… I’ll wear it there.”
Charlene hugged Alex.
“I also have this,” Alex said. “He wanted to give it to you when he retired. He always said he never could have done anything in his life without you. He saved a lot of people, Charlene. Because of you.”
Alex held out a velvet ring box. Charlene wiped her eyes then reached for the box. The box held a five carat princess cut diamond on a platinum band. There were five pave diamonds down each side. Charlene tugged the ring from the box. She kissed the ring then slipped it next to the plain wedding band on her left
“Five carat. Five diamonds. One for each of your kids,” Alex said.
Crying in earnest now, Charlene clasped Alex to her until her tears ebbed.
“Thank you,” Charlene whispered.
“I’m glad you’re all right,” Alex said.
“I was terrified they would come looking for the journal I gave you,” Charlene said.
“I don’t think they knew exactly what they’re looking for,” Alex said. “That’s my opinion. Would you like
me to set up guards for you?”
“No, I won’t live like that,” Charlene said. “I was wondering if you would teach me how to defend myself. Steve said you taught Maria and your Mom. I bet the other girls would like to learn too.”
“Sure,” Alex said. “In the meantime, where should we put these?”
“I’ll keep this one with me,” Charlene stuck Charlie’s first Fey Special Forces Team journal into her fanny pack. “No one knew I had the other one.”
“But people knew about the others?”
“The men who built the house. My cleaning lady. I didn’t think they were… important. Except to me,” Charlene said. “I guess I was wrong.”
“Everything we ever did was deleted from all of our computers about an hour after everyone was killed,” Alex said. “We think it was a safeguard either Charlie or I put in place, but we don’t know. It happened automatically by a program, a bot. I’m still piecing together everything.”
“Will you promise me something?” Charlene asked.
“Anything.”
“When you find out what my Charlie was so worried about, will you tell me?”
“Of course,” Alex said. “As much as I can.”
“Of course. I know you’re super busy,” Charlene said. “And I should get out to my guests. I’m so happy for them. Can you imagine a whole new round of Fey babies? Are you and John…?”
“We can’t have kids,” Alex choked out the words.
“Oh Alex, I’m so sorry. I...” Seeing Alex’s pain stricken face, Charlene gave her a quick hug.
“You’ll have to enjoy the kids around you,” Charlene said. “Have you heard Maria’s news?”
“I have lunch with Maria every week. And no, I haven’t heard her news.”
“I’ll let her tell you,” Charlene’s eyes sparkled with mischief. They were almost to the door when Charlene asked, “Did Charlie bank sperm too?”
“Yes,” Alex said.
“There are a lot of old gals like me who are having babies. I thought maybe a little baby would... Crazy to be a mother at fifty-six! I miss my Charlie like the other girls miss their guys.”
“You’ll make the right choice,” Alex said. “How are your grandkids?”
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