“I guess everybody handles grief differently,” said Sean.
“I guess they do. And he’s just a kid.”
“Exactly when does he want to meet?”
“He gets out at three fifteen. He has swim practice starting at four thirty. He can meet with us in between.”
Sean chuckled.
Michelle pulled her car keys from her fanny pack. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, I was just afraid we were going to have to do a confidential client meeting on the playground during recess.”
“He’s in high school, not kindergarten. And they don’t do recess anymore.”
“My apologies. But I just don’t see this going anywhere.”
“At the very least we can return his gun, although it’s probably not a good idea to pass him a weapon while he’s on school grounds. Maybe we can meet him someplace else.”
“Which high school?” he asked. She told him.
“We drove past there last night. There’s a strip mall across the street with a Panera café. Call him back and tell him we’ll meet him there.”
“I won’t call. I’ll just text. That’s what kids do these days.”
“However you want to do it.”
“You’re not into this case, are you?” she asked.
“There is no case,” he replied.
“There might be a case,” she corrected. “Depending on what we find out.”
“You’re just not letting this go, are you?”
“I really don’t know why this has gotten ahold of me. But it has. And I have to do it. Okay?”
“Fine. In for a dime, in for a dollar.”
“Now you sound really old.”
“Our new ‘client’ is barely past puberty. Of course I feel old.”
She nudged his shoulder with her hand. “Thanks for indulging me.”
“What I live for,” he replied. “But you have to promise me, if there is nothing to this case, and I can tell you right now that there isn’t, you will drop it and we go on vacation. I want your word.”
“You have my word. If there is nothing to the case, we go to New Zealand and I’ll wear a bikini. But you have to wear a Speedo.”
He said, “That would not do wonders for New Zealand’s tourism business.”
But what he was really thinking was, I’m just thrilled that I’m not grieving about losing you.
CHAPTER
8
TYLER MET THEM AT THE PANERA CAFÉ across from the high school. He was dressed in the school’s uniform of khaki pants, a black polo shirt with the school’s official insignia on it, and black shoes.
“You drink coffee?” Michelle asked him as they walked together into the Panera.
“I’ll just get some water,” said Tyler.
“You don’t get enough in the pool?” asked Sean in a joking manner.
Tyler didn’t seem to hear him. He just trudged on.
Sean and Michelle purchased coffees while Tyler bought his own bottle of water, declining their offer to purchase it for him. They sat at a table near the back. The only other people in the café were students with laptops and two moms with young kids in strollers. One pretty brunette about Tyler’s age waved at him. He self-consciously waved back before turning to Sean and Michelle.
“I want to hire you guys.”
Sean sat back and folded his arms over his chest. “So Michelle told me. Why?”
“I already told her,” replied Tyler. “To find out about my dad.”
“And you’re saying the Army didn’t tell you how he died?”
“No, they said he was shot.”
“Okay. It happened in Afghanistan, right?”
“That’s what they said.”
“And you don’t believe that?” asked Sean.
“I guess I do. I mean, I don’t know.”
Sean said, “Okay, so we’re not in Afghanistan, Tyler. We have no realistic way to get to Afghanistan in order to look over the Army’s shoulder on this. No jurisdiction. No resources. Zip.”
Tyler swallowed a mouthful of water and took his time responding. “But you’re private investigators. Don’t you guys have ways of finding stuff out? I mean, that’s sort of the point of what you do, right?”
“Yes, it is,” said Michelle, leaning in closer. She glanced once at Sean and said to Tyler, “First things first. What’s your dad’s name?”
“Samuel, but everybody calls him Sam.”
“What exactly did the Army tell you about your dad?”
“They said he was with his squad in Kandahar. He was out on patrol at night and someone shot him.”
“That someone being the Taliban, al-Qaeda, an Afghan soldier turned traitor?” prompted Sean.
“They said they didn’t know. Whoever shot him got away, they said, but they’re looking for the person.”
Sean nodded slowly. “Unfortunately, that happens on a battlefield, Tyler. I’m sure the Army will do all it can to find out who killed your dad and make sure they’re punished.”
“When do his remains arrive at Dover Air Force Base?” asked Michelle.
Tyler shook his head. “They didn’t talk about that.”
Michelle frowned. “But all the bodies of slain servicemen come through Dover. The Army normally allows the family members to go up there when the remains arrive. And then you can have the burial take place at Arlington National Cemetery. All soldiers killed in combat get that honor.”
Sean stared at her strangely. “How do you know all that?”
“I did some quick research last night.”
Sean scowled and said in a low voice, “Before or after your relaxing bath?”
Tyler was shaking his head. “They didn’t say anything about Dover.”
Sean said, “Well, maybe those details come later. Your mom—”
Tyler glanced sharply at him.
Sean continued, “Sorry, your stepmom said that the Army was sending more people. Maybe they have that information. Have you talked to her about it?”
“No. I leave early for school. She’s always still in bed,” he added reproachfully.
Sean looked at him closely. “I’m surprised you made it to school today, Tyler. Must’ve been tough after last night.”
He shrugged and mumbled something that was too low for either Sean or Michelle to hear.
Sean said, “Well, maybe you should give your stepmom a buzz and find out. Go ahead and do it while we’re here.”
Instead of calling, Tyler thumbed in a text and sent it off.
Sean glanced at Michelle. A tiny smile crept across her face. She mouthed the words, I told you so.
“She’s not going to answer, at least not for a while,” said Tyler.
“She doesn’t keep her phone with her?” asked Michelle.
“Oh, she does. But the text was from me so it’s not a priority.”
Michelle and Sean exchanged another glance.
“Okay, cutting to the chase. Do we have the evil stepmother syndrome going on here?” asked Sean.
Tyler’s face turned nearly as red as his hair. “I’m not saying she’s evil. She just doesn’t have a clue. She’s a lot younger than my dad. I don’t know why he even married her.”
“What happened to your mom?” asked Michelle gently.
Tyler fiddled with the label on his water bottle, peeling it off and piling the scraps of paper on the table in front of him.
“She got sick and died. Four years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” said Michelle.
“How long ago did your dad remarry?” asked Sean.
“What does that matter?” Tyler blurted out. “I just want to find out what happened to him. This other stuff is just crap. It has nothing to do with anything.”
He had raised his voice, and the pretty brunette glanced over with a worried look.
Tyler caught her eye, looked embarrassed, and stared down at the paper pile in front of him.
Michelle put a hand on his shoulder. “I know this
is really hard, Tyler. I lost a parent unexpectedly too. But the more we know about things, the more ideas we can come up with. That’s why we’re asking these questions that don’t seem important right now. On a case, you don’t know what will end up being important or not. You can see that, right?”
Tyler licked his chapped lips and took another swig of water. “They got married about a year ago. They didn’t have a wedding. They went to a judge or something. My dad didn’t even tell me until it was over. I didn’t even really know her. And they hadn’t been seeing each other very long. And she’s like fifteen years younger than him. It was weird.”
“I can see why that might make things awkward,” commented Sean.
“Yeah,” said Tyler. “Like real awkward.”
Michelle said, “Was your dad career Army?”
Tyler shook his head. “He was in the Army for a long time, then he went into the reserves. Then he got called up. He’d been over there twice before on deployment when he was regular Army. Then he came back home. I thought he was going to stay home for good but he had to go back again as a reservist.”
Sean took out a small notebook and started jotting some things down. Michelle gave him a grateful look.
“How old was your father?” he asked.
“Forty-five.”
“Tough to make a transition back into combat at that age.”
“I guess, for some guys. But my dad is really jacked. He ran and lifted weights and he knows karate too. He’s like a triple black belt. And he would swim with me. It got to the point where he couldn’t really keep up with me, but he was tons better than most guys his age. He even did some triathlons.”
Sean said, “I doubt I could do one lap in the pool. Sounds like your dad was really an iron man.”
“Yeah, he is.” Tyler bit his lower lip and his eyes glimmered.
Sean asked quickly, “What did he do before he was called up?”
“Um, he worked at a company called DTI in Reston. He was a salesman. Nothing real exciting.”
“What was your dad’s position in the Army?”
“He’s a sergeant.”
“You’re sure?”
Tyler drew out an envelope from his backpack. “I wrote some stuff down. His unit, when he deployed, stuff like that.”
He handed it to Michelle. She said, smiling, “Very perceptive of you. I wish all our clients were as prepared as you.”
“So will you guys look into it for me? I don’t know how much you charge, but I can pay you. I got money in an account my dad set up for me. And I worked my butt off during the summer as a lifeguard. Saved up nearly a thousand dollars.”
“That’s great, Tyler,” said Michelle. “We can go into those details later.”
“So you just want to know more about his death?” asked Sean.
“Well, yeah.”
“The thing is, Tyler, the Army will give you all of that. You don’t need us. And I don’t want to take your money to find out information you’re going to get for free.”
Tyler rubbed at his eyes and didn’t answer.
Sean sipped his coffee and waited, choosing not to break the silence. He gave a knowing look to Michelle and inclined his head at Tyler.
Michelle touched Tyler’s arm. “Is there something else? Something you haven’t told us that’s troubling you?”
Tyler started to say something but then shrugged and looked at his watch. “I need to get going. We take a bus to the pool where we practice. I can’t be late.”
“What do you swim?” asked Michelle.
“Fifty free and the two hundred medley. I’m not that good. I mean, there are guys on the team a lot better than me.” He added, “Do you swim?”
Michelle said, “I prefer to keep just above the water and dry.”
“So… you guys will work for me?” said Tyler hesitantly.
Sean started to say something but Michelle said, “We’ll make inquiries, report back, and go from there, okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” said Tyler, sounding a little disappointed.
He got up and walked out in a slouch, his backpack dangling off one shoulder.
Sean looked at Michelle. “Something is off here.”
“Glad you’re finally coming around to that,” she said.
“I mean, the kid was a shambles last night. Running around in a storm with a gun half out of his mind. And then he goes to school and sits here talking to us about his father’s death like it’s a business transaction. Where was the emotion? Where were the tears?”
“Girls cry a lot more easily than boys, Sean.”
“Not girls like you.”
“I have four older brothers. I was never officially a girl.” She paused and stared after Tyler. “But I get what you mean.”
“So what inquiries are you planning?” he asked.
“Got any contacts at the Pentagon?”
“Couple.”
Michelle held up the envelope. “Well, let’s take a look at these notes and then see what we can do.”
“And if all we can do is confirm what the Army has already told him?”
“Then that will have to be enough. But I don’t think it’ll play out like that.”
“Why not?”
“That kid is holding something back, Sean. Something that is scaring him.”
“Soldiers die all the time, Michelle. And their next of kin get notified. It’s standard procedure.”
“Well, this might just prove to be the exception to the standard. But there’s something else,” she said.
“What?”
“You referred to his dad in the past tense. Tyler answered but he spoke about his dad in the present tense. As though he were still alive.”
“Wishful thinking maybe?”
“He didn’t strike me as the type.”
Sean sighed. “Okay. We’ll do what we can. But just remember our deal about New Zealand.”
“Don’t worry. I ordered your Speedo online this morning.”
CHAPTER
9
THE NEXT DAY SEAN PUT down the phone and stared at his desk. He was alone in the Spartan offices of King and Maxwell, Private Investigation. Michelle’s desk abutted his. His desktop was pristine. Everything in its place and items lined up precisely. He looked across at Michelle’s desk and frowned. It looked like someone had dumped a box of junk on it and
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