by Dale Mayer
“I wonder if Badger remembers. If that’s why he was so insistent something was going on.” Talon said. “I never thought to ask him that.”
“I remember early on he said something about the old man on the hill,” Cade added.
“What man?” Erick, still atop the rock, threw a stare at Cade. “Did you see someone?”
“No. Badger said he saw someone. Right after the accident, I remember him calling out something about seeing a man on the hillside. At the time I thought it was just about how the rescuers had arrived and how we were carried off on stretchers. I mean, it was chaos when they finally did reach us.”
“And you never got a clear answer?”
“He never got a clear answer himself, as far as I know.”
“I never heard about that,” Talon said thoughtfully. “If you thought he saw somebody ahead of time, that would potentially explain why he’s always had that doubt in the back of his mind.”
“Badger’s instincts were always strong. If he had that doubt, you know he wouldn’t let it go,” Erick said. “But I think we need to double-check with him. That’s a piece of information I didn’t know about. And that makes me wonder how many other pieces we haven’t sat down as a group and discussed.”
Cade nodded slowly. “That’s a good point. We all have different perspectives, different memories, and, in all this time, we’ve never been together as a group.”
“We didn’t even make it to Mouse’s funeral.”
“No, we didn’t,” Erick said, his heart heavy. “I know Badger made a trip to visit his grave site, but I haven’t.”
“Did Badger do that for closure?” Talon asked. “If so, I don’t think it helped. Because there’s no closure for him right now. He’s the one who’s got us all geared up.”
“No,” Cade said. “I think he did it to make a promise.”
“Now that I can understand,” Erick said. He spun around. “We’ve been driving for hours. Let’s keep going.”
It was still early so they decided to head up to the crash site first and then go back to the village and question everyone. Had someone in the village been responsible for this? It seemed a little farfetched, but Erick wasn’t sure. “We can’t really be thinking somebody might have been watching as we drove over that thing, can we?”
“It’s hard to say,” Cade responded. “I thought Mouse was sleeping at the time.”
Erick nodded at Cade’s words. “Yeah, I remember that too.” He frowned. “He’d packed a bunch of the gear and had it stacked up around him, so it would block off all our noise. And yet, we weren’t terribly noisy.”
“No,” said Talon, “but remember how Mouse didn’t sleep well unless he had dead silence, which worked well on missions sometimes, but, on others, it was almost impossible.”
“And you would think, with all that padding around him, it would have saved him,” Erick said. “Instead he took a direct hit.”
That was enough to shut down the conversation. Quietly they all got back in the vehicle and drove over a rise.
Erick leaned forward, almost standing in place. “This is it.” He pointed up at the nearby landmark. “I do remember seeing that. Something about that slight rise over there. We were coming down this dip slowly.” Erick dropped down to his seat and checked his maps and his GPS location. “Tesla says the area is clear.”
Talon gave a little more gas to the engine. “I have to admit, it’s not the easiest thing to drive this route again.”
Cade whispered from behind them, “Look.”
There, half buried in sand, forgotten by time, was a windshield and the rooftop to the cab of the truck they’d been in. Talon pulled the vehicle to a stop. They all sat for a long moment, staring.
“This road is never used,” Erick said. “There are no other trucks buried here and no tire tracks—and haven’t been for a long time.”
The surface was hard packed and dry, nothing discernible on the road. Time had managed to erase most of what had happened. But there were metal scraps, a tire off to the side on the left—the rubber stripped and hanging in shreds. The blast had perforated the actual seals and blown it apart.
“I want to get out and walk,” Erick said.
“We all do,” Talon said. “And we’ll take pictures. I would like to see and remember what it looks like now.”
“We also should give this GPS location to Tesla,” Erick stated. “This exact one. What we gave her before was the one we had from the military. Our records. But this is as close as she’ll ever get to the actual spot. Maybe she can find something here with her special software.”
“If she can find mines, can she find other stuff? Like your phone that you mentioned before?” Cade asked Erick.
Erick shrugged. He opened his door and hopped out. Then he turned and headed to the first large piece of wreckage he saw. “That woman can find out stuff I didn’t know existed. We just have to give her as much information as we can so she has something to work from.”
“Agreed.”
They all had cell phones with cameras. They took as many photos as they could. It was like approaching a grave. So many men had been badly hurt here. Seven of them—their lives torn apart by the events. And then there was Mouse… They slowly walked around the remains of the truck they could still see.
“Nobody cleaned it up?” Erick’s voice was hard, angry. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. But I am.”
“Think of the equipment they’d have to bring out here to do that,” Cade said quietly. “They probably thought Mother Nature would just hide the tracks, like it did.”
Still, bits and pieces showed people had been here. Attached to the glass on the inside, still stuck against the dash, Erick saw what looked like a scrap of cloth. The whole of it had been long gone. Probably somebody’s jacket, piece of a shirt, something. He crouched down beside it, knowing it would have old dried blood. It was heartbreaking to see this.
As he studied the scene, he wondered how spread out the pieces of the truck were. He could see the indent in the side of the vehicle where the blast had originated. He walked toward that and studied it. The thing that bothered him was how the blast was off to the side of the road.
Talon joined him. “See? I was on the road the whole time. And, even after two years, you can tell the road was here. So, either the tire just clipped the land mine …”
“Or there was a second land mine, buried side by side, and, as soon as you touched one, it detonated both,” Erick filled in for him. “Either way we didn’t have a chance.”
“What are the odds that somebody shot the land mine and triggered the explosion as we approached?” Cade asked.
Erick and Talon looked at him and shrugged. “I don’t know how that works. But it could certainly be set up with a pressure trigger if somebody wanted to badly enough. The question is, who wanted to?”
“Probably be easier to set up a trip wire instead. Any number of things can do that, but why make it complicated? If the land mine was buried under a well-used road, that would be understandable. But why put it here?” Talon opened his arms and turned around, motioning at the wide expanse of nothing beside him. “Why here? Nothing is here. The village is an hour away. But nothing else is around. What does one land mine do?”
“Not much if it’s not triggered. But, when it’s triggered, of course, as we well know, it creates complete chaos.”
For the next hour they walked around in silence, studying what was left from a time not forgotten. As far as Erick could see, they found no clues to help them get to the bottom of this. Neither were any personal identifications left behind. No way to say this was, in fact, the vehicle they had been blown up in, but Erick couldn’t imagine another one would be at this same place. There was also a chance that, if there had been a second land mine, it could be planted around here. But according to Tesla, she hadn’t seen any sign of that.
Though heavy metal pieces from the ripped-up vehicle could hide her view. He wouldn’t chance wal
king around too much. He maneuvered carefully through two years’ worth of debris. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for. He just knew he’d had to come, to see, and maybe put it all to rest. But, as he stared at the remains, he realized just how damn lucky he was to be alive. And how damn sad that Mouse, who’d been the one cushioned to sleep as much as he could, had died. He’d been the youngest of them all. The most fit in every way. To have lost such a young man in his prime like that was just senseless. Erick hadn’t seen him afterward, but then he hadn’t seen most of his friends. He’d been knocked out cold for the bulk of the recovery. A gift that hadn’t been given to Badger. He’d lain there with his leg ripped off, struggling to get to the rest of them. It had been Badger who had gotten a call out to the other two trucks.
And it had been Badger who had grabbed Erick’s hand and had told him to hang on. Erick remembered hearing Badger’s voice while he was covered in a black mist of pain and anguish. And he remembered hearing Badger’s cry as he checked the men he could. Some were too far away for Badger to get to. He’d sustained massive loss of blood himself. And he was only hurting himself further as he tried to reach everyone.
It was odd how that was a time they’d never spoken about. He’d never asked Badger about any of it. But he remembered his voice. To address that was to bring back so much more pain than he wanted to deal with right now. Some things had to be put to rest.
“What do you think about this?” Cade called, motioning to the other two.
Erick and Talon turned to look. Cade was a good hundred yards away.
Erick frowned. “What the hell are you doing so far away?”
“I don’t recognize this metal,” he said.
Erick and Talon joined him and stared down at a twisted piece of metal. “This is part of the actual land mine,” Erick said in disbelief. He glanced at the distance the vehicle had been thrown. “We were going forward, and it picked us up and carried us in the blast.”
“Or this is just one of two,” Talon added.
“Yeah, that’s possible also. How depressing,” Erick said.
“It doesn’t help us at all though,” Cade said.
“Unless we can find a serial number or a manufacturer’s name on it,” Erick added.
“That still won’t help. It was two years ago, and who cares? We already know who the likely supplier was,” Talon said.
But Cade had crouched down against the metal and was busy digging it out. “Maybe not,” he said quietly. “Look at this.”
Erick walked around and crouched beside him. His breath caught in the back of his throat. “Goddammit.”
Property of US Military was written on the side. The three men looked at each other, grim anger at the turn of circumstances. Cade snapped a photo. “Of course it’s one of ours. It also likely came from the same supplier,” Talon said.
“No, it means it probably did come from him. I’m sure he runs a decent business, stealing from all the bases. How easy would it be to then turn around and sell the stolen munitions to our enemies? Use them against us?” Erick asked.
“It doesn’t change anything,” Talon said. “The fact that our own country built the weapons used against us … It still doesn’t tell us what side or group planted them. Or what side or group paid to have them planted.”
“No, but we’re a whole lot closer.” Cade stood and looked around at the wreckage. “Do you guys want to see any more?”
Erick studied the surroundings. He’d been here for almost two hours now, taken hundreds of pictures. He shook his head. “No, I’m good. I’d be happy to never come back and see this again in my life.” He turned and walked back to their vehicle.
Chapter 6
Honey was ready for dinner and met up with her group downstairs. As she walked to the restaurant, her phone pinged again. She frowned, wondering who now? There was a ten-and-a-half-hour-time difference from here to home. She clicked on her cell phone as one of the men jokingly laughed, “What’s the matter? Can’t leave your lover alone for a couple hours to have dinner with us?”
David glanced at her, a question in his eyes. “Something I should know about?”
She smiled but didn’t answer. It was Erick checking in. She sent a quick text back. You don’t have to check in. I’m fine.
The response came in quickly yet again. I will keep checking.
Fine, but I thought you had something better to do with your life.
I do. Maybe you’re part of it.
Why? Want to get your Mustang smashed again? She wondered if she’d gone too far.
No, this time I’ll see you coming.
She winced. Maybe that was fair after all. She sent back another response. Laszlo is looking out for me. You don’t have to.
It took a little longer to get a response this time. She frowned, wondering if he would bother.
Then he sent back Are you staying with him?
No, of course not.
Good.
Why?
It was a good thing she stuck with the group, otherwise she would have walked off the pavement. David tucked an arm around her shoulders to keep her closer. She smiled and murmured, “Thanks.” She was struggling to text and walk. Lots of people managed it but not her. She preferred to sit down and focus on one thing at a time.
Finally they walked into the restaurant, and she thought maybe she should tell Erick what she was doing. She glanced around. The interior of the restaurant was darker, the atmosphere for dining was not café style. It was nicer. She sent a quick message. Going inside for dinner. At a restaurant with a group of workshop attendees.
Good. Watch your back.
“Watch your own,” she snapped aloud. David looked at her abruptly, and she winced. “Sorry, didn’t realize I was speaking out loud. It’s just a friend.” She waggled her phone in the air.
“Must be quite a friend.” He laughed. “Don’t you love that? We spend so much of our time texting now that it’s almost like we’ve forgotten what face-to-face conversations are all about.”
It was hard to argue with that. She put away her phone and sat down at the table. When the waiter brought their ordered drinks, she looked around and thought she caught sight of Laszlo. She frowned, turned back again and wondered if he was following her. She didn’t have his cell number, which was too damn bad because, if he was following her, she’d have something to say to him. But she did have Erick’s. She sent him a text. Is Laszlo following me?
I don’t know. Is he?
No idea. I thought I saw him.
Maybe you did.
She gave a half snort and turned her attention to the menu. She shouldn’t be upset if he was tailing her. At least he was trying to keep her safe.
Unable to help herself, she cast a second glance around the restaurant. She wasn’t sure why she had thought she had seen Laszlo; she caught no sign of him now. And, if somebody had been following her, she thought he’d do a better job than getting caught at it. It left a trail of unease when she couldn’t find him again.
She sent Erick another text. No sign of him.
Then forget about it.
Throughout the evening she kept looking around. There was no reason for it, but the hairs on the back of her neck said something was wrong. When she couldn’t stand it anymore, she pulled out her phone and asked Erick, Are you in trouble?
No.
Okay. But the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up.
Where’s Laszlo?
How the hell would I know? She dropped the phone back in her lap and returned to the dinner table conversation.
David kept a close eye on her.
She knew she wasn’t being a very good companion, but everything just felt so very wrong. She also wondered why she felt Erick was the person she should contact. What the hell? She’d never had anything to do with him before yesterday. At least outside of the car accident.
“Everything okay?” David, who was from Kabul, leaned toward her, his voice quiet and worried. “
Sounds like you and who, … Erick? Are having problems?”
She shook her head. “Not really. Just the usual.”
“Ah, relationships are not always perfect.”
Yet his voice had changed, as if he’d accepted someone was in her life. Even though she knew otherwise, if it helped put her relationship with David on a neutral footing, that was fine with her.
The rest of dinner finished on a lighter note. She had no more texts from Erick, and she didn’t see any sign of anyone else. But that didn’t mean they weren’t here. And, because of that, she couldn’t let it go.
After dinner the group moved to the bar at the hotel lounge. She wanted to stay as part of the group rather than chance going up to her room alone. She wished she’d gotten Laszlo’s contact number. But she hadn’t. And that was a mistake. She wished she could check in with him, ask if her room was clear. She’d had such a great day, and now all her worries had returned. She had two drinks with her friends, then made her excuses and headed up to her room.
When she reached the lobby, it was empty. The lights were lowered, and gentle music played from unseen speakers. It was a really nice hotel, and she had enjoyed every minute of it, as long as she could discount the time when a gunman was in her room. And, of course, she hadn’t contacted the police. That was a negative for her too.
What if he hurt somebody else? What if she could have saved them if she had contacted law enforcement? But she didn’t know what would happen to her if she did bring up something like that.
She moved quietly toward the stairs. For some reason she didn’t like the look of the elevator when it opened beside her. It was empty, but it was almost ghostly. As if the perfect timing for her to enter was more a case of perfect timing for somebody to snatch her. Hating the direction of her thoughts but unable to get them out of her mind, she started up the stairs, realizing, of course, she was in high heels. Not the best thing.
After the first floor, she settled into a natural rhythm and was on her way up to the second when the lights went out. She froze and instinctively crouched down, hiding against the wall. No way to look up and see if anybody was there without giving away her position. But she no longer felt quite so good about her decision to take the stairs.