by Zack Klika
The FBI and ATF were called in after Colonel Wright was brought in. They probably wouldn’t have been if it was up to the military police, but Conn made sure they knew. Questions about the surveillance technology Lee used to gather the evidence sprung up shortly after agents for both agencies arrived. Lee had just assumed the questions he was being asked by FBI Special Agent Gibson were part of his investigation. In the end, it had seemed like a normal conversation between a government official and a drug dealer with a record.
Lee didn’t think much of his homemade equipment, but Special Agent Gibson was impressed. So impressed that, after conducting interviews with friends and coworkers of Lee’s and determining he had no connection to domestic or international terrorism, Gibson submitted Lee’s name to his senior advisor with a recommendation that he be admitted into the FBI’s internship program.
Later, Lee found out there was a two-recommendation requirement. And with a little digging he found out Conn was the second recommender.
Those last six months in Clarksville had kept him pretty busy. Between work and his last semester at school, there wasn’t enough time in the day. The local papers ate up the base’s cover-up. But Lee wasn’t mentioned in any articles written. It had to be that way, Agent Sanchez had told him.
Lee hailed a taxi after grabbing his duffel bag from the luggage-claim area. The ride to the Marine Corps base where he was to be stationed for the next five months gave him more time to think. And all he could think about was Conn. There was still so much he had wanted to say to her before he left. Riley too, but Conn was the one clouding his every thought. He wanted to apologize to her. To thank her. To be with her. He tried to push the thoughts of her and him in bed out of his mind. They wouldn’t do him any good. He had to move on.
The front gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico loomed in the distance and gave Lee hope that he had made the right decision to leave Clarksville behind. Only time would tell. He smiled, realizing time was on his side and that maybe one day he and Conn would reconnect.
Chapter 61
Conn decided not to go to Colonel Wright’s hearing. She still had time to make it if she changed her mind, but it didn’t seem necessary to attend. Her statement had been given. And she had already taken the stand with her version of the story. It was in the hands of the military judge now. If he got off with a slap on the wrist, who knew what she might do in retaliation. No, it was better to stay at work and catch up on paperwork. Paperwork, she thought. There had been so much of it after she brought in Colonel Wright.
Even with the video footage Lee had, there were still questions of what exactly had happened at the bunkers. Conn, Riley, Lee, Thomas . . . they had all told Agent Sanchez, the FBI agents, and the ATF agents the same exact thing. Conn had a feeling justice would not be found on Fort Campbell that day. She thought about the friends someone like Colonel Wright had made during his thirty-year career in the Army.
At first the FBI and ATF agents didn’t believe their story. It seemed like a stretch that a cover-up had taken place some two years ago and since then pilfered munitions had been sold off to the highest bidders around Tennessee and Kentucky. But after Agent Sanchez supported their claims, detailing General Youngblood’s orders to suppress the truth, the federal agents were on board.
She wanted some fresh air, so she walked down the street to a coffee shop that had just opened. The sun beat down on her face as she walked along the curb that ran alongside two-story remodeled historic buildings. Her life was going well. She had done more good in those few days then she had done in seven years of public service, between the Army and Clarksville Police Department.
There was a new balance to her life. That despair over failing to save every poor soul she encountered was no longer with her. Now she walked with a feeling of contentment. It suited her well. At least Johnson had told her so. She sat on a bench outside of the coffee shop after getting her bitter, lukewarm coffee. Maybe the barista was having an off day or she had caught the last of the pot. She would have to try it again some other time, maybe earlier in the day.
Cars zipped by her, up the hill, and then disappeared over it. Her mind wandered to her son, then to Riley, finally setting on Lee. She thought about how much he had been through over the past year. Of course he could hack it in the FBI. The problem was getting him to leave Clarksville. He would never do it on his own. So after talking to Agent Gibson and seeing how impressed he was with Lee’s gear, she hinted that he would probably be a perfect candidate for the FBI’s internship program. She said it in a way that made Agent Gibson believe he’d had the idea and she was just articulating it in a way that finally made the lightbulb above his head go off. She left out the part about Lee being an informant for her and Johnson, and instead made it sound like he volunteered for the entire thing because he’d known Danny in high school. Gibson bought it hook, line, and sinker, and before she knew it, she was writing a recommendation for Lee.
The hardest part about watching Lee go was that she finally saw him for the man he was: a caring, intelligent, loving person who would have made a wonderful partner in life and an even better father to his children. It would have been easy enough to start up their relationship again, but she wouldn’t be the one who held him from the greatness she knew he was destined for. No, sometimes you had to nudge a person in the right direction, and that’s what she did. She would be here if he ever made it back. But hopefully he would realize the world had more to offer than what Clarksville had given him his whole life.
A car pulled up to the curb in front of her and the driver rolled the passenger-side window down.
“Let’s go,” said Johnson. “We just caught a homicide at a hotel near base.”
She stood up, walked to the car, and leaned in the window.
“Any soldiers involved?” she asked.
His expression was apologetic. Of course there was a soldier involved. She shook her head and hopped in the car. The sirens sounded off as Johnson peeled out.
Chapter 62
Something was wrong with the air-conditioning unit in the courtroom. Riley sat up straight, trying to remain as still as possible so that her blouse didn’t touch her skin. If it did, then she would have to scratch it. And if she scratched it, then Colonel Wright would think she was weak. He was staring right at her while the verdict was being read by the judge. Tim sat to her right, dabbing his face with a handkerchief.
Riley had stayed busy enough up until the trial. After the incident at the bunkers, she wrote her article about the cover-up of Andrew’s and Jennifer’s murders. Tim had connections at a few of the big newspaper companies and, after a few edits, got it into their hands. Riley was surprised by how quickly it ran and then by all the feedback she got from military personnel, concerned citizens, and journalists alike. There were even a few job offers being thrown around, one of them at a hard-hitting magazine that tackled topics like human trafficking and sexual assault.
She wrote the entire piece curled up in a hospital chair next to Thomas’s hospital bed. He had pulled through after four days of close supervision from the staff at the Blanchfield Army Community Hospital. He would have been released sooner, but the dirt he had used in the bullet hole that tore into his chest had caused an infection that his doctor determined needed to be monitored for another day or two.
General Youngblood was replaced less than twenty-four hours after her article hit newsstands. A statement was released by the new base commander stating that the mayor of Clarksville could expect complete transparency on any and all investigations that could potentially affect the well-being of the town’s citizens.
Riley looked over at Sanchez, who was seated in one of the rows on the opposite side of the aisle. She’d heard he had gotten into trouble from command for letting classified documents into the hands of a soldier without the proper clearance. Whatever consequences he was going to face were voided when the new command of the base took over.
The idea that not everyone in the Army w
as bad, and like-minded individuals like her existed at some of the higher ranks in the military, gave her hope for the future of her fellow soldiers and their families. Not enough hope to re-enlist, though. She was not allowed to go anywhere other than the courthouse and the PX with the visitor pass Tim had gotten her.
The investigation that was held before charges were brought against Colonel Wright proved fruitless. There was no way to connect him to the murders of Jennifer and Andrew. And there were no fingerprints to be found at the bunker site. A charge of grand larceny of military property was put forth. The sole evidence that was used in the trial was the video footage Lee had recorded. Colonel Wright’s defense attorney claimed the shot fired at Thomas was a hunting accident and that the altercation between Colonel Wright, Riley, Conn, and Thomas was a misunderstanding. “I thought they were doing something illegal back there,” was the extent of Colonel Wright’s elaboration. The photos of him and Jennifer training together were dismissed as just that. The two of them training.
Riley’s line of vision panned to Colonel Wright’s wife, a small woman with shoulder-length brown hair. She wore a deep navy blue formal dress that fell to midcalf. She must have felt eyes on her because she turned and looked at Riley with puffy red eyes, then turned back to face her husband. Riley knew why she had been crying. She had left an envelope on the doorstep of Mrs. Wright’s home. Inside the envelope were photos of Jennifer Carlson at the scene of her murder. Mrs. Wright knew why her husband was standing trial, but whether or not she believed that he killed Jennifer remained to be seen. How could a woman live with a monster like that? To be fair, most military wives had no idea what their husbands did overseas. If they had, they might sleep with one eye open.
Riley tried to imagine the kind of life Jennifer and Andrew would be living right now if their lives had not been ruined by Colonel Wright. Would they have had a child by now? Would they have just settled into a new duty station? Maybe Andrew would have gotten out and gone to college with his GI Bill and left the military behind. No one would ever know.
Colonel Wright’s defense decided on a trial by bench, which meant the judge was the sole decider in whether he was convicted or acquitted of the charges brought against him. Riley could tell something was wrong. Colonel Wright seemed relaxed. Like he knew he would be going home in a few minutes.
And he was right. No less than five minutes later the judge handed down a verdict of not guilty. Was a deal made behind closed doors? Riley shook her head. Tim put a consoling hand on her shoulder, but she just stood up and walked out of the stuffy room.
*
Getting drunk seemed like the best option that evening. Riley had planned on boozing it up alone since Thomas was at a leadership course in Louisiana for the next two weeks. But Conn had gotten ahold of her that night after she found out Colonel Wright was acquitted of all charges.
Riley picked a high table in the back of an old sports bar. Conn met her by the second shot of whiskey.
“Don’t let me stop you,” Conn said when Riley paused with the shot glass in hand, halfway to her mouth.
Smiling, Riley slammed the shot and slid another one to Conn.
“Might as well,” said Conn and drained the shot in one gulp. She set the shot glass down and looked at Riley. “You figured out the truth. No one else.”
Before Riley could respond, a few guys tried to hit on them. Conn made it clear they weren’t interested, and the guys slid back towards the bar they had come from.
“What’s the point of it all if someone like him can walk away and live his life without consequence?” Riley asked the question, but it seemed more directed to the empty shot glass in front of her than to Conn.
Conn’s phone went off. Riley watched as she answered it.
“What?” Conn asked with a confused look. “Okay. Yeah, thanks.”
She hung up the phone and grabbed another shot.
“Colonel Wright’s dead,” Conn said. “His wife shot him.”
A look of joy crossed Riley’s face and disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived.
“Someone always suffers in the end,” Riley said.
She slammed another shot and headed for the dartboard.
Letter From Zack
Thank you so much for reading Blood on the Bridge. Hopefully you enjoyed it. If you have a few moments to spare, please write a review and let me know what you think about it. In the end, the reviews help new readers find my work and entertaining new readers is one of my top priorities.
Also, hearing from readers makes my day. So please reach out to me and let me know what you think about the cast of characters I’ve gathered. Which character did you enjoy the most? Any ideas as to where I should take the characters next? Any D&D meetups in Dallas I should know about? Most of the main characters will be returning again soon in the second book I’m hard at work on. Delusion is the title, but titles keep me up late at night so maybe it may change.
The best way to reach me is through my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/zklika. Your message will be read and responded to. Probably in the same day. I’m somewhat tethered to technology. Trying to fix that. We’ll see how it goes.
There are so many more crimes in store for Riley, Conn, and Lee. They have no idea what they are about to get into. Put your shades on and enjoy the ride!
Zack Klika