by Zack Klika
The MPs had been following her for about five minutes when she got a text message from Thomas: “Sanchez wants to speak with you.” Reds and blues hit her rearview mirror. She pulled off to the side of the road, and the SUV pulled up in front of her. She waited a few seconds, unsure what was going on. The SUV slowly pulled off and she thought it best to follow.
The MPs escorted her through unfamiliar territory, driving down a road flanked by tall trees. She wondered if they were taking her to some remote location to dispose of the last person with any idea of what happened to Jennifer Carlson. Or maybe the military police station. The trees cleared after ten minutes of doing the speed limit, and Riley saw an unmarked white SUV waiting in a gravel-and-dirt opening off to the side of the road. The SUV she was following pulled up next to the unmarked SUV and, once Riley stopped right behind it, left her with the other SUV. It all seemed so covert. Something you might see in a spy movie.
Riley waited in her car and then saw someone get out of the driver’s side door of the SUV and open the back-left passenger door. The man was in uniform and just stared at her while he held the door open. She turned her car off and eased over to him. Once at the SUV’s door, she peeked inside and saw Sanchez in the back seat and Thomas in the front passenger’s seat.
“We’re not going to kidnap you,” Sanchez said with absolutely no hint of a joking demeanor behind the words.
“Come on,” Thomas said.
Riley hopped in and the door slammed shut behind her. The driver waited outside while they talked.
“I didn’t expect you to figure out so much,” Sanchez said.
“That’s the idea behind a cover-up, right?” Riley asked.
With his jaw clenched, Sanchez shook his head.
“You don’t understand the logistics of it all.”
“I think I’ve got a pretty good idea,” Riley said. “Colonel Wright drove off base with Andrew, and a shit ton of weapons and munitions were unloaded somewhere that you can’t seem to find. Jennifer wouldn’t stay away, so you enlisted her help to get close to Colonel Wright. What man wouldn’t find her and her sense of patriotism attractive? But it didn’t work out and she was killed when he caught on to her. So now you have two murdered soldiers and still no idea where the missing weapons or ammunition are.”
Thomas looked back and forth between Sanchez and Riley. She continued on after a tense silence.
“I’m only wondering how far up you needed to go to have this authorized. I imagine whoever did isn’t happy with the results. If I were to go out on a limb, I’d almost think exposing what happened to Jennifer would cause a media shit storm and the arrest and discharge of at least a few high-profile commanders. And then there’s the fact there was no disclosure to the Clarksville Police Department about your operation. I wonder how they’d feel about the military just sitting by and watching stolen weapons get sold to only god knows who—”
Sanchez cut her off. “That’s enough.”
Riley met his gaze.
“What do you plan to do with the information you’ve come across?” he asked.
“I could write a story and anonymously send it to all the major news outlets. Because, as you know, I’m not allowed to write something like that while still in the military. But I have a better idea.”
Sanchez waited for more.
“Let me help you catch Colonel Wright.”
“It’s too late to catch him. Everyone connected to him is dead. And he’s not going to sell the weapons himself.”
“So search his home. The last time I saw him, his hand was bandaged and he looked like he was wearing makeup. You know he killed her.”
“We’ve checked CCTV footage near his home and we didn’t see him leave. We also checked the footage at the gates and it doesn’t show Jennifer leaving the base that day either. We know she was on base, though, because we have footage of her coming into the base the night before she died.”
“It’s easy enough to sneak on and off base. Did you search his home for evidence?”
“We couldn’t. Then he’d know we were looking into his dealings. And now Buck’s dead. Danny’s dead. Any chance we had of finding out where the weapons are is gone.”
“Unless Jennifer knew where it was.”
“Are you referring to something you found on her laptop? And before you answer that, let me remind you that if you do have her laptop, you’d be obstructing justice and an ongoing investigation which, as you put it so eloquently, is authorized by top brass.”
“All I’m saying is, if the weapons and ammo are still out there, then it can still be found.”
“It’s not an awful idea, sir,” Thomas said.
“It is, though,” Sanchez said as he rubbed his temples with his right hand. “Others could get hurt. I heard about the attack on Lee Parsons. And Detective Conn received threats to her son’s safety just yesterday. I’ve been instructed to halt the operation indefinitely.”
Riley looked out her window. So that was why Conn had sent her that message.
“All I want is the case file on Andrew Brown,” Riley said. “Maybe there’s something there that a fresh pair of eyes can spot.”
“I want Jennifer’s laptop.”
“Even trade then.”
Sanchez nodded to Thomas.
“Here you go,” Thomas said, pulling out a folder from under his seat and handing it to Riley.
“Thanks,” Riley said, taking the folder. “The laptop is in my car.”
“What?” Sanchez asked.
Riley noted he seemed surprised by that.
“Well, I couldn’t keep it at my place. Who knows when Thomas is going to break into an apartment and steal something on your orders.”
Sanchez looked like he wanted to grin, but kept it bottled in instead. “Let me know if you find anything out.”
“You got it.”
Thomas followed Riley to her car and took the laptop. She told him the password and went to get into her car, but he stopped her.
“Can I come over tonight?” he asked. “To help, of course.”
“I’ll let you know,” she said and drove off.
Chapter 47
Tim liked working with the lights off and the blinds open. A dim white glow settled on his face as he tried to figure out how to rotate an image so that it would fit in the online parameters he had for the Daily’s next issue. The photo on the screen zoomed out of proportion and then disappeared. He pushed the mouse away. No use. He was worried about Riley.
Tim didn’t mind lying if it was for a good cause. But he wasn’t sure if what Riley was doing could be considered good anymore. She ignored his calls and text messages, so he really had no idea where she was. He had seen her down a few pills every now and then, but he was starting to notice that maybe it was a problem for her. Maybe she had gone off the rails and gotten herself hurt. He would have to go by her apartment and check on her for peace of mind.
Even though Riley was assigned to the Fort Campbell Daily, Tim still had to give her commander weekly updates. Assignments she was working, making sure she was showing up to work on time, that kind of thing. Tim knew something was up when her commander called for a second time that day. He was checking in to make sure she was finishing her assignments. Tim lied for her, telling her commander that she was out taking photos of a training exercise or following up with some Army wives’ group on base, writing an article on how they band together during deployments. He bought it.
To clear his head, he went outside and sat on a bench under a large tree that was in the process of shedding its coat. The bench provided a view of the gas station located between barracks and offices. He watched as soldiers shuffled in and out of the establishment, their hands filled with cases of beer, handles of rum, coffees, energy drinks, different kinds of snacks. Such a waste of money. It was bad enough soldiers were paid so little, but to place temptation like that right where they worked and lived seemed unfair.
After taking in the scenery for a
few minutes, Tim put his arm on the bench and propped his head on his fist. He closed his eyes and let the sun soak in. Something about the sun reenergized him. Gave him a feeling of a restart. A gust of wind shot brittle leaves across the concrete path, making a light scraping noise. Military bases were fairly quiet throughout the day. Mostly because so much yelling was done in the morning during PT. He heard a crunch and opened his eyes. Riley was walking up the path. This should be good, he thought.
Riley sat down next to him and looked towards the sky. “Sorry I didn’t get back to you. I’ve been busy.”
Tim stared at her, relieved and angry to see her.
“You don’t need to explain anything to me.”
He saw Riley roll her eyes.
“I’m working with some new information about Jennifer now. I wanted to see if you needed me for anything this week.”
“You’ll half-ass whatever assignments I give you, so I don’t think so.”
There was a silence. Tim got up from the bench and started walking towards the office. Riley followed.
“Tim, there’s a big story here. Bigger than we thought.”
He stopped and faced her. He wanted to scold her for the way she had been acting, but there was no point. He had started all of this. If he was going to yell at anyone, it should be himself.
“Let me help then.”
Riley shook her head.
“It’s not the right time. When the time comes, I’ll fill you in.”
Tim thought that over, then nodded.
“You know where to find me,” he said and smiled at her.
“Thanks, Tim.” And she was gone.
He watched her drive off. She probably thought she was protecting him by not letting him in on the story. But if it was as big as she made it out to be, it’d rattle a few cages around base. Initially that was what he wanted. Now he had the feeling he had slipped up and led Riley down the wrong path. A path of destruction.
Chapter 48
The traffic light had been red for more than a few minutes. Lee inched his car forward, trying to activate some sensor he thought the lights worked off of. He was stopped at a four-way intersection. His was the only vehicle on his side of the road. There were three lanes heading north and three heading south. Two heading west, funneling into one at a stand-alone gate for Fort Campbell. It was close to three, which explained the lack of traffic. But there were no vehicles. Lee thought about just driving through the light—he had a complete view of every road—but then the light turned green. He cruised on ahead, his head swiveling, taking in the views.
Restaurants and shops never really changed down Fort Campbell Boulevard. Mostly because they each served a purpose. There were grocery stores. Fast-food joints. Embroidery shops. Hat shops. Boot-repair shops. You name it, you could find it down “the strip,” as it was known to soldiers and civilians in the area. Lee drove by the shops with the faded paint that he never had a reason to go into and wondered how someone could be content with growing up in Clarksville and spending the rest of their life there.
There was an entire world he wanted to see. He could have joined the military. Even with his arrest record, they would have taken him in. Securing a guaranteed paycheck was simple to attain in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on 9/11.
Lee did not want to join the military, though. He had seen the life soldiers lived since he was a child. It seemed boring. How awful would it be to join the military and have to add a “sir” or “ma’am” or “sergeant” or whatever the hell ranks there were to the end of every sentence? Your sole purpose to follow every and any command given to you by someone who outranked you? No, that wasn’t the life for him. Something else was in store, and he just had to keep working on himself to find out what exactly that was.
He pulled into the back of Poured Up, where more dirt than gravel lay. Jarvis lived in a small home behind the bar. It looked like it could have been another, smaller bar altogether, but Jarvis had renovated it into his home. Lee got out of his car and stopped, looking to the clouds over Fort Campbell in the distance. He stared at the shape of them for a minute. They looked familiar, although he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“What’s up, my dude?” Jarvis asked.
Lee looked back down and saw Jarvis standing in the doorway.
“Not shit,” Lee said. “Thanks again for letting me stay here.”
Jarvis had always been sympathetic to Lee’s struggles getting out of the hood. He was the only one Lee could call on. Lee looked forward to the peace of mind Jarvis’s gun collection would bring too.
“Of course. You’re wrapped up in some wild shit,” Jarvis said, shutting the door behind him and Lee.
“I’ll be out of your hair in a few days.”
“Don’t even, man. Stay here as long as you need. I can’t wait to see what kind of shit you and this chick get into.”
Lee laughed and set his duffel bag and tough box next to a deep leather couch when they made it inside. Jarvis kept a modest place. Ikea furniture dominated most of the living room. The ceiling was lower than it looked from the outside, but it was painted white along with the walls, so it felt roomy. To the left of the entrance was the kitchen, and to the right was a hallway that led to Jarvis’s bedroom. Across from the couch was a large flat-screen TV. A large window to the right of the couch looked onto the backyard. A top-notch bachelor’s pad.
“I don’t know if it’s gonna go down quite like that.”
“Come on. You were kidnapped. Then someone broke into your crib. And then two guys tried to kidnap you or some shit. Something’s about to go down.”
He was right. A meltdown was on the horizon. Lee would make sure he was on the right side this time.
Chapter 49
Thomas had wanted to bring Jennifer in. She had gone rogue in the months leading up to her death. But Sanchez told him to let her be. They both knew she was on a path of destruction, but the mission had to be completed and she was the only one who could do it. Up until she stopped all communication with Sanchez, Jennifer had informed him that she was getting on well with Colonel Wright and should infiltrate his operation soon. The surveillance Sanchez ran on her confirmed it.
Thomas might not have been allowed to bring Jennifer in, but he could certainly keep an eye on her when possible. Colonel Wright liked to have potential Special Forces recruits participate in Buck’s fights. No doubt it helped line Buck’s pockets. And within two weeks of meeting Colonel Wright, Jennifer was at the fights. Thomas watched her take some vicious hits in the ring, but she always got up and dished it back out tenfold.
Thomas and Sanchez sat hunched over a desk with Jennifer’s laptop, scrolling through photos, the same photos they had seen a hundred times before. Sanchez wasn’t pleased with the trade for the laptop, and he let Thomas know it. Thomas shrugged in response.
Sanchez was afforded an empty building on base to set up his team. It was really just an old unmarked brick building that served no use to anyone on base anymore, but it did what it needed to. It had an open floor plan with bathrooms and showers at the back. The gray carpet smelled like it still had a few more years of life left, and the wall’s paint had held up surprisingly well against time. Thomas, Sanchez, and Jennifer had spent a weekend changing out all of the fluorescent lights that ran up and down the entire ceiling and cleaning the place up a bit.
The three of them liked to keep it simple. There were some cots set up in one corner. And a few desks in another corner. It was their own little paradise. They worked with MPs at the station, but no one was allowed in their situation room but them and General Youngblood, the man who had authorized the covert mission in the first place. Thomas had not seen him in weeks, though. Probably distancing himself as much as possible from the looming train wreck.
The only reason Thomas was selected in the first place was because he had experience with drug sales. He had been busted selling cocaine at a movie theater in San Diego, California, and the judge offered him two opti
ons: go to jail for four years or enlist in the military for four years. They both sounded like shit, but he figured at least he’d be able to have sex in the military. An Army recruiter was at the courtroom and signed him up that day.
Jennifer joined under different circumstances. She wanted revenge. Pure and simple. She and Thomas got along well enough. He was mostly impressed by her focus. She didn’t get any passes from instructors at the schools she attended either. She needed to stand out so she’d have a chance at SFAS, and she did. Colonel Wright no doubt heard great things about Jennifer Carlson before he ever laid eyes on her.
“You’ll start back at your MP unit on Monday,” Sanchez said, continuing through the stream of photos. “I put in a vacation form for you effective immediately as well.”
“What do I do until then?”
“Whatever you want. It’s your vacation,” Sanchez said. “I’m sorry the mission has run its course. You did great work, just know that.”
“Maybe I can run surveillance on Wright full-time.”
“I can’t have you follow Colonel Wright anymore. Orders from the top. And I can’t in good conscience recommend you help Riley. She’s just like Jennifer. Ready to die if it means getting what she wants. But if she did figure something out we missed, it’d probably be good if she had backup.”
Thomas nodded. Connecting the stolen weapons to Wright would put him away for much longer than connecting him to Jennifer’s death. It seemed as though there were no witnesses left to her murder anyway, if there were ever any in the first place. Did Buck and Danny stand by and enjoy the beating Wright gave Jennifer? Thomas tried to regain his composure.
“I guess I’ll just hang out in the barracks then.”
Chapter 50
Poured Up was thumping when Riley pulled into the back parking lot. There were twelve personal vehicles parked in front of the bar, but a steady stream of taxis unloaded patrons at the entrance. Riley pulled herself from her car and headed to the front door of the smaller building Lee had instructed her to go to.
