Boomtown (20 page)

  The peeling “zillllll” of an air wrench pierced the quiet of the garage from just behind me. I turned to find James, the little snot, standing behind me with the wrench raised in his fist directly behind me.  I’ve been in garages so long, that those sounds don’t even penetrate my mind anymore, that is unless they are done right behind your head and scare the ever loving shit out of you.

  I was carrying a staple gun in my hand, and of course I had to shoot him with it.  I mean, that is a normal reaction, right?  I unloaded the entire clip unsuccessfully trying to nail him in the ass.  However, I did nail him in the arm, cheek, and lip.  No blood was evident, so I threw the stapler at him for good measure.  Shit head.

  I contemplated the conversation I overheard for the next few days, trying to get Ember to open up, but the trap remained closed.  What Ember had been thinking, I don’t know.  She gets a wild hair about her sometimes, and doesn’t think about anyone’s feelings but her own. 

 James and I didn’t talk about the danger we were in, we did however talk about the other elephant in the room.  We hadn’t gotten the chance to really talk about all that had happened since he got home on medical leave.  My mom had arrived home shortly after him for just a few days, and then shipped off to the east coast for three months for another travel contract. 

  “So.” James started. “You’re getting married.  To my captain.”  

  “Looks like it.” I said nonchalantly.

  “Where did you two meet?” James asked.  “I know I never introduced the two of you.”

  “We met at Deacon’s.” I said. ”We didn’t know the connection until after we started seeing each other.”

  “He pick you up in the bar?” he asked offhandedly.

  The question made him sound like he wasn’t interested, when I knew he was.

  “Sure did.  Didn’t even say a word to each other, I just hopped on the back of his bike, we went to his place, and had sex all night long.”  I said with as straight of a face as I could manage.

  “That’s disgusting.  Please shut up.”  He said with a smile in his voice.  “I used to tell all the guys those embarrassing stories that were so hilarious about you.  He probably knows all of your dirty secrets!”

  “You didn’t!” I seethed.

  “Yep.  Sure did.  I told them everything.  We had to pass the time someway, and it was best to keep an upbeat attitude about things, or you got to thinking about the hell hole you were stuck in.”

  The anger deflated out of me as fast as it entered.  If it made like more bearable over there, then I would gladly let him tell them anything he wanted to.  No wonder Sam wasn’t too surprised when I did something weird or crazy.  Apparently my reputation preceded me.

  “Please just tell me you didn’t tell them about the time at the Dairy Queen.” I pleaded with a whiny voice.

  “Yea that was probably the first one I told them.  I even remember what we were doing at the time. We were holed down in a remote village, the tangos didn’t know where we were exactly, and we were waiting for dark, and staying as still as possible so not to attract attention since it was like fifteen to one.  So to keep our minds positive, I started telling them that story.”

  “What exactly did you tell Sam?” I whispered.

  “Well, just about everything.” He said with a smile in his voice.

  Fuck me.  Ember and I had gone to Dairy Queen for a blizzard after dinner.  It was the place to hang, and a lot of the high school was there regularly.  I had spotted James and Max almost as soon as we walked in, but didn’t go over to them, just ordered and we sat down.  The booth behind us was occupied by a state trooper with his back to us.  There was a group of boys behind us on the other side who were being quite obnoxious.  The boys hadn’t noticed the state trooper, and were making fun of Ember and I.

  It had gotten so bad, that my ears were turning pink, and I was thoroughly embarrassed.  They were talking about what they would do to us if they had us alone and naked.  Finally they crossed the line when one of them said something along the lines of “My dad has this drug that makes them want it.”  At that I had surged up out of my seat, and over to the boy’s booth so fast that I didn’t realize I had done it until it was already done.   I was leaping the table to go after the guy who said it with everything I had when the state trooper caught me around the waist and pulled me back.  I still had my Blizzard in my hand, so I took the opportunity to throw it at the wanna-be man who would say something so disgusting.

  I’d unintentionally started a food fight, and was promptly taken into custody. The boy was also arrested for threatening harm to a minor, and the boy’s father sent him to military school, and I never saw him again. The State Trooper had taken me to my mom, and she had torn me a new one.  Only after the Trooper was gone did she say that she probably would have done the exact same thing.  The embarrassing part of the whole thing was that the Trooper said I deserved a spanking in front of the entire Dairy Queen crowd, and he would be happy to deliver it if I didn’t settle down.  The whole school knew by the next day, and I was offered spankings, even to this day. 

  That was just one of many times that I had gotten into trouble with the law, but probably the most memorable.

  “Why are y’all getting married so fast?” James asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

  “We want to.” I clipped and left it at that.  I really didn’t want to go into why we were moving so fast. I was still denying the possibility of pregnancy, and was doing a really good job at ignoring it.  I couldn’t really tell him why, just that it felt right, and I couldn’t see myself spending my life without him.

To get him off this particular topic, I changed the subject.

  “Hear anything more from the baby mama?”

  “No, I spoke with my lawyer just to make sure I had an air tight case, and he confirmed that I did.  The daycare knows all about it, and has a copy of the paperwork just in case the cops are brought in.  Hopefully though, we don’t have to worry about that.” He said matter of factly.

  The daycare was a very secure location, and the security of the building was good, so the guys weren’t worried about the girls like I had originally thought they should be.

  “This daycare facility has the mayor’s kids, as well as the prestige of the city’s kids in it.  The security is air tight there, they have cameras, the doors stay locked unless you have a code, and they have a top notch security system.  Nothing will happen to the girl’s on that front.”  I felt a little better after hearing this.  I hadn’t noticed when Sam and I had been there with James’ baby mama (I didn’t like saying her name), but we had never made it past the front foyer, which still meant we had to get past two locked doors to get back to Janie.

  “I didn’t realize you had a lawyer.” I said to him.  I mean I knew he had one three years ago when he got custody of Janie, but why would he still have one?

  “I have one because every soldier needs one.  My will is with him.  That was the first thing that the COs told us to take care of before we deployed. This lawyer is also the one that took care of Janie’s custody.  I even think mom has her will with him.” He said to me.

  I stayed silent for quite a while after that.  I guess I never really thought of it before, but it would make sense to have it because Iraq and Afghanistan were deadly places, and on could never be too careful.

  A couple of parts orders came in, so James and I headed out to my little Ford Ranger.  First stop was the same shop that James worked at when he was younger.  Old Mr. Tanner loved when I stopped by, and he was in for a surprise today when he saw James.

SAM

“Now, repeat to me your new name, and all of the information I have given to you.” I said to Robin.

  All of our girls got new names after we found them new places to stay.  They were new people as far as I was concerned.  They not only received new names, but new jobs, places to stay, backgrounds, and even new hair colors and ways to dress.  They left their old lives behind, and became their new identity. 

  “My name is Robin Sienna Tyler.  I live at 427 Puckett Drive.  Lexington, Kentucky.  My birthday is June 8, 1981.  My parents are Ada and Nathan Tyler.  I have never been married, and have no kids.  I am a retail associate at Kohl’s Department Store.  I was born and raised in Kentucky.” She continued on for a while. 

  Finally I was satisfied, and told her she could stop.

  “Alright darlin’, memorize and repeat the number on this card.” I said while handing her a blank card that only had a number on it.  “Burn it when you are done.  Remember to not draw attention to yourself.  If you need anything don’t hesitate to call.  Jack will take good care of you. 

  Robin nodded and headed to the plane that would take her and Jack to her new life.  I watched the plane take off, and fly until I could no longer see it.   

  I dug into my pocket and called Elliott to get an update on the home situation.  I was over two hours away, and informed him I was on my way back as soon as I hit Dunham’s to pick up the new transmission and transfer case for the El Camino that was set to be done by the end of this week. 

  I had just clicked the button at the top of my phone to close the screen when a text message opened it up again.  I slid my thumb over the screen and stared dumfounded by what I saw.   

  Leah lay dead eyes open, mouth wide on a scream that had frozen on her face, her stomach gaping open with her insides flopping out on the ground, blood pooled under her body, and a tiny baby lay at her side mouth wide open in a scream. 

  The caption that came with it said “This could be Cheyenne soon.” 

  Rage burned hot through my veins.  I stood there with my phone clenched tightly in my hands breathing in and out for five minutes until I was sure I had it under control.  

  I hit the phone button and called James first to check in with Cheyenne.  Then called Elliott and Gabe to inform them of what was going on.  I left a voicemail for Jack, and also forwarded him the message so he could do his work on it so see what he could find.   

  I walked back to my Suburban and hopped in, grabbing a hold of the OS bar as I went.  I got a small smile on my face when I first heard Cheyenne say OS bar.  According to her, the OS bar, or the oh shit bar, was the bar that hung above the door that you grab on to when you are four wheeling in the mud.  She then proceeded to tell me that any self-respecting southerner would call it an OS bar, so I should start doing so now.  Rolling my eyes, I continued to just call it a handle until she started bugging the shit out of me until I finally relented.  Honestly, I didn’t really care what I called it, but I just loved to pick on her. 

  I was just about to head to the interstate when I got a call from the officer who questioned us last night.

  “Mr. Mackenzie, this is Officer Anderson, from last night.  I just wanted to update you and inform you on the condition of the baby.”

  “Yes, sir.  Thank you, and what is the baby’s condition?” I asked.

  “I conferred with the officer who is on your case, and we have compared notes.  We are both now on the same page, and you were cleared.  Same goes for Ms. Allen.  The other officer and I are going to continue to work on this, and we have both spoken with your former CO.  He is working an angle right now, which I am sure you are aware, that this Justin was not actually killed, and is now rogue and killing his former teammates.” 

  I agreed with him, and listened to a recap of what my old CO, Layne Cooper, had told me before.  I still didn’t get the right feeling on this, and was thinking to myself that something else was wrong here when he said something to bring me back to the present. 

  “Cooper also informed me that he is trying to get a hold of a Malcolm Kincaid, but has been unable to make contact with him.”

  Hearing his name again made my blood come to a boil.  Everything that was going on seemed more on Malcolm’s scale I thought to myself.  Now that the idea had taken root, I thought more and more that he might know something. 

  Malcolm was a member of our old unit.  He was a hothead, and didn’t get along with anyone.  We were at the base camp when a slew of MPs came in looking for Malcolm.  We knew he was a bad seed, and I had filed many complaints to my CO about his attitude, and many actions that I and others had witnessed him doing.  But that time was something more serious, because he was accused to raping an Afghani teenager, which was witnessed by two young Afghani soldiers.  The girl just happened to be the sister of the guy who had killed Justin in a bomb that was strapped to his chest.   Justin was thrown up against a wall, and wasn’t found until much later when the building that had collapsed on top of him was able to be lifted.  I had gone to see him in the little tent that they had set up for the dead, and confirmed it was him only by the tattoo that was on his arm, and the writing that surrounded his wrist.  The rest of the body was unrecognizable.   

  The two young soldiers had reported to their CO that they had seen Malcolm interrogating the girl, and when she wouldn’t give up more info on her brother, he then had used a different type of punishment to get her to talk. Their CO then informed our CO, and our CO decided that enough was enough.  We were all sick of his actions, and no one stepped up to defend him.  We were appalled by what he did, and that turn he had taken had forever burned the bridge back to us.  He left in a rage, fighting the MPs with everything he had.  He was imprisoned for three years and was given a dishonorable discharge from the army.  He had dropped off the face of the earth when he was released, and no one had seen or heard from him since.   

  Now it seemed a little fishy that we were experiencing all of these deaths, and threats from “Justin” when he would have never harmed a sole who didn’t need harmed.  He was the choir boy of the group, went to church every Sunday when possible, Sunday dinners with his mama, would give the shirt off his back if you asked for it.   

  “Officer Peterson, I’m not sure, and never was that this work was the work of Justin.  The information that we received only said his name, we don’t have actual proof it was him.  Now Malcom, is a complete asshole, and would do this in a heartbeat.  I guess I had a feeling that it could be him, but I didn’t want to think it was him.  This would be a very good idea to look into him.  I am going to tell my men to do the same.” I said to him after he was finished.