Eternal Nights (7 page)

Of course, it was just as likely someone at HQ was sitting with his thumb up his ass. Jarved Nine might be light years away from Earth, but much to Alex’s displeasure, the Western Alliance bureaucracy had survived the trip intact.

It was this same bullheaded bureaucracy that had led to the erection of prefab buildings inside the Old City. There were plenty of alien structures capable of housing the troops and providing office space, but McNamara had refused to consider it. The army had sent the prefab materials and they were using them, period. Alex frowned. The gray metal buildings were a blight on the beauty of the city. He looked around his office. Despite its awfulness, he hadn’t bothered to pretty up the room. He had his desk, a few chairs and a computer. That was all he needed.

Leaning back in his seat, Alex closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment of quiet. Until he had that file, there was nothing he could do that wasn’t already being done. His best personnel were investigating Hunter’s death and he had MPs out looking for Captains Montgomery and Thomas.

Two hours of sleep on the cot in the small room behind his office hadn’t been enough, especially after being grilled for half the night by Colonel McNamara. Alex rotated his shoulders, trying to relieve some of the tension. This was the first moment he’d had to simply be still since word of the murder had reached him yesterday evening, and he needed the respite badly. It didn’t last long.

At the sound of a commotion in his outer office, Alex scowled and opened his eyes. A lone voice was raised—his aide’s—and that meant only one thing. Spec Ops had arrived.

His aide became louder, more frantic, and with a sigh, Alex pushed to his feet. Time to rescue his desk jockey.

“Atten-shun!” the aide called, relief written all over his face.

“Colonel—”

“Not one word, Chief,” Alex said quietly. Montgomery’s team stood straighter. Good. They knew he was angry. “Sergeant Foster,” he addressed his aide, “take your seat. I’ll deal with these men.”

“Yes, sir.” The noncom headed back behind his desk as if it were a fortress that would protect him.

Alex circled the commandos, silently inspecting them until he felt their level of discomfort skyrocket. “I let my officers run their commands the way they see fit,” he said at last. “Maybe I’ve made a mistake. Clearly, your captain doesn’t enforce any standard.” He moved closer, crowded the warrant officer. “Chief Cantore, your team is a disgrace.”

“No, sir.”

“No? Each one of you needs a shave. Only two have haircuts that meet regulations, and that’s a near thing.” Alex moved to the next soldier in line. He knew all his subordinates, not only his direct reports. “Most teams call their medic
Doc
. Maybe you acquired the handle
Gravedigger
because your appearance doesn’t inspire confidence in your skills.” He glared coldly at Digger and the man became more rigid. “Sergeant, you’re wearing a ponytail. I want that hair cut and that’s an order.” He didn’t wait for a response. “This team is going to pass my inspection, and I promise you, I run a tighter ship than your AWOL captain.”

“With all due respect, Colonel, our captain is not AWOL,” the chief said.

Alex ignored that. “Oh eight hundred tomorrow. Right here. And every single man better be spit shined.” He continued down the line, eyeing each of them coldly, before returning to Cantore. “I came up through Spec Ops. I’m willing to allow some slack in discipline, but this team has abused the privilege.”

He waited. No one said
yes, sir,
but no one was stupid enough to argue with him either. Alex was satisfied with that. “Chief, in my office. The rest of you find the barber.
Now.”

The five men looked to Cantore and Alex shot them a glare that should have singed their eyebrows. Before he became really pissed off, the chief nodded, silently telling his men to comply. Alex didn’t comment about the byplay, but tomorrow he would put Montgomery’s men through more than a simple inspection.

After the team filed out, Alex looked at Cantore and pointed to his office. The chief, at least, did as he was told. “Sergeant Foster, find out where the hell that personnel file is. I’ve been waiting for four hours and this delay is unacceptable.”

“Yes, sir.”

With a nod, Alex went into his office, closing the door quietly behind him. Montgomery’s XO stiffened at the soft snick and Alex left him at attention even after he was seated behind his desk. “Chief Cantore, I should be able to rely on you to keep control of the team even if your captain can’t or won’t. This breach goes beyond long hair and sloppy uniforms. I gave an order and your men hesitated. That’s intolerable.”

“Yes, sir,” the chief said, “but—”

“No buts. I’m giving one warning and this is it. If anything like today happens again, I’ll start disciplinary action. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

For a long moment, Alex stared hard at Cantore. Satisfied that his point had been made, he settled back in his chair. Hoping to catch the man off guard, he asked quickly, “Why don’t you think Montgomery is AWOL?”

The chief didn’t blink at the rapid change in topic. “Word is out about Captain Hunter’s murder, Colonel.”

Of course it was. This was huge news and would have raged through the post like wildfire. “Why don’t you think he’s AWOL?” Alex repeated. He wanted more of an answer than he’d received.

“Marsh—Captain Montgomery is too responsible, sir, and he knew the briefing this morning concerned which teams were being sent back to Earth. He’d never deliberately miss it.”

Alex was unhappy about the leak, but he didn’t pursue it. Instead he weighed Cantore’s assessment of his captain. He tended to agree that the kid was responsible, but even the best of them could think below the belt. “What if I told you that Captain Thomas is AWOL as well? Would your opinion change?”

Now Cantore reacted. “Kendall is missing too?” The chief returned to attention and added, “Sir.”

“Puts a different spin on the situation, doesn’t it?”

“No, sir.”

With a frown, Alex stared at the man, but he didn’t flinch or waver. “I want reasons, Chief Cantore. Tell me why I shouldn’t believe those two are off somewhere having sex, completely oblivious to the repercussions of their actions.”

Cantore nodded, relaxed a little bit, before straightening again. “At ease,” Alex told him.

“I have a few reasons, Colonel,” the man said as soon as he’d switched stances. “First, Captain Thomas is compulsively responsible. Even if Marsh—uh, Captain Montgomery, was able to forget his duty, she wouldn’t.”

“And what makes you so sure?” Alex asked.

“From what I’ve heard, Kend—Captain Thomas had to take care of her family’s obligations and finances even as a child. Responsibility is ingrained in her.”

Alex nodded. That was something he wouldn’t have gleaned from any personnel file, but it was an interesting piece of information. “So we have two usually reliable officers acting out of character. It happens, especially when sex is involved.”

“Normally, sir, I’d agree with that—if it were two other people.” Before Alex could interrupt, Cantore continued, “But it’s more than personalities. Captain Montgomery was worried about Captain Thomas while we were out in the field. He told me something had her scared and that he’d asked Captain Hunter to watch out for her while we were gone.”

Alex went still. “Did he tell you what had her alarmed?”

“Marsh didn’t know, Colonel. That was part of what had him so antsy to get back to the city. Captain Thomas doesn’t frighten easily. If something had her worried, it was big.”

Instead of responding, Alex studied the man standing in front of his desk. Cantore needed a haircut and a shave too, but the fact that he was the chief warrant officer of a Special Forces team said a lot. And despite what Alex had said about the men being a disgrace, it was far from true. Montgomery had a topnotch group and their records were exemplary. The only point that had him hesitating was Cantore’s obvious need to protect his captain. He might be exaggerating the situation.

“There’s one more thing, Colonel.”

Alex returned his attention to the chief and waited.

“Yesterday evening, I was sitting on Marsh’s front porch. As I was waiting to talk to him, I saw Captain Thomas hurry by and she was headed east. When I told my captain that, he muttered a curse and took off after her. I haven’t seen him since then, and neither has anyone else we’ve asked.”

With a scowl, Alex considered what the chief had said. First point was that Montgomery’s team had been doing their own investigation into their captain’s disappearance. He wasn’t surprised by that—these men were obviously a close-knit group—but he didn’t like it. The second thing undermined the chief’s position, though he clearly didn’t believe it would. Montgomery had taken off after Thomas and disappeared. It definitely sounded as if he’d hooked up with her and gotten lucky.

“Anything else to add, Chief Cantore?”

Alex didn’t miss the way the man’s jaw tightened. He’d figured out that his arguments hadn’t swayed Alex’s opinion. “No, sir,” Cantore said brusquely.

“Then you can join your men at the barber. I want all of you in my anteroom at oh eight hundred; that hasn’t changed.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Dismissed.” The noncom saluted and pivoted to leave. “Chief, if you or your men find any evidence as to the whereabouts of either Captain Montgomery or Captain Thomas, I expect to be informed. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” the man gritted out tightly.

The door closed with a snap behind the chief, but not hard enough for Alex to take issue with it. His lips quirked. Expressing disapproval that subtly took skill.

A knock wiped the smirk off his face. “Enter.”

Sergeant Foster walked in with a handheld computer. The tablet was wafer thin and lightweight but still a powerful machine. “Sir, HQ is having a tech glitch—they can’t transmit. They had this tablet with Captain Thomas’s file brought over for you.”

“Thanks, Sergeant,” Alex said, taking the computer and placing it square on the blotter atop his desk. “That’ll be all.”

After his aide exited, Alex fired up the tablet. The first thing he saw as the screen lit up was an image of Thomas. His heart rate doubled.

But sir, it’s important.

Son of a bitch. Maybe it really had been important. She’d chased after him and hadn’t backed down until he’d practically taken off her head. Now he had to give some credence to Cantore’s insistence that the two captains weren’t off screwing each other’s brains out.

Alex pinched the bridge of his nose and stared at the girl’s picture. Shit. He might have been the last person to see Captain Kendall Thomas before she disappeared.

*** *** ***

Alex dragged his feet as he walked down the elaborate marble hallway. Even though he’d decided Brody was almost good enough for his sister, it went against the grain to consult with his brother-in-law about anything. Too bad he was the one person Alex trusted to be honest with him about Montgomery. He needed some answers before he decided how to approach the case. Brody was friendly enough with Montgomery to be able to give him some insight, but not so friendly that his opinion was suspect.

He scowled. It was late, he was tired and he hadn’t been home since yesterday morning. He just wanted to call it a day and get some sleep. Instead, he’d been snarled at by his sister when she’d told him where to find her husband and now he had to chew the guy out for angering Ravyn.

Without knocking, Alex opened the door to the private sitting room. To his left was an enormous table surrounded by twenty intricately carved chairs. That side was empty. On his right was a sitting area with an overstuffed sofa, several matching seats and a low table. Alex spotted Brody lying on the floor next to his son. They were creating something with old-fashioned wooden blocks. He didn’t doubt for a minute that his brother-in-law knew he was there, but the man kept his attention on what he was building with Cam. For a minute, Alex smiled fondly at his nephew. Ravyn and Brody had their hands full—the kid had a mind of his own—and Alex guessed it would only get worse as the boy got older.

A clumsy move by Cam toppled one of the blocks on the castle tower, sending it rolling across the floor. The boy’s lower lip quivered, but only for an instant. Alex felt someone tapping into the planet’s energy, directing it, then the block sailed through the air and settled back into its original position.
I did not see that. Cam did not telekinetically move anything.
“It’s sleep deprivation,” Alex muttered softly.

His nephew looked in his direction, and with a squeal, ran over to say hello. Alex picked the child up and got a grin, then a hug. Damn, he loved this kid—even if he was the spitting image of his dad.

Brody pushed to his feet at the same time Cam demanded, “Down!” Alex lowered the boy to the floor and the toddler hightailed it back to the blocks. For a two-year-old, he had an unusual level of intensity and focus, not to mention stubbornness. That last trait he’d gotten from Ravyn—no question about it.

Alex glared threateningly at Brody when his brother-in-law reached him. “What the hell did you do to piss off Ravyn?”

“I’m not the one she’s mad at.”

Something in the man’s bland tone tipped off Alex. “Me? What did I do? I haven’t seen her in at least three days.”

“A few hours ago, Stacey came up to the house looking for you.” Brody tucked his fingers in the front pockets of his jeans. “Did you forget she had a special dinner planned?”

For an instant, Alex was nonplussed; then he remembered. He’d promised Stacey he’d be there no matter what came up, and instead, he’d spaced out completely. “Oh, shit.”

“Watch the language, Colonel,” Brody warned him with a frown before glancing at his son.

Alex looked over too, but Cam was busy building a wall, oblivious to the conversation between them. “He’s not paying attention to us; don’t worry about it.”

“You’d be surprised how much he hears. Ravyn doesn’t want him to start swearing.”

Shaking his head, Alex said, “That’s an uphill battle. Not only is this an army post, but the kid has you for a father.”