Solemn Duty (1997) (9 page)

Come on, let's go join the guys and see how Eli is faring."

Walking into the great room, they saw Eli on the couch and Jerome in an overstuffed rocking chair, both men sound asleep.

They retraced their steps to the kitchen. Millie patted Ashley's back. "Sorry about this. They aren't making a very good impression, I fear."

"They deserve the rest. I need to get back to the hotel and get some rest anyway. Thank you for inviting me over, Millie.

And thank you for straightening me out about Eli."

"Hotel? Are you still in a hotel after a whole month living here?'

"I rented an apartment, but I found termites a couple of days ago. They sprayed this morning, and I had to move out for a few days."

Millie nodded in understanding and walked the agent toward the kitchen door. "Ashley, I'll call you and we'll go see if we can find Eli a decent place to live. If we don't, he'll rent a trailer or something worse--he lives kind of simply, if you know what I mean. I'm going to make it my mission to get Eli back into the real world; a nice place is a start. Next I'll be finding him a suitable lady friend."

Ashley forced a smile. She knew all too well how he lived; he lived the way she did, alone, with only the job. But not anymore, she thought. Eli now had Millie and Jerome to help him find more than the Bureau. Grasping the door handle, Ashley faced her hostess and lied. "I'd love to help you find him a place. Good night, Millie."

Not waiting for a response, Ashley opened the door and walked into the darkness.

.

5:00 JUL San Antonio, Texas.

Simon Hernandez held a fiberglass expandable pole and skim net as he walked down the steps leading to the river walk.

The pole and net were the only tools he required for skimming the canal from the Crockett to the Houston street bridges.

Stuffed in his belt were five black plastic garbage bags he would fill with floating beer cans, paper, condoms, and anything else that floated in the city's number-one tourist attraction. Simon liked the job because he worked alone and nobody hassled him. And he liked being important He knew if the canal was not cleaned of the trash, it would turn into a sewer within a week. Knowing the rich tourists continued to come because of him, he took pride in his work.

Reaching the walkway, he turned right to walk under the bridge toward Crockett, but something was wrong. The usually well-lighted passage was dark. He stopped to let his eyes adjust. The neon pedestrian light attached to the underside of the bridge had to be broken or the bulb was out. He made a mental note to inform his supervisor about the light, then continued on. But he saw something strange only a few feet away.

At first he thought it was a half-full garbage bag. He stepped closer and froze.

The police officer's flashlight beam settled on the corpse, and Simon Hernandez crossed himself as he spoke. "I tell you de gringo aqui."

"Si, stand back but don't go anywhere," the officer said as he and his partner stepped closer to investigate.

"Got a weapon here. Twenty-two, by the look of it, there in his right hand."

"Has he got a pulse?"

"With that hole in his head? You kiddin', a pulse? Give me a break, will ya? He's about as dead as they come. Helluva place to do yourself. Hey, look at this, he's got part of his neck chain in his mouth."

"The dude was loco, man. He was tryin' to eat gold. Call it in and let's get the party started. Got to get the body out and the mess cleaned up before light. Wouldn't want the turistas upset."

Standing in the darkness, Simon Hernandez lowered his head to say a prayer for the dead man's lost soul. Finished, he looked up at the dark sky and said another prayer, but this one was a prayer of thanks. He was thankful the dead man had not fallen into his canal. He would have been too big to skim out.

Chapter 5.

6:30 A. M. Monday, June 4, Columbus, Georgia.

In her bed, asleep, in the Columbus airport Sheraton, Ashley Sutton was awakened by knocking on her door. Lifting one eyelid, she looked at the digital clock on the nightstand and groaned. Turning over, she barked toward the door. "Go away, come back and clean the room in a couple of hours!"

Closing her eyes, she settled back on the pillow. Then she heard knocking again. Why can't they hire maids who speak English! Damn! Angrily throwing off her covers, she got up, put on her robe, marched straight toward the door and swung it open. "I said I didn't need my room--oh God."

Standing two feet away was Eli Tanner, dressed in tan chinos and faded jean shirt. His smile drooped. "I got you up, huh? Sorry, I thought you'd be getting ready to go to work."

Still frozen holding the door, Ashley closed her eyes, hoping his appearance was a bad dream. I'm standing here in my bare feet holding the door, and my robe is open exposing to the whole world that I wear Mickey Mouse pajamas, my hair must look like God knows what, and I'm not wearing makeup. Tell me this isn't happening. She opened her eyes. "Oh God."

Knowing he'd made a very bad mistake, Eli averted his eyes from her and motioned down the hall. "Uh . . . I can see it's not a good time. I'll go have some breakfast in the hotel cafe and read the paper. Maybe later we can talk. . . . I'm real sorry about this."

Afraid her morning breath might knock him down, she mechanically nodded, stepped back and shut the door. "Oh God"

Eli shook his head and walked down the carpeted hallway.

Real good, Tanner--first you crash and burn on the couch and don't say a word to her, and now you wake her up. Real good Eli was reading the sports page when he heard the chair across from him being pulled back. He lowered the paper and cautiously smiled. "Am I forgiven?"

Ashley sat down, busying herself with putting away her purse so she wouldn't have to look at him. "Forgiven," she said and quickly picked up a plastic menu card to hide her red face.

"The special is good," Eli offered, knowing she'd lied.

The waiter approached and Ashley handed him the menu.

'Wheat toast, no butter, and coffee, please."

"We have an excellent breakfast buffet, ma'am. It includes--"

"Wheat toast, no butter, and coffee, please," Ashley repeated a little more loudly.

"Would you like orange juice with that, ma'am?"

Ashley looked up at the waiter with a glare that made him take a step back. "Uh . . . I'll get that coffee right away, ma' am!'

Eli quickly turned his head away and coughed to cover up an involuntary chuckle.

She lifted an eyebrow and spoke menacingly. "What's so funny, Agent Tanner?"

Eli coughed again. "Eh, nothing, I was just--" He couldn't help it, he laughed aloud, tried to stop himself, but the laugh came out in a sputter.

"I was right about you. You are a bastard," she said, keeping her glare on him.

He tried to speak but began laughing again. She didn't move a muscle or blink as she kept her burning gaze on him.

Regaining control of himself, he said, "I'm sorry, but if you could have seen your face when you opened the door this morning. And the look you just gave that waiter was-"

"I'm not a morning person, Agent Tanner, okay? Why are you here and how did you know where I was? At least you could have called first."

Eli frowned as if pained. "I felt bad about us not having a chance to talk the other night Passing out on the couch was not very gentlemanly. Millie told me you were staying in a hotel, so I did some calling. And I'm sorry, I didn't know you weren't a morning person. I'll remember next time."

Ashley broke her glare from him and rearranged the salt and pepper shakers to keep her hands busy. "You're feeling better, I see, over the soreness?"

Eli lifted his arms in a stretching motion. "I'm pretty stiff, but movin' around seems to help." He looked into her eyes.

"Why did you think I'd be a bastard?"

"Because you're a man, Agent Tanner," she said, with no hint of a smile. "I thought you had used your brother's influence to get assigned to Atlanta. Millie dispelled that notion Saturday night, so you're halfway off the hook. But only halfway because you didn't call me before coming up to my room.

You're still suspect."

"Would it help to tell you I liked your Mickey Mouse PJs?"

Again her eyes narrowed. "I appreciate a sense of humor, Agent Tanner, but not at my expense."

Eli sighed and extended his hand. "Let's start over, okay?

Hi, I'm Eli Tanner."

She reached over the table and took his hand. "Hello, I'm agent Ashley Sutton."

Smiling, Eli leaned back and motioned to himself. "Please call me Eli."

Ashley nodded. "And you can address me as Agent Sutton, Agent Tanner. I, for one, believe familiarity between agents is unprofessional."

Eli let out a long sigh. It was really dumb of him to think she was different from the others. Obviously, just like the rest of them, she thought of him as a traitor to the Bureau. He dipped his chin and spoke softy. "Very well, Agent Sutton. I will try and be more professional. It's obvious you've read my file and know who I am, but I don't know your background. I could sit here and do the twenty-question thing, or you could just give a quick rundown on yourself."

The waiter approached and poured coffee into Ashley's cup while keeping as much distance from her as he possibly could.

"Your toast should be right out, ma'am," he said meekly, then quickly walked away.

Ashley picked up her cup, took a sip, then looked at Eli. "I was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. I'm thirty-three years old. I was married then divorced. I went to school at UVA, graduated, and was accepted by the Bureau in ninety-two. After graduating from the academy, I was assigned to Seattle. I'm a computer analyst and my specialty field is white-collar crime. I was assigned to the Atlanta office a month ago and the SAC assigned me here. Need any more info, Agent Tanner?"

Eli shook his head. "Nope, thanks. Now let me clarify something about me. I'm going to say this only once. You can believe it or not, it doesn't make any difference to me. I did not leak my investigation report to the press or anybody else."

She lowered her cup. "Millie told me about the investigation report. I guess I should have remembered your name, but to tell you the truth, I didn't follow the controversy the way most of the Bureau did. I thought you did the right thing, and to me that was that So what, that you showed the Bureau wasn't pristine?

All of us in it know that."

Feeling better, Eli again leaned back in his chair. "If you don't mind, I'd like to discuss me starting work as soon as possible."

"I thought you were on leave," Ashley said "I am, but I gotta get out of the house. Millie is drivin' me nuts with her matchmaking. Tonight she's got one of her divorced friends coming over for dinner. I need an excuse to skip it. Would it be possible if we stayed late this evening at the office and went over the case files?"

Ashley's eyes began to narrow. "You came to my room at six o'clock in the morning and woke me up so I could get you out of a dinner date?"

"Whoa there, Agent Sutton. I didn't even think about the caseload thing until just a few seconds ago. It's not the date . . .

I just really need to get back to work. I've been tossed out of one job like a rancid piece of meat, and I need to get involved in something that makes me feel whole again. I need a chance to start over. I hoped you would understand."

Ashley was angry at herself. Thankfully, the waiter arrived with the toast, and she immediately took a bite so she wouldn't have to apologize to him again. Misjudging him was getting old. Finishing off one half slice, she picked up another and looked at him. "Why don't you come with me to Fort Benning this morning? I'll introduce you to the Military Police and CID people you'll be working with. After that we'll go to the office and I'll show you around and we'll discuss my caseload .. . and yes, it will take some time and probably extend into the dinner hour. Happy?"

"Yes, very."

She was about to take a bite of her toast but stopped and eyed him again. "And Agent Tanner, if you tell a soul about my Mickey Mouse pajamas, I will shoot you dead. Are we communicating here?"

Eli smiled. "Perfectly, Agent Sutton."

Walking out the hotel front doors, Ashley glanced at her fellow agent. "Your car or mine?"

"Yours. I drive a pickup and it's full of my things. I guess I ought to tell you now so you know. I'm a terrible driver. I do all right on interstates, but in towns I'm really bad. I get tunnel vision or something."

Ashley sighed and faced him. "Anything else I should know about you?"

"I don't have any taste buds, burned them out in Nam with all the hot sauce I put on my C-rations. . . . I hate being in water, nearly drowned once, and I loathe hospitals. . . . Let's see . . . nope, that's about it. How about you, I mean other than not being a morning person?'

"No, I don't have anything to divulge to you. Come on, that blue dodge van is ours, it's rigged special."

Eli grinned as he approached the vehicle. "A boo ride, no less."

She pressed the entry remote on her key chain, the van beeped and the door locks sprang up with a single resounding click. "What is this 'boo' business?" Ashley asked. "Millie used the word, too. I've never heard the Bureau referred to that way before."