Blood Lines

57

›› La Quinta Inn

›› El Paso, Texas

›› 1852 Hours (Central Time Zone)

“Director Larkin,” Will said when the phone was answered.

“Will? How are things there?” Larkin’s voice was quiet and controlled.

“Confusing and painful, sir,” Will replied.

“With everything you’ve told me, I can see how that would be the case.”

Will paced at the window and watched the sun going down in the west. He tried to frame in his mind how best to ask what he knew he had to ask. He and Larkin had a good working relationship, but he knew what he was about to request might be hard for the director to handle.

“I need you to arrange something for me,” Will said.

“If I can.” Larkin didn’t hesitate, but he also didn’t readily agree.

“I want to take my team to Vietnam.”

“Why?”

“To recover the body of an American GI who’s been missing since 1967.”

“Dennis Hinton?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you know where his body is?”

“I think we can get close enough to find it.”

“Hinton’s recovery would be more in the Army’s interest.”

“If Shel’s father weren’t on the line for a murder charge, I’d agree with you, sir. But that’s exactly where Tyrel McHenry is.”

“I know this has to be hurting Shel, Will, and I know you take the things that happen to your team personally-”

“Every time,” Will interrupted.

“-and I respect that, but the Army isn’t going to like being cut out of this.”

“The Army can’t rescue PFC Hinton,” Will said gently.

“Neither can you. PFC Hinton has been dead for four decades. To me it sounds like you’re more concerned with keeping Shel’s father’s head off the block than with conducting a criminal investigation.”

Will paused a moment. “I want to know exactly what happened that night, sir. Once we figure out what happened, we’ll know who was guilty of what.”

“Do you think there’s going to be any crime scene evidence left after forty years?”

“I think the possibility exists. As long as it does, I’d rather my people and the NCIS crime labs processed it. I’d just rather trust us.”

“I agree.”

“We’ve also got something to save here.”

“Will, don’t get your hopes up on this one too much. And whatever you do, I wouldn’t get Shel’s hopes up.”

“I don’t think getting Shel’s hopes up at this point is even possible. But we might be able to tie Victor Gant to a crime that will guarantee that he’ll serve his time in a military prison and never see the light of day again.”

“You don’t think you can do that without going to Vietnam?”

“I’d rather exhaust every avenue.”

Larkin was silent for a time. “That’s a tall order, Will. Even though Vietnam has opened its borders to outside countries, there’s a limit to what they’ll allow over there. Getting your people in-country might not be possible.”

“It’s not possible,” Will stated, “if nobody asks. Give me a name at the State Department and I’ll be happy to make the request myself. I just thought it would carry more weight from the director of the NCIS. And, officially, NCIS is made up more of civilians than service personnel.”

“Not your group.”

“No, sir. But not everyone has to know that.”

Larkin was silent for a time.

Will stared out the window at a circling hawk and thought about Shel and Tyrel McHenry. That one night had charted their course together even before Shel had been born.

“I don’t know if I can make it happen,” Larkin said finally.

“Maybe if you posited it as a goodwill gesture,” Will suggested. “Everybody wins when we bring a soldier home.” That was true even when the soldier was dead. At least the family could have closure. In the end, that was what something like this was all about.

“Let me make a few calls,” Larkin said. “But I can’t make any promises.”

“No, sir. I understand that. Thank you.” Will broke the connection and let out a deep breath.

“How did that go?” Estrella asked.

“Better than I expected,” Will admitted. “He didn’t say no.”

›› Chapel

›› Las Palmas Medical Center

›› El Paso, Texas

›› 0718 Hours (Central Time Zone)

Shel came awake when Max moved at his feet. He lifted his head from the wall behind him and looked around. The nurse from the cardiac unit was at the doorway. Shel started to get up, expecting the worst.

After the second attack in the ICU, Tyrel’s doctor had been more aggressive in his treatment. He had started to talk about the necessity of a pacemaker, but Tyrel had turned that down every time it was brought up.

He had also refused to see Shel.

Finally Tyrel had been sedated and put completely under and would be kept that way until the doctor felt he was strong enough.

By all rights, Shel knew he should have left the hospital. He wasn’t doing anyone any good there. The relationship he had with his daddy was modeled on this kind of behavior. Every time he’d tried to reach out to Tyrel McHenry, his daddy had rebuffed him. That was to be expected. The biggest surprise was that he wasn’t walking away from his daddy this time. That was how he normally reacted.

Some of his concern must have shown, though, because Isabella and a couple of the other nurses had kept him up-to-date with reports about his daddy’s condition. Don had gone to the hotel where Joanie and the kids were. Don was also in contact with several of his church family. All of them were concerned about him and his daddy, and they extended their prayers.

Isabella came over to Shel and talked in a quiet voice. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“You didn’t,” Shel assured her.

She grimaced. “That’s why you didn’t wake up until I was staring at you, right?”

“Maybe a little,” Shel acknowledged.

“You should get a hotel room. Someplace where you can get a good night’s rest.” Concern showed in her dark eyes.

“I’m fine. Thanks.”

Isabella leaned back against the wall and relaxed. She smothered a yawn with her hand, then grinned ruefully. “Sorry.”

“Maybe I’m not the only one missing out on sleep.”

“No, you’re not. I’m finishing up my master’s right now. Night classes. It takes a lot out of me. But the kids help.”

“You’re married?”

Isabella shook her head. “Widowed. My husband was a fireman. There was a bad fire downtown almost four years ago.” She didn’t meet Shel’s eyes as she spoke, lost in memory. “The building collapsed. Brian didn’t make it back out.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Isabella nodded at the cross at the front of the chapel. “There’s not a day I’m on duty that I don’t stop in here and say a prayer for him. Some days, I feel like he’s here with me.”

“Maybe he is.”

“I suppose, as much time as you spend in here, that you like churches too?”

Shel shook his head. “That’s Don’s purview.”

She looked at him.

“I like it here because it’s quiet and no one bothers you.”

Her eyes were deep and intense. “Do you really think that’s why you’re in here?”

“Yes.”

A sad smile pulled at her lips. “Then you’ve got a lot to learn, Marine. Anyway, I didn’t come here to witness to you, though I never hold back in that regard either. I just wanted to see how you were holding up.”

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

Isabella stood. “I usually take a break for lunch around eleven thirty. If you want some company.”

“I’d like that,” Shel said.

Isabella smiled. “I’ll stop by and get you.” She started to go, then turned back to face him. “Try praying, Marine. If you’ve tried everything else, what have you got to lose? Just make sure that when you do, it’s from the heart.”

Shel nodded, but he didn’t promise anything. He wouldn’t have promised Don either.

After Isabella left, Shel folded his arms and tried to get back to sleep. But sleep wouldn’t come. He kept staring at the cross and thinking about how Don had put so much faith in God. Evidently Isabella did too.

How could someone do that?

It was beyond Shel to imagine putting faith in anything outside himself. He’d acquired skills and trained his body to take care of him wherever he went. He was a warrior and had stridden across battlefields, through dozens of firefights. He’d been shot at point-blank range almost two months ago. He hadn’t called on God then. He’d just healed and gotten himself ready again. That’s what he always did. And he kept his wants small, down to things that he could manage.

He’d learned not to ask for big things after he’d discovered that no matter what he did, he couldn’t have a relationship with his daddy. The closest he’d ever allowed himself to come to anyone was with Will and the others on the NCIS team. Even that had been scary. He’d known then that he shouldn’t reach for anything outside himself.

Losing Frank Billings had hurt. But thinking about Frank now, Shel realized that the thing he most remembered about Frank was his faith in God. Frank’s faith had always been there, totally unshakable.

These days, Will had that faith too. It was still new, but Shel had noticed it. And it had come over Will at what Shel would have figured was the worst time ever: after Frank’s murder in South Korea and after his wife had dropped divorce papers on him.

How had Will turned to God in the middle of that?

“People who don’t have faith turn to God when they don’t have anywhere else to go,” Don had told Shel on more than one occasion. “It’s a shame they wait till then, but that’s usually when they get the wake-up call that they need help in their lives or they’re not going to make it through. That’s the whole thing about free will, Shel. God is there, but he leaves the choice in your hands.”

Shel wondered if that was true, though. Did God move in ways to coerce people into believing in him? He figured if he’d asked that question of Don, his brother would have gotten irate with him.

Maybe he’d even committed a sin by thinking that way.

Then again, by believing that God was coercing you into accepting him, wasn’t that faith too? Believing that God cared enough to blackmail you into faith was also an admission that you believed. Shel wasn’t certain about that.

One thing was certain, though: he didn’t have anywhere else to go. No one could help him.

No, he corrected himself, no one can help Daddy. His eyes burned as he thought about that. He stared at the cross. What about it, God? Do I have to knuckle under for myself? Or can you blackmail me into believing in you by threatening Daddy?

Anger swept through Shel at that moment. But at the same time, he let out a breath and calmed himself. He thought for a long time, but he couldn’t come up with another plan of action.

He was at a standstill and up against a stone wall. And all that time, his daddy was fighting for his life.

All right, God, I don’t know if you planned this or are just around as you’ve always been. We can sort all that out later. Shel bowed his head and let go of his anger. He didn’t have room in his heart for that and hope at the same time. Right now, God, I’m asking for your help. Not for me, but for Daddy. I don’t know if you take prayers for others, but I know a lot of people pray for other people who have trouble in their lives.

Daddy’s got a lot of trouble in his life. It’s been there for a long time. But I expect you already knew that if you’re everything Don believes you are. Daddy needs help that Don can’t give and I can’t give. I’m asking you to give him that help. If he can’t help himself, then please help me help him.

Shel sat there quietly for a time and thought about all the Sunday school classes he’d gone to when his mama had been alive. He thought about her too, and for a moment while he sat in the chapel, he could have sworn he felt her around him.

Then the feeling was gone, but a peace like none he’d ever before experienced descended on him. Before he knew it, he was totally at rest and fell asleep effortlessly.

›› Cafeteria

›› Las Palmas Medical Center

›› El Paso, Texas

›› 1139 Hours (Central Time Zone)

“Your father surprised the doctor just a short time ago,” Isabella said as she placed her tray on one of the back tables.

Shel sat on the other side of the table from her. Max made himself at home to one side. All around them, visitors and hospital staff lunched and talked. It was busy and noisy.

“How?” Shel asked. He dropped part of a turkey sandwich and Max caught it before it hit the floor.

“He’s agreed to talk to the doctor about the pacemaker.”

Worry gnawed at Shel. “Did something happen?”

“You mean with his heart?”

Shel nodded.

“No. He just changed his mind.”

“Daddy don’t often do that once he settles on a game plan.”

“Just be glad that he did.”

“I am.”

They ate and swapped small talk for a little while, but Shel couldn’t help thinking about his prayer in the chapel and how he’d felt his mama there. Isabella was pleasant and easy company, and she didn’t mind keeping up both ends of the conversation when she had to.

As they were putting their trays away and getting ready to leave, Shel’s cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and flipped it open.

“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Will asked.

“Now is good,” Shel replied.

“Estrella found one of Victor Gant’s old crew that was wounded before he got out of Vietnam. Maggie and Remy went to see him. He was there the night your father shot PFC Hinton.”

Shel’s stomach knotted up at little at that. The murder wasn’t going to go away.

“He’s also identified an area where he thinks the body was buried,” Will went on.

Excitement blazed within Shel as he guessed where Will was going.

“I asked Director Larkin to pull some strings with the State Department and the Vietnamese government for us,” Will said. “He came through. I just got word a few minutes ago. You were my first call. We’ll get to double-down on this one. We can see if we can answer some questions about the shooting that night, and we can bring an MIA soldier back to his family.”

Shel couldn’t believe it. His spirits soared when he thought about the ramifications.

“When are we leaving?” Shel asked.

“As soon as we can get mobile.”

“I’m on my way.” Shel closed his phone and put it away.

“Good news?” Isabella asked.

“I don’t know,” Shel answered honestly. “But it’s something to do. Maybe it can help Daddy. I don’t know. I’m going to try.”

Isabella smiled at him. It was a good smile, one that Shel knew he would remember.

Shel hesitated. “I don’t like leaving Daddy right now. Not with him in the shape he’s in.”

“Your father is a tough man,” Isabella said. “He’s going to be all right.”

“I shouldn’t be gone more than a few days.”

“If this is something you need to do,” Isabella said, “then do it. Your father has one of the best heart surgeons I know looking after him. And I’m looking after him too.”

Shel took an NCIS business card from his ID. “I’m going to give you my personal number. You’ll be able to reach me anytime.” He wrote the number on the back of the card. “If anything changes, I’d appreciate it if you’d call me.”

“I will,” Isabella said. “Promise.”

“Thank you.” Shel touched the Marine Corps baseball cap he wore. Then he turned and got under way. Max fell into step beside him, and the dog seemed to understand that they weren’t just going for the usual walk.