Nightwatch

Chapter 29

Thomas had been anticipating the worse, but nothing prepared him for the shocking scene that awaited them at Mary Deckard shoals. As their jet-powered john boats began transiting the Zshaped gauntlet of boulders forming the initial rapids, the first overturned canoe was encountered. The partially sunken vessel was hung up alongside a rock shelf, and strangely enough, it was riddled with dozens of bullet holes.

Thomas found his stomach tightening with dread, and his worst fears were realized when a pair of bodies were discovered in a nearby snag. The water-soaked corpses were also punctured with bullet wounds, and it was Ranger Glickman who identified one of the unfortunate victims as a fellow U.S. Forest Service employee, assigned to the Van Buren field office.

With the roar of the rapids a constant companion, they continued downstream. The boat carrying Thomas, Ted Callahan, and Captain Christian was the first to complete transiting the shoals. Along the way, the twisted wreckage of four more boats was discovered, along with seven bodies. One of these corpses belonged to Andrea Whitworth. The journalist was found hung up inside a tangled snag of twisted branches, with half of her familiar face blown away.

While a shocked group of Sappers and MPs began solemnly collecting the corpses, Thomas and his party continued down the river. They passed the partially submerged, twisted remains of Marine Two, and realized that an intense battle of some sort must have taken place out here.

It took another thirty minutes to complete a thorough sweep of the area, and a total of thirteen bodies was eventually picked from the river. Amongst the dead were the VP’s physician and two more U.S. Forest Service rangers, whom Jody Glickman tearfully identified as Ben Eberly and Ron Wyatt.

The only consolation Thomas could derive was that the bodies of Andrew Chapman and Vince weren’t among the victims. With the barest of hope that they were still alive, the parties renewed their search, with Ted Callahan coordinating the effort from a sandy clearing situated near the base of a steep waterfall.

Fresh human tracks led Sergeant Reed and his Sappers to the still-smoking, burned-out hulk of a Huey helicopter. Meanwhile, Captain Christian and his MPs completed the somber task of pulling as much evidence as possible from the river. This left Thomas and Ranger Glickman free to portage the waterfall and begin their way farther downstream.

Alongside a large pool at the waterfall’s base, Thomas spotted some fresh footprints imprinted on the sloping bank. Yet more footprints were found on an adjoining clearing, and Jody Glickman discovered the soggy remains of a discarded cigar.

“What do you make of this. Special Agent?” she asked while carefully picking up the cigar and handing it to Thomas.

The cigar itself had yet to be smoked, and Thomas noted the familiar brown band that encircled its base, with the label temple hall imprinted on it.

“This is my brother’s brand!” he exclaimed, all the while searching the surrounding clearing for any more clues. And it was then he spotted a narrow earthen trail, and an assortment of footprints headed up into the thick forest filling this side of the Eleven Point.