recessed area. “I found this while I was poking around in here. It’s stuff Daddy must have brought back from Vietnam.” He took a picture out of the box and showed it to Will.
Will took the picture and studied the young man in it. “Do you know who this is?”
“His name’s Dennis Hinton. Private first class. Regular army. He was nineteen years old in that picture.”
“How do you know that?”
“His name’s on the back. That’s also how I know this is the man Daddy killed.”
Will turned the picture over and read the messy handwriting on the back.
Below it was another line of words that had been heavily underlined.
“It’s not exactly a confession,” Shel said hoarsely, “but it’s close enough. If we get testimony from Victor Gant.”
Will handed the picture back to Shel without saying anything.
“I’m hosed, Will,” Shel said in a tight voice. “If we don’t catch Victor Gant, maybe he keeps trying to kill me and gets lucky. Or now that Daddy’s gone, maybe he’ll try to get Don and his family. I’m not going to allow that, but I can’t protect Don’s family the way I need to if Victor Gant stays loose. So I’m going to bring him in.”
“And when Victor Gant is brought in, he’s going to testify against your father.”
“You see how it is,” Shel whispered.
“I do.”
“So I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m supposed to hope that Daddy is gone and I never see him again. Or if I’m supposed to help turn him over to the military court.” Shel paused. “Either way, my family loses.”
Will thought about everything that was put before them. Their cases often got complicated. Violence wasn’t neat. Not from the perpetrator’s point of view and not from the investigator’s.
But this…
Will didn’t even have the words for it.
“All my life,” Shel said, “I’ve always gone after the W. I always wanted the win. If I came up short, I was okay with that. I just pushed myself harder the next time.” He was silent for a moment. “But there’s no win here. No do-over. No matter what I do, I lose something.”
“I’m sorry,” Will said and wished he had more to give his friend than that. “Look, we’ve got the team here. Let’s see if we can find a room and talk. Figure out what we’re going to do. Then we’ll break this down just like we do everything else. One step at a time.”
“Sure,” Shel said. “But I got to tell you, Will, I’ll give you everything I’ve got, but my heart ain’t in this.”
“I know. But I’ll take you with whatever you can give.”
47
›› Rafter M Ranch
›› Outside Fort Davis, Texas
›› 1329 Hours (Central Time Zone)
“Hey, sweetie,” Estrella said, speaking her native Spanish. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine, Mama,” her son, Nicky, said, replying in the same language. “Joe just brought us back from the ocean. It was really cool.”
A chill ghosted through Estrella when she thought about Nicky out on a boat in the open ocean. Even with Joe Tomlinson, who had practically grown up on water, it was a scary thing. That wasn’t a day trip she’d have planned for the two of them. She wasn’t a fan of deep water anyway.
During her time in the service she’d served aboard an antiaircraft carrier. The ship had been so big that most of the time there was none of the normal pitch and roll of smaller craft. Still, the first few weeks aboard the ship had left her weak and nauseous despite the medication the ship’s medic had signed off for her.
“I was wearing a life vest,” Nicky went on. He had a put-upon air. “I didn’t like it. It made me feel like a wimp. But Joe made me wear it.”
Estrella relaxed a little. She sat at the small desk that Shel had said he had done homework on throughout his childhood.
“Did Joe wear his vest?” Estrella asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well, see? If Joe thinks the vest is important enough to wear one himself, then it must be.”
“Are you coming to get me today, Mama?”
Estrella stared at the two wide-screen computer monitors that split the work she was doing as they talked. “Not today. I’m sorry.”
“So what am I supposed to do?”
“Joe has agreed to let you stay there a little longer. If that’s okay with you.”
“Sure. I like it here. Joe’s a lot of fun.”
That declaration hurt Estrella. Nicky was growing up without a father and there was nothing she could do about that. Worst of all, he was getting to the age where he wanted time with a father. Even when Estrella tried to do “dad” things with him, like fishing and camping and throwing a baseball in the park, Nicky was still aware of her being a “girl” when he felt he was supposed to be with a man.
“It’ll only be for a couple more days,” Estrella said, hoping that the crime scene in Texas wouldn’t take any longer than that. “So don’t get too comfortable there. And be a good boy, okay?”
“I’m always good,” Nicky said.
That, thankfully, was true. Despite the fact that Estrella had had to raise her son in a single-parent household and with a job that could be inordinately stressful, Nicky was a good son.
“I love you, baby,” she said.
“I’m not a baby.”
“You’ll always be my baby.”
“ Mom…,” Nicky protested.
“All right, I love you. If you need anything, call me. And tell Joe thanks for me.”
“I will. I love you too, Mom. Bye.”
Estrella folded her cell phone and put it away. You’re lucky to have him, she told herself. You have no reason to feel sad.
But she did. She’d never gotten over Julian’s death, especially not the fact that he’d committed suicide only months before Nicky was born. That was still the deepest hurt of her life.
She turned her attention to the files she’d downloaded from the U.S. Army databases regarding servicemen in Vietnam and started reading. Once she’d had PFC Dennis Hinton’s name and had cross-referenced it with PFC Tyrel McHenry and Sergeant Victor Gant, a lot of the busywork had been eliminated.
What was left was a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command report that was interesting.
Estrella knew that Will would want to see the CID report, but she also knew he was busy working the crime scenes. He was also there counseling Shel.
When she’d first heard about the attack on Tyrel McHenry, Estrella’s heart had gone out to Shel. She and the big Marine had been close friends since she’d joined the NCIS team shortly after he did. Part of it was the commonality of the Spanish language they shared, but part of it-Estrella suspected-was because they’d both been hurt by family. Julian had left her, and Tyrel had never been there for Shel. Both of them had holes in their hearts and lives that had affected them deeply.
And both of them were too stubborn to talk about their losses. They each believed the loss was theirs to carry alone.
But now Shel’s had gone past the point where he could carry it himself.
Estrella only hoped what she was finding out was going to be beneficial rather than hurtful. She was afraid that, just like the phone call to Nicky, it might be a little of both.
›› 1721 Hours
“Private First Class Dennis Leon Hinton was officially declared missing on October 17, 1967,” Estrella said.
