“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
