Cat discovered that no introduction was needed. Ben was apparently the same guy Duke had known. Neither of them seemed especially warm in their brief greeting.
The old kitchen was a large room, big enough for a long table that could easily seat a big family or some ranch hands. It must have come with the house, since it was larger than a size most people would have purchased nowadays. Ben seemed awfully alone there.
He waved them to the table, grabbed three mugs in one hand and the coffeepot in the other.
He poured for all of them before sitting across the table. “What’s this about, Duke?”
“Trying to get a picture. I want Larry’s murderer.”
“Don’t we all?” Ben’s laugh was bitter. “You care now?”
“I always cared.”
Ben looked away briefly. “I suppose.”
“I was wrong,” Duke said flatly. “He wasn’t exactly innocent, either. But you always think there’ll be a tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Only tomorrow disappeared.”
Cat watched them both, wishing one or the other would fill in the blanks, but refusing to ask them. She had to let this roll between the two men, at least for now. The tension between them was almost palpable.
“Look,” Duke said, “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you about Larry’s thirst for justice. I can’t do anything else now except try to make sure he gets it.”
Ben passed a hand over his face, and when he dropped it, there was a sheen in his eyes, as if he were fighting back tears.
“It made him a great investigative reporter,” Ben said tautly. “You should know that.”
“I do know,” Duke replied. “I know it all the way to my gut.”
“Then why did you freeze him out?”
Duke shook his head. “We froze each other out. I was angry because Larry didn’t give me a heads-up on that story about the murders. I kept hoping that the repercussions would die down, but after my next performance report, I realized that story killed my career. If I’d known it was coming, I might have been able to distance myself.”
Ben looked down. “He was right.”
“About what? The crimes? Of course he was. But when his piece hit the papers, I couldn’t begin to do damage control. I was suspected of being his source, when I hadn’t known a thing about it until Larry’s story was smeared all over the papers. Maybe you were suspected, too. I don’t know.”
“I wouldn’t have cared!”
“Maybe you wouldn’t, but you were already terminating. I wasn’t. I was damned with faint praise, and there went any hope I had of promotion. I’m still getting damned.”
Ben half smiled, but it contained no mirth. “No stars for you.”
“Worse, no light colonel. I’m done at twenty.”
It almost seemed they were speaking in code. Cat knew she’d have to ask for some explanations later, but right now she let the men talk.
Ben retorted, “Larry wanted justice for those victims. He wanted to see the perpetrators punished. Your motivations were selfish.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. All I know is I felt betrayed by my brother.”
Ben swore quietly. “He couldn’t tell anyone about that story before it hit the presses. Those higher up the food chain would have done everything they could to squash it.”
Duke didn’t answer. Cat wondered if it was because he agreed with what Ben had just said, or if there was another reason. She hoped her growing list of questions would stick with her. She wished she could write them down, but she didn’t want to do anything that might halt this conversation.
Eventually it was Duke who broke the silence. “What was he working on while he was here?”
“I don’t know. Larry was always secretive. I have no idea whether that was to protect the people who gave him information, or if it was for other reasons.”
“Secrets caused us to split,” Duke answered. “Given that story, I’ve got to wonder if he was working on something new that worried someone.”
“I’ve wondered, too,” Ben admitted. “I thought that once he arrived here, we’d be able to be more open about our relationship. No. Larry urged me to keep it quiet.”
“Maybe he thought he was protecting you.”
“And maybe he thought the same thing about you. Did you consider that? Why would he think you’d be connected to his reporting in any way?”
“He didn’t know the Army,” Duke answered. “I’ll grant him that in retrospect.”
Ben looked as if he might have eaten something sour. “I do know the military. I understand. God knows I faced enough of it.”
Once again Duke shook his head. “I never heard a word about your sexual orientation.”
“A lot of people had figured it out. Enough so that I wasn’t surprised when my performance reports started going downhill.”
“You, too? I was never in your chain of command, so I didn’t see them.”
For the first time these men shared a look of understanding.
After a minute, Ben spoke again. “It’s a great way to hide prejudice, saying someone is excellent but not rating him or her higher.”
Cat interjected a question, feeling it might be safe. “Better than excellent?”
“Oh yeah,” Duke answered. “Stands out above all peers in the written comments is a good one.”
“Oh man,” she murmured.
“Lots of little, ugly secrets,” Ben remarked. “You can make someone’s life hell without ever revealing something that might be against regulation. You know, like discrimination that policy doesn’t allow.”
She was getting a much clearer idea of what Larry’s story might have done to Duke, and why he might have stopped speaking to his brother. Other details she would ask about later, like the thrust of the story. It could be relevant.
Ben was relaxing a little. Duke seemed to be as well. Evidently they’d gotten past the problem between the brothers. At least for now.
“What are you looking for, Duke?” Ben asked. “My absolution?”
“No. Every single day I’m going to regret that I didn’t try to close the gap between us. Too late for that. I’m hoping you might know something, anything, that could help to find his murderer.”
Ben lifted his hands almost
