'Yes, Captain.'
'Carry on,' Sara said, turning to Kerney.
'Are you ready, Lieutenant?'
'Sure.' Sara Brannon said little on the drive back to the base.
'Mind telling me why you brought me along for the ride?' Kerney finally asked.
'Two men room together. Within weeks one goes A.W.O.L. and the second dies in an auto accident.' She glanced over at Kerney.
'Are you good at math? What's the statistical probability?'
'I understand that. What else?'
'You wanted to meet Bobby Jaeger.'
'Paybacks are a bitch,' Kerney commented.
'Isn't that the truth,' Sara replied, with a charming smile. Captain Brannon called again at six in the morning rousing Kerney out of a stupor. She gave him instructions on when and where to meet Sergeant Steiner, Sammy's NCOIC, and granted permission for Kerney to search Sammy's gear stored with the quartermaster.
Groggy, he shaved in the bathroom mirror, trying not to look too closely at his haggard face. It wasn't a pretty sight. Finished, he strapped on the ankle weight, sat on the end of the bed, and exercised the knee, working the few remaining ligaments that held the leg together until the pain forced him to quit.
He stretched and soaked the leg before getting dressed. The beefy sergeant in the supply room watched him carefully as he pawed through Sammy's belongings. There were some framed family snapshots, letters from Maria- but none from Terry-civilian clothing, uniforms, and standard-issue military equipment. Sammy had a small desktop stereo system, a fairly eclectic collection of cassette tapes and compact disks, and a small library of paperback novels and art books. There were several unused sketchbooks still wrapped in protective cellophane and an assortment of pens, acrylic paints, and watercolors, but not a single example of Sammy's art work.
Kerney dumped all the clothing on the floor and went through each piece systematically, turning everything inside out. He took the case off the stereo, the covers off the speakers, and the pictures out of the frames. He shook each book by the binding and inspected each cassette tape. Each time he added something to the pile, the sergeant snorted with displeasure. Satisfied that there was nothing, Kerney thanked the sergeant, who grumbled openly about the mess on the floor and damn civilians. Kerney smiled benignly and left.
Staff Sergeant Steiner was waiting for Kerney outside the eadquarters building, looking preoccupied. Steiner had a long, angular frame topped off by an owl-like, bookish face. He stiffened as Kerney approached, hands clasped behind his back in an at ease position. Kerney introduced himself.
'How can I help you. Lieutenant?' Steiner's formal tone indicated he was not a happy volunteer.
'I understand Specialist Yazzi worked for you.'
'That's correct.'
'What test facility do you work at?' Kerney added.
'It's an up range site,' Steiner replied brusquely.
'Can you tell me about Sammy's work?'
'Not specifically.'
'Can you give me a thumbnail sketch without revealing any secrets?'
'In general terms, I can. We work with a new ordnance designed for armored units. We study the products under laboratory and simulated field conditions. I can't say any more than that.'
'That's good enough,' Kerney said.
'How large is your contingent at the test site?'
'Thirty-two, including civilians. We operate twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The Gulf War bumped the project to the top of the priority list.'
'I was told that Yazzi wanted to change his schedule so he could take some art courses. Did he talk to you about it?'
'He certainly did,' Steiner replied emphatically.
'I had no problem with the request if it added to his technical skills. I didn't think art courses qualified. I turned him down.'
'Was he disappointed?'
'Maybe a little bit,' Steiner responded, 'but he knew that the job came first. Is that all. Lieutenant?'
'Did you ever have any reason to informally discipline Sammy?'
'Sammy never gave me any problems.'
'When did you notice him absent from duty?'
'He failed to report back to work after his rest period.'
'He wasn't missed until then?'
'The facility covers a lot of territory. Think of it like an outpost. We have full dining, sleeping, and recreational accommodations, supply and support buildings, plus a number of secure structures.'
'What did Sammy like to do on his downtime?'
Steiner ran his finger over the brim of his fatigue cap and hesitated before answering.
'He liked to draw.'
'And that was okay for him to do?' He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and didn't answer.
'You liked Sammy, didn't you?' Kerney said with an understanding smile.
Steiner relaxed a bit.
'Sure I did. He was damn good at his job and easy to get along with.'
'And you couldn't change the schedule for one man,' Kerney added sympathetically. 'I understand that. I bet Sammy did, too. Police work is the same way. You just can't afford to play favorites.'
'That's right,' Steiner agreed.
'But somebody like Sammy,' Kerney continued, 'a good worker, a team player-if it was me, I'd try to keep him happy, keep him productive.'
Steiner nodded in agreement.
'That's what being a good supervisor is all about. Is this conversation off the record?'
'Absolutely. I don't work for the Army, Sergeant. I'll make sure it doesn't get back to anybody on the post.'
Steiner thought about that for a minute, removed his fatigue hat, and wiped his brow with the back of his hand.
'Okay. Technically, any kind of drawing or photography isn't allowed up range He knew I wasn't going to change my mind about the duty roster, and I knew he wasn't going to draw pictures that jeopardized national security. Sometimes the regulations just don't match the individual circumstance. So when he asked if he could do his artwork on his free time, I said I would allow it, as long as he turned the drawings over to me when he returned.'
'Returned from where?'
'I told him he could only sketch away from the compound. He'd hike into the desert and come back in a couple of hours with some drawings. It was all harmless stuff.'
'What did you do with pictures?'
'I destroyed them. That was part of the deal.' Steiner put his fatigue cap back on his head and looked at his wristwatch.
'I've got a long drive ahead of me. Is that all. Lieutenant?'
'Was Sammy on a hike the day he turned up missing?'
'Yeah. He always checked in with me before he took off. He was real good about it.'
'Who went looking for him when he didn't return?'
'Half the MPS on the post, plus myself and all the off-duty people at the facility.'
'How long was he gone before you started looking?'
'Almost the full twelve hours.' Kerney didn't hold Steiner back from leaving. He ran the information through his mind, his spirits sinking. From what Steiner told him, the probability that Sammy had gone
A.W.O.L., no matter what the Army believed, was highly unlikely. *** Kerney cooled his heels in the company orderly room outside Captain James Meehan's office. Master Sergeant Roy Enloe was at his desk, reading reports and ignoring him. Finally, the phone on Enloe's desk rang. After answering it, Enloe sent Kerney into the captain's
