The Innocent

Robie looked around the spacious office. “The Gettys were pretty down on their luck. Might’ve been good if you’d returned the favor and helped them out.”

Cassidy said, “Would’ve been glad to do it. If I could’ve found them.” He opened his desk drawer and pushed a button located on the inside of it. A portrait of a woman on a horse on the wall behind his desk clicked open, revealing a safe.

He opened the safe, pulled out a stack of letters, and held them up. “Letters I wrote to your parents, Julie, over the years. All returned unopened, addressee unknown. I spent a lot of time and money trying to find you all. Never thought to look in my own backyard.”

He tossed the letters down on his desk and sat back in his chair. “I can’t believe they’re dead,” he said, his voice quavering. He wiped at his eyes and shook his head.

Robie looked at the letters. “Lot of effort went into those.”

“Like I said, they were my friends. Curtis saved my life. They helped me when I needed it.” He looked at Julie. “If your parents are gone, who are you staying with? Who’s taking care of you?”

“Them, for now,” said Julie, indicating Robie and Vance.

“Is she in protective custody or something?” asked Cassidy.

“Or something,” replied Robie.

Cassidy looked at Julie. “I can help you. I would like to help you, just like I wanted to help your parents.”

“We can talk about that later,” said Robie. “Is there nothing else you can tell us about Getty, or the other members of the squad?”

“Like I said, I haven’t kept in touch.”

“Do you remember Gabriel Siegel and Elizabeth Claire?”

“Yeah, I do. How are they doing?”

“Not so great, actually. How about Rick Wind?”

“Yeah, he was a good guy. Fine soldier.”

“He’s dead now too. So is Leo Broome.”

Cassidy stood and slapped his desktop. “All these people from my old squad have been killed?”

“Not all of them. But the mortality rate is higher than we’d like to see,” said Vance dryly.

“Should I be worried?” asked Cassidy.

“I think everyone should be worried,” replied Robie.

CHAPTER 85

As they walked back to the car Robie said, “We’ve visited all three and nothing happened.”

“Meaning they didn’t tip their hand as to which one was important,” said Vance.

“Smart move, actually.”

“Maybe it didn’t matter. Siegel didn’t know anything except that Van Beuren was in a hospice. Van Beuren couldn’t tell you anything because she’s terminal. Cassidy was a little strange, though.”

Julie said, “I liked him. He sort of reminded me a little of my dad.”

Robie said, “He’d definitely tried to locate your family. But it was odd that he never knew any of the others were in the area. If the guy could afford to look for the Gettys, why not some of the others?”

“My family helped him, like he said,” replied Julie. “And my dad saved his life. The other ones were just soldiers in the same squad.”

“Maybe,” said Robie. “But I’m not convinced.”

Vance eyed his car. “You think it’s okay to get in it?”

“I told you about the special features. But if it makes you feel any better I’ll get in first and start it up.”

“Robie, you don’t have to do that. We’re in this together.”

“And because we’re in this together, I do have to do it. No sense in all of us going up in the same flame ball.”

They waited at the corner while he unlocked the car and got in. Vance and Julie tensed noticeably when he started the engine. When nothing happened, they both let out long breaths at the same time.

He drove to the corner and they climbed in.

“Now where?” asked Vance.

“Back to our little HQ, compare notes, think it through, and come up with new leads.”

“I don’t see anything to think through,” grumbled Julie.

“You’d be surprised,” replied Robie.

“Well, let’s hope we’re surprised,” said Vance. “Because I don’t see any daylight in all this either.”

Traffic was just as bad heading west and it was well over ninety minutes later before they were seated at the table in the farmhouse kitchen staring at each other.

They’d grabbed some burgers and fries on the way back and had eaten in the car. But while their bellies were full, their heads were still empty of any promising leads.

“Okay, let’s go through it again,” said Robie.

“Do we have to?” said Julie. “It seems like a waste of time.”

“Most of investigative work can be a waste of time. But you have to do it to get to the parts that actually mean anything,” shot back Vance.

Robie looked at Vance. “Your turn.”

Vance said, “Okay, we’ve gone down some scenarios that petered out. Let’s retool and start by ruling out some people. From what you said about Van Beuren I don’t see how she can be involved in any of this. She’s been in hospice for months. She’s got a machine breathing for her. Her husband and daughter are just watching her die, basically.”

Robie nodded. “And Siegel seems to be just as clueless. He’s more concerned about losing his job. And he seemed genuinely surprised when I told him why I wanted to talk to him.”