“I looked for that boy for a long time,” Ramsey finally said. “It was like he disappeared.”
“He did.”
“Did Gant kill him?”
“No. He was shot by Tyrel McHenry.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because McHenry told my agent that this morning,” Will said.
“Why would McHenry shoot Hinton? I never put McHenry with Gant and his goons. He was the reason I believed it was possible Hinton had wandered off. I wouldn’t have believed Gant or his men. McHenry, though, seemed solid. Just green. All those kids were.”
“It was an accident.” Will described the situation as Shel had given it to him.
“That still doesn’t make sense. Gant could have brought Hinton back in and reported the accident.”
“Maybe he was so used to covering his tracks by that point that lying was second nature.”
“Why did McHenry lie?”
“He was twenty-one years old,” Will reminded. “Nothing in his life had prepared him for what had happened out there.”
“No. You’re right about that. What do you need from me?”
“I need to know about Hinton. I still can’t figure out why Gant would ask Hinton along or why Hinton would accept. The only thing I came up with was that Hinton was working undercover for the CID and that Gant suspected it.”
“Working undercover for the Criminal Investigation Command was dangerous,” Ramsey said. “Men who informed on soldiers ended up dead. Either at camp or-easier yet-out in the jungle. The only law over there at that time was survival of the fittest.”
Will waited. Even if Ramsey didn’t confirm his suspicions, he felt certain he was right.
“Hinton was working undercover for me,” Ramsey said. “I needed someone who could get in on the inside of those men. Hinton went with them that night because of me. He knew I wanted to bring Gant down, and he didn’t like Gant either.” His voice softened. “I got that boy killed that night.”
“No,” Will said. “Bad luck did.” And he couldn’t help feeling that bad luck had struck all the way around. It had also cost Tyrel McHenry forty years of his life.
57
›› La Quinta Inn
›› El Paso, Texas
›› 1852 Hours (Central Time Zone)
“Director Larkin,” Will said when the phone was answered.
“Will? How are things there?” Larkin’s voice was quiet and controlled.
“Confusing and painful, sir,” Will replied.
“With everything you’ve told me, I can see how that would be the case.”
Will paced at the window and watched the sun going down in the west. He tried to frame in his mind how best to ask what he knew he had to ask. He and Larkin had a good working relationship, but he knew what he was about to request might be hard for the director to handle.
“I need you to arrange something for me,” Will said.
“If I can.” Larkin didn’t hesitate, but he also didn’t readily agree.
“I want to take my team to Vietnam.”
“Why?”
“To recover the body of an American GI who’s been missing since 1967.”
“Dennis Hinton?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you know where his body is?”
“I think we can get close enough to find it.”
“Hinton’s recovery would be more in the Army’s interest.”
“If Shel’s father weren’t on the line for a murder charge, I’d agree with you, sir. But that’s exactly where Tyrel McHenry is.”
“I know this has to be hurting Shel, Will, and I know you take the things that happen to your team personally-”
“Every time,” Will interrupted.
“-and I respect that, but the Army isn’t going to like being cut out of this.”
“The Army can’t rescue PFC Hinton,” Will said gently.
“Neither can you. PFC Hinton has been dead for four decades. To me it sounds like you’re more concerned with keeping Shel’s father’s head off the block than with conducting a criminal investigation.”
Will paused a moment. “I want to know exactly what happened that night, sir. Once we figure out what happened, we’ll know who was guilty of what.”
“Do you think there’s going to be any crime scene evidence left after forty years?”
“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.