Page 17 of Barry
He watched Andrew heading toward him from the big house. He hadn’t said a word about what Edna’s camera had captured, although Ken said it would be all right to tell Andrew. He was still trying to process what the picture could mean, and Ken was working with the State to pull anything else off Edna’s Cloud account.
He leaned against the open tailgate of the truck and waited for Andrew.
“What’s up?” he asked when Andrew reached him.
“I contacted the people I know in Washington. They said it could take a week or so to get the approval to give me the information in an unclassified form. Then, however long it takes the Marines to produce the report. The senator assured me he’d get it approved. He’s owed some favors.”
“A senator? That medal sure paved the way for you.” Barry reached into the old, battered cooler and handed Andrew a bottle of water, taking one for himself as well. He pulled Honey’s water dish out of the shade, emptied it, and filled it with cold water, finishing the bottle after she was settled.
“I would have given anything not to have that damn medal,” Andrew said quietly.
Barry glanced over at him, realizing what he’d said. “I’m a fucking asshole. Son of a bitch, Cap. I didn’t mean it that way.”
Andrew looked over at him. “I know. But, like you, I don’t know when the pain is going to flash.”
“It is a bitch, isn’t it?” Barry said as he settled against the tailgate. “There was a development in the murder case today.”
Andrew did a double-take. “What?”
“Edna Michaelson put a wildlife camera out in the field past the stockyard. She got a blurred picture of a man in a ghillie suit carrying a rifle. The sheriff is pulling the rest of her images down. She was looking for a Bigfoot or something and caught a picture of our shooter.”
“Full suit?”
“Yeah, and it was blurred by movement. No way to determine who it was, but it was taken on the same day as the shooting.”
“Damn.” Andrew took a drink of his water.
“Yeah, if it isn’t Fish?—”
“It’s not.” Andrew shook his head. “It can’t be.”
Barry continued, “If it isn’t Fish, it’s someone who knows how to wear a suit. I scanned that area hard, Cap.”
“I keep coming back to the question of why they’re focused on you.” Andrew sighed. “The sledgehammer came out of your truck.”
“Could have been dumb luck on that one.” Barry shook his head. But when you couple it with someone poisoning Honey. “Cap, that day we went to lunch with Tegan after I drove Tegan back to the stockyard. We were talking, and I was describing my rages and how I could destroy the stockyard. I told him exactly what I’d do. Then it happened.” He turned to Andrew. “Someone could have been close enough to hear that. Wasn’t like we were keeping our voices down. We were in the parking lot. Plenty of places to hide behind cars and such.”
Andrew narrowed his eyes. “So, whoever this guy is has been here through the winter and been listening, watching.”
“Think so.” Barry tapped the empty water bottle against his leg. “Tegan told me to come out to his ranch, and he’dlisten. Then Doc Kate gets assaulted. It’s all connected somehow.”
“I think it is, too, but I don’t know what the connection is.”
“Fish.” Barry would not change his theory until someone told him Fish had been found and buried.
Andrew sighed. “You’re a bit obsessed with that idea.”
Anger spiked through his backbone, and he stood up and started to pace. “Obsessed? Cap, I’ve been having nightmares since I came to just about every damn night since that explosion and firefight. I can see Fish extending his hand to me. I can see him mouthing ‘Help me.’ It isn’t an obsession. Itisa memory, and it haunts me day and night.”
Andrew shook his head. “The dreams aren’t memories. They’re your brain trying to deal with what you saw. I was in that fucking dark pit, too.”
“I know the difference between memories and dreams, Cap. This is a memory. It’s vivid, and itisreal.”
Andrew stared at him. “If it is, we’re all guilty of leaving him there, not just you.”
“But I saw him.”
“And I was his commander. Which of us would be more guilty of leaving him?” Andrew stood up. “I hate to say this, but I pray you’re wrong. I pray he wasn’t left over there.”