The Innocent

“But we don’t seem to be any closer to the right answers,” said Blue Man.

“No, maybe we are.”

“How so?”

Robie stood. “They want me involved in this somehow, whatever it is.”

“Granted, but how does that help us?”

“I need to make them try a little harder to engage my attention.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to make them push harder. When people push harder they make mistakes.”

“Well, make certain you don’t push them so hard that you end up dead.”

“No, I want them to focus on me. There’s been way too much collateral damage on this already.”

Robie turned and walked out of the room.

He was going to see Julie. He had nothing really to tell her. And like Blue Man had said, no good could come from informing her of things her father might have done in the past. Robie was convinced that whatever the three soldiers had done more than twenty years ago was irrelevant to the present situation. They were just convenient pieces on the chessboard.

This is about me, thought Robie. It started with me and it has to somehow end with me.

CHAPTER 74

“So, Mr. Broome and Rick Wind served with my dad in the Army?” said Julie.

Robie was sitting with her in the FBI safe house. How safe it was Robie wasn’t sure, but he had few options left. The FBI agents guarding Julie looked professional and alert, and yet he kept his hand near his Glock and was prepared to gun them down if they made a move to harm the girl.

“They fought in Gulf One. They left the Army at separate times after that. Apparently, a number of soldiers in their squad got that tattoo on their arm.”

“I still can’t believe my dad was like a hero.”

“Believe it, Julie, he was.”

She fingered the zipper on her jacket. “Did you find out anything else?”

“Not really,” said Robie.

“My dad must’ve been young when he left the military. I wonder why he didn’t stay in.”

“No way to tell,” said Robie quietly. “Some guys do their stint and go on to other things.”

“Maybe if he’d stayed in he might’ve, you know…”

“Well, he might not have met your mother either, if he’d stayed in.”

“That’s true,” said Julie slowly. She eyed Robie closely. “Why do I think you’re not telling me everything?” There was something in her look that Robie recognized. It was the same look he gave people who were simply telling him things they knew he wanted to hear.

“Because you’re naturally suspicious, just like me.”

“Are you holding something back from me?”

“I hold lots of things back from lots of people. But always for a good reason, Julie.”

“That’s not really an answer.”

He locked his gaze on hers, figuring that not to look at her now would be simply an exclamation point on his underlying deceit. “It’s the only one I have to give. I’m sorry.”

“So you haven’t figured out what’s going on, then, have you?”

“Not really.”

“Do you need my help? And don’t say you have to keep me safe. There’s no such place, not even here with super-duper FBI guys all over the place.”

Robie was about to turn her offer down using this very safety issue, but stopped. Something had just occurred to him.

“Your mother said that you didn’t know anything, right? When she was talking to the guy in your house?”

“That’s what she said.”

“So that implies that your parents did know something. That your mother, in fact, probably knew why the guy was there. Why he wanted to kill them.”

“I guess that’s right. But we’ve already covered this ground, Will.”

“And Leo Broome, right before he died, implied that he knew something too.”

Julie wicked a tear from her right eye. “I didn’t know him all that well, but he seemed like a nice guy. And I really liked Ida. She was always nice to me.”

“I know. It’s a tragedy all around. Now, Cheryl Kosmann said that the day before your parents were killed they had dinner with the Broomes at the diner. She said they looked like they had seen a ghost.”

“That’s right.”

“When was the last time you talked to your parents before you went back to your house that night?”

“Just before I was put back in foster care. I never got a chance to sneak over and see my mom at the diner.”

“And how did your mom seem when you did see her last?”

“Fine. Normal. We just talked about stuff.”

“And then later a guy is at their home looking to kill them and your mother is not surprised by it?”

Julie blinked. “You mean something had to happen after I last saw her and before the guy showed up at our house?”

“No, it had to be between you seeing her last and your parents having dinner with the Broomes where they all looked like they had seen a ghost, according to Cheryl.”

“But we don’t know what that something is.”

“But narrowing it down to a specific time period helps. The way I see it, either something happened with your parents, they found out something and told the Broomes. Or the Broomes found out something and told your parents.”

“What about the Winds?”

“That’s sort of the wild card. They weren’t at the dinner, but they must be involved somehow too, otherwise why would they have ended up dead?”

“Do you think it has something to do with their time in the military?”