Protecting Dallas

I watched carefully as the man shrugged. The gesture seemed genuine.

“I— I can’t imagine he would be. He was Connor’s friend. His roommate too, if I remember.”

“He ever say anything bad about him?”

“Who?”

“Connor.”

“Not that I recall.” He thought for a moment, then put a finger to his chin. “But…”

“But what?”

“But I remember Miller being kinda angry when Connor left. He put in for a transfer almost immediately. I always assumed they had some sort of falling out, but then the transfer was to Fallon, so…”

Maddox took a slow step back. Fallon was an air station out in Churchill County, back in Nevada. Combat Search and Rescue training took place there, SEALs only.

A transfer like that made sense. Only it put him within six or seven hours access of Connor.

“Listen to me,” Woodward said, his voice going so low it was barely audible. “Whatever these guys wanted, Connor already had it. And it was important to them. They were looking for it, shaking him down trying to find it.”

I squinted hard. “And how do you know that?”

“Because they tossed his place twice trying to find it.”

And because they stationed Miller with him to look for it as well, I thought silently.

A gust of wind picked up, surging through the old gazebo. It whistled eerily through the broken teeth of the fancy upper cornices.

“Now that Connor’s dead,” said Maddox. “Think they’re still looking for it?”

The Chief Petty Officer spat again. He looked past us, at something on the invisible horizon, then nodded slowly.

“You can bet that until they’ve found it, they’re not going to stop.”

Forty-Four

DALLAS

The guys showed up not long after I’d ordered room service. It was a bitch not eating until they got there, but somehow I managed.

“How’d it go?”

“Tell you in a bit,” said Austin. He rubbed his stomach. “While we eat, of course.”

We were all famished. And tired. Exhausted actually, but who was keeping track anymore.

Maddox walked in behind him, sniffing the air. I had the balcony doors wide open. The sounds and smells of the growing crowd wafted in from outside.

“New sheets,” smiled Maddox, glancing around approvingly. “New blankets too.”

“We needed them,” I chuckled.

“Sure did.”

“You guys defiled me last night,” I said with a smirk. “The night before too, come to think of it.”

Austin cracked his knuckles before grabbing a spoon. He sat down at the little table before a big bowl of Jambalaya.