Free Jack and Joe: Hunt for Jack Reacher Series (The Hunt for Jack Reacher Series Book 6) by Diane Capri Page B

him, I’d opened the heavy drapes and watched some of the show. I’d seen the arrival and departure of several medical trucks, Highway Patrol and local police vehicles from New Haven and the county. Uniformed officers were now posted at the entrance to The Lucky Bar . Crime scene processing had already begun and the familiar yellow tape was slashed across the doorway.
    Through everything, water in various stages of freezing continued to fall. Temperatures must have fallen slightly since I left the scene because the ground was now dusted with white. Snow over ice is among the most treacherous possible driving conditions. Processing tonight’s crime scene and handling the victims would be more complicated and difficult until the weather cleared.
    Clifton ran a flat palm across his face, which was showing a day’s growth of beard. He replied in the formal way he might report to a superior officer. “All of the injured civilians have been transported to the hospital. I have MPs on the scene to assist Sheriff Taylor. We located no additional injured Army personnel. The homicides will be processed by civilian law enforcement. Sherriff Taylor is a good cop. He’ll do what needs to be done.”
    He stopped pacing a moment and turned to face me. “The case isn’t my jurisdiction, so I have no choice in any event.”
    I nodded. “What about the bartender and the bouncer? I assume they were arrested for opening fire on the shooter, just to keep track of them until things get sorted out if nothing else.”
    “Taylor sent Junior to the local jail. But Alvin required medical attention, probably surgery to that shoulder, so he was arrested and then transported to the hospital.” He turned his head again to watch events across the road.
    “Did you interview them before Taylor got ahold of them?”
    “A little bit. I’ve been the XO at Bird for about a year, so I’ve had dealings with both of them before. Alvin is a decent guy who’s had a tough life. The Lucky Bar is all he has to support himself and his family. He’ll reopen as soon as possible.”
    In my experience, places like The Lucky Bar operated on a thin line barely inside the law. On any given night, there were plenty of chances for trouble of one kind or another. Judging from the response to that gunman tonight, Alvin and Junior expected trouble and were prepared to handle it.
    “Seems like Alvin was pretty lucky to me.”
    “How so?”
    “Neither he nor his son are dead. The gunshot wound to his shoulder will give him some problems, but it appeared treatable. Lots of folks, including at least four soldiers from your base who were trying to do the right thing, weren’t that lucky tonight.”
    Clifton squared his shoulders and leaned his back against the window. “I could have made the place off-limits to enlisted men. I’ve threatened to do it more than once. I could’ve confined them to the base tonight because of the weather, and I thought about it.”
    “But you didn’t do any of that.”
    “You drove here from Bird. How many five-star restaurants and symphony halls did you see along the way?” He paused and raised his cup again. “The Army’s not an easy gig. We train hard. We expect fewer soldiers to do a lot more. The discipline is tough. People need an outlet and we can’t provide everything on the base, as much as I wish we could.”
    I understood his point. Compromises had to be made. Enlisted personnel were entitled to free time. They were going to spend it somewhere.
    The Lucky Bar was reasonably close and somewhat manageable for the MPs. Maybe everything in the place wasn’t strictly legal, but there were worse places they could go.
    And, until tonight, when four of Bird’s personnel were killed, worse things could have happened when soldiers went farther afield.
    I asked, “Do you know anything about the shooter yet? Or the dancer?”
    “Shooter had a Tennessee driver’s license in his wallet and a few credit cards. A little bit of