Free Holding Their Own: The Toymaker by Joe Nobody Page B

to help you.”
    “Those men attacked us!” the PJ protested. “We were only defending ourselves, and you fucking know it. I’m a representative of the U.S. military. Why would you let them torture and murder a man who was doing nothing more than serving his country?”
    Hack shook his head, obviously frustrated that the young soldier didn’t get it. “If you hadn’t been trespassing on reservation land, none of this would have happened. No one would have died. Yet, my neighbors can be mellow, benevolent souls. They might understand that accidents do happen, especially in these troubled times. But you’re giving me nothing here, Sergeant. Nada. Zip. So the only conclusion I can make is that your intentions were nefarious.” The older man shifted his position in order to stare at the prisoner straight in the eye. “As far as the U.S. military receiving any brownie points? We’re talking about American Indians here. Did you ever study history regarding the treatment of America’s native peoples? Do you really expect them to give invading soldiers a break?”
    Grissom’s mind was racing a thousand miles per hour. Cursing the pain that was adding to his confusion, he struggled to come up with a response. When Hack turned and motioned to the guard with a finger going across his throat, the sergeant wanted to puke.
    Hack decided to give it one last try. “Sergeant, please be reasonable. You’re going to tell us what we want to know eventually. Why not speak up now rather than when you’re begging my friends to kill you quickly as you suffer those ferocious insects eating your bowels from the inside out?”
    Grissom knew the man had a point. Everybody talked eventually. There was no military reason to delay the inevitable. Rescue, at least in the short term, was unlikely. He decided to buy time with partial information. “The irrigation system you’re building down in the valley was spotted via aerial reconnaissance. My superiors sent in my team to check it out.”
    Hack scratched his chin while staring hard at the captive. Exhaling with disappointment, he said, “Oh, come on, Sergeant. Do you really think I’m that stupid? That little tidbit of a story is just plain insulting.”
    “It’s the truth,” Grissom pleaded. 
    “Bullshit!” the toymaker snapped. “Why would anybody need a Geiger counter to check on an irrigation project? Why were you on the wrong side of the valley? Why not just drive up to the reservation’s border and ask rather than sneak around in the woods?”
    Again, the PJ cursed his throbbing head. Apparently, he wasn’t thinking clearly, and it was getting him in trouble. The man interrogating him was no fool. He needed to be careful, yet silence wasn’t an option. “What do you mean the wrong side of the valley? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    “You were on the western rim of the valley. On the Los Alamos…” Hack stopped mid-sentence, his eyes growing wide. “You were in Los Alamos with a Geiger counter. There are nuclear materials at the lab… and when the military used a drone to scout the area, they spotted our project. Now this all makes sense.”
    Grissom was amazed at how quickly his captor had put two and two together. But Hack wasn’t done.
    Pacing now, the toymaker continued to mumble his rambling logic as he talked aloud, sorting out the explanation to the puzzle. “There must be a problem with the nuclear materials at the lab. The Pentagon is worried about it, or at least concerned enough to dedicate vital resources like a Special Forces team. A radiation leak? No, you didn’t have any protective suits or breathers. There must be something valuable there….”
    Hack abruptly stopped, turning to Apache Jack. “We are going to Los Alamos. We will need some additional men.”
    “Yes, Grandfather,” came the reply. “I’ll see to it.”
    Turning back to face his prisoner, Hack’s smirk was brimming with confidence. “Thank you, Sergeant. I