Free Revealing Revelations by Ric Nero Page A

aren’t mine to share.
    I walk to the parking lot pressing the button on my keypad unlocking my car doors.
    “Thomas!” a voice calls to me.
    I turn around and look at an exhausted Shane standing before me. Sweat drenches the top half of his gray shirt. He slumps over with his hands on his knees gasping for air. “You… you… called me this morning. I was tryna see what’s up.” He leans against my car trying to support his body.
    “Someone contacted me last night by the name of John Todd knowing more than we would like him to know,” I said.
    He looked at me, wheezed once more and dropped his head. “What is he C.I.D?” he asked.
    “Nah, if he was you would be the first to know I was on my way to Ft. Leavenworth,” I said.
    “You’re right. You’d be part of the chain-gang band, huh?” he said. “So, who is he? What’s this guy want anyway, money?”
    “Naw, that’s the thing. He says that what we’re doing is basically a small portion of a big picture, and get this, he’s a priest.”
    Shane looks at me in a way he never looked at me before. His round face was fully red from fatigue and loss of oxygen.
    “He’s not a threat, Shane. I know it sounds weird, but he isn’t,” I explained.
    “I believe you, but I want to talk to this guy. He obviously wants to help us in some way. Wait here,” Shane said. He runs over to his white SUV a few cars away, opens the door, reaches in the center console and runs back over with phone in hand. “Give me his phone number,” Shane said.
    “He called me private,” I told him.
    He leans up against my car again and tosses his head back. “Okay,” he says bringing his head back to its proper level.
    “Is there a problem, Sergeant Shanahan?” an overly curious Sergeant Pummel asks. It’s as if he just appeared out of nowhere. But, that was his signature move.
    “No, Sergeant. Just have to see my soldier make it to Darnall hospital,” Shane said. He was always good at coming up with excuses to get off work and meaningless details. He stands there so cynical with his hands behind his back, displaying his superior rank in the Army as usual. He looks Shane dead in the eye as if he was about to share judgment. But, Shane keeps his usual “so-what” composure.
    Sergeant Pummel keeps his stance and shifts his eyes my direction, then back to Shane. “That’s the type of motivation more Non-Commissioned Officers need around here, Sergeant. Get him squared away,” Pummel says.
    “Roger that, Sergeant,” Shane said.
    “As for you, Thomas, I hope you really been thinking about our little conversation from the other day,” he said raising his head, but dropping his eyes down on me. I wasn’t in the mood for his ‘all about nothing’ babble.
    “Sure, Sergeant,” I replied with an obvious angry tone in my voice.
    He just stands there and says, “Audacity, always audacity.” Sergeant Pummel walks off and we quickly walk to the white Nitro and get in.
    Shane puts his key into the ignition and starts the engine.
    Vrrrrmmm!
    Shane turns on the A/C, he must still be hot and out of breath. I look around and everything inside is black leather, from the dashboard to the seat cushions. It still has that fresh new-car smell.
    “I freakin’ hate that guy, how does he get out of all the training exercises and deployments?” I ask Shane.
    His eyebrows jump. “Rumor has it he’s a Freemason,” Shane said.
    “A secret society guy, huh?” I asked.
    “Something like that, I guess,” he answered.
    I look at the traffic we were passing at an accelerated speed. Deep down the fact that Sergeant Pummel was a Freemason made me think about what the priest said. “They’re even conspirators around even you, soldier,” I say under my breath. “But, I’m not worried about that, I’m more concerned about this…priest.”
    He looks at me, not just any look. I can tell he’s really worried. I’ve only seen Shane look this way when we had to clear buildings from