Free Lean on Me by Claudia Hall Christian Page A

asked.
    “ Yes,” Troy said. “Don’t
you?”
    “ If you don’t have anything
to hide, Captain,” Detective Young said. “Why can’t we get a bio on
you?”
    “ Oh right,” Troy gave an
impish smile. “I can’t talk about my work, either past or
present.”
    “ I have brought copies of a
synopsis of Captain Olivas’s biography,” Army JAG Captain Tyler
said.
    “ Sanitized,” the FBI agent
said, after looking at the document.
    “ You can’t get his bio
either?” Senior Field Agent Snypes asked.
    The FBI agent shook his head.
    “ Captain Olivas works on a
classified military team,” Army JAG Captain Tyler said. “We don’t
believe Captain Olivas’s work has anything to do with your
investigation. If there is information from his work that overlaps
this case, I’ll be happy to make the appropriate phone calls for
any information you request in writing.”
    “ Just curious,” Detective
Young said. “You’re a hard man to get a handle on. Your father
claims you’re a foot soldier assigned to Iraq. He’s told more than
one news outlet that you’re his brilliant ne’er-do-well son with
serious mental health issues. But Senior Field Agent Snypes can get
full backgrounds on foot soldiers with mental health issues. Hell,
I can.”
    “ I’ve brought copies of
Captain Olivas’s last evaluations,” Army JAG Captain Tyler said.
“He must take these tests every six months in order to maintain his
current position.”
    “ Wow,” Detective Young
said. “Is your IQ really 187?”
    “ If it says so,” Troy said.
“It doesn’t mean anything to me.”
    “ Profilers say that people
who are that smart are crazy psychopaths,” FBI Agent Platt
said.
    “ I’m a Green Beret, sir,”
Troy said. “Psychopaths either test out or get recruited for other
services. You can see on the bio he gave you that I’ve spent most
of my career in South and Central America. I have only been to Iraq
once, and that was in the last year. I was in Afghanistan and
Pakistan for the first time last month.”
    Detective Young set the papers down on the
table and looked at him. Troy felt the man assess his very soul.
Detective Young shrugged.
    “ Have some trouble with
your father?” Detective Young asked.
    “ Yes, sir,” Troy
said.
    “ Me too,” Detective Young
said. “How about you Platt?”
    The FBI agent gave Detective Young a steely
look.
    “ You don’t have to ask me,”
Army CID Special Agent Snypes laughed. “The entire western United
States is too small for my father and me. And I know you and your
pops hate each other Tyler.”
    “ My father’s dead,” Hawkins
Mac Alister said. The men turned to look at him. Smiling, he said,
“Thank God.”
    Troy looked from face to laughing face. He
wasn’t sure what was going on but he didn’t think it was something
bad.
    “ Your father?” Detective
Young’s face went from laughing to dead serious. “He’s a serious
prick among pricks.”
    The other men nodded.
    “ We have stacks of paper on
you, Olivas. And now more paper,” Detective Young said. “Help us
fill in the blanks. We’ll ask questions when we need
to.”
    “ The blanks?” Troy asked.
“You mean like I met Dahlia in Sophomore Geometry class? She wasn’t
very good at math but she was very pretty. She had this tiny piece
of blonde hair that curled right at the nape of her neck when her
hair was up. I was forced to rescue her…”
    “ While that’s very
interesting,” Army CID Special Agent Snypes said. “We agreed to
start at April of this year.”
    F

CHAPTER six
     
    Sunday morning
    October 25 – 7:45 a.m. EDT
    Harkers Island, North Carolina
     
    “ I think you’re skinnier
than you were the last time I saw you,” Mammy said. Her deep voice
came out in High Tide Brogue.
    Alex could only smile. This life-toughened
woman radiated love. Mammy held out her arms and Alex was all but
engulfed in her soft folds. Mammy kissed her forehead.
    “ How is your handsome
husband?” Mammy