Lean on Me (49 page)

“
We stay until we’re sure,”
Alex said.

As if to accentuate his words, the storm
clouds unleashed tiny pebbles of ice onto them. Alex looked up at
the clouds. The storm was moving in. Another Pave Hawk landed in
the field nearby. Pointing, she nodded to Zack and Cliff. They
jogged to Zack’s favorite air vehicle. Alex had ordered a Pave
Hawk, the US Air Force version of a Black Hawk, so that if anything
happened, they could get out fast.

Alex’s attention jerked to Bill’s sharp
bark. The dog was pointing at a spot in the field. Pete whistled
and Bill trotted to him. Trece, Vince, Leena and Don ran to the
area he indicated.

“
What do you want to do?”
Joseph asked.

“
We go in,” Alex said.
“You?”

“
We send the dog after the
explosives?” Joseph asked.

“
We send the explosive guys
after the explosives,” Alex said. “There’s got to be one or twelve
of them bored on Christmas and looking for action.
Matthew?”

“
On it,” Matthew
said.

Just as Alex nodded, the snow began. They
had less than three hours until dawn and Blizzard Albert
struck.

FFFFFF

Friday morning

December 25 – 6:07 a.m. MST

Denver, CO

“
You were going to tell me
when?” John asked Max in a low voice. He grabbed a stack of
blankets from the cabinet and gave them to Fey Special Forces Team
member, Scott’s wife, Andi. She smiled and took them to her
children.

The Fey wives and Fey Special Forces Wives
and their children were getting settled in the basement. While the
overall spirit was jovial, the tension was unmistakable. Cian had
most of the Irish siblings laughing and working in the kitchen with
him. Their elder and rounder brother, Eamonn, was collecting all
the children’s presents for his appearance as Father Christmas.

“
We thought you might be
angry,” Max passed an extra blanket to Greta, Fey Special Forces
Team member Paul’s girlfriend.

“
Can I have two?” Greta
asked.

“
Sure,” Max gave her
another one.

“
This is really fun,” Greta
smiled. “The Irish people make it festive.”

“
They’re a little more used
to this kind of drama,” Max smiled.

She nodded and went to the room she was
sharing with her two children.

“
You were right,” John said
to Max. “I’m angry.”

“
Do you have an extra
pillow?” Paige, Fey Special Forces Team member Tommy’s wife
asked.

“
You bet,” John reached
into the cabinet to grab another pillow. She smiled her thanks.
“When did we get so many blankets and pillows?”

“
When you said we should be
prepared for all of the families to move in,” Max gave a stack of
sheets to Quanshay, Royce’s wife. He said to Quanshay, “Settling
in?”

“
This is the best Christmas
we’ve ever had,” Quanshay said. “I don’t have to cook or clean or
deal with the kids screaming ‘When’s Daddy gonna get here?’ Honey,
this is heaven. I may never leave.”

“
Can you get a pillow for
me?” Luz, Trece’s wife, yelled to Quanshay. She nodded and took the
pillow Max gave her.

“
Thanks,” Quanshay walked
to Luz then into the room she and her children were staying
in.

“
How did you think the…”
Max leaned into John. “…For the Friendless thing
started?”

“
Are you taking the piss?”
John asked.

“
No British slang,” Max
pointed at John. He gave an irritated shake of his head and Max
laughed.

“
What?” John asked. “I’m a
fool for thinking Eimilie went away?”

“
What do you have in
there?” Nancy, Joseph’s wife, asked.

“
Sheets, blankets, stuff
like that,” John said.

“
We brought ours from
home,” Nancy said. “You don’t think Alex would mind if we used her
laundry, do you?”

“
Go ahead,” Max
said.

“
She won’t mind,” John
said. “The door on the left off the main area.”

“
Got it,” Nancy opened the
laundry room door and a general cheer went up among the
women.

“
What was Alex supposed to
do?” Max asked. “Let Eimilie’s children starve?”

“
There’s an idea,” John
said.

“
You don’t mean that,” Max
said. Hermes gave a squealing laugh as Samantha set him down where
the other children were playing. “You didn’t let Dahlia’s children
starve.”

John glared. Max gave him a bright
smile.

“
Who’s responsible for the
hottie that’s helping Roger with our belongings?” Sergeant Dusty’s
wife, Peggy, the Admiral’s daughter, yelled from the landing of the
basement stairs.

“
Max,” John yelled to her.
A few of the women applauded.

“
Holy Crap, he’s gorgeous,”
Peggy said.

“
And so kind,” Paige said.
“The baby was sleeping. He carried him in and got him
settled.”

“
Amelia’s in love,” Emily,
Vince Lamberton’s wife said.

“
I am too!” MJ’s sister
giggled.

The women laughed.

“
A round of applause for
Max,” Luz, Trece’s wife, said.

The women applauded. Max looked like he was
going to melt into the floor with embarrassment. John touched his
sleeve.

“
All right,” John said. “I
understand. Because we cleared up the fact that I’m not, and have
never been, married to that woman, she lost almost all of her
government support. So you and Alex started For the Friendless to
help her out.”

“
We didn’t call it that at
first,” Max said.

“
Right,” John said. “And
you’re correct. I don’t want her children to jolly well starve.
And, before you say it, I did know the first recipient lived in
Shankill. I’ve actually followed her case with keen interest. It’s
nice to see someone from home succeed.”

“
Eimilie brought the last
payment today,” Max said. “She did well at nursing school and got a
job right away. They’re living in a nice flat. She’s off government
assistance and is doing well. All of her kids are in school. One is
going to Queen’s Uni.”

“
Right,” John grabbed a
running three-year-old, turned him around, and sent him back to his
mother.

“
Why are you mad?” Max
asked.

“
I don’t like her,” John
whined.

Max laughed.

“
This is fun,” Maria,
Jesse’s wife, said as she approached them. “I would never have
thought this would be so much fun but with Cian cooking and all the
Irish people, it’s like a true village. My kids are happy. The
little ones were dressed and waiting at the door for
us.”

“
Why?”

“
Doughnuts,” Maria laughed.
“Eoin makes a special little doughnut for Delores – chocolate
frosting with chocolate cake. They’re like heroin. She loves
them.”

“
I haven’t tried those,”
John said.

“
Oh no,” Maria put her
hands on her hips. “You’re not getting my baby’s doughnuts from
her.”

John and Max laughed.

“
You know,” Maria said. “I
see everyone except Colin’s wife, Julie. She’s never really gotten
into the whole ‘Fey wife thing.’ I saw them at church last night.
Julie and Colin left together. I assumed they went to get Paddie,
but…”

“
No Julie?” Max
asked.

“
No one’s heard from her,”
Maria said. “She’s the only one who lives out on Lowry so she’s not
near to anyone to arrange car pooling. And…”

“
And?” John
asked.

“
I hate to say this but I
have a bad feeling about her.”

“
I’ll find Nancy,” Max
touched Maria’s arm. “Thanks.”

John watched Max walk away.

“
She’s in trouble,” Maria
said. “I just know it.”

John and Maria turned to look toward an
outburst of laughter in the main basement room. Maggie gave a
joyous bark.

“
She’s in trouble. I just
know it,” she repeated.

FFFFFF

Friday morning

December 25 – 6:07 a.m. MST

H-29 decommissioned ICBM site, South of
Brockett, ND

There was a pop and then another before the
explosives team gave the all clear. While his team worked, the
commander of the explosives team suggested Bill found something
left over from when the site was decommissioned. His
second-in-command suggested that some boys playing in the field had
left them. Either way, if someone was going to kill them, they
weren’t going to do it with explosives.

From his knowledge of the site, Sergeant
Dusty’s Uncle Don had come up with four potential ways someone
could get into the decommissioned site – through some remnant of
the equipment tunnel, the blast valve on the top of the LEB, a
retrofitted drainage tunnel, or the blast valve on the side of the
LEB. The equipment tunnel, like the personnel tunnel, had been
destroyed when the launch site was destroyed. The top blast valve
was sealed shut. Bill had found explosives near the entrance to the
drainage tunnel. But Raz’s scans showed the tunnel had been
destroyed, most likely from the explosives similar to the ones Bill
found.

Alex’s eyes were on the growing storm but
her heart was set on finding the missing soldiers. Twelve men went
with Larry on what they thought was a mission for their country.
Through luck or fate, they wound up in this field. She just knew
it.

Alex closed her eyes for a moment. She had
to press out the cold, her anxiety over the coming blizzard, the
pressure from all eyes on her, and the strain of Christmas to
listen to her instinct. Deep inside, there was a still voice that
had never led her astray.

Why did Eniac lead her here?

Was this a wild goose chase as the Northern
Irish contingent proposed?

Was everyone she loved going to be
killed?

Alex felt a rising wave of nausea. She
opened her eyes for a moment. She’d be damned if she threw up in
front of all of these smug men. Raz stood just behind her. She
turned so that she faced him. Closing her eyes again, she forced
her mind to clear. In the silence, she listened.

Raz touched her shoulder and she opened her
eyes.

“
They’ve found an air
outlet,” Raz said. “Side blast valve tunnel seems intact. There’s
enough space for a man to crawl.”

“
These men are supposed to
be dead,” Alex said.

Raz touched her face and she looked up at
him.

“
That’s what the wild goose
chase is about,” Alex said. “Suffocated in the LEB.”

“
And?”

“
They’re alive,” Alex said.
“Or more alive than dead. But we need to get to them
soon.”

Alex’s head jerked up when Trece whistled
twice.

“
They found the entrance to
the side blast valve,” Joseph yelled over the wind.

“
We were supposed to find
it,” Alex said. “We should be able to easily retrieve the
team.”

“
They’re supposed to be
dead,” Raz said.

Alex nodded.

“
We’re going
in?”

“
We’re going in,” Alex’s
eyes scanned the horizon.

F

CHAPTER THIRTY

Friday morning

December 25 – 6:37 a.m. MST

Denver, CO

“
Anything?” John asked
Nancy.

“
Nothing,” Nancy
said.

“
And the police?” John
asked.

“
They went by the house to
do a wellness check,” Nancy said. “A man answered the door. He said
he was Julie’s brother in for the holiday. He said Julie and Paddie
were out dropping off presents to his little friend
Katy.”

“
I am running a picture of
the man from the DPD video,” Max said. “Nothing so far.”

“
Does Julie have a
brother?” Nancy asked.

“
Not on record,” Max said.
“She and Colin have been separated for more than a year. He could
be a boyfriend.”

“
She was very… touchy with
Colin last night,” Nancy said.

Shrugging, Max shook his head.

“
I checked with Katy’s
family,” John said. “No one’s seen Julie and Paddie since after
Mass last night.”

“
The patrolmen found
nothing amiss so they left,” Nancy said. “They can’t go in without
probable cause. There’s really nothing they can do.”

“
So we wait,” John
said.

“
That’s all we can do,”
Nancy said.

FFFFFF

Friday morning

December 25 – 5:47 a.m. MST

H-29 decommissioned ICBM site, South of
Brockett, ND

“
What is it?” Alex yelled
over the wind into Pete’s ear.

“
Body,” Pete
yelled.

They were standing over the open
two-and-a-half-foot-wide air duct from the side blast valve. They
had lowered Bill down the vertical portion of the blast valve duct
and he’d gone toward the LEB. He had a dog night-vision image
intensifier lens and an infrared thermographic camera attached to
his helmet. They were watching his video stream. He had barked
twice indicating the body.