Silent Witness (23 page)

“What was her reaction?” Cochrane asked.

“She got pissed off. As usual.” Hodges threw up his hands. “It took some fast talking on my part to keep her from going to the Reno police to report the incident. I told her I'd take care of it, and the people involved would be punished. I managed to talk her into having a drink with me at the patio bar to seal the deal. I put Rohypnol in her drink while we sat at the swimming pool bar. She didn't know it and started getting woozy. I hauled her up the elevator. Some guy came into the elevator with us and I told him she was my girlfriend and was drunk. We both had a good laugh over it.” Frowning, he muttered, “We took her to my room.”

“Who's ‘we'?” Cochrane demanded.

“Michelson, Bassett and myself.” With a grimace, he said, “I wanted Kane to keep her mouth shut about
what happened to Hawkins in the Leopard suite. I wasn't going to do anything I promised her about nailing the guys there. We figured if we stripped her to her waist, put her in my bed, took my web belts, threw them around her wrists and tied them to the bedposts, that would do it. I took five digital photos of her in that position. She was unconscious and didn't remember anything. We forced her lids open so it looked like she was awake.”

“Why?” Ellen demanded tightly. She glared at the sweaty aviator.

“To blackmail her.” He looked beseechingly at Cochrane. “You understand. If Kane put us up on charges, everyone's career was down the tubes. The photos were meant to force her to keep her mouth shut about what happened to Hawkins. That was all.”

Hodges wiped the film of sweat off his brow and cast a look around, first at Ellen, then at Jim. “We bundled her up in a blanket, went down the emergency stairs and took her back to her room to sleep off the drug. No one saw us do it. I've used Rohypnol before. Women don't remember anything the next morning. I know Kane didn't recall anything about it, so we were safe. I kept all five photos with me to show them to her later, once we got back to the station, to ensure she kept her mouth shut about the conference.”

“But something went wrong when Kane came back to the station,” Cochrane said, trying to keep the venom out of his tone. “What else happened?”

Hodges cast a feral look around the room. He grabbed the glass of water that sat in front of him and took a gulp. His Adam's apple bobbed dramatically. When he was done, he set the glass aside and wiped his mouth. “Everything was smooth when we got back from the conference. Kane didn't report us. She stayed in her office and taught her classes. All seemed to be forgotten.”

“She knew you had the photos?” Ellen asked.

“No, not at first. When we got back to Giddings, I made a point of going to her office that first day. I mentioned our little drink to resolve our differences and that everyone had parted amicably. I told her she'd left us at the bar and went over to talk with some other aviators. Given the fact that she woke up the next morning naked, with a hangover, and a pair of men's skivvies in her room, I believe she thought she got drunk and slept with someone.”

“Did this affect her job performance?”

“No, it didn't appear to have any impact on her flying or teaching skills.”

“So what happened next?” Cochrane asked.

With a grimace, Hodges said, “I was jumpy because I knew I was going to make the commanders list. Michelson and Bassett were worried because they were lieutenants, and both knew the shit would run downhill in this man's Navy if Kane decided to spill the beans. She came to me one day demanding that I turn in the men from the Leopard suite. It was then I realized we'd
have to shut her up. If we silenced Kane permanently, we could save our careers.”

“Whose idea was it to go to Kane and blackmail her into silence?”

Hodges hesitated, looked up at the ceiling, then down at his clasped hands. “Mine, I guess.”

“You guess?” Cochrane pressed.

“Okay, it was my idea, dammit!”

“Tell us how it went down,” Cochrane said.

“I told Kane that she had to get out of the Navy, after I showed her the photo. She said it wasn't fair.” Snorting violently, Hodges flashed them an angry look. “Fair? Just what the hell is ever fair in life? My mother gave me up for adoption because she didn't want me. You two tell me, what the hell was fair about that? I got passed through a series of foster homes until I was eighteen. I wanted to make something of myself, anyway. I was going to make them all sorry they didn't want me. I chose a career that everyone would envy, where everyone would point to me and say how great and smart and brave I was.

“Not only was I going to be a fighter pilot flying the hottest, fastest planes in the world, I was going to be the
best
damn pilot in the world. Well, here I am—a Top Gun instructor. It doesn't get any better than this. I have the respect of everyone—with the exception of Susan Kane.

“You know,” Hodges continued, relaxing slightly, “I finally hunted down my real mother after all those
years. I kept bugging the hospital until they gave me her name.” He laughed sharply. “Know where I found her? She was an alcoholic married to a coal miner in northeast Ohio. When I met her, I froze. This small, thin woman with a narrow, pinched face staring back at me from the door, looking at me through those drunk, watery blue eyes of hers. She was in her forties, but she looked sixty. Her hair was gray. I'll never forget it. My God, she had a hard face. I stood there staring at her and not believing I came out of the body of that woman.

“And then, her big, potbellied husband came to the door, beer on his breath. He was in a dirty white T-shirt, his jeans had holes in them and they were hitched up under all that flesh with an old leather belt.” Hodges sneered and lifted his chin.

“They were both filthy. Their house was a tin shack and they lived in filth. I ran off their rickety front porch, dived into my rental car and took off just as fast as I could. I couldn't believe that was my mother. Once I got on the highway, I swore I'd never end up like her. She was a drunken old bitch. Worthless. She'd have done better putting a gun to her head and blowing out her brains, as far as I was concerned. She had no right to live.”

“But why take all that out on Susan?” Ellen's voice was thin with disbelief.

He smiled at her coldly. “Women are good for only one thing, and that's screwing. She marched in here to Top Gun thinking she was Miss Goody Two-shoes. Kane always thought she was better than us—”

“That's not true!” Ellen protested. Her breathing was chaotic. She actually wanted to hit Hodges! The impulse was so real her fingers closed into a fist. Startled by the power of her rage, she quickly relaxed her hand beneath the table.

“The hell it isn't,” he barked, and stabbed his finger at her. “Kane was always perfect. Her uniform never had a wrinkle or a crease. Her desk always looked like it was ready for the I.G.” Resentment colored his tone. “She had everyone here at Top Gun thinking she was such a model of perfection. She flew like most of us dreamed of flying. She had all the right credentials, went to all the right schools and got 4.0s. She never picked up a drink. And worst of all, she never tried to fit into our world.” His mouth flattened. “She made me sick.”

“But that wasn't directed at you, Commander. Why did you take everything she did so personally? I don't understand,” Ellen choked out in fury.

“Navy brats are something else, Agent Tanner. Raised in luxury and privilege. Well, I came up the hard way,” he said hoarsely. “I didn't have any Navy captain father helping me get all the plush assignments.”

“You're wrong, Mr. Hodges. It wasn't like that for Susan at all,” Ellen protested. “And Susan was
not
like your mother!”

He glared at her. “You keep my mother out of this!”

“Susan earned everything she ever got in life—”

“Well, so the hell did I! I've got dreams I want to fulfill, Agent Tanner. Dreams I've had since I was a kid. And no one's going to stand in the way of them coming true. Once I make my rank, I'm up for assignment to a carrier as a squadron commander. I want that plum. I've earned it. After that I'm off to the war college, and later I'll get placed on the captains list. I've got my life mapped out. I've gotten my ticket punched at all the right stops. And she was the only fly in the ointment. Because of what happened at Ares, Kane could have ruined my plans. She thought she was so smug, marching up to me on that patio and demanding I put two squadron mates on report for a little ass pinching.”

“It was more than that and you know it!” Ellen struck the desk with her closed fist. “Why should any woman stand for that kind of humiliation and subjugation? You and your men were
wrong
, Mr. Hodges.”

“Get real, will you? It's been going on for years. It isn't my fault Kane walked in blind, deaf and dumb. You play in the men's house, you play by our rules. Those bitches got what they deserved. I commanded Kane to get her stuff in order. I told her she had to resign her commission within the next five days. It wasn't up for discussion.”

Ellen's nostrils flared. “You're part of what's rotten within the military system—you know that, Commander Hodges? But you're not only hurting women, you hurt good men, too, by your attitude and manipulation. Thank God not every Navy aviator is like you.”

Coldly, Hodges growled, “There's no room in this man's Navy for women. Especially women like Kane, who won't abide by the rules and traditions. She was willing to break the code of silence and ruin my career. We didn't trust her to honor our system. Wake up and smell the coffee, Agent Tanner.” He jabbed a finger at the photo. “I warned Kane that if I didn't hear of her resigning within five days, I was going to circulate copies of this photo to everyone I could think of—inside the Navy and to her family. I'll bet her father would have died of shame. I told her that her two brothers' careers would go down the tubes, as well. I reminded her that she would be the cause.”

“Tell me, where are the photos now?” Cochrane asked, trying to throttle the fury in his voice.

Hodges wiped his brow yet again. “They're in a desk at my condo.”

Cochrane saw the rage and tears in Ellen's eyes. He saw her fighting to keep her temper from exploding directly at Hodges.

“Does anyone else have access to these pictures?” Cochrane demanded.

“Michelson and Bassett know I have them at my home. When we came back from Ares, we drove over there and I showed them where I put the photos. There were no secrets. We were all involved.”

“So either of them could have gotten the photos at any time?” He saw Hodges's eyes narrow with fury. Leaning back in his chair, Cochrane studied the sweat
ing pilot. He was going to let Hodges think that Michelson had taken one and squealed on him. That the photo he'd seen earlier had been turned over by the lieutenant. Hodges couldn't drive home to look for them. He had a TDY flight to catch in an hour. No, Hodges would have to wait until he arrived back at the base at noon tomorrow to find out for sure. Even though Hodges would find all four of them, but by that time, it would be too late; he'd already have spilled the beans to them, which was what Cochrane had wanted.

“Yeah, that's right. They could've retrieved the photos….”

“Do you know Lieutenant Commander Brad Kane? Susan's brother?”

Hodges looked at him questioningly.

“It seems to me,” Cochrane drawled, picking up a pen, “that you might know him.”

Running his hand along the edge of his collar, Hodges croaked, “Yeah, I know him.”

“Did you see him at the Ares Conference? At the Barstow?”

“Yes…I did.”

“Was he aware of what you did to Susan? Slipping her a drugged drink and then taking those inflammatory photos?”

“Er…no, he wasn't.”

Cochrane shifted his gaze to Ellen, who had gone white. Below the edge of the table, her hands were clenching and unclenching in her lap. He wanted des
perately to help her, but couldn't. Their eyes met. He saw the anger, the unfairness of it all, in her green gaze. For the good of the investigation, Cochrane shifted his attention back to Hodges. “Reckon I'm curious,” he said. “We found one of Brad Kane's fingerprints on the teddy bear that Susan Kane was holding when she died.” He drilled Hodges with a dark look. “What do you know about that?”

“Hey!” Hodges said sharply, suddenly standing and shoving in his chair. “I didn't kill her! I know that's what you think, but I didn't do it!”

“How does Brad Kane fit into all of this, then?” Cochrane asked, keeping his voice deceptively soft.

Pacing back and forth, Hodges muttered, “I contacted him on his carrier and told him that Susan was going to turn several of us in for a misunderstanding over a little bumping and kidding that took place at the defense contractor suites at Ares. I told him Susan was blowing our actions out of proportion, that she was using the sexual harassment boondoggle and was likely to squeal on us. We talked and I told him the only solution was for her to resign for the good of the Navy. He was to arrange emergency leave and talk her into resigning her commission.”