Silent Witness (26 page)

“What none of you knew was that Hodges had deliberately devised a plan to drug Susan with Rohypnol, the date-rape drug. He put the drug in her glass of wine at the Ares Conference on the evening of May 16th. He and two other aviators, Lieutenants Michelson and Bassett, then carried Susan upstairs as soon as she lost consciousness, took off her clothes and tied her to Hodges's bed. They took photos of her in the position you see. Hodges and Bassett then carried her, still unconscious, back to her hotel room. From that time until just recently, Susan had been living in terror of being exposed as having done something unacceptable at Ares. She was drugged and didn't remember the photo session or who was with her, but she knew something terrible had happened. Rohypnol robs the person of their memory.

“Later, Hodges told Susan to resign from the Navy or else he would distribute these photos to you, as well as throughout the military.”

“Oh, God.” Tommy choked out the words, staring down at the photo. “Susan would
never
do something like that of her own free will.”

Brad picked up the photo. “Then why did Hodges have me fly in and tell her to resign if he'd done all this beforehand? I don't understand,” he said.

“Our guess is that he wanted to make
sure
Susan would resign,” Ellen said. “He was afraid that her personal integrity would not allow her to quit the Navy, so he manipulated you to come in and read her the riot act. He wanted extra insurance and an airtight case to protect himself and the other two officers. He used you. He was betting family pressure would get her to leave. Hodges was right, unfortunately.”

Brad wavered. “I didn't know…. Jesus, I didn't know…. I had no reason to doubt what Hodges said. I had
no
idea he'd done this to her.”

Tommy sniffed and wiped his eyes. He jerked the photo off the table and waved it in Brad's face. “You believed Hodges instead, didn't you? You didn't even give Susan a chance to explain! You were so busy defending yourself—the family, the code of silence—that you wouldn't even let her tell you what Hodges had done to her.” The photo fluttered to the deck. Turning, Tommy hid his face in his hands and began to weep.

Cochrane watched the elder Kane's hardened fea
tures begin to melt, first with grief and then with fury. The tension and shock in the room was palpable, so much so it made Cochrane reel. He saw Ellen sitting very still, clasping the teddy bear as if her life depended upon it. She was silently crying, the tears tracking down her pale cheeks. Brad Kane leaned forward, both fists planted on the table in front of him, his head hanging as he tried unsuccessfully to battle his own tears. Tommy had sagged against the bulkhead, his back to them, his entire body shaking as he wept.

Robert Kane's features grew taut with grief as he stood up, straightening his suit. “Susan didn't deserve this. She was just too damn independent…” His voice seemed to close off. His eyes filled with tears, though he clearly tried to fight them back.

Tommy whirled around, his eyes red. “Sir, that is pure bullshit!” His voice shook with rage. “You abused Susan all her life! Do you have to keep doing it after her death?”

Robert's face went white.

“Be a man for once, will you, Captain? Quit denying the truth,” Tommy said, his voice cracking. “We all know what happened in our happy little alcoholic family.”

“Please,” Ellen interceded gently, “all of you, try to calm down. Don't do this to yourselves. Don't wound each other even more.”

Tommy sneered at his father, as if not even hearing Ellen's soft plea. “That's all you're interested in, isn't
it? The Navy mask has to stay in place. It has to be perfect. You'd blame Susan for this rather than the institution or the family. Our family is as responsible for Susan taking her life as the man who drugged her.” Jabbing a finger toward his brother, Tommy said raggedly, “You're as responsible for her death as Hodges, who staged this whole thing to get Susan to resign.”

Robert stood there, frozen.

Ellen moved toward Tommy, aching for the young aviator. She placed her hand on his tense shoulder. “There's enough blame to go around for everyone involved, but blame isn't the answer, Tommy.”

“It may not be, but it's deserved,” he rasped, his narrowed gaze never leaving his father's face. “Let's start with the Navy as an institution. Boys will be boys, right, Captain? That's what you drilled into us. Protect the Navy, not our sister. So what if she was being blackmailed? That's okay with you, isn't it, sir?”

“I won't stand here and take this kind of disrespect from you,” Robert said unsteadily. “There was never abuse!”

Brad removed his hands from the table, straightened slowly and twisted to look at his father. “Don't tell us about abuse. Susan's suicide began the moment she took her first breath. Do you realize that?” He looked toward Tommy, who nodded tearfully in agreement.

“I don't know what the hell you're talking about,” Robert said.

Brad slowly thrust his shoulders back, as if he were
carrying an invisible weight. He got to his feet and stared at his father. “I'll never forget how you blamed Susan for our mother's death. You repeated it often enough that I began to believe it, too. You never let Susan forget her innocent part in that terrible tragedy, even though it wasn't her fault. Susan was made to feel less than worthy, far less, than Tommy and me. God knows, she tried to atone for Mother's death with brilliant achievements in school as well as the Navy. I went along with it because I wanted your approval. What a fool I was.”

Tommy sobbed and said, “Susan was a sacrificial lamb on the altar of the military's tradition. We're all part of the reason why she chose to take her life. We're all guilty of her death. She didn't get support she needed from any of us. I know Susan well enough to know that she would've died if those photos had been circulated. No one
ever
protected her. Not ever.” He looked at Brad. “I'll bet she thought you knew about the photos, that you were supporting the lie behind those pictures Hodges took of her.”

Brad shook his head. “I—I swear to you, I didn't know….”

Tommy looked at Cochrane. “What are you doing about Hodges? He masterminded those photos. Aren't you arresting him?
He's
the one who set her up.”

“I can't do anything,” Cochrane said in an apologetic tone.

“Nothing? He murdered Susan!” Tommy uncere
moniously wiped at the tears in his eyes. “Why can't you hang the son of a bitch?”

Cochrane said wearily, “Because I have no proof, no hard evidence of any kind. He supplied this information unofficially and would deny the picture had anything to do with him if I hauled him up on charges. Technically, all we could do is try him on circumstantial evidence. That photo should not be displayed in a court of law. The only loser would be Susan. She isn't alive to tell us what really happened. And Hodges will not indict himself by volunteering the information in court. It's a catch-22, legally.”

Brad took in a deep, ragged breath, his mouth a slash and his eyes blazing. “That bastard is going to pay for this one way or another.”

Robert leaped up and gripped his son's shoulder. “Hold on, Brad.”

He wrenched away, glaring at his father through tear-filled eyes. “This is one time, sir, that you aren't going to order me around. You're no longer in control. You hear me?”

“Keep your nose clean,” Robert snarled. “And Tommy, you stay out of this, too. No revenge. Nothing we can do will bring Susan back! Do you hear me?”

Tommy looked over at Cochrane. “Is it true? Hodges is going to walk on this one?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I don't believe he set out to make Susan commit suicide. He seemed as shaken by her decision to take sleeping pills as you are.”

Bitterly, Brad turned to his brother. “Susan had this thing about being perfect. We all know that.” He cleared his throat. “Hell, she always presented such a perfect, smiling face to the world. There was so much wrong in our family that she always pretended the outside world was the exact opposite of what we grew up in.”

“Now, just a minute,” Robert interrupted.

Brad whirled on him. “Sir, being part of our family was sheer, living hell. Frankly, I don't know how Susan survived as a child. I got tired of being beaten with a belt every time you came home from carrier duty, for every transgression we made in your absence. I got tired of having Georgia keep a damn list of all the things we did wrong while you were absent from our lives. I used to count up how many beatings I'd get in a row for the stuff Susan and Tommy had done wrong, not to mention what I had.” His nostrils flared. “We didn't get love. All we got was a goddamn belt and a lot of criticism.”

“That's not true,” Robert snapped. “You were rewarded, too, mister, and don't you ever forget that.”

“Oh, yes,” Brad said with a snarl as he stalked toward the door. “Let me count the ways. We
might
get a nod from you if we joined the football team or earned a sports letter. You got us into Annapolis. But what did Susan get? You
never
paid any attention to her except to criticize her, Captain.”

Tommy pulled a white handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiped his eyes. “What a sad testament to
our family,” he said. “Susan took her life because no one would listen to her, protect her. Why else would she do it? She knew in her heart that none of us really loved or cared for her enough to listen. To be there for her…”

Cochrane held Ellen's tearful gaze. “I reckon Susan Kane's case is closed,” he told them quietly. “These photos will never be entered into the file. As far as the official word goes, it will be ruled suicide due to work related stress. Susan's achievements are safe. It's the least we can do for her. She was a good person caught in a very bad, twisted set of circumstances put in motion by others.” He pursed his mouth and then looked at the Kanes for a long moment before continuing. Tapping the top of the table lightly with his large, rawboned knuckles, he said, “I'm going after Hodges. I don't know if I'll get him or not. I know it won't be on Susan's death, because he's covered his tracks pretty well. But if there's a way I can get him, I will. This interview is concluded.”

Tommy tried to gather himself. He wiped his eyes one more time and stuffed the handkerchief into his pocket. “I've had it,” he muttered, more to himself than to them. He grabbed the naval aviator's wings on his left breast pocket and ripped them off his shirt with disgust. He threw them on the table. The wings bounced twice, slid off the surface of the table and fell to the deck. “I'm resigning right now.”

Robert Kane gasped. “You can't do that! Tommy, think, will you? Good God, son, you've got—”

“Screw this outfit and screw our happy little family,” Tommy barked, his eyes dark with fury. “I won't be a part of this place anymore. This farce took so much out of me when I was growing up. Now it's taken my sister! I loved her! I hurt so much for her when we were growing up, did you know that? Did you know how many times Susan cried herself to sleep, Captain? No, you wouldn't. You weren't there. You were always gone, months at a time. I don't think you ever cared.” He threw up his hands. “I've had it with you. With the Navy. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do, but I won't be part and parcel of this stinking family anymore.” Without looking at anyone, he left the room, hat in hand.

Brad turned and looked at his father, disdain and rage in his eyes. Without another word, he, too, spun on his heel and marched out of the room.

Robert Kane looked at Jim and Ellen. His mouth hardened into a thin line. As he walked to the end of the table, Ellen held out the teddy bear to him.

“Do you want this, Mr. Kane?”

He looked at the bear and swallowed hard. “No,” he said unsteadily. “Give it to my son Tommy. He'll take better care of it than I ever could.” Tears trickled down his cheek as he left.

Cochrane witnessed the man's sorrow, a father exposed. He turned his attention to Ellen. Tears were freely flowing down her own face as she wrapped her arms around the bear, hugging it against her breast. He
blinked back tears of his own as he gathered up the papers and shut off the tape recorder. After stuffing everything into his briefcase, he walked slowly to the end of the table.

He put copies of the photo and the tape to be transcribed into his briefcase and snapped it shut.

“Come on, gal,” he murmured, as he slung an arm around Ellen's slumped shoulders. “Let's get outta here. We'll get an early dinner at O'Leary's here on the station, and then drive back to JAG to write up a final report on this sorry mess.”

“I—I'm not hungry, Jim….” She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand as she held the teddy bear close to her.

“I know. Me neither. But we need to eat something. It will give us the strength to complete the last mile on this case.” He gave her a tender look. “Besides, right now I need you, Ellen. I need you near me. I just want to hear your voice. Be with you…” Everyone was gone so Cochrane reached over and grazed her hand with his. Her fingers were icy cold. He squeezed them gently, trying to warm them up. When she returned his touch, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her curly hair. It was all he dared to, with the door open. Someone might unexpectedly show up, see their fraternization and turn them in. Neither of them needed that right now. He released her hand and stepped away.