Solemn Duty (1997) (14 page)

Minutes later everybody had lines out and Dan lifted his beer can as if in a toast. "Fishin' ain't fishin' without a little competition. Men against the ladies on who catches the most and biggest fish. Since we got three of us, we'll spot you ladies three fish. Fishermen rules, losers clean the catch."

Murphy glanced at Eli, still seated on his cushion in the middle of the boat. "Hey, Tan man, move on out on the deck so you can see your line better."

Eli shook his head. "I'm fine, Murph, really. I think I felt a nibble already."

Jerome swiveled in his seat and shook his head. "Dan, Elly's scared to death of the water."

"No way, not the Tan man," Murphy said, tossing his line out again.

Millie set down her wine cooler and cast again. "It's true, Dan. Eli almost drowned just up the river a ways when he and Jerome were boys."

Eli kept his eyes on the tip of his pole. "I'm not scared to death . . . I'm just not real comfortable around muddy water, you guys. I'm fine, everybody just fish and drop the subject.

I'm fine . . . really."

Ashley gave Eli a side glance. His neck muscles were taut as steel cable. Millie leaned over and whispered.

"He'll be okay after another beer or two. I'll keep my eye on-" She suddenly swung around and jerked her pole to the right, squealing, "I got one! I got one! I got one!"

Jerome stood and barked, "Keep your rod up! Give him some line!"

Dan grabbed for a fish net "Keep him away from them branches!"

Ashley's rod suddenly jerked in her left hand. Dropping the peach cooler in her other hand, she grabbed the reel. "Oh! Oh oh! I I. . . I I. . . have something! Oh!"

The two women sat on the marina dock sipping wine coolers and watching the three men clean the catch along the shore.

Dan Murphy tossed the fish he'd just cleaned into the cooler and shook his head. "Tan man, this ain't good for my reputation."

Jerome tossed another fish into the cooler and stood. "That's all of them, Dan, let's face it. The fish liked the purple worms more than those spinners we were usin'."

Eli cleaned his hands in the water and stepped back from the shore. "I think the fish were attracted by their squealin' and hollerin' and dancin'. They were all male fish."

"Yeah," Murphy said. "Maybe I get me a tape made of them doing all that squealin' and play it on underwater speakers. . . .

I think you're on to somethin', Tan."

Millie stood and put her hands on her hips. "You guys can knock off feelin' sorry for yourselves. Ashley and I will cook up a mess at the house soon as you all quit cryin' in your beer."

Murphy sighed and walked toward his boat "Thanks for the offer, Millie, but I got to go home and get some rest. I got graveyard in the ops center tonight. Anyway, fish don't go down right when they been caught by the fairer sex." He turned with a smile and pointed his finger at her. "And don't be spreadin' it around ya'll beat us . . . See ya'll. Next time, fellers."

Eli and Jerome waved. "See ya, Dan."

Minutes later the cooler of fish was loaded in Eli's pickup and Jerome motioned to his Lincoln. "Come on, ladies, we'll head to the house and start the fire. Elly will take forever, the way he drives."

Ashley stepped up beside Eli. "You two go on, I'll ride with agent Bubba here to give him some company. Besides, I haven't been in anything so low-class as a pickup in years."

Eli handed her the keys. "You drive, agent Bubetta."

Minutes later they were on the road. Once he saw that she could handle the stick shift, Eli leaned back in his seat and smiled. "You had fun today, didn't you?'

"Yes, I did, Agent Tanner. I had more fun than you did, that's for sure, and I'm not just talking about beating you guys. The water thing really bothers you, doesn't it?"

"I thought I handled it okay. It's just been a while since I've been on the river, is all. I don't have any problems in pools... it's just muddy water that gets to me."

"What happened? How did you almost drown?"

Eli looked out the window and shook his head with a distant stare. "I was fifteen and Jerome was home from college. . . .

We went to the river with some old friends to gig snakes along the bank. We were in this old boat and-"

"Gig snakes? What does that mean?"

"You know, like giggin' frogs. You have this gig, a pronged-fork-lookin' thing on the end of a long stick. We'd paddle along close to the bank lookin' for snakes all curled up, sunnin' themselves. Then we paddle in nice and slow and stick them with our gigs. They put up a heck of a fight. I know it sounds cruel, but it was the way we made a few dollars. We sold the snakeskin to a leather shop in town and they'd make things out of them. Anyway, we were giggin' snakes, and I gigged this big monster. I'm not kiddin', its body was as thick as my arm and must have been six or seven feet long. It was everything I could do to hold on. When he finally quit fighting, I lifted the pole so Jerome could whack it on the head and kill it for sure when it suddenly starts squirmin' and twisting again.

The pole snapped in two and that snake was in the boat with us.

I was out of the boat in a heartbeat, did a back flip and started swimmin' as fast as I could. . . . Trouble was, I was swimmin' away from shore. I didn't even think about it until I got tired and I got tired fast because I was scared and beating the hell out of the water.

"Then it happened. I got a cramp in my side and I couldn't kick. It felt like somebody poured molten lead down my throat and it settled low in my intestines. I tried to yell but swallowed water, and I remember thinkin' this was it. I was going to drown and Jerome was going to catch hell for it from Mama. I went under and there was nothing I could do. Then something hit me soft like on the side of the head. My hand came up and touched it and that's all I remember about it. Jerome didn't even know I was in trouble because he and the others were beating on the snake. When he finally did look for me, he said I was holding onto a log. It was a submerged branch of that log that hit me, I guess. Anyway, Jerome got to me, and between him and the other guys, they figured out how to do CPR enough to get me breathing again. I didn't almost drown, I did drown, but they brought me back . . . them and that old log that just happened to be floating south." '

Ashley relaxed her tight grip on the steering wheel and let out a breath. "My God, Tanner, I've got goose bumps ruining up my arms just thinking about it"

Eli nodded. "Yeah, the thought of that snake in the boat does it to me, too."

"No, not the snake. The thought of you going under, 0000h, I'm getting them again. My God . . . do you know how you managed to surface and hold onto the log?"

"Nope . . . I guess it just wasn't suppose(' to be my time. My mom said that, and I've always believed it. I've had a few other close calls in my life, Agent Sutton, where I thought I was going under and staying for good, but each time I woke up still hangin' in there. I'm getting more careful in my old age. . . . I figure you only go under so many times in your life before you stay down, and I've maxed the limit."

She took her eyes off the mad and looked at him. "Why in the world did you get on that boat today?'

"Because I have to face it and try to beat it . . . You helped me today. Watching you have such a good time took my mind off it Thanks."

Ashley smiled and was about to respond when he raised his hand. "But, Agent Sutton, I really think you and Millie went a little overboard with the putdowns and sarcastic comments about us guys' fishing abilities. We could have used purple worms, too, you know, and then it would have been no contest"

Ashley shook her head. "Just when I thought there was hope for you, you go and blow it. Face it, Tanner, you just can't take it that we women won. Would you mind telling me why something like that bothers you men so much?'

"Yeah, I can, Agent Sutton. When you go to the river to fish, you're entering our world. It's our turf, our territory, our sacred ground. We're talking tradition here, Agent Sutton, tradition that says we males are the hunters and fishermen. It's about male pride, male honor, male-"

"Egos?" Ashley interjected.

"Yeah, that too, male egos. Just remember that next time, huh?"

"Are you finished, Tanner?"

"Yeah, I think I've pretty well answered your silly question."

She looked at him and smiled before turning back to the road. "Good try, Tanner. I know you like arguing with me, but not this time. I'm savoring my victory with sweet silence."

"I win, then, Sutton. You're conceding to me."

"Does your gut say. I would concede anything to you?'

"Damn you . . . I should have never told about that."

Ashley looked at him for a second and smiled to herself.

This was the happiest she'd been in years. Millie had been right, the game wasn't over for her after all. Eli Tanner was showing her the game could be fun again.

Jerome and Eli were standing by the grill, watching the fish fillets cooking. Jerome dipped a brush in melted butter and began painting a fillet. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the women were out of earshot before he elbowed Eli. "That little gal turned out to be a winner after all.

I like her."

Eli shrugged. "Yeah, she's all right. She's different when she's in the office, but today showed me there's hope for her."

Jerome cocked an eyebrow. "Aren't you even a little bit interested in her?"

"She's an agent, Jer."

"She wears a dress, Elly, that make's her a woman-or have you forgotten?"

"Give me a break. I like her, but it's strictly a professional like. She leaves in eighty-some days, remember?'

"She'll be ninety miles away, brother. I think maybe you should think about it."

Eli shook his head. "And I thought Millie was bad. Jesus, Jer, listen to yourself You're sounding like Ann Landers-- worse, like Millie Tanner. Next you're goin' to tell me she's got a great personality."

"Well, she does!" Jerome blurted.

Millie walked up with a plate. "She does what?"

Eli turned very red and stammered, "IA ... we were talkin' about, uh . . . my secretary, Regina. She does great work."

Millie set the plate on the table by the grill and shook her head. "You can't lie to me, Eli. You're my hubby's brother, and that's the one thing you two have in common. So, who were you two talking about?"

Jerome glanced over his shoulder to see if Ashley was close by, and saw her seated by the pool. He looked at Millie with a guilty expression. "Aw hell, hon, I was just tellin' Eli he should take a little more interest in Ashley. I think she's a--"

Millie grinned and patted her husband's shoulder. "I love ya, big guy, but leave the match makin' to me. Now you two take those fish off the grill before they burn, then come on. I've got everything else ready." She turned and took a step, but halted and looked over her shoulder at Eli. "I hate to say this, but your older brother might actually be right." She began walking and shook her head, mumbling aloud, "I can't believe I just said that."

Ashley turned in to her apartment building's parking lot and eased the pickup alongside the curb. Looking at her passenger, she wrinkled her brow. "I'm supposed to say thanks for driving me home, but since I drove, I guess I'll just say see ya Monday morning."

Eli nodded. "Yep, see ya Monday mornin'. I'm glad you came today; you made it fun."

Ashley opened the door and got out, and Eli scooted over behind the wheel. She began to walk to the sidewalk but stopped herself and faced him. "You're lucky, Tanner, having a friend like Dan, and family like Millie and Jerome is really special."

Eli shifted to first gear and smiled. '1 know . . . and guess what? They're your friends, too. We're both lucky." He eased off on the clutch and steered toward the road. Stopping at the lot exit, he glanced in the rearview mirror, but she was gone.

.

5:04 A. M. Sunday.

Eli was stone dead to the world when he was shaken awake.

He opened one eye. Holding a portable phone out toward him, Jerome was standing by the bed in his underwear.

"Wake up, damn ya," Jerome said. "Dan is on the line wantin' to talk to you. He sounds upset. If he's drunk, remind him it's five in the damn mornin', will ya?"

Eli took the phone and brought it to his ear. "Dan, it's Tan.

What's up?'

"Christ, Tan man, I'm glad I got ya. Somethin' terrible has happened, man. My buddy, Jerry Rhodes, the post sergeant major, is dead. I'm on duty up here in the ops center and got the call five minutes ago. Shit, all hell is breakin' lose. The MPs say it's suicide, but that's horseshit. Jerry would never kill himself. Christ's sakes, I know him. Tan, he'd been just selected for sergeant major of the Army. We were close and he told me. The Secretary of the Army's office notified him a week ago but told him to say nothing until the press release is officially distributed next week. He wouldn't kill himself, Tan.

No way."

Eli spoke calmly. "Take it easy, Murph. Where's the body?"

"Red cloud range. A jogger found him when he was rennin' this mornin'. It was that bitch he was snakin' who killed him, Tan. I'd bet my retirement. She shot him and made it look like it was suicide. It's the only explanation."