Law leaned toward her. “This paperwork doesn’t say why I was at that location. Command sent me and Scud out alone for a reason. I have to know what you know.”
She nodded tightly. “I made another call, to a reporter who was in Afghanistan at the same time you were. I asked about civilian crime there. He sent me a link to a copy of an old USA Today report with a few lines highlighted.” She pulled it up on her tablet computer and pointed.
The U.S. Army has investigated 56 soldiers in Afghanistan on suspicion of using or distributing heroin, morphine or other opiates during 2010 and 2011 … Eight soldiers died of drug overdoses during that time.
“There are more stories on the Internet. Around the time of your wounding, a soldier in the Kentucky Guard died after using heroin allegedly bought from a civilian contractor. Ring any bells?”
Law monitored his thoughts as he ticked off the points in his mind. Even in a theater of war, criminal investigations were done by Army Criminal Investigation Command. CID. Him. A drug investigation. Soldiers dying of drug overdoses. Civilian contractors involved in drug distribution. The words should have triggered more than a hunch. Tumblers should have fallen into place and unlocked his memory.
Nothing.
Law scraped a hand through his hair. “You done good, Yard. I appreciate it.”
“What are you planning to do about this?”
Ignoring her question, he pointed to the file. “This must have cost you.”
“Let’s just say no one in Washington will be accepting my calls for a long while.”
The mention of her secret sources reminded him that she’d possibly made herself vulnerable by helping him.
“Do you trust those you’ve had contact with? This can’t blow back on you?”
“I already thought of that, little brother. But what happened in Afghanistan is history. You’ll never pick up that trail.”
“I don’t need to.” Tice was still in business in his backyard. If they were dirty before, they were dirtier now. “I just need to connect these new dots to the old, and wait.”
“I don’t like that idea. You’re not the vigilante type. It’s not your problem.”
“I am—was a cop. It’s my problem.”
Law felt energized for the first time in four years. Something was now ahead of him, instead of it all behind him. He was a law enforcement officer, first, last, always.
He stood up. “Guess I’ll need that desk jockey job at state police headquarters, after all.”
Yardley picked up the pages and shoved them back in the envelope. “You said yourself Tice Industries is intertwined with political and law enforcement allies. You won’t know who to trust. You’ve been out of the loop too long.”
Law didn’t answer. He knew one thing. He had to get Yardley off the case. For her own good.
“Go back to your life, Yard. I got it from here.”
“I did what you asked in the hope that answers would give you peace of mind. You sound more like I’ve given you fuel for a vendetta.”
Law stared off in the middle distance. “Not your problem.”
She stood up and put a hand on his arm. “About Scud. I’m sorry.”
Law nodded once. He wouldn’t talk about that. Not even with Yard. “Anyone I can pay to drive me back to the airport tonight?”
“You won’t get a flight to anywhere this time of night.”
He stared at nothing a bit longer. “See you in the morning then.”
He looked down at Sam, who had risen from her place to heel at his side without being asked. “Keep the doodle here for the night. Sam, bleib—ah, stay!”
He picked up his gear and walked out the door without looking back.
Yardley watched him head down her steps and then across the empty yard toward the bunkhouse where guests at Harmonie Kennels stayed. His limp was more pronounced than when she’d picked him up in Richmond. The revelations in the folder weighed upon him though he would never admit it.
She folded her arms tightly under her bosom. She knew it would have been useless to ask him again to stay with her at the main house their father had built. He’d said earlier that he preferred the empty guest quarters. The family intimacy that had once discomforted both of them was now one-sided. She would have welcomed his presence in the house.