Page 24 of Very Special Forces

"Hey,you're thinking about investigating Julia. Is it anything that willaffect Bryce? I really hope not. He seems so happy and I would hateto think Julia is another crazy case. Bryce is a really greatguy."

He didseem to be great from what Lily reported, but then why was Jas sosure he wasn't treating Julia well? And why was I worried that herhunch was right?

ChapterSeven

I spentthe rest of the afternoon parked at my desk. Two files flankedeither side of my laptop. One was the file Jas gave me to thinkabout. The other was the file I just created for the missing tank.I still wasn't sure what to think about Julia and Bryce but I didnote Lily's observations. I slid them into the file along with amemo to talk to Ruby about her impressions of Bryce to see if theymatched Lily's.

Until Icould speak to Ruby, I searched online for tanks. For most people,that would be an odd thing to search for on the internet, but forme, it didn't even make it into the top ten.

A fewminutes later, I had a good idea of what a state-of-the-artmilitary tank looked like and a reasonable idea of its size. What Ihad no idea about was where a person could hide one. Wherever itwas, it would surely stand out.

Solomon's idea about looking into where it was last seen andworking from there was a good idea. If I could find out how it wasstolen, I could possibly ascertain a number of things. One, how itwas stolen. Surely no one could simply drive a tank out of FortCharles without being noticed? Two, there might be a camera imageof the thieves and the possibility someone would recognize them.Three, it might be someone who was playing an elaborate hoax on mybuddies who, no doubt, must have done something to deserveit.

Igrabbed my phone and called. "Did you find it?" asked CaptainHarris, his voice hushed.

"No," Isaid, "did it turn up?"

"Did itturn up?" he repeated in a skeptical tone. "No, it didn't! That'swhy you need to find it."

"Wheredid you last see it?"

"Parkedin the hangar. Before you ask, I've checked every day and it'sstill not there."

"Whendid you last see it?"

"Threedays ago."

"Okay.Morning? Afternoon? Evening?"

"Evening, around eight pm. I was making my final checksbefore I met the guys in the bar."

"The barin Fort Charles?"

"Yeah.You know it?"

"I do."Solomon and I once worked a case there and we pretended to bemarried for our cover. It was funny that now we really were goingto be married. No more pretend rings, this time, we'd be exchangingreal ones. I still had the fake wedding ring. For some reason, Inever wanted to get rid of it. I wondered if Solomon still had his."Who were you there with?" I asked before I became toodistracted.

"What?You think I had something to do with it?"

"I haveto ask, Luke. Plus, if I know who you were with, it might rule outa few people."

"No oneon base would do this!"

"Someonehad to get on the base in the first place," I pointed out. "It'ssensible to assume someone on the inside helped. So, who were youwith?"

"Let'ssee. Kafsky was there before me. We sat together at the bar, thenWillacy and DuPont came in. The four of us hung out until ten andthen we turned in. Separately, before you ask, so I can't accountfor anyone after that time and no one can account forme."

"Okay.Did you notice anything unusual?"

"Youmean like a tank rolling past? No."

"Whatabout a large transport vehicle?"

"Severalvehicles left the base late that night. I was off duty and enjoyinga beer. I didn't pay much attention."

"Wereany of the vehicles large enough to transport a tank?"

"Maybe.Yes, I think so."

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