Page 15 of So Savage

She took the other seat.“I’m sorry for not remembering this earlier.I was just in so much shock, and at the time everything went down, no one thought about it.It didn’t seem like a big deal.Guess we were wrong.”

Turk trotted over to Torres and rested his head on her lap.Torres looked at his big brown eyes, and all of the tension in her body melted away.If Turk ever retired, he would have an excellent second career as a therapy dog.

“That’s all right, Lieutenant,” Marcus replied.“Tell me what you remember.”

Torres lifted her gaze from Turk’s.“The review board that Reeves and Walsh were a part of was convened because of an incident involving a botched mission against ISIS.Seven U.S.soldiers were killed and three K9s were lost.The review board was convened to investigate Army training practices and determine if the Army was at fault for the K9s’ failure to detect the IEDs that killed the servicemembers.”

“They convened that review board here?”

“It was convened at the US Army Department building in St.Paul two and a half hours south of here,” Torres replied.“The unit involved was a Minnesota reserve unit—not ours—that was on active deployment.There was some friction over the review board selection because of Master Sergeant Reeves’ inclusion.A lot of people thought it sent a poor message to have a Marine Corps NCO on an Army review board.”

“Did the Army give a reason for his inclusion?”Faith asked.

“He’s a—wasa very well-respected leader in military K-9 training programs.He would have made a warrant officer if he'd asked for it.At least, that's what Kevin always said.He really admired Reeves.Anyway, the Army didn't back down on his inclusion, so I guess the brass felt the same way."

“Where does Walsh fit into this?”Faith asked.

“I don’t think it’s Kevin specifically,” Torres replied.“The board found that the Army was not at fault for the loss of the dogs.They found that it was the handlers who made an error by using the dogs incorrectly and not conducting a sensor sweep of the area before sending the dogs.That set one of the handlers off.”

“Who?”

“Staff Sergeant Eric Davidson.One of his dogs was killed in the mission, and he’d been very vocal about his belief that the Army’s training program needed to be updated to adapt to the new threats that soldiers faced in Iraq.He argued that since the Army refused to allocate the necessary budget to update the curriculum, then they were morally, logistically and financially responsible for the loss of the dogs and for the mission’s failure.”

Faith lifted an eyebrow.“Financially?He was asking for compensation?”

Torres sighed.“To be honest, no one was really sure what he was asking for.I don’t think he was entirely sure what he was asking for.It became clear early on that Sergeant Davidson was deeply affected by the loss of his dog and was likely to be declared psychologically unfit for further service.His actions at the review board hearing confirmed it.”

“Did he assault the board members?”Marcus asked.

“He tried to.He was intercepted by security, but he was saying a lot of horrible things.”

“What horrible things.”

Torres shrugged.“Oh, you know.The usual bullshit.”

“I know it’s probably hard to repeat,” Faith said, “but we need you to be specific.This could be important later.”

Torres's lips trembled, and she stroked Turk's fur a little faster."Kevin was really upset after that review board.He came home and said that… that Sergeant Davidson had threatened to kill him and everyone else on the board.He didn't believe that Sergeant Davidson would try to carry out that threat, and neither did I, but still, it's a heavy thing to hear one of your own tell you that they think of you as an enemy.The Army is a brotherhood.We stand with our own, not against them."

“It looks like Sergeant Davidson thought that the Army was standing against him,” Marcus surmised.

“We weren’t, though.The whole point of the review board was to detect a problem if there was a problem to begin with.They weren’t trying to pin the blame on anyone.They were just trying to figure out where the weak link in the chain was so they could fix it.”

“I’m not suggesting that the board did anything wrong,” Marcus assured her, “but understanding our killer’s motive is critical if we’re going to catch him.”

“And you didn’t remember this until just now?”Faith asked.“Someone threatened to kill both of our victims, and you only just now remember?”

“I’m sorry,” Torres replied, lips trembling.“I just didn’t think anything of it.Combat is stressful, and people say shit.We—Kevin and I—felt bad for him more than anything.You know as well as anyone, I’m sure, how close the bond is between a dog and a handler.Their board found that Davidson had killed his dog by not using him properly.That’s a very hard thing to hear.We thought he just needed time to grieve.”

“You said it became clear early on that Sergeant Davidson was going to be declared psychologically unfit for duty,” Faith said.“Was he declared unfit?”

“Yes.He received a dishonorable discharge from the service three weeks after the board convened.”

“And did you ever hear from him after that?”Marcus asked.

“No.He disappeared.We figured he had his outburst and just…” She lifted a hand to her eyes and tried to stifle her tears.“We just didn’t think anything would come of it.”

Turk whined softly and shared a downcast look with Faith.Faith had a feeling she’d be seeing a lot of those looks from him in the coming days.

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