Page 104 of A Deeper Darkness
“Yes, we were. We met in Ranger school. An experience like that bonds men. Of course, that’s part of its intent. Then we were both assigned to the 75th, though we started in different units. By our third rotation, though, he was my commanding officer. Man could have risen through the ranks like he was on fire, been a colonel, even a general, easily. He was agreatleader. He cared about his men. He didn’t just keep them safe out on missions, he helped them with their money troubles, girlfriend troubles, whore troubles. He called and wrote letters to each parent as soon as their son or daughter joined the unit, letting them know he was watching their backs. He fought for better facilities, more rack time, safer gear, real counseling after bad missions. When we lost someone, he cried with us. He inspired loyalty. That can’t be taught. It has to come from within.”
She could see him tense, the line of his shoulders taut under his jacket.
“You were in charge of men, too. You must have embodied some of that.”
He didn’t respond right away. Sam turned away from him, listened to the fire crackle. Xander nudged a log with the toe of his boot. It shifted and settled deeper into the flames, sending sparks into the clear night sky.
When he spoke again, his voice was gruff. “You’re kind to say that, but everything I learned about being a leader was through his example. He was the real deal. And he had medical training, so we were always doubly covered out on missions. He’d drop his weapon and bind up a wound while shouting orders… He was something to behold, let me tell you.”
His voice trailed off. She let him sit in silence, not wanting to push him, realizing he was telling her the whole story, just in his own way.
“Have you ever heard of literal obedience?” he asked, finally.
“No, but I can divine its meaning.”
“It’s an important concept in the military, one that’s drilled into every new recruit and officer candidate the moment they get their high and tights and become one of the masses. When your commanding officer says, ‘Come stand on this line,’ he means standonthe line. Not an inch in front of it, or behind it, or to the side, or with your knees bent or your toes sticking out. Butonit. We were taught to be literal because when we’re out in the field, and your commander gives an instruction, that inch left or right or forward or backward might mean our leg, or our arm, our life or the life of the man standing next to us. Orders have a reason. That’s why they’re orders. A good commander won’t ever have to ask twice. Obedience and loyalty go hand in hand if there’s respect, too. That’s the kind of soldier Eddie was. He never had to give an order twice.”
He sighed, and Sam felt like he’d made some sort of decision.
“I trust that you’ll keep this to yourself.”
“Of course. I don’t want Eddie dragged through the mud any more than you do.”
“It’s not Eddie’s reputation I’m worried about. You may not know this, but it’s illegal to have relations within the unit. Fraternization can get you court-martialed. It could have gotten all of us in trouble. Because we knew. Shakes, Jackal and I. We knew about King and Maggie. They were trying to keep it quiet, but King needed to talk to someone about it. We were his closest friends. He was conflicted—he didn’t love Karen anymore, felt she was unstable. He wanted custody of the kids. He was head over heels for Maggie. They clicked, like two magnets. I know Karen, know she’s not a piece of cake to live with. So I supported him, because that’s what friends do.”
“So you covered up the affair for them?”
“And covered our asses, as well. Yes. We did.”
Sam pushed off the ground with her foot. It was so quiet up here. No one was around. Xander could tell her this story, then toss her off the mountain, and no one would be the wiser. But Eddie had trusted this man. She wanted to trust him, too.
Xander put another log on the dwindling fire, then sat back and spoke again.
“We’d been on a week’s leave at the Kaf when something happened. All was well and then boom, at the end of the week, Maggie suddenly wouldn’t talk to King. Wouldn’t see him. Shut him off completely. Wouldn’t give a reason. He was devastated. Wrote her letters, begged, pleaded… She cut him off cold, and he had no idea why. Before he could fix things, we got sent back out, and within three days he was dead.”
Xander was tense; Sam could feel him next to her, rock still. She spoke softly, not wanting to interrupt but realizing he needed some space, that he’d slipped back in time to the moment of his friend’s death.
“Taranto had a video. I saw it, but I couldn’t understand what exactly happened.”
His voice was like a metronome, flat and emotionless.
“Mission went south. We were all back at the base, in our racks. Got called out to provide support. Echo Company was taking heavy fire, they’d been ambushed on a ridge. We scrambled out there, everyone, all hands on deck. We got to the fight, saw things were out of hand. Doc and Orange devised a plan, sent us around the back of the firefight to flank the Taliban who’d holed up in the hills. They were taking potshots, just picking our men off as they drove up the wadi—that’s the dry riverbed. Some of the most dangerous spots we had to ride through. King and I took the lead, on foot, got around the backside, running along the top of a ridge. I stopped and he went ahead of me, over the edge, into the wadi. We’d flanked them perfectly, and Doc ordered us to open fire.
“It was a seamless operation. We neutralized the threat, our guys were able to get out of harm’s way. Except, somehow, King went down. He had gotten in front of us. We didn’t realize it for a few minutes. He was KIA instantly. When Donovan found him he tried to resuscitate him, but it was obvious he was gone. We had to pull him off to get him to stop. We got King back to base. Once the wound was lit up, we could see it clearly. There were two shots to thebackof his head. Below his helmet. He was shot from behind. It was one of us.”
Sam heard the pain in his voice and, without thinking, reached her hand out and touched his shoulder. He didn’t move, and didn’t shove her hand away, but kept talking in a soft monotone.
“There are always eyes on every battle. The video you saw, hell, it could have been us, I have no idea. Powers that be hushed it all up, didn’t want King’s wife to know. Covering up friendly fire happens more than you could ever imagine. If Karen suspected a cover-up, decided to start making a stink, filed a lawsuit to get the records and videos, hell, it could go all the way to a wrongful-death suit, and the Army couldn’t have another case make the evening news. Plus the mission was a sensitive one, and if word got out—well, sometimes they don’t think these things through. Too many variables, too many repercussions. We all got asked to shut up about it. And we all agreed.”
“I see,” Sam said.
“No, you don’t see. When we debriefed, it didn’t make sense. How King could have gotten so far off track. It was almost like someone contacted him and told him to go in a different direction, to charge east instead of west, effectively cutting back in front of us. But I was the last person who talked to him, and I certainly didn’t give that order.
“Once they triangulated everything, wrapped up the story, it was pretty clear Doc was the one who’d shot him. They did an autopsy and pulled the slugs from his head, saw they were from an M249. That’s a light machine gun—it’s what Doc favored so he could have a medical kit with him, too. He was the only one of us carrying that weapon. Brass said it was pretty damn straightforward. They confirmed that he’d shot King.”
Sam realized she was wringing her hands.One Mississippi, Two Mississippi. Three… This time, it was Donovan’s pain she was trying to wash away. Donovan’s, and Xander’s.
“Donovan must have been crushed.”
