Page 15 of Better off Dead

“That’s harsh.”

“It was. The way they treated him was bad enough. But the real kicker? Michael, and his friend with the mustard gas, and a whole bunch of others who got hurt—the army refused to recognize them. There was no Purple Heart for them, either. You know why? The poison didn’t leak out during an active engagement, so their injuries weren’t deemed to have been caused by enemy action. It was like the army was telling them they did these awful things to themselves. And you know what? In the exact same circumstances, the Marines do decorate their guys. It just wasn’t right. Michael was demoralized. He left the army at the end of his next tour. He drifted for a few years, and I guess he went off the rails. I kept trying to reach out to him. But then I had problems of my own.” She patted her leg. “And I was busy with my work.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a lab technician. In a place near Huntsville, Alabama.”

“That the job that sent you to Afghanistan?”

She nodded. “I went to supervise some sample collection. Stuff we had to bring back and analyze. My boss knew I was ex-army. He thought I’d be OK. I was out of action for a while, afterward. Surgery. Physical therapy. And then I was a bit down. A bit self-absorbed. But when I got Michael’s message it shook me up. It was something I just couldn’t ignore.”

“What did it say?”

“ ‘M—help!M.’It was handwritten on the back of a card from a place called theRed Roan.It’s a café here, in town.”

“So you dropped everything and came?”

“I dropped everything. But I didn’t come here right away. Old habits die hard. First, I did some digging. I got in touch with his friends. Some contacts of my own. Tried to find out what he might have been into. Where he might have been. Everyone said they didn’t know. A few promised to ask around. Then a buddy from the Sixty-sixth told me about a guy, kind of like an agent. If you were a vet and you wanted work, and you weren’t too particular if it was legal, he could hook you up. I got in touch. Leaned on him. He admitted introducing Michael to Dendoncker. Indirectly. I pressed him some more and he admitted to placing a few guys with Dendoncker over the years. Sometimes Dendoncker just wanted anyone ex-military. Sometimes he wanted people with specialized skills. The guy recalled placing an ex-sniper who was an expert in .50 rifles. Michael got hired because he knew about land mines.”

“Sounds like Dendoncker could be smuggling weapons.”

“That was my first thought, too. So I came down. Poked around. But couldn’t find any sign of Michael or smuggling rings or other kinds of criminals. I became desperate. That’s when I got back in touch with the agent guy and asked him to hook me up with Dendoncker. I expected an argument, but he was super cooperative. Said I was doing him a favor. Dendoncker was in the market for another recruit. No particular MOS. Just had to be a woman. I was worried about what that could mean. But I figured my brother’s life was on the line. So I said, all right. Set it up.”

“And you got the job, just like that?”

“No. My background was already legit but I made up a few false references to embellish it a little. Then I had an ‘interview.’ With Dendoncker’s sidekick. A huge, creepy guy. He took me out into the desert and had me prove I could shoot and strip down a gun and drive and so on.”

“Didn’t Dendoncker connect you with Michael? You have virtually the same name.”

“No. We have different surnames. His was Curtis. Mine was, too, obviously. Then I got married. I took my husband’s name. And I kept it after he was killed. In Iraq.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

Fenton looked away. I waited until she turned back to me.

I said, “Dendoncker wanted Michael because he knew about land mines?”

“That’s what the guy told me.”

“How’s that connected to the catering business?”

“I don’t know. My best guess is Dendoncker’s some kind of procurer. He smuggles in whatever his customers want and sells it to them. He probably needs experts from time to time to evaluate the merchandise.”

“But Michael stayed on?”

Fenton nodded.

“You didn’t come in contact with him, even when you were on the inside?”

“No. I tried, but I had to be discreet. Then two days ago I saw a woman I recognized. Renée. She was working at Dendoncker’s catering business, like me. With a different partner. She had different shifts. And she’d been there longer. She knew the lay of the land better.”

“Where did you know her from?”

“I didn’t know her. I’d seen her in photos. Ones Michael had of his old unit.”

“She was at the place where the containers get loaded for the planes?”