Red

Part 11

Bucky

The police are called after I get Mallery into the main house. I've called Nat to let her know about the potential breach, and while she talks me through how to access the security footage, a squad car pulls up out front. Mallery refuses to open the door and speak to the police for fear that John's police buddy has somehow answered our call.

I tell Nat that I'll call her back and open the door to two female officers, one on the doorstep and one shining a flashlight around the front of the property. "Sir, I'm Officer Carter." She gestures over her shoulder to her partner. "That's Officer Wilson. We're responding to a report of a possible break in."

"Yes, ma'am. My name is James Barnes. I called earlier. I'm house sitting for my friends while they're out of town, and we noticed something unusual when we came home," I tell the officer while she scribbles notes onto her small pad of paper.

"Sir, may we contact the homeowner for verification of your presence?" Officer Carter is looking up at me from the bottom of the steps as I nod. "And do you give my partner permission to look around the property? Are there any animals or security devices she should be aware of?"

"No animals, but there are cameras and both gates on the sides should be locked," I say as I hand her Nat's business card. She quickly calls the number listed and confirms whatever information she's looking for.

"May I step inside, sir?" I lead her into the house, and when she sees Mallery, her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. "Ma'am, are you all right?"

To her credit, Mallery stands and smiles the best she can. "I've had quite the scare tonight, but I'm all right. I'm Mallery Rogers; my brother and sister-in-law own this house. I've been living in the pool house for a few months."

Officer Carter nods and asks us to relate to her what happened this evening. I let Mallery start out, only jumping in to tell my version of what I saw when I stepped out to find her. The officer takes meticulous notes, and I can hear her partner wandering in the back yard. If she's in the back, then that means either the locks on the gates have been cut or she scaled them.

Some static comes across her shoulder radio before her partner comes through. "Sharon, come on out back."

We lead her outside, and Officer Wilson shows us the lock on the west gate has indeed been cut and discarded. "You said there are cameras, right? Can you pull up the footage from today?"

I take Officer Wilson up to the office with me as I pull up the security footage. She's looking at me strangely but whips her gaze away when I meet her eyes. I realize that my arm is very visible, and I'm aware that it can sometimes make people uncomfortable.

"I lost it in an explosion in the Army," I say as I pull up the feed from earlier today, and the officer sighs.

"I wasn't trying to stare; I promise. My brother was Army too," she says quietly, and I smile knowingly.

"Which unit was he with? I was in the 107th; last tour was Kabul." I find the timestamp from when Mallery and I left this morning and beckon her over to watch with me as I scrub forward through the tape.

"Sam was 107th as well. I know he did a tour in Kabul; said it was the worst he'd ever seen." She points to the screen. "Stop. Right there. That car has driven by three times already."

I play the tape again, and she's right; a black Mercedes SUV drives past the house at a creeping pace three times in the span of forty minutes. The vehicle itself isn't out of place in this neighborhood, so I'm not surprised that no one seemed to notice it.

What they also don't notice is the SUV pull in front of the house, and Officer Wilson and I watch as a man with skin the color of coffee walks out with what looks like bolt cutters and the vase of flowers. The feed cuts to the side of the house where he makes quick work of the lock and slides into the back yard with ease.

He doesn't waste any time depositing the flowers on the stoop of the pool house. When we get the best angle on his face possible, I call down for Mallery to come up and take a look. While we're waiting, Officer Wilson looks at me. "107th, huh? Your last name is Wilson and you said your brother's Sam? Has he ever mentioned 'Bucky'?" Her face goes pale and she gasps.

"I thought you were like a cautionary tale." She laughs lightly. "Sam'll never believe this."

When Mallery and Officer Carter enter the office, Officer Wilson asks Mal to take a look at the screen. "I just want to know if you can make this man out. Maybe you've seen him before?"

She comes over, places her hand on my shoulder, and leans down to look at the screen and immediately pops back up. "I know exactly who that is."

The three of us wait for her to fill us in, but she refuses to say anything until she can have a moment with just me while the officers wait downstairs. When the cops descend the stairs, I turn to Mallery questioningly. "If you know who it is, you need to identify him so the cops can help us. That's what they do!"

"In my experience, the cops only look out for each other, Buck." She flops into the armchair across from the desk and looks at me tiredly. "Once I tell them who that is, we're not getting any more help from them."

"Why? Red, who is that?"

She sighs. "That's John's best friend. Lemar Hoskins, NYPD."