When the Dead Speak

Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Carl leaned back in his chair, his elbow propped up on the arm rest, a fist pressed wearily under his chin. Sam was reading Lincoln's signed affidavit as she paced the floor.

Carl said, "A copy of everything will be given to the Pentagon, Sam. So, we have just about wrapped up everything here."

"Wrapped up?" Sam pivoted on her heel. "Did I miss something here? Or did you? What about Hap's killer? My father's killer? You can't just let Preston walk. What are you going to do? File a report that those three men died in Mushima Valley of friendly fire and leave it at that?" She glanced at Lincoln who had remained silent. "Did you threaten Lincoln with deportation if he goes to the press?"

Carl held out his hand to retrieve the affidavit. "No one is threatening anyone here, Sam." Carl's phone rang. He walked over to the far end of the table and picked it up.

While he spoke, Sam opened a file folder by his briefcase. Her eyes scanned the handwriting, the paper yellowed with age. It was Hap's writing. He told of the men in his unit, how he believed they were buried in Mushima Valley.

"Things are getting out of control," Carl said into the phone. He took four long strides over to where Sam was sitting and pulled the folder out of her hands.

The pages flashed in front of Sam's eyes like a teleprompter. They had a copy of everything that had been in her father's safety deposit box.

"You knew! You knew all along." Sam could tell by the surprised look on Lincoln's face that he, too, had been kept in the dark.

"She found the report," Carl said into the phone. "With all due respect, there was a better way to handle the situation."

Sam lowered herself into the chair. Her father's papers, Hap's affidavit. Her father had called the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee who at the time was Jackson Whittier. Whittier knew and did nothing. Sam felt numb. Anger and shock overwhelmed her.

"They knew," she mumbled, "and they never bothered to look for them, to confirm what Hap had told my father."

Lincoln blinked rapidly. "All this time? I came here for nothing?"

Carl dropped the phone to his chest then held it out to Sam.

"President Whittier would like to speak with you."