Honor of nations

Chapter 2

Slam!  The sound of a large manila folder hitting his desk did not stir Jacob from his concentration or the world outside his window.   “Ok.  who did it?”  Came an incredulous sounding voice, “I know you’ve got an idea”.   “Good morning Jake” Jacob responded with mock sincerity, “How was your vacation?”  “How are Anna and the kids?”  “I’m so glad you’re here to get some of this work done.”  Jacob paused for just a moment to file away the moments he and his wife had spent together that morning then turned away from the window to face his friend and get back to work.

“Did what’?

“Who Killed Gary?”

“Pretend for just one moment I have any idea who the hell you’re talking about and start over”

“If you were doing your job and not still in bed with your wife you would know that Gary Aleric was shot on Friday.”  Right in his God damned office.  Police are still looking for the shooters nest.

Jacob considered Bryan’s respect for the shooter’s work for a moment and reached for the file on the desk in front of him.  Quickly Jacob scanned the police report to start weaving together the patterns that would inevitably lead him to answer he sought.

The first several pages were filled with the meaningless drivel that occupies most police reports- Lots of speculation and conjecture parading as hard evidence. 

Jacob was looking for the coroner’s report.   At least there he would be able to find fact.  “7.62 x 51”, he uttered at a level just above thought.  “At-a-boy.  I’ll be back in an hour to take you to lunch.  You can tell me what you think then.”  Bryan might just as well have left without saying a word Jacob was on the hunt.

Jacob was the lead investigator for a relatively new counter intelligence unit with the NSA, a job that was created for him when he tried to leave naval intelligence three years before.   Jacob Biggs stood six feet two inches, very tall for a former seal.  In General he appeared a rather athletic man.  More of a runner than a weight lifter.  His sandy blond hair was just starting to grey but his youthful face made him seem much younger than the middle aged man he was.  His hands were strong but showed the years of hard fighting and hard playing.

When Jacob joined the navy 15 years earlier he knew he wanted to be among the best so he fought for and earned the privilege to wear the gold “Budwieser” emblem of the U. S. navy seal; their pet name for the eagle trident and anchor pin that is the symbol of the most elite and feared combat ready unit in the world.  While serving it was noticed that he was particularly good at identifying the enemy’s patterns and strategies.  His teams always achieved the highest levels of mission effectiveness.  So as his father liked to say he was promoted to the next level of incompetence and sent to MIT to study mathematics and cryptology.  The world was at war with terror and the navy was going to adapt.

In the years that followed Jacob spent more time out of country than his wife could stand.  When he came home shot to hell and fighting for his life, She had had enough.  On the last day of his medical leave she squared off in front of him as he was leaving his front door.  Staring up into his eyes with a baby on her hip and the three older children in the van with no sign of anger or strong emotion she said,  “Either you’re out or we have to be.  I love you.  we are Going to the beach.”  which meant a month away with her mom and dad.

That afternoon was hard.  He sat in the “ex-o’s” office with stern resolve.   The walls were an austere gray painted concrete block.  Even the lifetime of awards commendations and pictures of uniformed men were not enough to totally make up for the stark reality of the cold block walls. 

 In front of him was a large oak desk, Carvings of knots and splices expertly crafted around its edges.  It would be immense in any room but in this room it was like a great bolder lonely and out of place on a deserted beach.  On its face was carved the seal trident and two mottos.  “the only easy day was yesterday” and “Don’t bother running you will only die tired”.  Beyond sat the old man himself.  He had the sort of gaze that carried the look of knowing so clearly that lying to him was simply not possible.  Now he was staring a hole right through Jacobs head.

you’re really going through with it!  “Yes sir I am” came the reply.  “Christ Jake, can you really be a family man full time?”  Hell, I’ve been married 6 times.  Everyone of them happy until the end.  Maybe you just need a new duck?  Jacob laughed at the commander’s use of the old punch-line; A sign that no lecture was coming.  No  Bill  you know I wouldn’t come in here unless my decision was made.  “Ah well you’re no damn good to us anymore anyway.  Commander Bill Paxton  leaned forward on his chair, reached into his top right desk drawer and pulled out a short stack of papers that had been signed, organized and dated with today’s date. 

“Ok you signed your life away to get in here.  Sign these and we’ll consider giving it back to you”

As Jacob came back to reality and looked from the mountain of paper he acumulated in the last hour to the clock high in the corner of his office,  he was amazed that one death could generate so much useless paperwork. And that he was late.

Shit!  Anna is going to kill me!