Jazz was nervous entering the house with T-Ball. He was concerned that the Admiral would view their familiar relationship as fraternization. He spoke to his mother about it on the phone from his hotel room before they left Waldorf.
“Mom, just make sure he understands.”
“I will dear. The Admiral really has grown to understand this EOD thing, you know.”
“I know Mom, but there is still part of him that is old school.”
“James, your father and I are not so cavalier, in fact quite the opposite. When the Admiral was a lieutenant…”
“Mom, I am just saying that you need to prep him or he’ll make an ass of himself.”
“James J. Jascinski Junior, that is enough!”
“Promise me, Eleanor.”
There was a pause at the other end of the line.
“I promise.”
Eleanor greeted the men at the door.
“James, it is so good to have you home,” she said hugging him.
“I’ve missed you, Mom.”
“And you must be the infamous ‘T-Ball.’”
“Yes, ma’am. Thanks for having me.”
“Oh don’t be ridiculous, we are glad to have a friend of James’ here. And please call me ‘Eleanor.’”
“Thank you, Eleanor. This is for you,” he said handing her a bottle of wine.
“How sweet. Thank you.”
“James! Welcome home!” the Admiral called out as he walked down the steps. He seemed a little animated. Jazz suspected that his Mother had in fact prepared him.
“Thanks, sir,” Jazz said taking his father’s hand. “It is good to be back.”
“And welcome, uh, ‘T-Ball’ is it?”
“Yessir. Theodore Ball, but ‘T-Ball’ to my friends.”
“Well, ‘T-Ball’ it is… how about a beer?”
“That would be outstanding, sir.”
“Eleanor, could you bring three beers and some sandwiches for these men of the sea out on the back deck?”
“Of course, Admiral.”
“This is a fantastic view,” T-Ball said as they sat down.
“Yes, we love it especially in the summer time,” the Admiral said.
Jazz looked out over the Chesapeake Bay.
“Wow, it is good to be back, sir,” he said.
“Well, son, tell us again why you’re back early.”
Jazz sat down and took a sip of his beer.
“It has to do with the bombs we found in San Patricio County and the one in Rome.”
T-Ball silently ate his sandwiches and drank beer from a frosted mug as Jazz relayed their adventures to the Admiral. Just as Jazz was finishing the story Eleanor returned from one of her trips between the men and the kitchen.
“Admiral, we have heard enough from James. Now don’t you have something to tell him?”
Jazz’s father rolled his eyes.
“Admiral,” Eleanor said with a stern voice.
“What, Dad?” said Jazz, sensing something was wrong.
“I had a minor heart attack.”
“Sir, you’re kidding me, why didn’t you tell me!”
“It was no big deal.”
“It is so a big deal you grumpy old man!” Eleanor yelled.
“It was a minor heart attack. I called the ambulance myself.”
T-Ball silently began to extricate himself from the table, wanting to let this remain a family matter.
“Sit down, T-Ball,” the Admiral barked. “I am not hiding this from anyone, nor am I worried. James, we just didn’t want to bother you on your deployment; I did not even want Melanie to know. It was not serious.”
“But, sir, I don’t understand, you look fit as a fiddle.”
“Yes, well that is what the doctor said,” agreed Eleanor. “They cannot figure it out.”
“Fact is, son, I’ve been decommissioned, I’ve been in mothballs for years, but I expect it will be that way for some time. And then, someday it will be time to tow me out to sea and sink me… just the way life goes.”
Jazz did not know what to say.
“So, now you know,” the Admiral said with finality.
The next morning, Elena had a Bloody Mary on a 7:00 am flight back to San Antonio. She was not sure how she was going to tell Cam that Jascinski might no longer be a suspect. The case was now back to square one.
How could I have been so wrong?
Pucharelli’s advice was sound. She would lead the case down another path and let Jascinski fade away. If Cam confronted her she would remind him, “Cam, not every suspect is guilty… you don’t want me to ‘screw this up’ do you? I looked into it, Jascinski’s not our man.”
Elena felt that she could not see Jazz again. Her objectivity eroded each time she saw him. Before the close of business the day before, she arranged for another agent to meet with Jascinski and T-Ball this morning. She told the agent to ask the two sailors some cursory questions and add their answers to the file. She stressed that he should sing their praises for their participation and ensure that a letter of thanks went to their command from the Director.
So now she would start with the naval officer’s idea and look into Texas Silicon. She drained her drink and motioned for another to a stewardess who was already giving her dirty looks.
FORTY
As Jazz entered the Powder Keg, he noticed that the EOD memorial was gone. He remembered that it was scheduled to be moved to the new location for EOD School at Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach Florida. He reminded himself to send Horace Pickney and the memorial foundation a donation to assist with the costs of the move.
After lunch, Jazz called Solarsky on the Inchon. A sailor on watch in combat picked up the phone.
“EOD Mobile Unit Six Forward, SK2 Themopolis speaking. May I help you sir or ma’am.”
“Theo, it’s LT Jascinski. Can you get the CO on the phone?”
“Hey, sir! One moment, he’s in his stateroom. I’ll get him for you.”
Jazz waited only two minutes for the captain to pick up the line.
“Jazz! How are things?”
“Good, sir. We are done here so I was calling to ask for guidance in regards to T-Ball, I mean Petty Officer Ball and me.”
“Get down to Andrews right away and wait for a space-available flight out to Rota, Spain. We’ll meet you there.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
“Jazz, Jazz, Jazz, chill out!” the captain laughed now. “There is no point to you guys coming out here. We’ll be back in nineteen days. At this point you’d probably miss us and have to fly back. Go home. Senior Chief Denke has the det well in hand for now.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How did it go?”
“Uh fine, sir.”
“Anything new?”
“We gave them some new ideas, sir, but we’ll see if it amounts to anything.”
“Fine, fine. We’ll see you in nineteen days then. Have beer on the pier for us.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
The beard was not yet comfortable. Gabriel found himself stroking it often.
Stop it, he would think to himself. You’ll look obsessive compulsive and that will draw attention.
The town he settled in had a small coffee shop with an internet connection in its loft. He gave himself a few days to observe his surroundings so that he could ensure that he had not been followed.
Finally, Gabriel went in early to the coffee shop and sent a message out on the small email provider that the group was using. Now it was evening, dinnertime. Only the staff was in the shop below him. He logged on and found the response that he was waiting for from his friends in Texas.
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