“Norfolk.”
“…also just recently confirmed. Gabriel Miller was released by DPS shortly after taking that photo. Eventually we would have connected him to San Patricio. So it seems that we were closing in on them, albeit from their own clumsiness and our good fortune. First we lucked upon Miller’s factory, then the incident in Italy, followed by the factory in Albania. Add to it that Miller was detained… they figured it was only a matter of time that we put all the pieces together. So in order to cover their trail as best as possible…”
“They decided to take out T-Ball and me,” Jazz paused. “Well, then Ash had to be an active member.”
“How’s that?”
“How else would the group have known that T-Ball and I were helping the investigation?”
“Mmmm. I had not considered that.”
Jazz and Elena exchanged pleasantries before she left. She tried to hold onto his hand a little longer than normal.
He has no idea, she thought.
Jazz tried to burn her image in his mind as she walked out the door to Det Ingleside.
Elena held her breath until she drove out the gate of the naval station. Then she wept.
Guido’s photos of Detachment Four and Benny Ironhorse curled, melting in the fire warming Nasih’s feet. It was the last of the physical evidence connecting him to his pupils in Texas. He knew that their fear of him far outweighed any threats or promises the FBI could inflict upon them. Nasih felt fortunate. Once again, Allah demonstrated that there was still work for him to do.
Soon enough the United States would be looking for him in Albania. But it was no matter; he would be back in Afghanistan.
FORTY-FOUR
He almost took it to the hill in Annapolis where the Admiral was buried. The ground above his father was still fresh. It would have been easy to perform a small midnight excavation and return the knife to its original owner.
After considering it for a long time he realized his instincts in the funeral parlor were correct, that such an action would have violated his father’s intentions. The man was finally free of the damn thing; he needed to let the Admiral rest in peace.
But now Jazz also needed to be free of it. He wasn’t going to pass it to his sons.
The consolidation of the whole of NAVSCOLEOD at Eglin Air Force Base made sense to Jazz. The facility at Indian Head simply could not be modernized any more. It was time to rebuild.
Hundreds of NAVSCOLEOD graduated recently received a letter from Horace Pickney that included an artist’s conception of the new memorial. The pillars from Indian Head, Maryland were moved to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. A walkway and pavilion of red brick would be added. Charitable donations would be recognized by adding an engraved brick into the walkway.
The memorial was now in place. They were almost finished with the landscaping and the brick walkway. Jazz wondered if the workers understood what they were erecting.
Fortunately he was not too late. Several of the bricks in front of the memorial were not in place yet and the crew was not working on a Sunday.
Many of those already laid had names etched in them.
In Memory of
Pvt 1/C Charles McCann, USMC
By his family
BM2 Thomas Sharpe, USN
Jun 1945 — Apr 1970
Capt. Aidan Case, USA
From his loving wife, Maria
Jazz looked at the four obelisks, though not closely. He did not want to see the names on them. Not now.
He drew out the Mark-III dive knife one last time. With it he quickly scraped a shallow grave for it, just deep enough to not be noticed. He cleaned the blade and placed it in the sheath. He laid it to rest and covered it back up with his hands and then stamped on it with his feet.
He stood a moment in silence and thought of T-Ball.
Then he said out loud, “In memory of Boatswain’s Mate Second Class Theodore Ball, United States Navy. From his friend and shipmate, Lieutenant James J. Jascinski, United States Navy.”
Jazz turned as he heard someone approaching from behind him. A kid of about eighteen walked toward him and the memorial.
“I’m sorry, sir, do you need a moment?”
“Zero eight five eight.”
“Uh, excuse me, sir?”
“Zero eight five eight.”
“Are you alright, sir?”
“Zero eight five eight. You are a student right?”
“Yes, sir. I’m Private Schaffer. I’m going to graduate soon. You’re a grad I take it.”
“Yes. Ten Bravo Ninety Eight.”
“A Navy guy.”
“Zero eight five eight, private. Write it down. It is the number in the Combined Federal Campaign for the EOD Memorial Scholarship fund.”
Jazz stared at the kid hard while he stood there a little confused.
“You need a pen?”
“Uh, no, sir.”
“Get out a pen and write it down.”
The private fumbled in his shirt pocket and extracted a pen. He pulled out his wallet and took out a receipt.
“Sorry, sir. Say it one more time.”
“Zero eight five eight.”
“…five eight. Got it, sir.”
“Give what you can. The families of our brothers on that wall need our help.”
“Do you know any of these men, sir?”
“Well Private, I’ve only met two of them, but I know all of them.”
Jazz got in the car and left with a singular purpose; to find Melanie and his family. As he left the memorial and the schoolhouse behind Jazz realized he had changed. With each mile, the car seemed faster and Jazz felt lighter. His guilt for the deaths of Martin, West, and T-Ball left him. The weight of the Admiral and his expectations was gone. Jazz had buried it all.
Acronyms and Abbreviations
1140 — (“eleven-forty”) Special Operations Officer
AFFF- Aqueous Film Forming Foam
AGE — Arterial Gas Embolism
ATF- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
CDO — Command Duty Officer
CDR- Commander
CIC — Combat Information Center
CMC — Closed Metal Container
CNO — Chief of Naval Operations
CO — Commanding Officer
CP — Command Post
CQB- Close Quarters Combat
CSO — Chief Staff Officer
DCA — Damage Control Assistant
DESRON — Destroyer Squadron
DPS — Defensive Protective Service
EMR — Electromagnetic Radiation
EOD — Explosive Ordnance Disposal
EODMU — Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit
EODTECHDIV — EOD Technical Division
FADL — Fly Away Dive Locker
FARC — Fly Away Recompression Chamber
FBI — Federal Bureau of Investigation
GOMEX — Gulf of Mexico Exercise
GPS — Global Positioning System
GW — George Washington, as in USS George Washington
HDR — Humanitarian Daily Ration
HRST — Helo Rope Suspension Team
IED — Improvised Explosive Device
INCTASKGRU — Inchon Task Group