“And here I thought this old man was the guy you were after,” Kurt said in surprise, studying the detective. “Unless of course you’re in in cahoots with Simon.”
At that, the detective glared. “What the hell does that mean?”
“While on the phone, you talked about Slippery Simon being a guy you’ve been after for a long time, and yet, here you are, acting as if he may or may not be who you want and to hell with it. It might just be too much work for you to write this up.”
“It is Slippery Simon,” one of the other cops said. “And this is a huge collar, so we thank you.”
“Don’t fucking thank him,” the detective said. “This asshole is probably running with him.”
“I haven’t been in town for the last thirteen years, but you have. So I’m not running with this local guy, Simon,” he said, “but you might be, since you’ve been here the whole time since I was in the military. It would explain some of the lovely attitude I’ve been getting from you.”
“I don’t owe you anything,” the detective said.
“No,” Kurt said, “but I owe you a thanks.”
Amos, the detective, stared at him in surprise. “Why is that?”
“Because somehow between us, during all those years where I was an asshole,” he said, “I stayed out of jail. If I had gotten a record, I wouldn’t have made it so easily into the navy. So thank you for being completely incompetent at your job back then. I managed to get out of this cycle of abuse in foster care to avoid the gangs and managed to make it into the navy, where I excelled.”
The other guys looked at Kurt and then looked at the detective, who was steaming mad. “You made it into the navy? That’s good for you,” one of the cops said. “I heard that’s not a terribly easy life.”
Kurt looked toward the other cops and smiled. “It’s not,” he said, “but I knew I needed to get out before I ended up in a wooden box,” he said. “I made it and made it pretty high up too. Put in a lot of years of service for this country until a really bad accident sidelined me,” he said, “and now I’m on the other side, wondering what comes next.”
“Yeah, you’ll probably just slide back into the same damn habits,” the detective guessed.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I know what it’s like to be a hero. I’m not too keen on getting back to the abused child I was.”
“You were in foster care?” another cop asked.
“Yep, sure was. Taken away from my father when I was thirteen. He was a drunk, used to chain me up outside for fun,” he said. “When he remembered that I was still alive, he’d go out and unchain me. By the time somebody finally gave me a fighting chance and turned him in, I hit foster care, but I already had an attitude big-time. I wouldn’t be chained by anybody anymore.”
“I’m surprised you went to the navy,” the other cop said.
“I knew I needed something,” he said in a flat voice. “I’d lost all respect for humanity. There’s only one woman I ever loved, and the rest of the people, as far as I was concerned, were like my father—assholes. I had to find another way to live. Otherwise I wouldn’t have,” he said, looking down at the still unconscious Slippery Simon. “And then after all those years I became a Navy SEAL, and now I’m not sure what I’ll do. I’m working for Titanium Corp out of Santa Fe, looking for War Dogs that slipped through the system.”
“Wow,” one of the cops said respectfully, “you became a Navy SEAL.”
“You can’t believe that bullshit,” the detective scoffed. “Guys like this, they lie all the time.”
“Yeah, sure some do. When they’re desperate for a meal, when they’re desperate for anything to make them feel good enough to get through the day,” Kurt said, “but I never lied.” He looked over at the cop who asked and nodded. “Yeah, I was an active Navy SEAL for twelve years, then sidelined for one year.”
“Holy shit.”
“It was time to change careers when I was injured,” he said. “Most SEALs don’t last beyond that.”
“I heard it’s pretty tough.”
“It is, but there’s also nothing quite like knowing that you’ve achieved the best of the best and that you’ve hit that pinnacle of your career. You’re doing what you want to do to save the country,” he said. “So I have absolutely no complaints about my life from the time I left this town.”
“Weren’t some US Navy SEALs involved when the governor’s sister and brother were kidnapped in some godforsaken Iranian country? Those US scientists?” He nudged the others. “Remember that? The SEALs went in and rescued them.”
At that, Kurt’s lips twitched. “They did, indeed,” he said. “I was one of them.”
“Holy shit,” the cop said, and he looked over the detective. “If the governor ever finds out that you’re bad-mouthing and blackballing this guy,” he said, “your career is over.”
The detective looked at Kurt in surprise. “What are you talking about?”
Kurt stayed silent as he listened to the others relate one of the missions he’d been on. Truly, Kentucky’s governor’s brother and sister, both doctors and scientists, had been kidnapped and held for ransom over in Iran. Kurt had been part of the team who had gone over and rescued them. By the time his story was retold, Kurt could see that the atmosphere around him had shifted. He had earned their respect, but the detective would be a hell of a lot longer getting there, and that was fine. Kurt didn’t give a shit if the detective ever got there, as long as he left Kurt alone. He looked down at the Slippery Simon guy and again asked, “So you want this guy or no?”
“Yep, we want him,” the younger guy said with a grin. “He’s Slippery Simon. He’s got his fingers in all kinds of shit. And he’s dangerous, with a long memory.”
“In other words, watch my back?”
“Yep. When he wakes up and realizes you’re the one who fingered him, he’ll be all over you.”
“Good warning,” he said. “Thanks for that.” He watched and stood off to the side, as they woke up Simon and got him groggily to his feet and then marched him to one of the cruisers.
The detective never said another word to Kurt. That was fine with him too.
As soon as they were gone, he took several steps back into the bush, sat down quietly in the growing darkness, and called out to Sabine. “It’s okay, girl. It’s all over with.”
He heard a tiny whimper.
Kurt shifted, pulled some treats from his pocket, realizing he would be in trouble soon as he was running low, and tossed a few her way. Slowly, ever-so-slowly she crept back out again. Realizing that it was just the two of them and that she was prepared to make that step toward him made him the happiest he’d been in a very long time.
He sat here, quietly earning her trust, talking to her, just helping her to adjust to the fact that somebody in her world gave a damn. And slowly, slowly she crept a little closer and then a little closer again.
As he kept talking, he pulled out his phone and put it on Silent, just so nobody would scare Sabine if and when they called. He didn’t want her startled unnecessarily. And he just wanted her to be in a safe and soothing and calm environment for a change.