Дэвид Балдаччи - King and Maxwell

“Why are they here?” she asked Tyler.

“To tell me my dad was killed in Afghanistan,” said Tyler.

THE WOMAN RUSHED TOWARD THEM in the rain as Sean, Michelle, and Tyler climbed out of the truck. She slipped on one of the cement steps, but quickly righted herself and raced across the small patch of soggy lawn. Smoky air rose from her mouth with each breath.

“Tyler,” she called out. She was short, about five-three and petite, yet she wrapped Tyler in an embrace that threatened to squeeze the life out of him.

“Thank God you’re all right,” she said. “Thank God.”

Both Sean and Michelle observed that Tyler was expressionless during all this. Then he quickly pushed her away.

“Just stop,” he said. “You don’t have to pretend anymore. He’s gone.”

She stood there, drenched with rain, mascara running down her face. Then she slapped him. “Damn you, Tyler Wingo, you scared me to death.”

Michelle stepped in front of her. “Okay, that won’t help anything.”

“Who are you?” demanded the woman, looking up at Michelle.

Sean said, “Just a couple of people who happened on your son and brought him safely home. That’s all. We’ll be going now.”

The soldiers on the porch were dressed in their Class A uniforms and carried dour expressions. One was a case notification officer whose thankless job it was to tell survivors that their family member was dead. The other was a chaplain whose task it was to help the survivors get through this most difficult of times.

Michelle put one arm on Tyler’s shoulder. “You okay?”

He dumbly nodded, his gaze on the two men on the porch. He looked as though they were aliens here to snatch him.

Michelle took a card from her jacket and handed it to him. “You need anything, give us a call, okay?”

Tyler said nothing but slipped the card into his jeans and headed to the porch.

The woman said, “I didn’t mean to slap him. I was just so worried. Thank you for bringing him back.”

Sean held out his hand. “I’m Sean King. This is Michelle Maxwell. We’re very sorry for your loss. Things like this are never easy, especially on the kids.”

“It’s not easy on any of us,” said the woman. “I’m Jean Wingo, by the way. Tyler is my stepson.”

Sean started to pull out the German Mauser, but Michelle froze him with a glance. She said, “Again, we’re really sorry, Mrs. Wingo. Tyler seems like a good kid. Anything we can do to help, just let us know.”

“Thank you, but the Army will be there for us. They have a family care program the soldiers were telling us about. They’ll be in touch tomorrow.”

“That’s good,” said Sean. “I’m sure they’ll be a big comfort to you now.”

“How long had Tyler been gone?” Michelle asked.

Jean said, “He ran out of here about two hours ago. I had no idea where he’d gone. I was so worried.”

“I see,” said Michelle with a frown as she glanced up at Tyler, who was standing on the porch looking down at them. The two soldiers were trying to speak to him, but it was clear he wasn’t listening to them.

“Again, we’re very sorry,” said Sean. He turned to Michelle. “You ready to go? I’m sure the Army and the Wingos have a lot to go over.”

Michelle nodded, but her gaze stayed on Tyler. She held up one of her business cards as a reminder to him. Then she and Sean climbed into the Land Cruiser and drove off.

Michelle watched in the rearview mirror as the Wingos and the soldiers slowly walked back inside the house. As Sean sped up, Michelle eased gingerly back into the seat. He noted her discomfort.

“Little sore? You only have yourself to blame. Chasing a kid in a thunderstorm. You probably pulled every muscle you have. I know my knees are killing me and I didn’t run half as far or hard as you did.”

“KIA,” said Michelle.

“Killed in action, right,” replied Sean. “It sucks. One U.S. soldier dead is one too many in my book.”

“Tyler and his stepmom don’t seem to get along.”

“Just because she slapped him? He’d run off. And like she said, she was worried sick. She overreacted. They’re going through the worst stress a family will ever have to endure, Michelle. You have to cut her some slack.”

“Right, she was worried sick. Yet Tyler was gone for two hours and she wasn’t even wet until she came down to slap him. If it were my kid I would’ve run down the street after him. It’s not like he took a car. He was on foot. She couldn’t go after him? What, was she afraid of a little rain?”

Sean started to say something but then stopped. He finally said, “I don’t know. The soldiers weren’t wet either. But maybe it’s not their job to go chasing after a kid. We weren’t there. We don’t know how it went down. Maybe she went after him in the car.”

“She still would’ve been wet. They didn’t have a garage. Not even a carport. And remember what Tyler said? After he pushed her away he said she could stop pretending now that his dad was gone. Stop pretending what? That she cared about Tyler’s dad?”

“Maybe, maybe not. But it’s none of our business.”

“And why would Tyler take his dad’s collectible gun, of all things?”

“What part of ‘none of our business’ did you fail to grasp?”

“I don’t like things that don’t make sense.”

“Look, we don’t know anything about him. Maybe the gun meant something to Tyler. Maybe the kid was so crushed finding out his dad was dead that he just grabbed the first thing he saw of his and took off. And why are we even talking about this? He’s back home where he belongs.” Sean glanced down at his waistband. “Crap, I’ve still got the gun. I was going to give it back until you gave me the evil eye. And why exactly did you do that?”

“Because it gives us an excuse to go back there, preferably tomorrow.”

“Go back? Why?” he exclaimed.

“I want to find out more.”

“We found the kid and brought him home. Our work is done.”

“You’re not the least bit curious?”

“No. Why would I be?”

“I saw how he looked at his stepmom. I heard what he said. There was no love there.”

“That’s life. All families are dysfunctional. It’s only a question of degrees. But it doesn’t make me want to jump into the middle of the traumatic situation they’re going through. Right now they need family and friends to support them.”

“We could be Tyler’s friend.”

“Look, why the hell are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Inserting yourself in the lives of people we don’t even know?”

“Don’t we do that all the time as part of our work?”

“Yes, our work . Not something like this. It’s not a case, so don’t treat it like one. No one has hired us, Michelle. So we move on.”

“I feel like I know Tyler, or at least what he’s going through.”

“How can you? Your dad is still alive–” Sean broke off.

Michelle’s father was still alive, but her mother wasn’t. She’d been murdered. And Michelle had initially suspected her father of committing the crime. And that had eventually led to her coming to grips with a memory from childhood that had eaten at her like a cancer throughout her adult life.

A psychologist friend of Sean’s had subsequently gotten through to her and had done some investigation into her past. With his help, coupled with some traumatic moments at the home where she’d grown up, Michelle had finally righted herself. But none of it had been easy. And he never wanted her to go through something like that again.

The knife wounds had healed. The emotional scars she had suffered would remain just that. The weight of each one was immense. He didn’t know how many she could carry around before being crushed.