Eric Walters - The Rule of Three

“And you were doing your job,” my mother said. “Nothing to be sorry for unless you think you can be in two places at once or you’re psychic and knew it was going to happen.”

Howie looked relieved.

“Whatever happened, the people out there are no longer a threat,” Herb said. “Do you know how many rounds were fired?”

Howie shook his head. “I’ll check with everybody and give you a count.”

“That can wait until morning. We’ll take care of everything tomorrow,” my mother said.

“I think it would be better to get the ball rolling tonight,” Herb said.

“Morning light would be better,” my mother said. “There’s too much to lose and not enough to gain by rushing out.”

“I don’t want to rush out anywhere, but I do want to investigate,” Herb said. “What if we’re leaving an injured person out there to die?”

Those words produced thoughtful silence, although I was thinking that wasn’t what was behind what Herb was suggesting. There had to be another reason.

“Under cover of darkness is the best time to go out,” Herb said. “You have to trust me on this one.”

Slowly my mother nodded. “I don’t like it, but we’ll do it.”

“I’ll get a patrol together,” Howie offered.

“I was thinking of a very small group—me,” Herb said.

“Just you?” my mother asked. She sounded surprised. “I think it would be advisable to take at least one other person. Even before all of this happened, we’d always insist on patrol cars at night going out with two officers.”

“I could go with you,” Howie volunteered.

“I need you inside to be in charge of the guards on the wall. Believe me, I’ll be all right,” Herb said.

“Sorry to pull rank,” my mother said. “But I’m not letting you go out alone.”

I could feel the tension between them for maybe the first time.

“Okay,” Herb said. “You’re in charge. How about if Brett comes with me?”

We all turned to Brett.

“I’m in… you know… if you say it’s all right, Captain.”

My mother didn’t answer right away. Was she hesitating because she didn’t think Brett should be the one, or was she going back and thinking that nobody should go out?

“Okay, but we’re going to offer cover from the wall,” she said.

“I want the cover but with a slight change,” Herb said. “I want the guards pulled off this section of the wall and moved along to protect my flanks so that any men or vehicles that come along will be neutralized.”

What a strange word. Neutralized . Not killed, or dead, but neutralized.

“What do you want us to do if you run into trouble?” Howie asked.

“Nothing. It’s friendly fire I’m afraid of. People on the wall pulling the trigger again would just put me at more risk. I want you and the captain here by the gate. Leave it open in case Brett and I need to come back in a hurry.”

Again my mother seemed to hesitate. I knew she really didn’t want anybody to go out there, but she trusted Herb.

“Howie, go and give the orders to move the men as Herb suggested,” my mother ordered. He gave a little salute, then turned and headed off. Now Mom turned to us. She seemed to notice me for the first time and offered an unconvincing smile.

“Okay, Herb, tell me, why tonight, why now instead of the morning?”

“Howie doesn’t know what happened out there. Nobody does. I think it’s best we find out before everybody else does. I just want to investigate,” Herb said.

“What’s there to investigate?” my mother asked.

“I just have a feeling.”

My mother stared at him, then nodded. “You go. We’ll be right here, watching.”

“We’ll be fast,” Herb said.

“Let’s do it,” Brett said. His voice was as calm and confident as Herb’s.

Herb headed out through the gate followed a few seconds later by Brett, who was on his “six,” covering him from behind. They both were wearing body armor and carrying rifles, with Herb wearing his night-vision goggles.

Howie and my mother, both with rifles in hand, stood on either side of the open gate. I was a few steps back, trying to peer out into the darkness. I wished I had night-vision goggles. I had to admit that I felt better knowing Brett was out there to provide cover. The two of them together—Herb, the old spy, and Brett, the rookie cop. Although now nobody seemed to be bothering Brett anymore about being a rookie. He was one of the people Herb seemed to rely on the most.

I struggled to see, but with the cloud cover blocking out any stars or the moon the view was pretty dim.

“How long do you think this is going to take?” I asked.

“I can’t imagine it will be long,” my mother said. She didn’t seem to mind that I was there, listening in.

“I’m still not sure why they went out there at all, why this couldn’t wait until morning,” Howie said.

“I don’t disagree, but I think we’ve just come to trust Herb on these things,” she replied.

“I trust him… I just know we didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Nobody’s saying you or the guards did.”

“It’s hard,” Howie said. “Being out here, watching, waiting, wondering what’s in the dark and—”

There was a sudden whoosh and a burst of light. The truck was on fire! Herb and Brett were several paces away, and now they came back toward the gate, moving quickly, their figures lit by the flames behind them.

“What happened?” my mother demanded as they ran back.

“Not sure. The fuel tank had ruptured, so maybe leaking gas was ignited by the hot engine,” Herb said.

“And the people inside?”

“All dead,” Herb said.

“More than dead,” Brett added. “They’d taken multiple hits—the truck was peppered with bullets.”

The fire was getting bigger and bigger, and then there was an explosion. Involuntarily I jumped. Flames shot into the sky. It was like we were watching a scene from a movie.

“There’s no more threat, but we should debrief,” Herb said. “Brett, I want you to reposition the guards along the wall while we talk.”

Brett nodded and left. Whatever was going to be talked about he already knew because he’d been out there. There was something in his expression and Herb’s tone that made me think there really was something to talk about.

“So,” my mother said, “the truck just spontaneously caught on fire.”

“We gave it some help,” Herb admitted. “It was important to hide the evidence.”

“Evidence?”

“There were three people in the truck,” Herb said. “An elderly couple in the backseat and a driver who looked to be in his late forties.”

“I guess the others fled,” Howie said.

“Nobody who was in that truck walked away. It was hit by over a hundred rounds of ammunition.”

“Whoever else was there might have been in other vehicles or on foot,” Howie countered.

“Did anybody see anybody else flee?” Herb asked.

“I don’t think so, but it was dark and—”

“I don’t believe there was anybody else, and neither do you,” Herb said, cutting him off.

“I can’t know that for sure, but they did fire first.”

“They had a twenty-two, and it hadn’t been fired.”

“Are you sure?” my mother asked.

Herb was holding the gun. “You can check to confirm it hasn’t been fired. We searched the vehicle thoroughly and found no other weapons,” Herb said.

“Then the gunshots came from somebody else,” Howie said.

“They did come from someplace else—from one of the guards on the wall. Those people in the truck were probably nothing more than innocents driving by.”