Chapter 2

April guided the nose of her convertible into the parking lot of the Gettysburg Apartment complex. The building was old and run down, but in a leafy glade. There were lots of small nooks with trees and benches, and as she got out of the car, locking it, two kids, a boy and girl, ran past her, throwing apple pieces at each other. The boy was enjoying tormenting the small girl and she was screaming and loving every second of the attention. As the kids ran past, she smiled at them, wondering whose they were and thinking about her own biological clock.

After they were past, she looked around for the office signs, and saw them next to a sign about construction. Half of the parking lot was fenced off, and one of the apartment buildings in the complex was in the process of being razed.

She walked over to the office and pushed the door open. Sitting behind the desk, looking harassed, was an older woman on the phone. She looked up, saw April and gestured at her to sit down while she finished her conversation.

April sat down and studied the woman. She was older, with bleached and highlighted hair. She wore eyeglasses, the kind with the lanyard that went around her neck and her makeup was too heavy. She was plump and wore a shapeless and loud dress with red and yellow flowers.

"Oh, I know Juney. I know. She should be ashamed of herself. At her age. Who does she think she is? I mean come on. The tango? At her age? Who is she kidding?" the older woman said into the phone, glancing at April, who smiled amusedly back.

"Oh I know. It's ridiculous, that's what it is. I know. Look, I have to go. Got a customer. Who is obviously too nice for this place, that's for sure." She smiled at April in a conspiratorial way when she said this, and April's smile broadened. She could like this woman.

"Yes, I'll call you later. Yes. Later. I don't know. What difference does it make? Yes. Later. After your nap. Bye, dear." And with that, she put the phone down.

"Dear god, that woman can talk," said the older woman. "I'm Sarah Atwood. How can I help dear?" she enquired of April.

"Hi, Sarah. I'm April. I was wondering where I might find apartment 3612?"

"Oh no, dear," said Sarah, sucking on her teeth, "no, you wouldn't. That's in one of the buildings they've already pulled down. Asbestos, don't you know. How they could use that and not know the perils I don't know, but several of the buildings here have had to be pulled down over it. Building 36 was one of them."

"Oh." April looked at the piece of paper in her hand, not sure where to go next.

There was a moment's silence and then, on cue, Sarah said, "Were you looking for someone in particular, dear? Maybe I can help? I've worked here for years, know everyone, if you know what I mean."

April suppressed a smile. She did, indeed, know what she meant. It meant that Sarah was the older lady who disapproved of the parties you held, when you had blinds instead of curtains and tsked at you if you didn't hold the door open for anyone over forty.

"I'm looking for Julian Sullivan."

Sarah just looked at her and then said, "You aren't a lawyer are you?"

April was surprised. "No, not at all. I work as a counselor and I wanted to talk to him about a case I'm on. This is the last address I have for him."

Sarah was still wary. "It's not for that harlot, is it? I won't help if it's for that whore."

April was silent as she digested this. "No, I don't think so. I can't really talk about it, but I can say it's military in nature." April knew she was taking a chance, but instantly Sarah relaxed.

"Oh, well, in that case. Yes, he lived here. With that harlot he married. She was bad news from the word go, that one. Sunning herself at the pool and wearing almost nothing while he was out, trying to get that business started. When she started carrying on with his salesman, well, it was scandalous. It just was. We could all see it, but he couldn't. None of us could bring ourselves to say anything, I mean, it's just not your place, is it?"

April just nodded as this font of information flowed almost non-stop. She was glad she had her iPhone recording, because the details came fast and furious.

She learned that Joe Sullivan had indeed lived here, years ago, with his wife, Penny. Joe had worked hard to build his own business. He had had some problems in the past, Sarah told her, but he didn't talk about them. She assumed he wanted to leave them behind while he built a new life with his wife and started his new business.

As the business grew, Joe had hired an eager, younger salesman to help handle the increasing business. The new guy had taken to the job as though born to it, but he'd also taken Joe's wife, Penny.

Penny had announced she was pregnant, and right after the baby was born, she'd left Joe for this young salesman, moving out of the complex. It was the height of scandal that the baby wasn't his. Joe had left shortly afterwards, a broken man. She'd not seen him since.

Sarah had no idea where Joe might be living now. It was almost a dead end.

But April wasn't beaten yet. She had the resources of Ingrams at her disposal, and all she needed were the right details

She learned that the company name was Sullivan Design, and the salesman's name was Mark Glasso. Penny Sullivan had apparently married him, once Joe was gone, so Sarah had heard. Sarah hoped they had a miserable time of it – Joe hadn't deserved what she'd done to him, but he'd borne it, like he bore everything.

Then April got onto why Sarah considered him for sainthood. Apparently one night Sarah had been returning from the grocery store, laden down with bags, and passed by a bunch of teenagers, who had felt it their job to taunt her. Coming from the generation were you didn't put up with that, Sarah had put down her bags and verbally launched into them.

They were surprised at that, and aggression showed in their eyes and for the first time, she suddenly started to worry about her safety. Then, just as suddenly, one gave her the finger and all the rest pushed off the fencing they were leaning against and ran off down the street. Sarah was surprised and impressed at herself for seeing them off like that, but then, as she turned to pick up her bags, she found Joe Sullivan standing behind her, arms crossed, staring at the teenagers who were high-tailing it down the road.

He looked at her and wordlessly picked up her bags and carried them back to her apartment. He didn't say a word and just smiled at her while she protested that she could handle the bags.

From that point onwards, he organized grocery runs for her and several of the older women in the complex. Never said anything about it, just pulled up to her door on a Thursday and told her to get in, he was going to the grocery store anyway, and he could use the company, since she knew more about what he needed to get than he did. It wasn't true of course, just an excuse, but as excuses went, it went pretty far with her.

After an hour of conversation, two coffees and some giggling about the latest boy singer sensation, April exited the office, pretty sure she'd just made a new life long friend. She was damn sure she'd be going back there to just talk – it was amazing how in an hour what you could learn, and Sarah was just the kind of irascible older woman she really hoped she'd turn out to be. Someone who knows herself, knows the world, knows how it ought to be and was, by god, going to live in that world.

She was less impressed at what she'd learned of this Penny woman, and their marriage ending, but she wanted to keep an open mind. Julian Sullivan might have been a complete asshole – although she doubted it – so she tried not to prejudge. But from what she had heard, she was finding it hard not to. She needed more data.

As she sat in her car, she pulled out her phone and dialed work. She got the usual Ingrams receptionist, Rose, and she gave her a identity code and asked her to get Dermot on the line for her. Dermot McConaughey was the general manager of Ingram's & Associates, and as such, everything that the company did went through him. If she wanted access to the research department for this unique situation, regardless of what Desirea said, she needed to clear it with him first.

She waited a minute or so before the phone was picked up. "Hey April, how are you doing? Desirea filled me in, you ok, girl?" Dermot's Scottish brogue was almost imperceptible by now, with his many years in the U.S., but it was still there if you looked for it.

"I'm surviving, boss man. Can I use R&D? Desirea said it would be ok, but I wanted to be sure first."

"You looking for background on your mystery man?"

"Sort of. Need to find his ex-wife. I think she can lead me where I need to go."

"And where is that, April?" asked Dermott, point blank.

There was silence for a second, before April answered, "I honestly don't know. But you know I can't let this go. He died saving me. I owe him. I need to find out who he is, and see if there is someone left I can help."

There was more silence. April could almost see Dermott considering his options.

"Ok, go ahead. But only a couple of days, ok? We do have irons in other fires."

"Thank you, boss man. Big kiss on the cheek. Can you ask Tina to look for records on a business named Sullivan Designs, based out of the Westside of Washington. I'm looking for history and an address on Penny Sullivan. She would probably be remarried by now and have a last name of Glasso. Her husband would be Mark Glasso; he was the sales guy for the Sullivan's Design outfit. Anything they can get me would be great, as soon as possible."

"Will do, April. Keep your cell on. And April?"

"Yes?"

"Be well. We all know what happened and we're here for you. If you need anything else, let me know, ok? Come and talk to us."

"Sure thing, boss man. I'll be back soon."

April broke the connection and smiled. She knew Dermot meant it.

Hillier waited until he finished swallowing the last donut bit before he answered the trilling phone. It was a stereotype that all cops ate donuts, but in this case, it was true, mainly because a grateful parent kept delivering them to the station. Two years ago, Hillier and his partner - God rest his soul - had found and arrested three gang bangers who had terrorized several homeowners, burgling them late at night and tormenting the homeowners. The homeowners had formed a little club to support each other and after Hillier found the perpetrators, they'd solemnly decided it was their duty to keep the cops in donuts. Because all cops liked donuts, right? They'd even bought into a donut store together to ensure it would be regular.

While Hillier liked donuts as much as the next guy, he also knew this was going to cost him twenty minutes on the treadmill later. Oh well. What the hell. It was worth it. They were good donuts.

The phone continued to ring and he scooped it up, licking the fingers on his left hand as he did so. "Detective Hillier here."

"Hello, Detective. I understand you wanted to talk to me?" said the voice on the other end of the line.

"And this is?" asked Hillier. He thought he knew, but better to be sure.

"This is Manny Trueso here. I got a call from the VA saying you wanted to talk to me, and you left a message earlier today?"

"Ah yes, Mr. Trueso. Thank you for calling me back so promptly. I hope you can help. I have a John Doe here, and he has a tattoo that I'm having trouble identifying. I spoke to our contact at the VA here in Washington, sent him a copy of the tattoo, and he got back to me an hour later and said I'd probably want to talk to you. Do I want to talk to you Mr. Trueso? Would you know what I am looking at here?"

There was a laugh on the line and Manny answered, "First, call me Manny. Mr. Trueso was my dad. Secondly, hard to know without seeing it. Can you describe it?"

"Yes, it's blue with age. Got a logo with what looks like a serpent, tied around a bullet, and a Latin phrase under it."

"Unum Superesse, right?" said Manny.

"Yes, that's it."

"That's the Cambridge tattoo. Had by the appropriate people to remember the Cambridge event in 1992 in Kuwait. It means 'Survive Together'. It's to remind a bunch of people who survived something really bad that survival comes when you work together. The event itself we called the Cambridge Event. I'd rather not go into why. It just takes too long."

"Interesting. So our John Doe was in Desert Storm and part of this event?"

"I would say so. There were about thirty to forty people involved in that, though. What else do you have that might identify the guy?"

"Two bullet holes, one in the shoulder and one in the pelvis area."

There was dead silence on the phone, then a deep sigh. "Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck."

"Manny?"

"You've got Joe Sullivan right there. No question."

Ambrose Hillier lurched forward and wrote the name down. "How can you be sure?"

"Only one guy came out with those wounds. That was Joe Sullivan. That wasn't his real name though; I think he was Julian or something like that - Joe to all us. What happened to him?"

"I can't tell you much, Manny. He was killed protecting a lady from a mugging that went bad. He just stepped in and stopped someone knifing her, and in doing so, took that knifing himself.

"Goddammit. Fucking Joe. He just couldn't help himself. Always had to be the Boy Scout. Do first, think later." Manny's voice broke, but Hillier could detect a note of pride in it.

"Can you tell me what happened in Kuwait?" he asked, curious about this man, Julian Sullivan.

Manny sighed and Ambrose could tell he didn't want to.

"Long time ago. We were a mobile hospital; Joe was part of the security detachment. We patched up servicemen and also the locals who got caught up in fire fights. Pretty much anyone who needed help, honestly. They'd not seen a hospital out in those areas ever.

"Anyway, one day the local mullahs got angry and came by, demanding tribute. We told them where to get off and three hours later, we were under attack. We tried to tell them we had children and wounded, but no, they kept coming. Joe was one of the guys holding them off.

"After the first attack – there was never just one – Joe ran out and grabbed weapons from the dead. Several AK47's, some pistols and a rocket launcher. He made a point of arming the doctors and nurses. We all figured it was just a matter of time. The initial attack had taken our defensive force down from twelve to eight. One more heavy attack and we were done for. But no one was going down without fighting.

"They came again at dawn. Joe and the other guys mowed them down as much as they could, but some got in. Joe literally took out two guys a foot from me. I was lying in a bed there, holding a rifle and trying to stay awake. I was loaded with morphine from an earlier mortar attack and it was hard to stay in the moment.

Joe took a shoulder wound and was shot in the leg or pelvis right at the point the Blackhawks arrived and made mincemeat of the local thugs." Manny's voice quavered with emotion as he detailed the events.

"Jesus. Was he invalided out after that? I presume he got a medal?"

There was a snort on the other end of the phone. "Christ no. This was Desert Storm. This wasn't the Iraqi invasion. His CO – who by the way, wasn't even present, but was at HQ - wanted to bounce him out for disobeying orders, for abandoning his post. He was lucky to be allowed out without a dishonorable discharge or court martial. The CO was an asshole of epic proportions, but those were the times."

"So, he got wounded, kicked out and no one even said thank you?"

"Mr. Hillier, have you ever been in combat?"

"Not in the way you have, no. I've been shot at, but not like you have."

"Then you'll never know the way we deal with this. The CO might have been an asshole, but me and lots of other Joes and kids are only breathing because he did what was right at the time. I owe Joe my life. Don't get me wrong, he didn't do it all by himself – there were seven other guys there who did as much, if not more. But Joe was one of them. I haven't seen him in a few years, since that bitch Tara did a number on him, then he married Penny. I was best man for that. Penny did him no good either."

"So, married twice then? Do you have any idea where he might be living now? This Penny woman?"

"Oh no, that ended a while ago. She fucked him over too. Joe's life is all about him being fucked over and him just trying to pick up the pieces."

"Do you know where she lives now? Or Joe, for that matter?"

"No, sorry, I wish I did. Like I said, once Penny screwed him up, I lost touch. He just seemed to vanish. I doubt the VA even knows where he is, although they might. They still mail me a check; maybe they do for him too. Detective, can I ask you to do something for me?"

"What might that be, Manny?"

"Let me know where the funeral is. I should be there."

"Of course. As soon as I know, you will too. Do you have any details on this Tara or Penny, so I can find them?"

"Honestly, no. I only met Penny at the wedding and the last time I spoke to Joe, there wasn't much coming from him except how much he hated and loved her at the same time. She led him to believe that they had a child together, but in fact she'd been fucking Joe's salesman, and the kid was his. It destroyed him. That's why I think he went feral."

"Well, thank you for calling me, Manny. I'll be sure and be in touch as soon as I have more details."

"You are welcome. The world is a poorer place without Joe in it. I'm going to the bar to get loaded and raise a glass to him, poor bastard. Always on the receiving end, that guy. What a life."

I bought a shack today. An honest-to-god shack. It's the last shack in the row of cabins at Trolleys Field, out of Virginia. We used to come here as kids. I brought Tara here, once. She would never come again. And I brought Penny here a couple of times too. It seems ... fitting. The guy who runs the place told me about this broken down cabin off at the end of the row. He couldn't rent it, so I offered to buy it. $10k, flat out. The deal is that I do it up, and when I move on, he gets it back. He's happy and I'm happy. My name won't show up on any deeds and Tara won't find me.

It's small – three rooms – and needs work, but I can do that. The guy here who owns the place, Marco, said if I did a good job, I can be his handyman. I know I can do that. Maybe it's time for some peace. I'm obviously not meant to be out in society – every time I've tried it's been a disaster. Maybe I need to be a hermit, like Obi-Wan Kenobi. Of course that would suppose there was a Luke Skywalker out there for me to be looking out for. That would be nice.

I was thinking that maybe I could buy a TV and see what everyone is talking about, about that show Lost. It sounds appropriate.

There was a knock at the door and Penny Glasso looked up irritated from the Hello! Magazine she was reading, following the latest exploits of Lindsey Lohan. Who could be here at 2:00 p.m. on a Tuesday?

"Aaron!" she yelled, not moving from the couch. "Is one of your dopey friends at the door?"

There was silence. There was another knock. "Aaron!" yelled Penny Glasso, a second time, louder. Still silence.

Grumbling, Penny threw the magazine down on the table and got up and answered the door.

Outside, she found a blond woman, with neat hair and a glossy lips and a ready smile.

"Hello", said April, "Are you Penny Glasso? I was hoping to find the Glasso residence?"

Penny looked at her, eyeing her up and down. "Who wants to know?"

"I do!" replied April, with a smile, being as perky as she knew how.

"Why?"

"Well, lets just say I'm tracking down people associated with one..." she consulted a piece of paper, "Joe Sullivan? He has, unfortunately, passed away. I'm one of the legal staff who are executing on his will. He left a considerable amount of money in that will, and since it hasn't been updated in quite sometime, my understanding is that some of this will come your way. However, there are some small things we need to go over first. Can I come in?"

April watched Penny's reactions closely. Her instinctive reactions would be very informative as to how she left the marriage from Joe, and April was extremely interested in finding that out.

Penny's eyes went wide at the news of Joe's demise. There was the start of honest regret and sadness, coupled with shock. But the moment a will was mentioned, the eyes tightened and with it, a sense of restrained interest. In that moment, April knew all she needed to about Penny, who she was and her relationship with Joe. But she needed to complete the charade and find out as much as she could

Penny stepped back and gestured to April to come in. "He's gone? Seriously? Shit. Joe is gone. What happened?"

The words were there, and the intent behind them was genuine, but the overall posture was that of someone who wanted something.

"He was killed while defending a woman from a mugging downtown. It's very sad," said April, as she walked into the apartment and sat down on the couch.

"Well, that was Joe," said Penny, sitting down opposite and rolling her eyes as she did so, "always rushing in when it was the right thing to do, at least in his mind. Doesn't surprise me in the least. Although, if I were totally honest, I think that's how he would have liked to go. Doing good like that. He was a total do-gooder."

"Yes, I'm sure he was," replied April. She pulled out a pad and made a show of consulting notes. "So, you were his second wife, is that right? The first, a Tara something or other, ended before he met you, is that right?"

April had nothing in the way of information, but this was the best way to find out. Give someone incorrect partial information and most of the time, if they have it right, they'll fall over themselves to tell you. No one ever sits there and says 'wait a minute, aren't you supposed to know this stuff?'

"Yes," said Penny, "she'd left him and he was on his own, trying to make a go of that business when I met him. We met on a cruise, in Alaska. There was just something about him. When I met him, you know? An aura of some kind. He just felt ... safe."

"How long were you married?" asked April.

"Three years. It came to a natural end. I ended up marrying his chief salesman. Obviously Mark couldn't carry on working for Joe once that happened, so he struck out on his own. He's been quite successful, too."

April made herself look down in her notes to not give away her reaction to that statement. She knew a fair bit about Penny and what had happened, and that statement wasn't in any way complete or even accurate.

She'd been on the treadmill in her apartment, sweating out the drinks she'd had the night before with Desirea – who'd dropped in, unannounced – when the phone had rung from Tina at R&D at Ingrams. Tina had some interesting info on Penny Glasso.

They'd found her via tax returns – April hadn't asked how they'd got that information – and provided both a current address, a state of her marriage and some other more pertinent information.

An ex-employee of Glasso Design had posted a blog about his time there and was very forthcoming on opinions on the moral turpitude of Penny and Mark Glasso, both professionally and personally. Recorded also were his opinions on the divorce from Joe Sullivan, and contained within were some interesting facts of information. Firstly, it was patently obvious from comments made in the blog that Mark and Penny had been getting it on for months before Joe found out about it, and it was equally obvious that Mark had taken all of Joe's clients when he left. How, no one knew, but Mark was a silver tongued devil, it had to be admitted.

Upon meeting her, most of April's preconceptions were confirmed – Penny was a gold digger and Mark had more gold.

Following the phone call from R&D, just as April was getting off the treadmill, a text had come in, from a number she didn't recognize. It simply said, "Your guy's name is Joe Sullivan. Ex Military. More when I have it. Ambrose."

She looked at the text, smiled and said, "Two days too late, Ambrose. You're good, but I'm better," and went to get ready to visit Penny and Mark Glasso.

April got control of her face and looked back at Penny, taking her in. She was short – 5'4" – not quite pudgy but not slim or angular. She was well-endowed up top but her dress sense was sloppy. Mismatched top and pants, and shoes that were at least four years out of date. Her brunette hair was rich and had a distinct red tint to it, but it was carelessly brushed and tied up. A woman who didn't see many people and didn't care about what she looked like at home.

"Is your husband at home, Mrs. Glasso?" asked April.

"He'll be here any moment," she replied. "He just called. He's late again because of client meetings, but he's on his way."

"Ok, yes, that's not a problem."

"So you mentioned a will? When did Joe write it? I mean, we haven't been married for almost eight years now. I would have thought he'd have..." Her voice died away as she looked past April, and her face scrunched up in annoyance.

April looked behind her, at whatever Penny was looking at and saw a boy in the door way behind her. He was tall, willowy and had a mop of curly black hair. He smiled at April and said, "Hi there!"

"Hi back!" smiled April back.

"You're pretty," said the boy, innocently.

"Well thank you, kind sir. That's a very nice thing to say," said April, smiling even more broadly.

"Aaron, what do you want? I was yelling for you," said Penny, in an annoyed tone.

"Sorry, mom," said the boy. He held out a fine-toothed comb. "Can you brush my hair? They told us about nits today at school and I've been trying but I can't find any nits. But I can't see what I'm doing. Have you seen a nit, Miss? They showed us at school. They look like little aliens, like from Doctor Who. I'm going to be an actor when I grow up. I want to play the Doctor. He's cool. Do you ever wear bow ties? Bow ties are cool."

The words just came tumbling out and April couldn't help but keep smiling.

She looked back at Penny, who smiled at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, that's Aaron, my son. He's completely into some British show called Doctor Who. Can't stop talking about it."

She then directed her speech to Aaron. "Honey, I'll be there in a minute. I'm talking with this lady right now, ok? Go on, run along."

Aaron smiled again at April and then turned and vanished back through the door he'd arrived from.

"Cute kid," said April, "is he from this marriage or... ?"