Chapter 1

The team I was assigned to was one of three responsible for guarding footlocker type cases stacked up in a room that was about twelve foot wide by twenty feet deep. I had been with the team that discovered the room and immediately reported it to our headquarters. There had been some serious resistance when we entered this village, but the people guarding whatever it was turned tail and ran out of town in Toyota pickups as fast as they could go.

We were apprehensive about explosives, so we checked every doorway and every room in the village until we found a group of rooms that contained weapons, ammunition, and USA MREs at its center. The last room we checked was filled with these cases containing the unknown. Our team's Lieutenant had me, his second in command, check one of the cases for any form of trip wire. The Lieutenant and I gasped at what we saw when I cautiously opened the case.

The case was filled with bundles of hundred dollar bills. They didn't look like new bills, but those that had been in circulation before being bundled and put into the case. Thank goodness for our head cameras so that those watching the operation would know we didn't keep any for ourselves. The Lieutenant had me open four more cases and we discovered that they all contained the same thing; more bundles of hundred dollar bills.

Command said they were dispatching a couple of trucks to take the find back to headquarters so that it could be sent back to the States or destroyed. We were told that the convoy should reach us in an hour and a half.

There were four other teams spread throughout this village, with our men in place set up to defend our position should the enemy who ran come back.

The Lieutenant was notified almost three hours later that the convoy had been hit with multiple IEDs. Another convoy had departed headquarters, and was being led by two Bradleys with a couple of Apaches flying cover.

Our observers saw the convoy approaching and we were in contact with them by radio when we were attacked by what seemed to be hundreds of enemy from the other side of the village. The Apaches came swooping in, blasting the enemy from the air, and our teams were prepared and fortified with sufficient ammo to defend our position, but several men were hit. Our Lieutenant was down but not dead. We patched him up to hold him until the convoy arrived to pick him up. Our trucks in the convoy were undermanned and not protected very well.

I didn't want to stick around at this point, so I directed a line of men to pass the cases from the room to the trucks. This took a hell of long longer than it should have because everyone wanted to check out what was inside these special cases.

There were two hundred and sixteen cases full of bundled hundred dollar bills. All my men had head cams, but none of the convoy men wore them. I did my thing and used chalk to number every case. There were still some snipers from outside the village, but we were being cautious about what was exposed. The wounded were picked up by Evac helicopters, and I was instructed to bring my team and one other back to headquarters with the convoy. The other team had an Officer as team leader, but you knew he wasn't going to be much help when you checked out the wet spots on his pants.

We stacked satchels of explosives on all the weapons and ammo before we left the village, giving us twenty minutes to get away from there. We were only a couple klicks away from the village when all the charges went off, igniting all of the other explosives and ammo. It was quite a sight.

We made it back to headquarters, with a Bradley leading and one following us, where I was to hand the captured booty off. I wanted an Officer to sign for the cases and finally found an unsuspecting butter bar (fresh 2^nd Lieutenant) to take charge of storing two hundred and sixteen cases of bundled hundred dollar bills.

Problem one was that case number one fifty-seven didn't make it. Somewhere between that storage room, the truck, and headquarters, a case of bundled hundred dollar bills went missing. I later found out that my head cam battery went south while we were unloading at headquarters. Another of my team was also there, so his video confirmed everything for us.

The Army immediately sent their CID guys around to try to find the missing case. All our men expected NCIS to be there, but none of the Navy guys were available. Both teams being held had been out for almost ten days and we were all hungry, tired, dirty, and even needed some time to clean our weapons that had been taken from us.

A CID guy did a short interview with each man and probably asked the others the same question, 'What did you do with that case of money?' My response was, "Everyone on the two teams had head cams, so review the video and you'll see that it wasn't us."

I was asked why I was in charge of the teams in the field during my second interview. I explained that the other team's Lieutenant was in shock and couldn't lead. I was left as the only one who the teams would listen to. They were angry with me as I kept falling asleep while they were trying to figure out what questions to ask me.

They gave us an MRE and let us clean up after six hours of intermittent questioning and three of my men passing out, but didn't allow us to get fresh BDUs. Just what I needed: dirty socks for however long it was going to be.

This was now Thursday morning and we were brought cold chow hall food instead of delicious MREs without coffee, milk, or water, and ate sitting on the floor leaning against a wall in our interview waiting room. All of us were smart to request to use the latrine, so we were able to drink water from our hands after peeing.

The CID guys now had more investigators, so my interview was over five hours. The men asking questions changed as they went to lunch or out for a coffee break, but they kept pounding me with the same questions over and over again. I stood to stretch and asked if they were questioning the Army guys in the convoy the same way as the teams and was pushed back into my chair hard enough to fall back, hit my head, and get knocked out.

I woke up in an infirmary with a head bandage and one wrist handcuffed to the bed. Sitting in a chair at the side of the bed was a Marine Captain. The Officer left the room as I became aware of my surroundings, and then came back with what must have been a nurse along with a guy who wore an MP arm band. The nurse did a quick once over for my temp and blood pressure, but didn't talk to me. The MP was making a radio call advising someone that I was awake. The nurse told us she would bring a doctor to check me out.

The MP warned the Captain that he shouldn't get too close to me as I was dangerous and already tried to escape. The Officer said, "I know the Sergeant and I'll take my chances."

A doc came in, went over me again, and checked the head wound that was on the side of my head. I wondered how I had fallen backwards and cut the side of my head. The doc said it didn't look like a severe concussion, so I should be alright to be up and about as long as I took it easy.

I jerked my wrist that was cuffed and asked the MP to unlock me so I could use the latrine. He looked around and said, "Sorry, but my orders are to keep you locked to the bed. The CID guys are going to be here in a minute. They still want to talk to you."

The Captain asked, "Do you remember falling and hitting your head?"

"I remember being pushed back into the chair and it flipped over, nothing after that."

The Captain addressed the MP telling him, "I want to be alone with the Sergeant. Please stand outside the door."

The MP looked worried, but looked around before stepping out the door.

The Captain said, "You're in luck. The MPs in the interrogation room were wearing body cams and those cam videos showed you being pushed back, and one of the CID agents then actually kicked you in the head. They have conveniently lost the interrogation video of most of your interview, saying there was a technical problem. The leaders in that room have made statements that you fell over backwards by leaning back in the chair. I think the Legal Officers will enjoy prosecuting those men."

I just stared at the Captain, trying to remember where I knew him from. The man stood and paced a little before he said, "There was an attack when I first arrived here, and you and your team came to where we were and pushed the insurgents back. I'll try to do the same for you now. I'm with the Judge Advocate's office and I'll be getting help from JAG. I've notified NCIS so that they can confiscate any evidence. The big question now is if you stole the case that's missing?"

I shook my head and said, "No, would I have numbered the cases if I were going to do that? My team was watching the entire time. Two teams stayed with the trucks and the third team was airlifted back to base. There's enough video the CID should be able to find how the case was stolen."

The Captain said, "That's what I figured, but we're going to have to wait for NCIS to get here to gather the information. I have copies of the body cam videos from the interrogation room which can fill in where they said there was a technical problem with their video."

Four CID men came into the room together, and began harassing the Captain about being with a prisoner. The Captain said, "I'm the Sergeant's legal counsel and have been assigned by the Judge Advocate's office."

The lead CID man said, "Well, this man has already attempted an escape that we have sworn statements about."

The Captain smiled and said, "I'd like to have a copy of each of your statements. I think they will become important when you charge the Sergeant."

"What do you mean when; he's under arrest for theft of confiscated currency from the enemy."

The Captain said, "I'd like to have a copy of the arrest papers and see what proof you have the Sergeant is responsible for the missing case."

There was a lot of grumbling, but the man assured the Captain he would provide the requested information.

I needed some help and asked, "I need to use the bathroom and I'm very hungry. It seems that I missed supper last night and breakfast this morning. How about taking this cuff off so I can pee? You can even have someone come in with me."

Someone unlocked the cuff after looking at the Captain a couple of times. One man followed me into the bathroom, while another left the room to hopefully find me some food.

The one CID agent said, "We'll be moving the prisoner to the stockade where he can be monitored easier. We still have his gear to go through while we're reviewing all the headcam video. The Captain is welcome to interview the prisoner during regular hours following the stockade's rules." The man almost grinned about how he thought he could use the stockade rules to his advantage.

The Captain leaned over to me and said, "I'll make sure you are treated correctly. I promise to stay with you there as much as possible."

The man who had left the room came back and said I would have to wait for lunch for any food. The Captain began getting angry, and said, "Go to the Officers' Open Mess and get a full plate of breakfast food. Bring a carton of milk and a cup of coffee. Now go. I will not allow the Sergeant to be moved until he has been fed."

There was some confusion until one of the men was directed to follow the Captain's request.

One CID agent asked me if I knew how much was in each of the cases while we were waiting for the food. I didn't have a clue, but guessed it was probably around a half to a million dollars. The agent laughed and said, "Each of those cases contain 35 bundles of one thousand hundred dollar bills. That's three and a half million per case and over seven hundred fifty million in two hundred and sixteen cases. What were you planning on doing with three and a half million?"

The food finally came and I wolfed the cold breakfast down as well as the cold coffee. My stomach finally began talking to me nicely again as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. I asked, "Can you get my BDUs and boots so we can do whatever you want to do with me?"

I turned to the Captain and asked, "Can you check on the rest of the two teams' members to see how they are doing? I'd like to know how my Lieutenant is doing as well. He's probably already on his way to Germany."

The Captain smiled at me and told the CID men, "That is what a team leader would ask and not be concerned over money that was stolen by some unknown persons."

The lead CID agent said, "He was in charge, so he was responsible for all the money. The local Officer only signed for two hundred and fifteen cases. One case with three and a half million is missing. What did you do with it?"

I told everyone in the room, "You have video of my teams and me for every minute we were en route and unloading the cases. I'd suggest you watch those videos over and over again until you see what happened to that case."

The Captain put his hand on my arm to settle me down, and softly said, "JAG and NCIS will be here by the end of the day. Just relax and be as quiet as possible."

My clothes had disappeared, but my boots without the dirty socks were in the room's locker. There was a scramble to find me something to wear until I could be issued a set of orange stockade coveralls. I ended up with a set of doctor's scrubs and wearing my boots without socks. The Humvee they used to transport me didn't have enough room for the Captain, so he told me he would check on the help that was coming and then come see me.

The next two hours was filled with more questions and answers, plus being photographed and fingerprinted. I was sent through the showers and given a jumpsuit along with a pair of flip flops since it was summer. Instead of an open bay, I was put into a separate room that was adorned with a bed, chair, lamp, a toilet, sink, and a couple of older paperbacks. I was told someone would come for me when it was chow time.

They must have forgotten as my stomach was growling and it was getting dark so it had to be about eight to eight thirty. A guard opened the door and told me to stand in the corner facing the corner. The man patted me down and looked through the room. When he was done he was going to leave, so I asked, "How come you didn't come for me to eat supper?"

The man said, "Newbies don't get food for twenty-four hours. They might get you something for breakfast. Shit, you can probably have someone sneak you food with all the money you stole."

I'm a patient person and can tolerate field conditions along with my men, but I had no idea how my men were doing or where they were. I tried to analyze each of the men in the two teams while I was thinking of them, to determine if any of them were capable of this theft. The more I thought of it, the more I realized a theft of even one case would have to be done by three or four men. Considering we had been on video the whole time, I couldn't see how any of my men could have done this.