“That’s right.”
“You know the Brothers?”
“Yeah, good folks.”
“You go out there at all?”
“Sure. They do metal fabrication. We use some of what they make in our fracking operations. Plus they have a lot of trucks, and we pay them to haul stuff for us.”
“Did you know Irene Cramer?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Jamison said, “Are you and Caroline friends?”
“We grew up together, me, her, and Joe Kelly. Went to high school together. We were sort of inseparable back then.”
“Right, Kelly told us some of that.”
“Joe and I were on the football team. He was the starting QB and I was his best receiver.” A grin slowly spread over Shane’s features. “I caught forty-five touchdown passes from him over two seasons and we won the state title both years. And not to sound boastful or anything, but we were really popular in high school. Best times of my life. Got up every day with a smile.”
“And now?” said Jamison.
“Now we don’t see each other much. Caroline’s busy with running all her dad’s stuff. And Joe being a cop, he doesn’t keep regular hours.” He added wistfully, “Sort of miss those days. Long gone now.”
“But you like Caroline?” said Jamison.
He looked down. “Hell, everybody likes Caroline. Used to have these fantasies that we got hitched and had a bunch of kids.” He paused. “She and Joe even dated in high school. Thought for a while that they were going to get married.” He grinned weakly. “Only thing I ever hated about the guy. Caroline seemed to like him more than me.” He paused. “Me and Joe used to be best friends, together all the time.”
“What happened?” asked Jamison.
“Life . . . life happened,” said Shane sadly. “We’re still buds. Just not like before. Nothing’s like it was before,” he added wistfully.
“That tends to be the case with everybody,” opined Decker.
“We just came from dinner with Caroline,” said Jamison.
“Is that right? At her newfangled place?”
“Yes, Maddie’s, named after her mom.”
“Damn shame what happened to her.”
“Yes, it was a real tragedy,” noted Jamison.
“So Joe became a cop, Caroline went to college, and you joined the Army,” said Decker.
“That’s right.”
“How long were you in?”
“Long enough to do and see things I’ll remember till the day I die,” Shane said sharply. “Don’t get me wrong. I was proud to do my duty, but I was glad to put it behind me. I had buddies who died or lost limbs. After that, I came back here.”
“You ever see any strange activity over at the Air Force complex?”
“Strange?”
“Just anything out of the ordinary.”