Chapter 24

  April 8th 1975

  Shawn stepped on the gas pedal, leaving Madam Chi’s in the dust. He was heading for the ARVN Field Headquarters to find Colonel Bennett and get his marching orders. Fifteen minutes later, Shawn was rounding a corner when a supply truck cut in front of him. He hit the brakes, but the Jeep didn’t stop. The brakes were none existent. With nowhere to go, he crashed into the side of the truck, destroying the front end of his Jeep and doing almost no damage to the supply truck that kept going as if it had swatted away a fly. Shawn sat silently as steam and fluids poured out from under the hood. The fleeing citizens of Xuan Loc passed by without giving him so much as a second glance. Luckily, he had just passed the ARVN motor pool. He got out, grabbed his gear, and started walking the short distance back to the motor pool. Shawn recognized an ARVN Captain and asked if he could get a lift to the field headquarters and the airfield. He purposely forgot to mention that he also needed to stop at his barracks to pick up his gear. The Captain looked at him and then pointed to a Jeep parked nearby.

  “Take it; I’ll have someone pick it up at the airfield later.”

  Shawn thanked him and headed for the Jeep. He climbed in and tested the clutch and brakes. Finding no problems, Shawn started it up. Two minutes later, he drove past his mortally wounded Jeep that was still sitting in the middle of the road steaming. He had no intention of moving it.

  *****

  Shawn pulled up to his bunkhouse, happy to be leaving this chapter in his life behind him. He had very few personal possessions that he wanted to take with him, and it took him only a short time to get everything together. As he was loading his gear, he lifted the back storage compartment lid and saw something that caught his eye. It could have been the Jeep's maintenance records, but something told him it wasn't. He pulled out the nine-by-twelve manila envelope with a red string tie. On the folding edge, he could see where the remnants of a page had been stapled twice. He opened the envelope and noticed that the staples had been pulled off the back yet remained attached to the front. He looked inside and then pulled out the contents. After examining the single page for only a few seconds, he said, "No fucking way!"

  *****

  A few minutes later, Shawn pulled up to the ARVN field headquarters and jumped out. He was about to enter the makeshift structure when he spotted Jeffery and Seth Clawson shooting the breeze outside. Shawn approached the two men just as Seth was putting out his cigarette on the ground.

  “You guys getting ready to head back to Saigon?”

  “We’re scheduled to leave at 1900 hours. We just have a few more things to take care of before leaving. I heard about Jesse. I’m very sorry, Shawn. I know you guys were tight.” Jeffery answered.

  “Thanks, Jeffery. Have you heard anything about his condition?”

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  “No, nothing new; I’m sorry.”

  “Jeffery, if you have a minute… I’d like to talk to you in private.”

  Shawn wanted to talk with Jeffery alone because he didn’t know who was involved in Jensen’s death, but he also had to be cautious with him.

  Jeffery and Seth looked at each other, and Seth just shrugged and said, “I gotta take a piss anyway. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  After Seth was out of earshot, Jeffery said, “So what’s on your mind?”

  Shawn chose his words wisely. Depending on his reaction, he would know how to proceed.

  “Jeffery, I know that you and Jensen were pretty good friends. Do you think the investigation into his death was a fair assessment of what happened the night he was killed?”

  Jeffery didn’t blink, but he did stare hard at the man who asked the question. After a long moment, he finally answered. “Absolutely not…that whole story was bullshit, and I wrote a letter to the CIA station chief explaining my dissatisfaction with it. Why, do you know what really happened to Jensen? Because if you do? I want to know.”

  “No, I don’t, but I do agree with you that the investigation was bullshit.”

  Even though Shawn was pretty sure Jeffery wasn’t involved, he still didn’t want to share the information that Jesse had passed on to him about the letter. Not just yet. He wanted to do a little fishing first.

  “Did Sanders or anyone else tell you about a letter he found in his room the day that he was killed?”

  Jeffery looked at Shawn with a quizzical look.

  “What kind of letter?”

  “A letter supposedly written by Jensen before he was killed.”

  “No, no one mentioned anything about a letter to me. What are you getting at?”

  Do you know if he had a girlfriend or anyone else he wrote to back home?”

  “What was it… a love letter?”

  “No, I didn’t say that. What about the girlfriend?”

  Jeffery started to chuckle. “No one that I was aware of… Peter was pretty shy around women, and he never mentioned that he had a girlfriend. As far as I know, the only people that he wrote to were his parents. But then again, I wasn’t exactly his mailman, so I can’t say for sure.”

  “Do you know who packed up Sanders belonging after he was killed?”

  Jeffery was surprised at the quick turn in questioning and began to wonder where this was going.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “And?”

  “First, you want to tell me what this is all about?”

  “I’ll get to that, but I want to know who got Sander’s things together.”

  Jeffery sighed and said, “Sydney did. I told her that I would do it, but she insisted.”

  “Did she also pack up Peter’s things to send home?”

  “No, I did. I put all his belongings into his small footlocker and shipped it to his home.”

  “Do you know anything about encryption?” Shawn changed the subject.

  Jeffery raised his eyebrows and lowered his head because the questions were getting stranger by the minute; however, he answered anyway. “Of course I do. Now, what the hell is this all about, Shawn?”

  Shawn was about to speak when Colonel Bennett’s aide, Major Nathan Wilcox, approached them and nodded at Jeffery before addressing Shawn.

  “Corporal, Colonel Bennett is waiting for you. He just has a few minutes before he meets with General Dao and his staff.”

  “Yes, sir, I’ll just be a moment.”

  Wilcox looked at Shawn with a look of dissatisfaction and said, “NOW, Corporal.”

  Shawn stared at Wilcox for a second, then said, “YES, SIR,” with a bit of attitude in his voice.

  Before he left, he turned to Jeffrey and said, “Wait for me for a few minutes. I found something that I want your opinion on.”

  Jeffery nodded and said, “If I can, I will.”

  As Shawn looked back over his shoulder, he now wished that he had also added, “Please keep our conversation just between the two of us,” but it was too late.

  Fifteen minutes later, Shawn emerged and looked for Jeffery, but he was nowhere in sight