Page 28 of Cade

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Miretti, brother, how are you?” asked the guard at the gate.

“I’m good, man. Bringing a few old friends. Uh, they knew AC as well.” Cade, Doc, and Trevor handed over their IDs, and the man nodded, waving them in. Miretti headed toward the hospital, leading them downstairs to the morgue.

“How can I help you?” asked the young soldier.

“Sgt. Franco Miretti, here to identify the body of AC Gardner,” he said with a stoic expression.

“And them?”

“I outrank you in every way, son,” said Doc. “I’m a retired Army Ranger, and this man is a retired SEAL. My big friend there, retired Army as well.”

“Sorry, sirs,” said the young man. “Right this way.”

“Do you have any toxicology or autopsy reports yet?” asked Ashley.

“No, ma’am. That’s the same question some guy asked when he called, though. Said he wanted the reports sent to him, but I told him we couldn’t do that even if he was the guy’s private doctor.”

Cade stared at Miretti, then at the other men in the room.

“So, you haven’t done any tests on him yet?” asked Doc.

“Oh, yea, we did. I just didn’t tell the doctor that.” Doc shook his head, letting out a long slow breath.

“Could we get copies, please?” Miretti nodded at the other man as he pointed to the drawer where Gardner’s body was being kept. Watching him leave, Trevor smirked at his big friends, then turned to the three women. He knew they wouldn’t leave; he was just giving a silent warning that he was going to open the drawer.

The latch on the steel door opened, and he pulled on the table. A white sheet covered his face and body, and Miretti swallowed, gently pulling it back. His friend’s face was bruised and swollen, a long cut stretching from his temple to his ear.

“That’s him,” he whispered. Doc pulled the sheet further down, staring at the man’s chest. There were lines of blue veining that shouldn’t be there. Two fingertips were blue, and he frowned, staring at them.

“Were his fingers always like this?” Miretti looked at them, shaking his head.

“No. Never. Gardner was OCD. He washed his hands like fifty times a day until recently anyway. He said it hurt to wash them, and so he rarely did it unless he was in the shower.”

“Here are the reports,” said the young soldier. “Is it him?”

“It’s him,” said Miretti. “He doesn’t have any family. The Marines will give him the burial he deserves.”

Bree and Ashley whispered as they looked through the report, frowning at the body. Ashley touched the young man’s hand, turning it over and back.

“Large amounts of carbon steel, but huge levels of mercury. That’s why his fingers turned blue. He had mercury in his system.” Ashley looked behind her, the young soldier already back at his desk. “We need to do a total scan of his body.”

“Fuck, I’m not sure we can do that,” said Doc. “I’d need the base commander’s approval to use the equipment.” Trevor grinned at the group, pulling out his phone.

“Well, it never hurts to ask,” he said, hitting the button. “Yea, Ian, we need a favor.”

They heard an outer door slam and stood, knowing exactly who it was going to be. An older man of about fifty walked in, his uniform pressed to perfection, his ribbons straight and perfect on his chest. Two other men were behind him.

“Well, I’m going to guess that you’re the group that wants to scan my Marine’s body,” he frowned.

“Yes, sir,” said Doc. “I’m…” The man held up his hand.

“Plausible deniability.” He grinned at them and then spoke. “I know Ian and Nine. It’s alright. I don’t like that our Marines are killing themselves, and someone on the outside might be controlling that. Let’s get him wheeled into the elevators. We’ve cleared the way to the MRI room.”

Twenty minutes later, they were performing a full body scan on AC Gardner. It took almost two hours to complete, but when they were done, his body was respectfully wheeled back down to the morgue and would have a military burial within the week.

“Will you let me know what you find?” asked the older man.

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