battalion. They’d talk. Chaz would brave the Incline, and that would be the end of this attempt to find out more about his brother.
It was only seven in the morning and the parking lot was almost full, hikers already tackling one of the most popular trails in the area. He’d never understood the attraction of scaling the wooden ties left over from a cable car that used to take tourists up the side of the mountain. But from the number of people heading up the Incline with backpacks and water bottles or CamelBaks, he was in the minority.
“You sure you don’t want to join me?” Chaz appeared on Stephen’s left.
“Hey. I didn’t see you pull in.”
“I had to circle to the far end of the lot to find a parking place. So, are we talking here, or are we hiking up?”
“If you’re okay with it, we’ll talk here.”
“No problem.” Chaz settled his CamelBak on the asphalt beside Stephen’s Mustang. “Man, it still gets me how much you look like Sam.”
Stephen ran his hand through his hair. Same song . . . “Hope it doesn’t bother you too much.”
“Nah. I’ll get used it . . . and it’s not like you’re moving to the Springs or anything. No offense, man.”
“None taken.” He might as well get to it. “Haley told me Sam was a medic.”
“He was the best. He stayed calm in some bad situations. He saved a couple of guys after a firefight in the mountains in Afghanistan. Nothing ever fazed him. When he was on duty, he was all about the job. He got hit by shrapnel once taking care of somebody. He took care of it himself and wouldn’t let us report the incident for a Purple Heart.”
Stephen tried to bring into focus the blurred image of his brother. It was as if each word Chaz spoke dialed some virtual microscope so that his understanding of Sam became clearer. “Were you with him when . . . when . . .”
“No.” A quick shake of his head stopped Stephen’s question. “We played cards the night before. I think he won just about every hand.” Chaz stood beside Stephen, mirroring his stance by leaning against the car, crossing his arms over his chest. “Some of the troops on the patrol told me that he’d just started an IV on a wounded soldier after dragging him out of the line of fire. A second later, Sam went down. He landed right next to the guy . . . never said anything . . . The guy Sam rescued survived. They made sure the sniper didn’t.”
Chaz turned away, his back straight, shoulders tight, and cursed under his breath. He took a deep breath before facing Stephen again. “What else do you want to know?”
Something loosened deep in Stephen’s chest. His brother hadn’t suffered. He hadn’t let himself dwell on the what and how of Sam’s death—could barely say the word died in the same sentence with his brother’s name. “Thanks for telling me that.”
“Everybody liked Sam. He was easygoing, always ready to have fun. Wasn’t afraid of anything. He and I did our first free-fall jumps together.”
“I didn’t know Sam skydived.”
“We both went through airborne training at Fort Benning. When we ended up out here, he talked me into some civilian free-fall classes. We did about a dozen jumps together. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t try.” Memories seemed to hold Chaz silent as their escapades pulled him into the past, away from Stephen. “We were all surprised when he and Hal got married.”
“Really? Why?”
“Nothing against Hal. She’s great. But Sam was all about dating a girl three, maybe four times and then moving on, you know? Nothing serious. And we figured that’s the way it would go down with Hal. And then the next we know he’s marrying her. One of the guys even joked around and asked if Hal was pregnant. We had to pull Sam off of him.”
“Sam had a temper?”
“Not really. I mean, you deploy enough times, you can be a bit edgy. But Sam kept a tight lid on things. He loved the army. Said he liked the security of the
It was only seven in the morning and the parking lot was almost full, hikers already tackling one of the most popular trails in the area. He’d never understood the attraction of scaling the wooden ties left over from a cable car that used to take tourists up the side of the mountain. But from the number of people heading up the Incline with backpacks and water bottles or CamelBaks, he was in the minority.
“You sure you don’t want to join me?” Chaz appeared on Stephen’s left.
“Hey. I didn’t see you pull in.”
“I had to circle to the far end of the lot to find a parking place. So, are we talking here, or are we hiking up?”
“If you’re okay with it, we’ll talk here.”
“No problem.” Chaz settled his CamelBak on the asphalt beside Stephen’s Mustang. “Man, it still gets me how much you look like Sam.”
Stephen ran his hand through his hair. Same song . . . “Hope it doesn’t bother you too much.”
“Nah. I’ll get used it . . . and it’s not like you’re moving to the Springs or anything. No offense, man.”
“None taken.” He might as well get to it. “Haley told me Sam was a medic.”
“He was the best. He stayed calm in some bad situations. He saved a couple of guys after a firefight in the mountains in Afghanistan. Nothing ever fazed him. When he was on duty, he was all about the job. He got hit by shrapnel once taking care of somebody. He took care of it himself and wouldn’t let us report the incident for a Purple Heart.”
Stephen tried to bring into focus the blurred image of his brother. It was as if each word Chaz spoke dialed some virtual microscope so that his understanding of Sam became clearer. “Were you with him when . . . when . . .”
“No.” A quick shake of his head stopped Stephen’s question. “We played cards the night before. I think he won just about every hand.” Chaz stood beside Stephen, mirroring his stance by leaning against the car, crossing his arms over his chest. “Some of the troops on the patrol told me that he’d just started an IV on a wounded soldier after dragging him out of the line of fire. A second later, Sam went down. He landed right next to the guy . . . never said anything . . . The guy Sam rescued survived. They made sure the sniper didn’t.”
Chaz turned away, his back straight, shoulders tight, and cursed under his breath. He took a deep breath before facing Stephen again. “What else do you want to know?”
Something loosened deep in Stephen’s chest. His brother hadn’t suffered. He hadn’t let himself dwell on the what and how of Sam’s death—could barely say the word died in the same sentence with his brother’s name. “Thanks for telling me that.”
“Everybody liked Sam. He was easygoing, always ready to have fun. Wasn’t afraid of anything. He and I did our first free-fall jumps together.”
“I didn’t know Sam skydived.”
“We both went through airborne training at Fort Benning. When we ended up out here, he talked me into some civilian free-fall classes. We did about a dozen jumps together. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t try.” Memories seemed to hold Chaz silent as their escapades pulled him into the past, away from Stephen. “We were all surprised when he and Hal got married.”
“Really? Why?”
“Nothing against Hal. She’s great. But Sam was all about dating a girl three, maybe four times and then moving on, you know? Nothing serious. And we figured that’s the way it would go down with Hal. And then the next we know he’s marrying her. One of the guys even joked around and asked if Hal was pregnant. We had to pull Sam off of him.”
“Sam had a temper?”
“Not really. I mean, you deploy enough times, you can be a bit edgy. But Sam kept a tight lid on things. He loved the army. Said he liked the security of the
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