"No. But I didn't give him an opportunity either. That man is hanging on by a thread in my book."

Jason stepped back and stared at the hole. Why did it feel significant? He turned to Carlton. "Something's not right."

"That's for sure. Dude busts in here like he owns the place after f.u.c.king disappearing for two years and reclaims his woman and dismisses her submissive. I'll say something isn't right. You just now figuring this out?"

Jason barely listened. His mind wandered in ten directions.

You know me, man... You know me.

Jason held up a hand to get Carlton to stop talking. Carlton knew Jude as well as Jason did. "Hang on. Let me think."

"What? What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost." Carlton stepped farther into the room. "What happened to the wall? You punched it again?"

Jason shook his head. "Nope."

"But that's the same spot you hit."

"Yeah, isn't that crazy?"

"Did Jude punch it?"

"No, he didn't." Jason stepped over to the wall, reached in between the drywall and the outside wall and picked up his weight. He carried it to the desk and sat. He set it on the desk. He stared at it.

"What the f.u.c.k are you doing, man? You're acting weird."

"Me? I'm not the weird one." Jason picked up the paperweight, tossed it back and forth between his hands and then jumped up and threw it at the wall. He was perfectly calm. That part he couldn't recreate, but the rest he tried to emulate.

Carlton jumped back a step at the random act. "Jason? What the h.e.l.l's gotten into you?"

Jason ambled toward the wall again. He'd missed by a mile. Not only had he hit the wall in a completely different spot, but his throw had only dented the paint. He picked it up again and went back to the chair. This time, he moved in slow motion, turned, aimed right at the hole and threw as hard as he could.

The weight hit the wall harder that time. About two feet off target, but the drywall cracked. "d.a.m.n." He was missing something. Or maybe he was out of his mind crazy.

"Talk to me, dude."

Jason turned toward Carlton. "Jude threw this at the wall, not me."

"O-kaay."

"He hit the same spot I punched and just repaired."

"Guys got a good arm too. What's your point?"

"I don't know." Jason slumped into a chair.

"So what? He's stronger than you. Might not want to take him on in a fight."

"Yeah."

"Look, Jason, Jude was in the military. Probably learned to hit stuff. I just hope he doesn't take it out on any humans."

Jason sat up straighter. "Army."

"That's right. He worked at the base just twenty miles from here. So what?"

"What did he do there?"

"I don't know. Desk job, I think. He was always around. Maybe he trained people. From the look of his aim, maybe he taught shooting cla.s.ses." Carlton chuckled.

Jason didn't. "How long did we know him?"

"Years? Five years, maybe."

"And in all that time he never talked to you about his job?"

"Not that I recall. I just knew he was in the army. Probably boring as h.e.l.l if a person isn't deployed."

"Exactly. I never knew him to be deployed, did you?"

"Not that I recall. Sometimes he was gone for a month, but I just figured he was busy. He had training camps. He never went very long without stopping in. What are you thinking?" Carlton eased into the chair across from Jason.

"That we didn't know him at all."

"So?"

"He just repeated to me twice that I knew him. Like it was important. It was about the only thing that happened other than him throwing this through the wall." Jason held up the weight.

"So he's off his rocker. I think we need to remove Lori from his care."

Jason chuckled now. "Lori? Have you met her?" He shook his head. "She doesn't do removed well. She's a strong woman with a mind of her own."

Carlton nodded. "I don't like this, man."

"Me neither, but I think Jude Cavanaugh just left me a message." He pointed at the wall. "I haven't figured it out yet, but he definitely left here distressed at my stupidity."

"He called you stupid?" Carlton leaned forward.

"No. But he desperately tried to get my attention...and it worked."

"So let me get this straight. You're thinking Jude didn't leave Lori two years ago because he was tired of her and needed a change of scenery."

"Does that seem likely to you? And if he did, why the h.e.l.l did he come back?" Jason shook his head again. "No. Not a chance in h.e.l.l. Jude left here knowing he wasn't going to return ever. So what would drive a man to that conclusion?"

"Deployment." Carlton straightened.

"Nope. That's too simple. If that were the case, he could have just told us." It was falling into place for Jason. "Unless he couldn't."

"Why not? Normal people do. They marry and they tell their wife, 'Listen, hon, I gotta go to Iraq. I'll be back.' If they love their significant other, they don't just f.u.c.king run off to fight a war without saying a word."

"They do if they're Special Forces."

Carlton's mouth opened, but he didn't respond. He nodded slowly. "f.u.c.k. Do you think it's possible?"

"I'm making this s.h.i.t up as I go along, but it would make sense. And look what he did to my wall. He nailed it...in the exact spot I did. Regular dudes can't do such a thing."

"I still don't understand why he didn't just say something to you in the first place. Why beat around this like a dead dog?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out."

Chapter Fifteen.

Jason knocked on Jude's front door Thursday morning. He'd waited out front in his car like a man on surveillance until Lori had left. And then he approached. He'd had the entire night to think this situation over. He might be crazy, but he thought he was on to something.

Jude opened the door, his eyes widening. "Jason." He stepped back and let Jason in.

"I see you haven't skipped town again yet." Jason walked around, looking at the place, soaking in the details of this rental home. Nothing looked odd to him.

"It isn't something I want to do." Jude's vague response made Jason smile.

"This game again?"

Jude shook his head. "I'm not playing games. Just stating facts."

Jason turned around and faced Jude. "Look, I may have lost my mind, but I've been thinking about what you said, or didn't say rather, and I have a theory."

Jude stepped past him and entered the kitchen area. He filled two mugs with coffee and handed Jason one. He motioned for the table, set his mug down and grabbed a sugar bowl and a spoon. Both items he pushed toward Jason.

Jason stared for a moment, picked up the spoon and scooped the sugar into his coffee with more confidence than he'd entered with. This was precisely how Jason took his coffee. "Good memory, Jude. Quite the attention for detail." He stirred the sugar and set the spoon aside.

When he lifted his gaze to Jude's, he found his old friend staring at him intently, his lips pursed. "Go on. Let's hear this theory."

"You were in the army. That's about all I ever knew about what you did for a living. I realized after you left mumbling about me knowing you that really I didn't. I made a list of facts with Carlton's help and we came up with some incongruent details."

Jude didn't move a muscle.

Good, maybe I'm onto something. "So you were in the army. You worked at the base near here. I don't know what hours you kept, but you didn't leave town often if at all. Maybe occasionally for a few weeks."

Jason took a sip of coffee, gauging Jude's reaction so far.

"Go on." Jude sat back, cupping his hands around his mug.

"The list is kind of random. But I did realize you threw that paperweight through my wall in the exact spot I punched it and just had it repaired. If that was a coincidence, I'm running for president."

Jude didn't move. He didn't even blink.

"So I asked myself, who the h.e.l.l could do such a thing? And I came up with only one choice-the reason we didn't know much about your army life was because you're a member of some elite team you can't discuss."

Jude sat stone-faced.

Jason c.o.c.ked his head and continued, "Let's say you got deployed for some sort of a.s.signment you'd been working on behind the scenes for years, and you believed you wouldn't survive the mission." He watched Jude for his reaction and got nothing. That was good. If he'd been completely in line for the looney bin, Jude would be laughing or making a strange face.

This stoic silence spoke volumes.

"But you lived. It shocked even you. And you came home unscathed. You couldn't get Lori out of your mind, so you decided to come back here and see if she was still your woman." Jason set his elbows on the table. His face was less than a foot from Jude's unwavering gaze.

"She loves you, Jude. So much I can't sleep for worrying about what it would do to her if you hurt her again."

Jude didn't move.

Jason took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. "d.a.m.n." He'd hit the nail on the head.

"So something has gone wrong, or there's another mission. And you aren't at liberty to share a word. Some top-secret government s.h.i.t. Which is strange since you're about to retire." Jason chuckled now. "This sounds like a low-budget film. I'm going to get an Oscar."

Jude didn't laugh. He took another sip of coffee as though they'd been discussing the weather. "Did you see the Giants play the other day?"

Jason blinked. What the f.u.c.k?

Jude sipped more of the brew in his hand. "They played neck and neck the entire game and then made that amazing field goal with only a few seconds left on the clock. Ahead by three points, they got all c.o.c.ky and s.h.i.t and started celebrating too early. The Broncos caught the kickoff and ran it all the way down the field into the end zone. That's messed up." He shook his head as though seriously disappointed in that game.

Except Jason knew Jude. Jude hated the Giants. Never watched them. He was an Atlanta fan. No way was he watching the New York game while Atlanta was playing.

Jason nodded. "That is messed up. Do you suppose they weren't paying attention?" This word game was making his head spin.

"f.u.c.k no. I'm thinking the Broncos had a ringer they stuck in the game at the last second, and the Giants were caught with their pants down. They probably didn't know what hit them. h.e.l.l, it could have been the next day before they realized they'd lost."

Jason stared at Jude, his chest heaving. Neither man spoke a single word for long minutes. His coffee grew cold in his hands, and he couldn't release it for fear he would shake.

What the h.e.l.l had just happened here?

Jude lowered his voice and added, "I sure hope there were some good people around to console some of the wives of those poor b.a.s.t.a.r.ds after their loss. I can only imagine them sitting there in the stands with huge smiles on their faces before the utter devastation."

f.u.c.k.

Jason swallowed. Is this what it would come to? Something about Jude's mission got f.u.c.ked up and he had to go back?

He hedged that last confusing bit. "Thank G.o.d they don't play each other again for a few months, or they might have trouble picking up the pieces for the next game."

"Yeah, don't bet on it. Those Denver players will be rubbing this in their faces forever."

Jason breathed harder. This was f.u.c.king serious. Jude was involved in something dire, and the s.h.i.t was about to hit the fan whether he liked it or not.