Getting out of the truck in the yard, Gannon found his old friend alone sitting at a picnic table in the side yard of his log-cabin-style house beside his small lake.
John Barber was a lean, wiry man of five-foot-ten. When Gannon had first met him in Afghanistan, his hair was longish and almost blue-black, but it was cut in a flattop now and streaked with bits of gray, as was his mustache. As Gannon sat across from his friend, he could see that he was still in his polo shirt that he wore on the firing range, and there was a book in one of his big muscular hands.
Gannon winced as he looked at the old family Bible. The cover soft, the old onion skin pages yellow and worn with handling.
“John, I’m so sorry about your brother,” Gannon said. “What in the hell happened?”
“We don’t know,” Barber said. “His boss and buddy, Don, called. He could only talk for a second. He just said Owen was working up in Grand Teton Park, and that there was a shooting sometime this morning, and that Owen was dead. It’s not even on the news yet. I checked twice.”
“That’s unbelievable,” Gannon said.
“That’s the word,” John Barber said, placing the Bible down on the weathered wood as he looked out on the lake and cliffs.
“Was he one of your younger brothers?” Gannon said.
“No, Owen was the oldest,” Barber said, wincing.
“Married? Kids?” Gannon said.
“No, thank goodness. He was a lifelong bachelor. There was a woman he loved when he was young, but she died and that was that.”
“Your mom know?” Gannon said.
Barber nodded.
“Just got—”
Barber turned and looked off over the dark blue-green lake. Gannon looked with him out at the wind drawing silent lines and curves there on the water. Then John Barber took a breath and looked back.
“Just got back from telling her,” he finished as he turned and looked over at the front porch.
“I remember how he was laughing going down those steps two months ago. He always came down for Steph’s birthday. Looked great as usual. Happy. We’d made plans to go up to Alaska in the fall for fly-fishing. I guess I’ll need to cancel that.”
“Stef said you’re going to fly up to Jackson?” Gannon said.
Barber, in addition to so many other things military, was an avid pilot. He was a partial owner of a Beechcraft King Air 200 at the airport in Moab that he used for his more action-oriented corporate clients for skydiving.
Barber looked at Gannon with his placid brown eyes and nodded.
“I need to go and get Owen and bring him back for my mom. She wants the funeral down here so they can bury him next to my daddy.”
Gannon bit his lip. Barber’s wife, Lynn, was completely hysterical about the flying issue. She’d told Stef that she didn’t want John driving feeling crazed and heartbroken the way he was, let alone flying.
And it wasn’t just that, Gannon knew. After his military service, like so many other great soldiers, John had some trouble transitioning back into civilian life. Not that long ago, he’d gone on a tear of drinking, then sunk into a deep spiraling depression. He and Lynn had really struggled for over a year to finally pull him out of it.
Gannon peered at his old buddy.
“When are you going to leave for Wyoming?” Gannon said.
“In a minute. I already called the guys at the airport to reconfigure the plane so we can fit in the casket. I know what Lynn’s saying, but I’m fine.”
“I know you are. I’d like to come with you,” Gannon found himself saying.
Barber smiled.
“No, that’s not necessary, old friend. I appreciate the gesture, but you have your own scenario. This is family stuff. I got this.”
“Just let me tag along for the flight.”
“No,” Barber said.
“John, how many times have you saved my ass? How about letting me pay you and your wife back a little, huh? You need help, so I’m going with you, you hardheaded son of a bitch, and that’s that.”
John looked at him again.
“There’ll be law enforcement. Federal. Owen worked for the US Park Service.”
Gannon had told him all about his recent run-in with the FBI.
“I’ll just come along for company. I’ll stay at the hotel until you get stuff settled and then we’ll head back.”
Barber shook his head.
“Do it for your wife, man,” Gannon said. “She wants someone to watch your back. You think she wants you up in a plane alone? She’s freaking terrified.”
Barber thought on that, then finally nodded.
“Suit yourself. You ready? Some bad weather’s coming. We need to leave now to beat it.”
Ready? Gannon thought. Shit no!
“Of course,” Gannon said standing. “Let’s go.”