June 24
“ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY in paradise,” Ellen sighed as she got out of the government car. It was already Thursday, and the week was flying by. Every day she looked forward to working with Jim. Her world of gray was now shimmering with color. Ellen felt the shift in her heart and soul. Hope was burning steady and strong, and it caught her completely by surprise.
“You’re an idealist, Ellen.” Cochrane gave her a jaded look.
“To a fault,” she admitted wryly. “I don’t like the alternative.” As they walked toward a group of buildings situated on USNAS Giddings, Ellen heard and recognized two Super Hornet combat aircraft in the distance, preparing for takeoff. She had boned up on all things Navy when she was told of the coming assignment. The howl of thunder rolled across the station. She turned and stared toward the flight line. The entire Navy station seem to rumble and vibrate from the earsplitting growls as the jets hurtled down the runway and leaped into the air.
Jim couldn’t help but smile. He wanted to make Ellen feel a part of the investigation. “Today we’re the Jim and Ellen team. Red hair. You know, red-haired women have always been hellions of the first order.” Giving her a sideward glance, he added, “And with your red hair being curly as all get-out, I think you’re right about needing to work in a loose social structure. The military isn’t your cup of tea.”
Laughter bubbled up in Ellen as she noted his gleeful expression. Absorbing his unabashed smile and the teasing glint in his eyes, she felt the darkness continue to dissolve. “Thank you for having pity on us red-haired hellions, Jim. I’m deeply grateful.” And she was. Any lessening of tension between them was another step in the right direction, as far as she was concerned.
Cochrane cradled her elbow and guided her into the building. “Don’t tell me you’re going to get hornswoggled by that display of raw naval aviation power and become a jet jock groupie?” Reluctantly, he released her as they entered the Top Gun facility. Much to his consternation, Jim discovered that touching Ellen was a need in him. He was fighting an attraction to her, pure and simple.
“Give me a break, will you?” She walked at his side through the door toward administration. Her skin tingled where he’d cupped her elbow. How she looked forward to these unexpected moments of contact. “They’re human beings like us—no more and no less. They aren’t little tin gods in my book of life.”
Just inside the polished passageway, Cochrane halted. “Good to hear that. Listen, you mosey down to personnel, identify yourself and ask for Lieutenant Kane’s file. Oh, and arrange to pick up files on these Top Gun personnel, as well.” He handed her a list that contained twelve names. “Susan Kane went to the Ares Conference with two other women—Lieutenants Jillson and Hawkins. They work here at Ops. You can get those files now. We’ll pick the others tomorrow morning. With Captain Allison wanting the ball rolling on this case, we have to move a lot faster than usual.”
Ellen nodded. “Okay. Where are you going?”
Cochrane opened the door. “I’m gonna amble over and make an appointment with Captain Warren Oliver. He’s the C.O. of Top Gun. I reckon I’d better clear the forthcoming interviews with his staff through him. I’ll be back.” He glanced at his watch. “Should take about ten or fifteen minutes, and we’ll meet at the car. Late tomorrow morning we’ll come back over to Ops and start the interviews.”
“Ops?”
“Slang for Operations. Can you stand being without me that long?”
Ellen tilted her head. “Uh-oh. Let down some of the social structure and you’re a big tease, Lieutenant.” She saw him smile broadly. He was incredibly handsome in a devil-may-care way when he smiled. Being teased felt good, too. It meant that Jim was accepting their relationship. And if Ellen wasn’t wrong, she saw a hint of something else in his gray eyes, though she wasn’t sure what. “You’ll meet me at the car?”
“It’s a date.” Cochrane turned and headed down the hall, his beat-up briefcase in his left hand.
A date? Stunned by his choice of words, Ellen stared at his back as he walked confidently away from her. Jim was a lawyer and used to finessing people with the right words. “Date” was not an accident, Ellen decided as she turned on her heel and walked in the opposite direction.
She found her way to a large office that had Personnel above the door frame. She was eager to get this case started.
June 25
THE OPERATIONS COMPLEX housed the meteorology division, air control operations and Top Gun facility classrooms. Cochrane and Tanner entered through the main double doors. The floors—or “decks,” Jim told her—were laid with light green tiles, which glowed from a daily waxing job by some enlisted person low on the totem pole. The stairs leading to the air control tower rose to the left.
Ellen followed as Cochrane sauntered down a busy passageway where Navy pilots dressed in dark olive-green or bright orange flight suits jostled past. Class must have just let out. They gave the “foreigners” the once-over as if they were aliens from another planet. Ellen felt their disdain, arrogance and curiosity.
“In here,” Cochrane said, motioning to an empty office. “I got permission from Captain Warren yesterday to use this room.” Once Ellen entered, he quietly closed the door. “We can interview the captain at 1100. It’s a mere formality, but it has to be done. When you are going to interview an entire group beneath its C.O., he or she goes through the same process even if not a suspect. Until the captain arrives, let’s start going over their personnel files, getting specifics typed into our laptop spreadsheet.”
Ellen took a seat at a long table and removed the files from her briefcase. “Last night I was looking over the possible list of people we should interview based on the files we collected as evidence from Susan’s condo.” She glanced across the table at Cochrane, who sat down and took off his garrison cap. “At first I didn’t think those files in her drawer would be important. Goes to show you what I don’t know.” She grinned. “We got some names out of them right away.”
“Good going. You’re not a talking head after all,” Cochrane said. “You’re doing just fine, Ellen.” He set a copy of Kane’s file before him. And yet he had trouble focusing on the case. Ellen looked so beautiful—wild, colorful and so out of place in his uniformed world of order and discipline. His heart pounded in response to the soft smile she gave him. After two years of utter darkness in his life, she was a beam of light to him, a way out of the pit he’d lived in for so long. She was something special, and he tussled inwardly with that knowledge.
“I can help you schedule them.” Ellen brightened beneath the look of pride he gave her. It felt damn good to be appreciated by a man once more.
“That’s fine. Jillson and Hawkins are first on our interview list. The commanding officer of station operations also gave me permission to schedule interviews directly with the individuals concerned. He just asked us to respect their duty requirements.”
“That’s good news, too.”
“Reckon it is. Why don’t you go out to the Ops desk and try and set up interviews with Hawkins and Jillson? This afternoon, if possible.”
She got up. “Do you think I’m going to be given a hard time again, as I was over at personnel?” The officer in charge there hadn’t been enthusiastic about giving her all the files, but in the end he had.
Cochrane looked up and grinned. “Wearing those rainbow-child clothes isn’t going to help you.”
She scowled. “Just because I don’t look official doesn’t mean anything, Mr. Cochrane.”
His smile widened and he went back to perusing Kane’s file. “Maybe if you wore a conservative suit, you might not get such stray voltage from us rigid, disciplined military types….”
“Not a chance. They either take me as I am or tough noogies.”
Her eyes sparkled. She truly was a wild child, Jim mused. And alluring in her own unique way. Why, he’d even woken up this morning looking forward to going to work—because he knew Ellen would be there. He chuckled. “I was wondering where your temper would show up.”
About to exit, with her hand around the brass doorknob, Ellen turned and gave him a quick wink.
When she left, the room fell quiet and Cochrane continued to chuckle. So the red-haired mouse wasn’t passive or sedate, after all. Of course, those colorful clothes were an indicator that Ellen was a headstrong individual. He liked discovering her different qualities. She had fire, spirit, plus she wasn’t afraid to meet him toe-to-toe.
And he liked what he saw a lot more than he should.
ELLEN CAME BACK twenty minutes later, flushed and triumphant. Cochrane set Kane’s record aside as she sat down with a notebook in her hands.
“We’re in luck! Lieutenant Hawkins is a meteorologist and she’s on duty at the weather desk right now. Lieutenant Jillson is an air controller and she’s due to come off duty at 1500. I’ve set up interviews with both.”
“Good work.” It took an effort to tear his gaze from her as she ran her fingers through those red curls.
“What did you find out about Susan?” Ellen pointed to the personnel record in his hands. The heated look Jim gave her made her melt inwardly, but she didn’t have time to sort it out. They were under such pressure to get this case solved.
“Pretty much what I expected. She’s got 4.0s on her Fitreps, all glowing reports on leadership skills and abilities. She’s had all kinds of recommendations, from Annapolis up to and including her present duty station.” He tapped the file thoughtfully.
“Is that important?”
“To get early anything is indicative that she had a sponsor—someone of much higher rank who was watching her career very carefully. Whoever it was might have orchestrated her career to a degree, giving her the opportunity to climb the ladder of success sooner rather than later, as we discussed before. In fact, Commander Dornier indicated that the CNO himself was inquiring about Susan’s death. To sum it up, Ellen, Lieutenant Kane was bright, aggressive and had the world by the tail. And a whole passel of people are shore interested in the outcome of our investigation. No doubt about it. That spells SPONSOR in capital letters.”
Clasping her hands, Ellen said, “Let’s say the autopsy declares her death a suicide. I don’t think it’s out of line to suggest a monumental failure might have driven a perfectionist like Susan to such a drastic act.”
“Since I’m not a perfectionist or obsessive, I reckon I wouldn’t kill myself just because I failed a test or didn’t make early rank,” Cochrane retorted dryly.
“But you’re not Susan.”
“The hole in your theory is that Kane never failed.” He handed her the file. “Take a look. She had a straight 4.0 at Annapolis, at Pensacola—at anything she did. This woman didn’t know how to fail.”
“My point exactly, Mr. Cochrane,” Ellen said primly as she opened the file. “Once they get in the rut of success, people like Susan don’t know how to fail. Certainly not gracefully.”
“Your shrink theories are just that.” Jim said it teasingly, though her green eyes narrowed on him, her lips pursed. He wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips.
“You’re really opinionated. You know that, Mr. Cochrane?” She met his grin and was amused by the fact that her partner was blushing. Yes, there was something terribly vulnerable and appealing about him.
“Like a Missouri mule. Thank you, Ellen.” Feeling the heat in his face, he avoided her dancing green gaze.
“You’re not welcome, Jim.”
He glanced at his watch and then up at her. Ellen was doing her best to suppress her smile, which compelled him to get back to business. “I reckon it’s time to interview the C.O. Let’s saddle up.”
ELLEN WAITED UNTIL THEY were headed toward the parking lot before she spoke about the interview with the commanding officer. They were going to catch a late lunch over at the Officers’ Club, then come back to interview Hawkins and Jillson. “I would hope that all our interviews with the Top Gun people aren’t like this last one. What a bust!”
Cochrane laughed. “Get used to it, Ellen. Why should Oliver open up to us? For all we know, everyone may have hated Susan Kane, but the captain isn’t going to tell us that. If he did, it would reflect poorly on his leadership abilities. Did you see him almost come out of his chair when you suggested sexual harassment?”
“Boy, did I. Everyone is post-Tailhook PC, aren’t they?”
“You’d better believe it. And now the Air Force Academy is handling its own rape scandal among the cadets. No sirree Bob, sexual harassment toward women in the military is not a dead issue at all.”
“The 2003 Air Force rape scandal is a grim reminder that women in the military are still threatened,” Ellen said in a pained voice. “Still, it was obvious the captain sincerely believed in Susan and her extraordinary abilities.” She climbed into the car. “I hope Hawkins and Jillson are a little more forthcoming.”
Cochrane drove out of the parking lot. “Captain Oliver was being politically correct—say nothing bad about anyone. That’s the big windy, you know? Shit happens all the time on this station, but you’ll never hear of it or see it in the newspaper. The Navy, like any other service or corporation, has airtight compartments on disasters. They know how to keep everyone in line. If people speak out, their career is finished. That’s a pretty heavy threat, Ellen, and it works very well in most cases.”
“This is like a Dark Ages code of silence. I mean, Captain Oliver didn’t give us anything at all.”
“The Captain gave us information that couldn’t hurt him or his career. My bet is that all the pilots we interview are going to pull the ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ response.”
“If Captain Oliver is typical, we’re in trouble before we even start.”
“Reckon I’ve heard that before,” Cochrane drawled as he pulled into the parking lot of the Officers’ Club. “And yet, I like figuring out puzzles, Ellen. Come on, let’s go eat. I’m a starving cow brute.”
“Cow brute?”
He grinned as they walked toward the entrance of the O Club. “Ozarks lingo for a bull.”
LIEUTENANT ANN HAWKINS, one of Susan Kane’s companions on the last night she was alive, wiped her palms on her uniform skirt as she stepped inside the office.
“Come on in,” Cochrane invited with a friendly drawl.
The woman nodded. “I’m Lieutenant Hawkins.”
“Lieutenant Cochrane,” he said, standing and shaking her hand. “This is my partner, Agent Ellen Tanner from OIG. Have a seat and we’ll get started.”
Shutting the door, Ann sat down in front of the desk, while they sat opposite. “This is about Susan Kane’s death, isn’t it?”
“That’s right,” Cochrane said.
“How did Susan die? Did someone hurt her? Was it murder?”
Jim saw the raw grief, the shock in Hawkins’s reddened eyes. “We don’t know yet, Lieutenant. That’s what we’re trying to find out right now.”
“We heard about it from Captain Oliver the day it happened. I just can’t believe it.”
“Lieutenant, I have to run through some legal matters with you in regards to this investigation of Lieutenant Kane’s death.”
Ann wiped tears from her eyes. “I—I’m sorry,” she murmured, digging for a tissue from her pocket.
“That’s okay, Lieutenant. Take your time. Had you any contact with Lieutenant Kane on the day preceding her death, June 21st?”
“No, I was off duty and away from home the entire day.”
“No contact of any type on the day in question or in the early morning hours of the following day, June 22nd?” Jim repeated.
“None.”
“What can you tell us about Susan, Lieutenant Hawkins?”
Sniffing, Ann whispered, “She was my best friend. My very best friend.”
“How long had you known her?”
“We met back at Pensacola years ago.”
“Tell us about your relationship,” Ellen Tanner urged gently. She glanced at Jim as if to get his silent approval to ask questions. He nodded in response. Heartened by his support, she returned her attention to Hawkins.
Ann sniffed and blotted her eyes again. “Susan wasn’t the kind to complain. She didn’t confide in many people, but she trusted me for some reason. I don’t know why. You see, Susan always knew she was being watched.”
“Watched?” Ellen asked. In a way, this felt like a therapy session between her and a patient. Interviewing wasn’t so different or difficult. She felt a swell of quiet confidence over that realization.
“Yes, the male pilots watched her because she was a woman. Susan knew she had to do everything better than a man in order to be accepted and get passing grades. She was so smart. Susan always achieved 4.0s in whatever she undertook. She was a role model for all women who tried to follow in her footsteps.”
“Did she date or socialize with any officer here on the station?”
“Not that I know of. She used what little spare time she had to volunteer. If a group of school kids came to tour our facility, Susan was always the first to volunteer and talk to them, to take time out of her schedule to accommodate them. She also volunteered at the San Diego Zoo.”
“I see. What can you tell us about Susan Kane’s lifestyle?” In her gut, Ellen felt this information was important, but her partner looked bored. As a psychologist, she knew that family dynamics set a person up for life. This was her bread and butter. If she was going to become a good investigator, she had to use the tools and skills she had at her disposal.
“You mean her family?” Ann’s mouth pulled downward. “Her father, Robert Kane, is a retired Navy captain. He put in twenty-four years and was a fighter pilot. Since he retired, Susan told me, he’s made a fortune in the stock market. She has two brothers. Brad Kane is a lieutenant commander and Tommy Kane is a lieutenant. They’re both Super Hornet pilots serving aboard different carriers.”
“So it’s a Navy family,” Ellen said. “The father was a pilot and all three children followed in his footsteps. What about Susan’s mother? Do you know much about her?”
“It’s sad, to tell you the truth. Her real mother, Rachel Kane, died giving birth to Susan. Her father remarried six months later.”
“Six months?” Ellen blurted.
Ann nodded. “I think it was a marriage of convenience. As a Navy pilot, Robert Kane was out at sea six to sixteen months at a stretch. He either had to marry the first woman who came along to take care of his three children, farm them out to relatives, or give up his career and raise the kids by himself.”
“Isn’t that a pretty harsh judgment of him?” Cochrane inquired, hearing the anger and tightness in Hawkins’s voice.
“Susan told me many times that her father was the ultimate Navy pilot. He was an ace in the closing days of the Vietnam War and made his one hundred missions. At the time of her mother’s death, he wasn’t there, which can be typical for pilots who are deployed on a carrier in the middle of some ocean. From the Navy’s perspective, Kane’s mission was far more important than the mere birth of a child.”
“How awful for Susan,” Ellen murmured.
“It was,” Ann whispered, wiping her eyes. “Her stepmother, Georgia Huntington, was a Southern socialite. Susan grew up learning politics from her stepmother. Georgia caught on to Navy politics real fast. And she was the consummate Navy wife to Robert.”
“How did Georgia get along with his children?” Ellen wondered.
“She got along well with the boys. She was indifferent to Susan. All three children grew up in Robert Kane’s shadow. Frankly, I don’t think either Georgia or Robert particularly liked having children.”
“Did Georgia see Susan as competition?” Ellen asked.
With a sigh, Ann said, “Let me put it this way—Robert Kane hated his daughter.”
“Why?” Cochrane asked. “It’s not uncommon for a Navy father to be away on deployments. Being removed from the family wouldn’t mean he hated his children.”
Ann turned to him. “It’s pretty simple, really. Susan killed his wife, the woman he loved. He never forgave her for that.”
“I’m confused,” Ellen interrupted. “How did Susan kill her mother?”
“Rachel Kane was thirty-two years old when she got pregnant with Susan.” Ann wiped her eyes. “She was young and healthy and yet she died during her daughter’s delivery. Robert held Susan responsible.”
“He shouldn’t have blamed her for something she couldn’t control,” Ellen responded.
“Worse yet, one of Susan’s brothers accepted his father’s logic.”
“How do you know that?” Cochrane asked pointedly.
“Because Susan told me. After many years of friendship, she let out a little bit here and there about her family. I remember one day I finally got her to go over to La Jolla for a break. The beach became her favorite place, you know. She loved the ocean. That day, Susan was really depressed, and I couldn’t get out of her what was wrong. We picked up some fast food from a restaurant and took a blanket and a bottle of wine along. As the sun set on the ocean, Susan began to talk about her life, her family.”
Ann took a shaky breath. “When we returned from the beach, the subject was closed and never brought up again, no matter how I tried to approach her.” She gazed at them, no longer trying to stop the tears from falling. “Susan was a pariah, an outcast, in her own family. The only one who stayed in touch with her was Tommy, the younger brother.”
“How awful for Susan,” Ellen murmured.
“Yes,” Ann said, her voice off-key. “It was unfair. Susan had done nothing to earn her father and older brother’s anger and hatred. But I’ll tell you something—Susan paid for her mother’s death in so many ways that it made me sick. I—I don’t know if I’ll be able to restrain myself from decking both Robert and Brad Kane at Susan’s funeral.” She grimaced. “They may not show up. It wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t. I’m sure Tommy will be there, and I know Susan’s other friends will come to tell her goodbye.”
“What about Susan’s stepmother, Georgia?” Ellen asked.
“Georgia died some time ago,” Ann said bitterly. “Susan was at Pensacola. She got a call from her father telling her she didn’t have to come home for the funeral.”
Ellen gasped. “How terrible!”
Ann studied the investigator for a moment. “Maybe, but Susan went anyway—out of duty. She had a very strict and high code of honor and ethics. She did the right thing, regardless of how some family members felt. Susan was the most courageous person I’ve ever met. But a person can only take so much hurt, for so long.”
“Susan served as the family scapegoat,” Ellen suggested. She saw Ann’s eyes flash with anger. Bingo! Excited, Ellen felt she had a much better understanding of Susan. And Jim’s nod of approval made her heart soar.
“You hit the nail on the head. Susan paid for every transgression that ever went down in that family.”
“Did Susan’s father verbalize those things to her?” Ellen inquired as she rubbed her forehead.
“Many times. Susan was continually reminded of it when her dad was rotated back to a station from carrier duty. When it was her real mother’s birthday, her father always got drunk, and when Robert Kane was drunk, he got mean.”
“It sounds as though Robert continued to love Rachel very much,” Ellen ventured.
“I’m sure he did,” Ann said, bitterness tingeing her voice. “For eighteen years Susan endured her dead mother’s birthday and the drunken rages of her father.”
Ellen said sympathetically, “How unfair.”
“Other than Tommy, her grandmother Inez was the only close family member who didn’t hold her responsible for her mother’s death. She felt the tragedy was an act of God and that no rational person could ever blame a child. When her grandmother died four years ago, she left Susan the bulk of her estate—probably close to a million dollars.”
“That’s why she could afford that expensive condo,” Ellen said, giving Cochrane a telling look.
Jim raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment.
“She didn’t need the Navy for financial reasons. Susan was out to prove she was the best.” Ann shrugged. “A lesser person would have buckled under, given that kind of family pressure, but she didn’t.” Lieutenant Hawkins stared defiantly at Cochrane. “Susan was a very strong woman. A good person who did right by others regardless of how they dealt with her. Susan didn’t have enemies, only people who were jealous, envious or competitive toward her.”
Cochrane nodded. “I see. Reckon you’ve given us some good background information, Lieutenant Hawkins.” He handed her his business card. “If you think of anything else that might help in solving this case, give me a call?”
Ann glanced at the card. “Yes, I will.” She took a deep breath. “Susan’s funeral is set for Monday afternoon. From what the station chaplain said, she’s going to be buried over at La Jolla. Susan would like that. Are you going to be there?”
Cochrane nodded and rose. “You can probably count on her funeral going down at that time. The M.E. is just about done with his findings. And yes, we’ll be at her funeral.”
Grimly, Ann stood up and smoothed her skirt, slipping the business card in her pocket. “Do me a favor, then?”
“What?”
“Check out Robert and Brad Kane if they show up. They’re a real set of bookends. I’ve never met them personally, but it’ll be interesting to see if they mourn her death. I doubt they will.” She gave the investigators a stony look and exited.