Word of Honor

Chapter One

The small, hot post office smelled of mold and dust and hummed with the sound of several air conditioning units placed in windows around the building. Cliff Bertrand, the Newpointe postmaster, held his hand in front of one of the vents, and realized it was blowing hot air. No wonder the building was so warm. He gave the side of it a bang with the heel of his hand, as if that would shock it into spitting out cold air. But he knew it wouldn’t work.

Sue Ellen will be whining all day, he thought. He looked over his shoulder at Sue Ellen Hanover, his postal clerk, who stood at the counter fanning herself as she waited on a customer. With a fake fingernail, she punched out the amount of postage that Mary Hampton’s packages would need.

You wouldn’t know it was July, she commented as she applied the sticky metered strips to the boxes. You’d think it was Christmas, what with all these packages.

Just some of Mama’s stuff, Mary said. She went to live with my brother over in Waco, so I’m shippin’ her some of her things.

You two couldn’t get along? Sue Ellen asked sweetly.

Mary looked offended.

Cliff knew it did little good to scold her, but he gave it a shot, anyway. Sue Ellen, that was rude. Everybody knows her mama just went to help with her new grandbaby.

Sue Ellen shot him a look that said his intrusion wasn’t appreciated. Cliff, you really need to fix that air conditioner. It’s hot as blazes in here. She fanned herself with a manila envelope and turned back to Mary. Yep, them babies always do outshine the older grandkids. Where’s your youngun, anyways?

Out there. Mary nodded through the glass doors at the child playing on the floor with a toy fire truck.

Scrawny little thing, Sue Ellen said, taking Mary’s check. Can I see some ID, please?

Cliff shook his head at the absurdity of the request, since Sue Ellen knew Mary well enough to wag her tongue all over town every time the single mother stepped outside her house. He heard Sue Ellen tapping her fake fingernails on the counter, as if she had a million better things to do than wait for Mary to dig her driver’s license out of her purse.

Disgusted, he grabbed his keys and the refills for the stamp machine, and headed out to reload it. As he pushed through the door into the outer room, he saw Mary’s sandy-haired five-year-old crawling along the wall, running his fire truck as fast as he could. He smiled, but the boy hardly noticed him.

Cliff jangled his keys and opened the machine.

Instantly, the boy was on his feet, peering into the machine as if glimpsing something sacred. Hey, there, Cliff said.

Hey. The boy watched, fascinated, as he stacked the packages of stamps in the appropriate places. Can I do one?

Cliff grinned and handed him a stack. Put those right here.

Pete’s eyes rounded, and he slid them carefully into their slot.

Good job. What’s your name, son?

Pete looked up at him. Peter Jacob Hampton.

Cliff held out his hand. Nice to meet you, Peter Jacob Hampton. I’m Clifford Wayne Bertrand. How do you do?

The little boy shook. D’you do this everyday?

Every single one, except weekends, he said, closing the machine back. He looked down at the truck lying on the concrete floor. Nice truck you got there.

Thanks. Pete fell back to his knees and began making an engine noise as he ran along the wall.

Cliff chuckled and picked up his box. See you later, Pete.

Bye.

As Cliff pushed through the door in the back room, he glanced back and saw the child watching him with awe, as if wondering what treasures lay behind the mailboxes.

Pete watched the door close behind the man, and decided on the spot that he was going to be a mailman when he grew up. That, and a fireman. He went back to pushing his truck.

The door at the far end of the building opened, and Pete’s attention shifted to the man coming in from outside. He was sweating hard and breathing fast, and carrying a box that looked like it held a big present. Pete stopped pushing the truck and sat up, trying to imagine what could be inside. The man stepped past him and set the box down against the wall, then started back to the door.

That ain’t where you put that, Mister, Pete said. It goes over there. He pointed to the slots in the wall.

That’s right where I want it, kid. The man hesitated as he looked down at him. Pete noticed that the man was missing some fingers, and he bent some of his own to see how it felt. He started to ask him what had happened to them, but the man spoke first. Hey, you know, that truck sure would fly on that half wall outside. Why don’t you go out there and try it? Not waiting for an answer, the man pushed back through the door he’d come in. Pete watched through the glass doors as the man climbed into the passenger seat of the blue pickup. The driver pulled away.

Quickly, Pete’s attention moved from the blue pickup to the half wall he’d suggested outside the building. He glanced through the glass doors and saw his mother paying for their package. If he went outside, just this once, would he get in trouble?

Deciding that the wall’s incline was worth the trouble it would cost him, he pushed through the door and hurried to the wall. His throat made a rumbling sound as he set his truck on the wall and gave it a shove.

He would never see it hit the bottom of the incline.

The explosion was so loud Jerry Ingalls heard it from half a mile away. What in the—? He slammed on his brakes. The blue pickup skidded across the street.

What are you doing? Frank shouted. Drive, man! Drive!

As Jerry tried to right his pickup, he looked back through the rear window. He could see the black smoke rising from where they’d been, filling the sky. That’s the post office! he said.

Up here, Frank said. Take a right up here.

Sirens began to blare a few blocks away. Jerry turned in the direction he’d been told, his heart racing. Do you know anything about what happened back there?

Yes, Frank said. He was dripping with sweat now, and the humid Louisiana air crept through the pickup in spite of the air conditioning. But I can’t tell you about it now. Just drive.

Drive where? Jerry demanded. If you’re involved in something, man—

I need your help! Frank’s bellowed statement left no room for argument. Drive to the Delchamps parking lot. I have a car. Drop me off, then you head for Chalmette. There’s a motel right on the outskirts of Chalmette. The only one in town. The Flagstaff, I think it is. Go there and rent me a room. Don’t use my name or yours. Tie a hand towel over the knob so I can find you. I’ll meet you there tonight and tell you everything.

Jerry’s head was reeling from the orders. Frank, if you had a car, why did you just have me drive you to the post office? What have you gotten me into?

A fight for your country! Frank yelled back. You’re in, now. There’s no turning back. You owe me, Jerry! And you owe your country.

My country? Jerry asked. What are you talking about, man? The war’s been over for twenty-five years!

I’ve been a POW, Jerry. For twenty-five years, and there were others there with me. They told you the war was over, but it came home with us. Communism is infiltrating our government, Jerry. The captain was part of it.

The captain? What captain?

Bertrand, man! He works for the feds, and he’s part of the whole thing.

"Cliff Bertrand? Frank, he’s retired from the army. He’s just a postal clerk, not some kind of spy."

He’s helping them to take over, Jerry. I don’t expect you to understand. You weren’t held all those years, like I was. But we have to stop it.

Jerry gaped at him. Frank, you weren’t a POW. You were in a VA hospital.

That’s what they want you to think, but there were others held there, he said. You don’t know what’s going on. It’s worse than the Viet Cong. They’re going to take away everything, Jerry. They’re trying to lull us into a false sense of security, and then we’ll let them do anything they want. They already have our government.

Jerry’s heart was racing. He pulled into the Delchamps parking lot and turned his pickup so he could see the black smoke still hovering above the post office. Man, you didn’t blow up that post office, did you?

You just don’t understand, Frank said. But I’ll explain everything. I’ll tell you at the motel. Be there. You owe me, Jerry.

With that, he launched out of the pickup and took off between the cars.

Jerry didn’t wait to see which car was his. The sirens were getting louder, and the smoke billowed with urgent fury as he pulled out of the parking lot. Something told him he had just become a wanted man.

He reached behind him, got his hunting rifle from its rack, and set it on the seat next to him. He hoped he wouldn’t need it, but he had a real bad feeling.

Frank was right. He did owe him. He could at least meet him and find out what was going on. Maybe he could talk him out of pulling any more sick stunts, make him go back to the hospital that had been his home for so long.

As he headed out of town, he looked back toward the post office. The black smoke of Frank’s iniquities rose like a tragic prayer into the sky.

Chapter Two

The ambulance at Midtown Fire Station pulled out of the driveway first, just moments after the explosion six blocks away. The firefighters, who had just settled down to a lunch of shrimp gumbo, headed for their turnout pants.

Dan Nichols stepped into his rubber boots and pulled the pants up. As he snapped them shut, he grabbed his turnout coat and helmet. Where’s the fire? he yelled as George Broussard, already decked out, jumped onto the pumper truck.

Post office, George answered. Explosion of some sort.

Felt like next door! Dan got into the truck. As the siren came on and Mark Branning pulled the truck out of the bay, Dan peered up through the windshield. The black smoke from the explosion just six blocks away had already made its way down Purchase Street and was billowing up into the sky, visible to everyone.

Mail bomb? Dan asked.

Probably, Mark said.

As they rounded the corner and reached the block where the post office was, all three of the firemen on the truck went silent.

Dan had never seen anything like it. The roof and two of the walls were gone, and the walls left standing were consumed in flames at least twenty feet high. Fallen electrical wires sizzled and sparked. Dan dreaded the idea of digging through live wires and burning rubble to get to any bodies that might be under it all.

The ambulance was already there. Issie Mattreaux, the paramedic, climbed from the truck, joined by Bob Sigrest, an EMT.

Dan jumped out and waved to them. Stay back! he commanded. Stay with the ambulance!

They nodded, understanding. Since the ambulance squads weren’t equipped to head into heavy smoke, it was up to him and the other firefighters, also trained as EMTs, to find any survivors.

Dan snapped down his face shield and pulled on his air pack. He pulled the gauntlets of his sleeves over his gloves to protect his skin, but he could already feel the skin-melting heat of the explosion, heavy on the July air. He wondered how any of them would make it through this. The breathing tank weighed thirty to forty pounds, a lot to carry when they were digging through bricks, steel, and glass. It had only about twenty minutes of air, not nearly enough for a job like this. They’d be swapping tanks left and right for the next few hours. He hoped the 911 dispatcher had radioed Slidell to send backup crews.

Here! Help, here!

Through the haze Dan spotted Penelope Houston, the owner of the drugstore across the street. Her face was smoke-stained, and she was coughing. Wildly, her arms gestured toward a body on the ground. A child, Dan realized, his heart jolting. He ran to the ambulance. There’s a child! Give me the megaduffel! He’ll need oxygen.

Issie thrust the equipment at him, then handed Mark the spineboard and pediatric collar. Grabbing the gear, they took off into the smoke.

The child looked tiny on the scorched pavement, and he didn’t seem to be breathing. He had been thrown in the explosion. Blood pooled on the ground from a wound on the back of his head, and his body was covered with glass and soot.

Wasting no time, they got the neck splint on him, slapped the oxygen mask on his face, and carefully moved him onto the board. Then they ran him back to the ambulance. He’s not breathing! Dan yelled. And he’s got a bad head wound.

Even as he spoke, Issie began running a tube down the child’s trachea to clear his airway. Dan fought the urge to watch to see if the soot-covered boy would live. Already, Mark was going back into the smoke to look for more survivors. Dan grabbed Penelope Houston. Penelope, do you know of any other survivors?

Penelope’s face was streaked with smoke and tears as she babbled hysterically. I heard the explosion, Dan. She coughed. Her voice was cracked and broken. It shook the building and knocked my windows out. I…I come out and seen…all the smoke and flames…and this little boy was layin’ here like he’d been throwed. I didn’t see nobody else.

The town’s other ambulance unit was just arriving, along with a convoy of other fire trucks and rescue units from neighboring towns. Dan waved for Steve Winder as he got out of the rig. Steve, get her on some oxygen and out of this smoke!

Steve tried to usher her back to his unit as Ray Ford, the fire chief, pulled to the curb between two of the trucks. He was dressed in full gear, face shield down, as he approached Dan. Anybody inside?

Of course there was somebody inside! Penelope shouted, turning back from Steve’s ambulance. Sue Ellen Hanover was there. And Cliff Bertrand. They’re always there. They never leave, not even for lunch! Again, she surrendered to a series of coughs.

So we need to look for Sue Ellen and Cliff, Ray shouted. How many cars in the parking lot?

Looks like a couple, Dan said.

Stan Shepherd, the town’s only detective, came running up to the ambulances. What in the sam hill—

Those cars could be Sue Ellen’s and Cliff’s, Ray cut in. Who’s the kid?

Still coughing, Penelope turned around and shouted back, That’s Mary Hampton’s boy. They were in the drugstore before they went to the post office.

Stan swung around. Are you sure? Mary and Pete?

You know them? Dan asked.

Yeah, Stan said. She goes to our church. Divorced. Some of the guys put a new roof on her house last year. He went to the ambulance and looked down at the boy as Issie struggled to stabilize him. Pete’s five years old. I’ve taken him to a couple of Saints games. Where’s his mother?

He’s all I’ve found so far, Dan said. He closed the doors of the ambulance to keep the smoke out, and ignored the stunned look on Stan’s face. Get out of the smoke, Stan. Keep everybody back.

As Stan ran to where they were setting up a barricade at the end of the street, Dan headed back into the heat to look for any survivors. But even as he did, he knew that there wouldn’t be any. No one would have survived this blast. It was a miracle that the boy was still alive.

Chapter Three

Celia Shepherd had been shedding a lot of hormonal tears lately, and she suspected it would get worse as these last three weeks of her pregnancy passed. But the news of Mary Hampton’s death, and the deaths of Sue Ellen Hanover and Cliff Bertrand, had sent her over the edge of her emotional precipice. She hadn’t been able to stop the tears for Pete, the funny little boy in her Sunday school class. The thought that he had been orphaned in the space of a moment was too much to bear.

So she had gotten into her car and headed to Slidell, where he’d been transported. Pete’s father had run off with his secretary two years earlier, and the boy had undergone quite a bit of emotional upheaval since then. No one knew where the father was, or how to reach him. And his grandmother, who had been living with them, had recently gone to live with her son.

The child was incredibly alone.

Celia’s tears streamed down her face and she wiped them away as she drove. She set her hand gently on her pregnant belly and felt her own child kick within her. What a terrible thing it would be to leave your child behind. What a horrible nightmare for a little boy, to wake up from an accident and learn that the person he loved and needed most in the world was gone.

Trying to see through her tears to drive, she picked up her cell phone and dialed out her husband’s number at the police department. Stan Shepherd, please.

Celia, Stan ain’t in. She recognized the voice of LaTonya Mason, the rookie cop who did desk duty. He’s still at the post office. I’ll leave him a note that you called.

Just tell him I’m going to the Slidell Hospital.

LaTonya gasped. The baby?

No, no. I want to go see about Pete Hampton-the little guy who was in the explosion. Just tell him he can get me on my cell phone.

She clicked the phone off, then dialed her Aunt Aggie and waited for the old Cajun woman to get to the phone. "Hola?"

Aunt Aggie, it’s me, she said. Did you hear about the post office?

Hear ’bout it? Aunt Aggie asked. Near wet my pants when I heard that bang. And the smoke…it’s still arrywhere.

Aunt Aggie, Mary Hampton was killed, and her little boy was injured…

The little blonde, T-Celia? The Cajun prefix was a shortened version of petite, her version of little Celia. Aunt Aggie had called her that since she’d been a child.

Celia sniffed and wiped her tears. She could hardly see through them to drive. Yes. The one in my Sunday school class. The one you said would be a heartbreaker someday.

Celia, don’t tell me—

It was him, she cut in. His mother’s dead, Aunt Aggie. And he’s pretty badly injured. I just wanted to let you know I’m heading for Slidell to be with him.

"You okay, sha?" Aunt Aggie asked, using her drawled form of chere.

I’m fine, she choked out. I just can’t believe they’re all dead. Mary and Sue Ellen and Cliff.

They got the crazy yet?

I don’t know. I haven’t been able to talk to Stan. Oh, pray, Aunt Aggie. Pray that they catch the person who orphaned that little boy.

Aunt Aggie paused for a moment. You sure you don’t want me comin’ with ya?

I’m halfway there already.

You take care of your baby, you hear? That little boy’s gon’ be all right.

I’m fine, Celia said. He doesn’t have anyone, Aunt Aggie. I have to go help. At least until his grandmother gets back to town.

You could try findin’ that no-count daddy of his.

He hasn’t been heard from since he left them. I doubt seriously he’ll turn up now.

You might be surprised, Aunt Aggie said. If he knew his wife was dead.

I wouldn’t have a clue where to start. Anyway, I’m almost there, and I’m fine, so don’t worry about me. I just wanted to let you know.

"Okay, sha. You be careful, hear?"

Celia hung up the phone as she reached the outskirts of Slidell and checked her watch. The boy would have been here about half an hour by now. She wondered if anyone had notified his next of kin. She wondered if they even knew how.

She began to weep again, and not knowing what else to do, she picked up the cell phone and dialed out Nick Foster’s number. He was the preacher at her church—a bivocational pastor who worked part-time as a firefighter. She had no idea if he was on duty right now. Even the off-duty firefighters were, no doubt, still working on the fire at the post office.

His voice mail picked up. Your call is very important to me, he said, and she knew he meant it. Please leave your name and number and I promise I’ll call you back as soon as I can. She waited through the series of beeps that testified to the number of messages he had waiting already, then after the long beep added her own. Nick, it’s Celia. I just wanted to let you know that I’m headed to Slidell Hospital to be with little Pete Hampton. If you get a chance to come over there, would you do it, please? I’m kind of at a loss as to how to deal with things. I know it would help the relatives if you were there when they get there, and Mary’s mother really likes you. Not to mention Pete. Her voice trailed off, and she cut off the phone and wiped her eyes again. What in the world was she going to say to that little boy? What in the world could she do for him?

She reached the hospital parking lot and parked near the emergency room. She hurried in to the receptionist booth in the ER.

Maternity? the receptionist asked through the glass.

No, she said. I’m looking for Pete Hampton. The little boy who was brought in from the explosion in Newpointe.

Are you his mother?

No. She swallowed, and her lips trembled as she said, His mother was killed in the blast.

The receptionist, who probably saw all kinds of tragedies on a daily basis, looked stricken. I didn’t know. That poor little boy. Are you a relative?

No, but he doesn’t have anyone here, and he needs somebody. I’m his Sunday school teacher, that’s all, but I love him, and no one else here even knows him. She broke into tears again.

The nurse peered up at her as if trying to decide whether to let her go back. Celia hoped she didn’t recognize her. She’d had a colored past, and people who remembered her not-so-distant history often looked at her as if they’d spotted Al Capone.

Just a minute, let me ask someone. She got up and headed through the swinging doors, and Celia began to pace in front of the window, back and forth, back and forth. This place brought back so many memories. So many close calls with death, so many friends in the midst of refining fires. All of Newpointe’s crises seemed to culminate here.

She caught her reflection in the mirror, her blonde hair and wet blue eyes, her huge belly just weeks away from delivery. Again, she looked down and patted her stomach. It’s gonna be okay, she whispered to her baby. We’ve just gotta go be with Pete.

In a moment, the nurse came back out. The doctor said you can go back. It’s through those doors, the third door on the left.

Celia searched the woman’s face. How is he? Is he gonna make it?

He’s still unconscious, she said.

Celia headed through the emergency room doors and down the hall until she came to the room where Pete lay on the bed, surrounded by a team of doctors and nurses. A tube ran down his throat, his face was bruised, and his eyes were swollen shut. She threw her hand over her mouth to muffle her horror. Is he…is he okay?

The doctor left the bedside and met her at the door. He has a skull fracture and a concussion, he said. Both lungs have collapsed, so we’ve put him on a ventilator. Looks like he was thrown a good distance in the explosion. Fortunately, he was far enough away that he didn’t sustain any burns. He’s got a broken arm and multiple lacerations. He’s unconscious right now, but he did wake up on the way to the hospital and spoke. Then he slipped back into a coma. We’re running some tests to determine if there’s any swelling in his brain. We’re probably going to have to transport him to New Orleans, since they have a better equipped head trauma unit there, and a pulmonary specialist who has more advanced equipment. You’re not one of his relatives?

No…I’m his Sunday school teacher. His mother… She lowered her voice to a whisper, in case Pete could hear. …was killed.

His face slackened. The paramedics weren’t sure when they brought him in. Do you have any way of getting in touch with his relatives?

I can try, she said. I should have done it before now, but I wasn’t thinking clearly.

He may not wake up for a while. Right now, it would be a huge help if you could find his relatives. Where is his father?

No one knows, she said as a wave of anger surged through her. But his grandmother…she lived with them until a couple of weeks ago, and then she went to stay with her son because his wife had a baby. It’s so sad…because…she didn’t know when she left that she’d never see her daughter again. She covered her eyes and sucked in a deep sigh. Oh, what if she hasn’t been notified yet? Shouldn’t I wait until the coroner or somebody gets in touch with her?

He touched her shoulder gently. It’s very important that we reach her right away. We need consent forms signed, decisions need to be made…

Yes, of course, she said. Okay, I’ll do what I can. Can I…just see him first?

Of course. He escorted her to the side of the bed, and she looked down at the tiny, limp body. He was a rascal in Sunday school, always asking the hard questions, delighting in everything they did. He had an imagination that never quit, and he soaked up stories of Joseph and David and Daniel like they were local heroes. She didn’t remember ever seeing him quite this still. With all the tubes and wires they had attached to him, she hardly recognized him at all.

The fact that his mother wouldn’t be here to nurse him back to health overwhelmed her. She lifted his little hand. It was limp in hers, but she could feel a light pulse beneath his wrist. Hang in there, Pete, she whispered. Hang in there. Don’t let go. But even as she said the words, she wondered if, maybe, he should let go. Maybe staying in this life was going to be too tough. Orphaned, possibly brain damaged, even crippled. She just didn’t know. Was this more than a little child could bear?

She leaned over and pressed a kiss on his little forehead, then stroked his cheek gently. You’re gonna be all right, Pete, she said. You’re gonna be fine. Can you hear me?

No answer.

Pete, this is Miss Celia. You just keep fighting, okay? I’ll be here fighting right beside you.

There was no indication that he heard a word she said. She let go of his hand and looked up at the doctor. I’ll go try to make some phone calls, she said. I know his grandmother is with his uncle. I’m just not sure what his uncle’s name is. Maybe their neighbors know.

The doctor nodded. As soon as we can stabilize him, we’re going to be transporting him to New Orleans where they have better head trauma facilities and a team of neurosurgeons. If they have to do surgery, they’ll need consent right away.

I understand. I just don’t know if I can make it through that phone call.

Somebody’s got to do it, the doctor said firmly. It’s better coming from a friend of the family.

She took strength from the doctor’s calm, insistent gaze. Turning, she left the room to find a phone.

Four phone calls later, Celia had the name and number of Zack Lewis, Mary Hampton’s brother in Waco. She was about to dial when Allie Branning pushed through the doors to the emergency room.

Celia, is Pete all right?

No, Celia said, as Allie pulled her into a hug. He’s not. I’m trying to reach his relatives. She released Allie and wiped her tears. Where’s Justin?

Allie was rarely seen without her eight-month-old baby. I left him with a sitter. Mark’s still working the fire at the post office.

Well, I’m glad you came. Celia turned back to the phone. Right now, I’ve got to do one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

You’ve done a lot of hard things, Allie said. "What could