Angus sat straight up in the bed before reaching for the ringing phone.

"McCoy?"

"God, yes! What the fuck time is it?"

"An hour after we last talked. This is Curtis. I'm next door. Open the adjoining door."

"Yeah, give me a second to screw my head back in place."

Angus opened the door that connected to the next room. A man in a dark gray suit was standing on the other side.

"I'm Curtis. We talked on the phone."

"Yeah, come on in." Angus held his head as he sat down. "Give me a second to get myself collected back up."

"Man, you look like shit. When's the last time you slept?"

"Sleep, what's that? I've dosed on and off since Monday. What is going on? I've got some Major handing me money to take a powder. What are they after?"

Angus stood and went to the drawer beside the bed. He removed the envelope with the thousand dollars and handed it to Detective Curtis. "He's giving me four thousand more when next we meet."

"Yeah, we need to bug your room. To complete the case we really need him giving you the money and if you could get him to talk about the operation, that would be the feather in the cap. We can wrap things up once we have your Major in cuffs. He'll bust the operation open."

"What operation?"

"I'm not sure you want to know."

"I want to know."

"Let me get my team in here so we can hear you and the Major when he pays you off. He'll want to take off as soon as you're paid off. Michael's, Purdy, come on in and put the bugs in place."

Angus watched carefully as one man bugged the phone and another bugged a picture next to the table.

"These will record our conversation?"

"Both phone and anything said in the room. He has no reason to suspect anything. You never knew anything except you might be approached. It should go off like clockwork. Kelly says your Shore Patrol."

"That's right. Future cop one day. I hope," Angus said.

"You take care of business and help me get these guys, and I'll put in a good word for you if you want to sign up in Indianapolis. We hire military police right out of the service. I don't see why they wouldn't hire a someone in the shore patrol. If you have me vouching for you, well, it might not hurt you too bad."

"Thanks! I don't really have any reason to return here. It's a bit out of the way."

"Where you from?" Curtis asked.

"New York City," Angus said.

"You don't sound like a New Yorker," Curtis said using a phony Brooklyn accent to say the city's name.

"My parents were both from Scotland. Between that accent and all the Italians that lived around us, my accent got a bit confused. Now I can add Vietnamese to my verbal speech patterns."

"What's it like over there?"

"I don't know. We're away from the action. Mostly the fighting is over to the west and to the north. The tough part is the enemy looks a lot like our friends."

"Can't tell them apart. Lot of that going around," Curtis said.

"Okay, we've finished the fucking small talk. What am I doing here, Detective?"

"Admiral Kelly told me you would take this personal. I shouldn't tell you unless you force it out of me. Since you are twice my size, I think I'll just tell you so you don't need to beat it out of me."

"I'm not that bad," Angus said.

"Kelly said something about a guy you hit who was no small dude. He said you lifted him off the floor with your punch."

"I didn't like him," Angus said. "He pushed me too far."

"I heard. The admiral has quite a sense of humor. Says you're a mid-wife in your spare time. You certainly have a colorful resume," Curtis said.

"Tell me about it," Angus said. "Seriously, it's time I know what's going on."

"They're smuggling drugs in bodies."

"Bastards," Angus said, gritting his teeth. "You mean they used Strong to ship drugs?"

"Yeah!"

"Bastards. He's a war hero. He deserves respect for the sacrifice he made and those maggots use his body to move drugs."

"You've got to forget that you know. You've got to get the major to talk about it. We've had this operation under surveillance for months. The FBI and the Army are involved. This is the first big fish we've caught in the net. Funeral parlor workers, privates, and the like. We think Major Winfield gets us inside the operation. We'll flip him and use him to break the ring. That way no more guys get used this way."

"If I can't get him to say what you want, you turn those recorders off and leave us alone in here for a few minutes. I'd like beating it out of him."

"Yeah, well, wouldn't we all. If you're going to be a cop you eat that kind of emotion and do your job. At night you can go home and punch holes in walls or scream into your pillow. We're the good guys. We've got to do it straight up. If we don't get what we need one way, we'll try something else. We've got enough evidence to squeeze him, thanks to you. You could have walked with the money and we wouldn't have known."

"I don't want that kind of money. I've had to work for everything I ever had. Someone giving me something isn't my style," Angus said.

"After this is over. Wherever you end up, I'll write a nice letter for you. It might be enough for someone to give you a try," Curtis said, looking serious.

"Thanks! I can use all the help I can get."

*****

"Major Winfield, come on in. You bring the money?"

Angus had kept on his T-shirt and jeans and Winfield was dressed similarly. They shook hands as he came in and carefully looked around the room.

"Get any sleep?"

"A little. Something about being up four days. I sleep an hour or two and wake up. I'll get readjusted by the time I get back out west."

"Here's the envelope. It's in hundreds. It will match up quite well with the other envelope."

"We were talking about more regular employment. I'd like to make enough to open my own business when I get out."

"Why get out? I can talk to your CO and get you assigned to me. I usually pick the honor guards when the Army wants one. That makes my job easy. They just follow my orders when I tell them to take a break. The Navy is a bit more complicated. They mostly loose pilots and pilots have a habit of disappearing with the planes."

"Yeah, we have guys on the ground at Chu Li. Not a lot. Wouldn't it be strange getting a Navy guy assigned to an Army unit?"

"No, you create the precedence. You wouldn't just accompany the Navy boys, you can accompany Army guys and marines. Marines are the toughest to get any co-operation out of. You were a tough nut. I had my doubts we were going to buy you off. I'd have bet against it. If you hadn't taken the money we'd probably have had to arrange an accident to get you off the case."

"You know, I'm sitting here listening to you and I'm not at all clear on what I'm going to be doing."

"You're going to be climbing aboard the gravy train. I should have thought of it before. Having the honor guard in our pockets simplifies everything. You made it necessary for me to consider it. We've had a couple who simply wouldn't budge and a couple who were really suspicious about getting paid off to disobey orders."

"You been talking about this thing, you've paid me, you want to hire me, and I'm not absolutely sure what it is I'm doing."

"Honor guard. Nothing will change. We make trips to all the mid-west states. New York, L.A., Frisco, there's no difficulties getting anywhere we want any time we want. The mid-west is a tough nut to crack. Lots of eyes and ears who would drop a dime on their momma for jaywalking. We keep really low profiles here. The funeral business is easy because we already have our fingers in a lot of them. Easy profit with limited work and when they thought this operation up, well, it fit like the final piece in the middle of a puzzle."

"So I get the idea we're smuggling something. Why not sock it to me and satisfy my curiosity for once and for all."

"I thought you decided you didn't want to know," Winfield said.

"I didn't want to know when I was free lancing and taking your money for nothing. We're talking a step up here. I think I want to know the punch line on this one."

"There's this kid down at the Mexican border. He rides up on his bike on the American side wanting to cross. The border guard takes one look at him and tells him to get off the bike. He searches him and finds nothing. He waves him through.

"A couple of days later, same kid, rides his bike up to the border. The same border guard stops him, searches him, waves him through. This goes on for weeks. Finally, the border guard stops him one day, "I know you're smuggling something but I can't figure out what. I'll never stop you or bother you again but I've got to know what it is." And the kids says, "Bicycles."

"We're smuggling. I got that part. What? Bodies? The coffin? It doesn't make any sense. I mean it does. Who searches a body bag or a coffin. It has a certain artistic quality to it, but what's in there?"

"It's not the coffin and not the body, but you're getting warm. It's what's put into the bodies."

"Well, you got me by the balls. What?" Angus said, trying not to sound anxious.

"Heroin. Not just heroin, the best heroin in the world. It's prime stuff. We can pack pounds of it in the body cavities and it doesn't take much of an operation to do it. The problem comes on this end when we've got to retrieve them and we can't get the body back. So, you see how you got in my way. I tried to bargain with you in San Francisco, but you weren't having none of it. We were going to switch coffins. Let you have one full of bricks but you never even gave us that much time."

"You'd have let Strong's family bury bricks in place of their son?" Angus said, less able to hide what that made him feel.

"We try for bodies that aren't too well connected to family. Strong was perfect. No one to want to look the body over. Even when they want to see the body, we have the drugs by the time we let them have it."

The door between the rooms swung open and Detective Curtis moved in with two other men close behind. Angus sat with his eyes on Major Winfield. He didn't want to miss any of the arrest. Winfield had a stoic look on his face as he analyzed his circumstances.

"One should always go with their first impressions," Winfield said, glancing nonchalantly at Angus as he spoke.

"And what was that?" Angus asked.

"You were trouble. Your tenacity should have alerted me. I suppose I wanted what I wanted too much. My vision became clouded by my greed."

"Let's get the formalities over with. You're under arrest Winfield. You can make it easy on yourself if you co-operate. There are local and federal charges and then you'll need to deal with the United States Army. You could be a guest of one or another for the rest of your life should you forego our gracious offer."

"It wouldn't make any difference where I'm held. If I co-operate with you, a life sentence becomes the death penalty. The people I work for have tentacles everywhere. I dug myself into this hole, they didn't."

"You'll have plenty of time to think about it," Curtis said. "Stand up. We'll need to put the cuffs on you."

As Major Winfield stood, Angus stood, putting his hand between Curtis and Winfield. The other hand had a hold of Major Winfield's shirt and he used it to pull the man toward him as one of the suited police officers was trying to break the hold. Curtis grabbed his fellow officer's wrist and eased him back away from the confrontation.

"He's okay," Curtis said, hoping he wasn't wrong about Angus but willing to take the chance.

"You are scum. You violated the body of a man that fought and died for his country. He was an honorable man but you have no honor. This is how you repay a hero? He deserved better, and quite frankly, I hope you don't co-operate. I hope they lock you up and throw away the key. It's what you deserve for desecrating him.

"I'd like to have a few minutes alone with you. I'd like to kick your fucking ass, but these gentlemen aren't going to let me have that honor, but I want you to know it is what I want to do to you. I also want to become a cop and I want to spend the rest of my life locking up maggots like you. I want to make sure you know that, not because of what you did but because you thought I was like you are. That's almost as distasteful as what you did to Strong."

Angus let go of Winfield's shirt and took a step back while Curtis put the cuffs on him.

"Like I said," Winfield replied as he was leaned across the table and cuffed, "First impressions."

"Take him to the car," Curtis ordered.

Angus sat back down as Winfield was removed. Curtis sat down across from him. They sat silently until the door closed.

"I'm impressed," Curtis said.

"How so?"

"You said all the things I wanted to say but you said it a lot better than I could. Look, I know you don't want to stay in this room, but the room next door is paid for by the city and you can have it until you leave. I'll sign off on it. You may as well get some rest, Strong is evidence right now. We caused a little diversion at Heaven's Gate so they couldn't touch Strong's body. We'll exorcise the drugs and have him back to the home before the memorial service that's scheduled for six. I can send a car for you at five thirty if you like."

"I don't want to be any trouble," Angus said.

"No trouble. You worked him perfectly, you know. I couldn't have pulled it off that well. You've got a lot of poise for one so young."

"Not usually. I did it for Strong. He's the one that deserves the credit."

"I guess so. You get some sleep and we'll be over for you. Thanks for helping us get the goods on these guys."

*****

"Hello." Angus rolled over on his stomach to answer the phone. "What the fuck time is it?"

"Three in the afternoon here," a familiar voice said.

"Who is this?"

"Admiral Kelly."

"Oh, excuse me, sir. I was sleeping. It's time I get up."

"I talked to Detective Curtis. He says he's got all the bad guys rounded up. He says you were a big help. I wanted to thank you. He also says you look like you haven't slept in a week."

"It only seems like a week. Four days I think," Angus said.

"Well, you are relieved, sailor. We've accomplished everything we set out to do and more thanks to you."

"Admiral, what about Strong?"

"He's in good hands. You'll be the honor guard tomorrow and there will be the Army Honor Guard for the graveside services. I'd say you've done your job and should get a good night's sleep. Won't do for a sailor of mine to report to duty without the proper sleep."

"Yes, sir. Thank you. I guess I'll be back on the west coast Monday afternoon. I don't know when I'll get back to the fleet."

"You won't have any difficulty there. I'm in San Francisco and I'll meet with you Monday for a debriefing with my staff and some AI officers who want the details of who approached you when and for what. We want to make sure we've got everyone."

"Yes, sir. I'll jot down some notes while the memories are still fresh."

"Curtis said you wanted a piece of Winfield."

"It just doesn't set too well with me. What he did to Strong. I couldn't help but be angry about it."

"Yeah, but you kept your head, son. That's the difference that marks a man from a boy. A boy wants to do something and because he wants to do it he does it. A man weighs the consequences and can act accordingly. You did good, McCoy. I'll be looking forward to seeing you when you get out here."

"Yes, sir, thanks for the call, Admiral. I need to get dressed."

Angus hung his legs over the side of the bed and held his head in his hands after hanging up the phone.

"I'd have to rest up just to die," he said to himself. "Times a wasting."

There was a knock at the door when Angus was coming out of the bathroom. He opened it and invited the man in.

Standing just inside the door, he said, "I'm Detective Burns. Curtis sent me out to take you over to the funeral home."

"Let me get my shoes on. Is Curtis going to be at the funeral home?"

"Yeah, several detectives have agreed to stick around. They arrested the staff and brought in a couple of guys from another funeral home to help with the details."

"Okay, well, I think I'm ready. Lead the way."

The drive took no time at all and Angus was surprised to see the cars in the parking lot. There were three other memorial services and this created a lot of activity. Two uniform police officers were inside the door and Detective Curtis and one of the men he'd been with at the motel was with him.

"Nice seeing you, McCoy. I told Admiral Kelly you'd be here. He wanted to give you the evening off."

"Thanks for putting in a good word with the old man. Every little bit helps, you know."

"He's a cool guy. I like him. We only talked once before and it was strictly business. He certainly has stories to tell about you and he says he hardly knows you."

"Life is never dull around me. Anyone come to see Strong?"

"Hah, not yet. Just us so far. Detective Post this is McCoy."

"Glad to meet you. You did a good job. Thanks! None of us liked this case much."

"Why are you guys here?" Angus asked.

"Well, we busted the entire staff. There might be a couple who didn't know what was going down here. It'll take a day or two to iron it out. We're here to keep order. There are a couple of guys from another funeral home that know what needs to be done. Mostly we just stand around and look purdy."

"Yeah, well, I've got to do a lot more standing before anyone will think I'm pretty," Angus said.

Everyone laughed and it made Angus feel a bit better being accepted on an equal footing with real police officers. It was almost like he was one of them and that's the way everyone treated him as soon as they heard his name. They all knew who he was and what he'd done. Curtis didn't hold anything back when he told the story. After an hour Curtis escorted an older man in a black suit over to introduce him.

"Captain Danforth, this is Seaman McCoy."

"Glad to meet you. We've been sniffing around this case for two years. Curtis tells me you got everything we needed to nail that fucking officer that was in on this. That gives us all the players in Indianapolis. The manager of this place hasn't shut up since they put the cuffs on him."

"I'm glad to hear it, sir. I was just doing my duty, following orders."

"Modest as well, Curtis. You come by the precinct and we'll show you around. The weekends tend to be fairly quiet. You can get a look at what real police work looks like. Curtis tells me you're thinking of making it your career. We are at your service and appreciate your help."

"Thanks! I'd love to see the inside of a real police operation. I'm with Shore Patrol, or was, and that's about as low as you can go on the law enforcement totem pole."

"Not so, McCoy. We've got several former MPs. You just keep us in mind if you decide to become a cop. We'll give you a fair shot and no one else knows what we know about you."

"No, I guess not. This is as close I've come to real police work."

"I heard you delivered a baby," Captain Danforth said.

"Jesus, I'll never live that down," Angus said, shaking his head and looking at his shoes.

"How many have we delivered this year, Curtis?" The captain asked.

"Five or six I expect. Not as rare as it once was. Women wait until the last minute, get caught short, and we end up with our hands full."

As they spoke three soldiers came through the door with the American flag, the army flag, and the flag of Indiana, placing them in a stand beside the shinny wood casket that Angus just realized was placed in the front.

"They put him in that casket. The metal one was fine. He shouldn't be in a casket those guys had anything to do with," Angus objected.

"Hold your horses sailor. We're taking up a collection for it. He helped break the case too, you know. He's served his country twice and once after he was dead," Captain Danforth said respectfully.

"Far out," Angus said. "I'll kick in a few bucks."

"You've already kicked in more than your share," Curtis said. "You ought to be at the motel catching up on your sleep."

"Nah, Strong and I got business together. I want to at least be here for him. I am his honor guard. I'll sleep tonight."

"Well, we're at your service. We'll get you where you need to go. Just let Curtis know and he'll take care of it. That's an order," Captain Danforth said, nodding at Detective Curtis.

"No, problem, sir," Curtis replied.

"Let me walk up and introduce myself to the Army boys," Angus said, excusing himself.

"I'm Angus McCoy, Strong's honor guard."

"Yeah, why'd they give him a Navy guy? He's one of ours swabby. I'm Private Jones and this is Edwards and Pringle."

"I suppose it had something to do with wanting him to have the very best," Angus replied.

"That's a bummer, man," Edwards said.

"Truth hurts," Angus said.

"Tell me about it," Pringle said.

"Excuse me," a soft voice interrupted.

"Yes, ma'am," Jones said. "I'd be more than happy to give you a hand or anything else you might need, momma."

"At ease, soldier, I don't respond to guys like you."

"Aren't you on duty, Jones. Show some respect. If you're not on duty you have no reason to hang around," Angus said. "How can we help you, ma'am."

"Is the casket going to be opened or will it stay closed?"

"No ma'am. My orders are to keep the casket closed. Only if you're his sister could we change that. We were hoping she'd come by."

"No, I'm not. Thank you," she said, putting her hand on the coffin much the way Angus found himself doing from time to time. Her touch was a gentle affair and Angus was sure she had known him.

"Excuse me, ma'am. We haven't found anyone who knows him. His coach came by. I'm Private Strong's honor guard, Seaman Angus McCoy. I brought him back from Vietnam. I'd like to know who you are if you don't mind."

The woman was tall even in flat shoes. Angus thought maybe five ten. She stood straight as an arrow and radiated something Angus had never once felt before. Her hair was so black it shined. Her dress was a light blue and matched the hat she wore. Her fingers were long and delicate and her nails were bright red. She studied him for a moment before she decided to answer.

"I have nothing to say to you. I mean no disrespect to you, but it is men like you who get men like Albert killed. I don't condone it or associate with those who do. Human life is sacred and no man has a right to take another man's life, regardless of the circumstances. If you'll excuse me now, I'd like a moment alone with him."

"Woo! The Navy went down in flames, big time," Pringle said, making a whistling sound and giving off an explosive sound that turned the heads of the few people in the room but not her head. She was in prayer and kept her head bowed but she couldn't let it pass.

"You aren't the least bit funny," the women said, turning her back on Albert's military escort.

"You guys have said enough. I run this show and if you have any doubts about it, you can call Admiral Kelly of the sixth fleet. Back off and go about your business. You've done all you can do here for tonight. We appreciate your presence and now it's time for you to go," Angus's voice was unflinching.

The soldiers withdrew in a strategic retreat and Angus moved to the rear of the room, but he couldn't stop looking at the blue clad women who stood next to the casket for some time.

"You aren't thinking what I think you're thinking, McCoy?" Curtis said.

"You see her? She's gorgeous."

"You are definitely barking up the wrong tree. I'd suggest you back off too, sailor. You are on duty and you should conduct yourself accordingly."

"Yeah, you're right. I've been shot down once already," Angus mused. "She's beautiful though. Strong was a lucky guy if he knew her very well."

"Excuse me. I heard you say you were in charge," the young women said, walking straight up to Angus without hesitating.

"Yes, how can I be of service?"

"I stopped at the church where Albert attended. The minister is prepared to have a service for him tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. I told him I'd arrange for Albert to be in attendance. I see that's the time the service is to be conducted here. Please do what's necessary to have him at the 1st Baptist Church. He should be buried by his church," she spoke concisely in a stern voice. "You will see to it?"

It was more an order than a request. The woman knew what she wanted and she was settling for nothing less.

"And you are?" Angus asked, knowing he wanted the information more for himself than to further the women's quest.

"Mildred Kane, president of his senior class."

"You knew him well?"

"No, not very well, I must admit. That doesn't change anything. He needs to be buried from our church and if you can't make the arrangement, you point me to the man who can. I knew him well enough for that, thank you."

"There is no problem at all. I know the church," Curtis said from behind Angus.

"First Baptist, right down the street from Central High School. The coffin must go in through the front doors. The rear stairs aren't strong enough to hold the weight."

"No problem," Curtis said. "I know where it is and can see to it that he's there at eleven. It's not far out of the way. The cemetery is over near the school."

"Thank you, sir," the woman said, shaking the hand of the police detective and walking right past Angus without so much as looking at him again, but he stood watching as she went out into the hall.

"Cold! I think you struck out, McCoy. You'd best get those ideas out of your brain anyway. She's definitely not your type."

"Because she hates the wars that kill her friends and because I'm in uniform? The uniform comes off."

"It better not come off near her. You're in Indiana now, McCoy. Things don't move that fast here. Maybe you should slow down yourself. You'll be gone in a few days and none of this crap will make any difference. Why create trouble before you leave?" Curtis said.

"Yeah, your right. I haven't been around many women the last year. I couldn't help but notice how damn beautiful she is," Angus confessed, looking around to see if he could spot her just one more time.