Mel Odom - Blood Lines

Gymnasium

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

1203 Hours

Did you come here to play basketball or wage war?

Shelton McHenry, gunnery sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, shook the sweat out of his eyes and ignored the question. After long minutes of hard exertion, his breath echoed inside his head and chest. His throat burned. Despite the air-conditioning, the gym felt hot. He put his hands on his head and sucked in a deep breath of air. It didnt help. He still felt mean.

There was no other word for it. He wanted the workout provided by the game, but he wanted it for the physical confrontation rather than the exercise. He had hoped it would burn through the restless anger that rattled within him.

Normally when he got like this, he tried to stay away from other people. He would gather up Max, the black Labrador retriever that was his military canine partner, and go for a run along a secluded beach until he exhausted the emotion. Sometimes it took hours.

That anger had been part of him since he was a kid. He had never truly understood it, but hed learned to master it-for the most part-a long time ago. But now and again, there were bad days when it got away from him. Usually those bad days were holidays.

Today was Fathers Day. It was the worst of all of them. Even Christmas, a time when families got together, wasnt as bad as Fathers Day. During the heady rush of Christmas-muted by the sheer effort and logistics of getting from one place to another after another, of making sure presents for his brothers kids were intact and wrapped and not forgotten, of preparing and consuming the endless supply of food-he could concentrate on something other than his father.

But not today. Never on Fathers Day.

The anger was bad enough, but the thing that totally wrecked him and kicked his butt was the guilt. Even though he didnt know what to do, there was no escaping the fact that he should be doing something. He was supposed to be back home.

Usually he was stationed somewhere and could escape the guilt by making a quick phone call, offering up an apology, and losing himself back in the field. But after taking the MOS change to Naval Criminal Investigative Service, he was free on weekends unless the team was working a hot case.

At present, there were no hot cases on the horizon. There wasnt even follow-up to anything else theyd been working on. Hed had no excuse for not going. Don, his brother, had called a few days ago to find out if Shel was coming. Shel had told him no but had offered no reason. Don had been kind enough not to ask why. So Shel was stuck with the anger, guilt, and frustration.

You hearing me, gunney?

Shel restrained the anger a step before it got loose. Over on the sidelines of the gym, Max gave a tentative bark. The Labrador paced uneasily, and Shel knew the dog sensed his mood.

Dial it down, he told himself. Just finish up here. Be glad youre able to work through it.

He just wished it helped more.

Yeah, Shel said. I hear you.

Good. Cause for a second there I thought youd checked out on me. Remy Gautreau mopped his face with his shirt.

He was young and black, hard-bodied but lean, where Shel looked like hed been put together with four-by-fours. Gang tattoos in blue ink showed on Remys chest and abdomen when hed lifted his shirt. Shel had noticed the tattoos before, but he hadnt asked about them. Even after working together for more than a year, it wasnt something soldiers talked about.

Before hed entered the Navy and trained as a Navy SEAL, Remy Gautreau had been someone else. Most enlisted had. Then whatever branch of military service they signed on for changed them into someone else. The past was shed as easily as a snake lost its skin. Men and women were given a different present for that time and usually ended up with a different future than they would have had.

But they dont take away the past, do they? Shel asked himself. They just pretend it never happened.

Where you been? Remy asked.

Right here. Shel broke eye contact with the other man. He could lie out in the field when it was necessary, but he had trouble lying to friends. Playing center.

Remy was part of the NCIS team that Shel was currently assigned to. His rank was chief petty officer. He wore bright orange knee-length basketball shorts and a white Tar Heels basketball jersey. Shel wore Marine-issue black shorts and a gray sweatshirt with the sleeves hacked off. Both men bore bullet and knife scars from previous battles.

The other huddle of players stood at their end of the basketball court. Other groups of men were waiting their turn.

Shel and Remy were playing iron man pickup basketball. The winning team got to stay on the court, but they had to keep winning. While they were getting more tired, each successive team rested up. Evading fatigue, learning to play four hard and let the fifth man rest on his feet, was a big part of staying on top. It was a lot like playing chess.

Youve been here, Remy agreed in a soft voice. But this aint where your heads been. You just been visiting this game.

Guys good, Remy. Im doing my best.

The other teams center was Del Greene, a giant at six feet eight inches tall-four inches taller than Shel. But he was more slender than Shel, turned better in the tight corners, and could get up higher on the boards. Rebounding the ball after each shot was an immense struggle, but once in position Shel was hard to move. Hed come down with his fair share of rebounds.

Basketball wasnt Shels game. Hed played it all through high school, but football was his chosen gladiators field in the world of sports. He had played linebacker and had been offered a full-ride scholarship to a dozen different colleges. He had opted for the Marines instead. Anything to shake the dust of his fathers cattle ranch from his boots. None of the colleges had been far enough away for what he had wanted at the time. After all those years of misunderstandings on the ranch, Shel had just wanted to be gone.

Youre doing great against that guy, Remy said. Better than I thought you would. Hes a better basketball player, but youre a better thinker. Youre shutting him down. Which is part of the problem. Youre taking his game away from him and its making him mad. Problem is, you got no finesse. Hes wearing you like a cheap shirt. If we had a referee for this game, youd already have been tossed for personal fouls.

Yeah, well, he doesnt play like a homecoming queen himself. Shel wiped his mouth on his shirt. The material came away bloody. He had caught an elbow in the face last time that had split the inside of his cheek. Hes not afraid of dishing it out.

Dont get me wrong. I didnt say that fool didnt have it coming, but I am saying that this isnt the time or the place for a grudge match. Remy wiped his face with his shirt again. The last thing we need is for Will to have to come down and get us out of the hoosegow over a basketball game. Hes already stressed over Fathers Day because hes having to share his time with his kids new stepfather.

Shel knew United States Navy Commander Will Coburn to be a fine man and officer. He had followed Will into several firefights during their years together on the NCIS team.

The marriage of Wills ex-wife was only months old. Everyone on the team knew that Will had taken the marriage in stride as best as he could, but the change was still a lot to deal with. Having his kids involved only made things worse. Before, Fathers Day and Mothers Day had been mutually exclusive. This year the kids mother had insisted that the day be shared between households.

One of the other players stepped forward. Are we going to play ball? Or are you two just going to stand over there and hold hands?

Shel felt that old smile-the one that didnt belong and didnt reflect anything that was going on inside him-curve his lips. That smile had gotten him into a lot of trouble with his daddy and had been a definite warning to his brother, Don.