problem ended in the murder of Keane? And his family?
Gripping the can tightly and staring into the distance, Priest eventually said, âFlip Keane was a bloody good soldier, but the poor sod couldnât handle women. Iâve not met a more selfish bitch than Starr, and you come across a few in this game. Flip and her were an item a few years back and she had a kid while he was in Iraq.â
âKeaneâs?â
âSo she reckoned. Heâd never wanted to set up home with her, so if it was his it wasnât meant to happen. Out in Iraq he took up with a nurse. Real serious, that was.â
âWas she called Brenda?â
Frank managed a dry chuckle. âTattoos on his arse? Shouldâve been on his dick, he was that gone on her.â
âYet he married Starr.â
âNo, mate, Starr married him . Had the whole bloody family working on it. Two truckie brothers saw to him one night, and her mother . . . Christ, send her out there and sheâd sort even Bin Laden! He didnât have a hope in hell.â
âI get the picture,â said Tom. âIn addition he was getting grief from his company commander, and his career was in danger of going down the drain.â
Priestâs dark eyes bored into Tomâs. âIt was in the bloody balance, mate. Your blokes almost did for him in Iraq.â
âSay again.â
âThat âfriendly fireâ balls-up.â
âTell me about it,â invited Tom, sensing an important revelation.
âLook up your records. Itâll be in there, including the withdrawal of the charge the following day. The target was a bloody raghead. But something like that doesnât go away. Flip was real strung out over it for that last month of the tour. Had no ammo left to fight with when that woman waggled the kid at him outside his parentsâ house, and shouted obscenities while her brothers made threatening gestures. Modern day shotgun wedding, it was. Talk about kicking a man when heâs down!â
âSo Brenda was out of his life?â
Priest nodded. âHe reckoned he wasnât good enough for her. Shows how low he was over that period. Shouldâve made sergeant by now, but thatâs all on his record.â He crushed the beer can with his hand. âHeâll never make sergeant now, thanks to some pervert.â He turned haunted eyes to Tom once more. âWhatâre you doing about getting who did for him?â
âWeâre talking to people like you who knew him, garnering evidence thatâll eventually point us in the right direction,â Tom told him quietly. âThereâs another kid â a girl of eight months â so the marriage was working out, was it?â
âThey must have been having sex; doesnât mean the marriage was working. Just satisfying basic needs. Flip loved those kids. Always gassing about them.â He appeared lost in thought for a moment or two. âBack at the start of the year Starr starts nagging him to quit the Army. In spite of what happened, it was Flipâs whole life. Only thing he wanted to do. So that bitch set about getting what she wanted. You know the drill. Headache most nights, dried-up corned beef and limp lettuce day after day, dirty washing piling up. When it came to soiled nappies being dumped on his kit, he had a chat with Captain Steele, who called the Welfare people. We were on standby for Afghanistan and the Company Commander wanted the situation sorted.â
âWould that be Ben Steele? Guy who got involved in the abduction of Major Kington, Defence Liaison Officer, a coupla years ago?â
âThe same. Know him?â
âOh, yes ,â said Tom, recalling the young subaltern Max had dubbed the military Miss Marple.
âHe defended our action in Iraq. Backed Flip to the hilt. Heâs all right. The guys really rate him.â
âAnd Steele sorted Starrâs attempts to get Keane out
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley