Honesty and Trust

Chapter 3

Actor knew he had to do some thing. Chief was in trouble and only Garrison could fix it. He also could only talk to their leader if he was alone. This did not happen until they were back at the Estate. He knocked at his door and waited for an answer before entering.

"Warden, there is something I would like to talk to you about if you have a minute?"

Garrison looked up from the report he was just about to write. "Can it wait? I want to get this done."

Actor entered and sat in the chair across from Garrison. "No, it cannot." He sat down and waited until Garrison had put down his pen. "You know, Warden, trust is like a spring. It has a lot of give. You can stretch it and it snaps back to its original shape."

Garrison had had discussions with the well educated con man before and knew this was leading somewhere. He was too tired to figure it out so he let the man continue.

"But like a spring, even the strongest trust can be destroyed. You stretch it too far and it stays, it does not come back. A spring or a trust that has been stretched too far becomes not only useless but in some cases, dangerous." He paused to see if Garrison was following. "You expect it to be there, to work as it always has but," he shook his head. Actor watched the young blonde before him. The man was intelligent but he was tired. He could see it in his posture and in his eyes. It would have been better to have waited until tomorrow when the man had had some sleep but Actor was afraid Chief could not wait.

"Chief is a loner. It is most likely he has been betrayed in the past or has never had the opportunity to form strong bonds of trust. When we arrived here he trusted no one, not even you. Possibly, even more so you, since you are the authority figure and he does have a problem with authority. Somewhere along the line in our training or on one of our missions …" He trailed off hoping Garrison would fill in the blanks of which he was curious. When nothing was forth coming he continued. "Chief has started to trust you. Usually I am the one they begin to trust," Actor smiled ever so slightly, "since that is the business I am in."

Garrison matched the smile.

Encouraged, the con man continued. "I understand completely why you were upset when you discovered what he had done. You were entirely right. He could have endangered any or all of us. Because of that, talking to the boy was necessary but the severity of the attack probably has done some damage. An injured man is vulnerable." Actor paused to let that sink in. "If you wish to regain the trust and prevent any hard feelings you should act fast though it might be too late even now."

Not wishing to belabour the point or force the Lt to admit he was in the wrong, Actor took his leave.

Garrison realized that Actor was right. He had been too hard. He had taken out his frustrations on the youngest and injured member of his team. As much as he needed to write out his report and as much as he wanted to sleep he had better go see Chief. He put away his reports and grabbing his hat and jacket he quick left the building. Watching from the library window, Actor smiled in satisfaction. The Lt. would do the right thing. Caring about the men they led was the sign of a good leader. This one was shaping up to be a good one.

When Craig got to the hospital he checked Chief's room but it was empty. The sun room was occupied but not by Chief. He headed back towards the nurses station when he happened to glance into one of the rooms along the hall. Two steps past he though he recognized the figure at the window. He turned around and walked back stopping at the door. He was watching the man's face so he did not miss the fear and then the shame that showed before the mask slipped into place and he turned back to the window. Actor was right. He had made a mess of it.

Garrison knew it was easier to command when he had his men's respect. He had known gaining their respect would be hard but by doing the training with them and then the fight with Wheeler, he thought, had gained him their respect.

Command by fear meant sooner or later the men would run rather than fight. Chief had been a runner. He had seen the fear in his eyes. Would he run now?

He walked over and stood beside him. "Chief, I would like to talk to you. Do you feel up to taking a walk outside?" The room they were in was occupied so they could not talk there. He hoped being outside would help him relax. He waited for an answer. There was no reaction at first and when he was about to offer another suggestion the answer came.

"No."

The word was quiet and without inflection but to Garrison it was a slap in the face. He was stunned. The young man in front of him turned and walked away. Now it was Garrison's turn to stand looking out the window. What was he to do now? He turned and walked out into the hall. There was no sign of Chief. He was not in his room either. Garrison had to admit defeat.

The next morning Garrison returned to the hospital. Chief was to be discharged and Garrison thought he would have a chance to talk to him on the trip back to the estate. Chief had had other ideas.

When Garrison got to the nurses station they informed him that the patient had disappeared. He had left some time within the last four hours when the nurses did their checks. The MP's had been notified. Garrison thanked them and left.

Once on the road Garrison began the trip back towards the estate. He drove slowly with one eye on the road and one on the country side. Unfortunately the man he searched for was very adept at not being seen. Goniff swore the man could hide in the middle of nowhere and still not be found.

After Garrison had covered a couple of miles he pulled to the side of the road. Under other circumstances he would have been angry but this time he knew it was his fault. Maybe if he had persisted last night. Maybe if he had stopped Chief from leaving the room… Yeah, like that would have worked. He tried to tell himself that there was nothing he could have done but the guilt would not leave. He broke the kid now it was his responsibility to fix him. The trust, that Actor had pointed out to him, between Chief and himself might be irreparably damaged.

Damn! He thought. I'm only human. I make mistakes. I was tired and frustrated. Then he thought back to his instructors at West Point. A good leader was not human. He had no emotions to get in the way. He did not get tired. He did not get frustrated. He never took his feelings or pain out on his men. The moment he did he was not fit to command.

Yes, he had failed. Just what he needed was more guilt.

Stop! You have a job to do. One that could save a life. Chief's life. He could get pneumonia and die out here. If he was not found he would be listed as AWOL and shipped back to prison. Concentrate on the job at hand. Now where would Chief have gone. He had to assume he would head for the estate. That was as good a direction as any. He looked all around. There were no building or groves of trees for a good distance to obscure his view. The air was cool and there had been a heavy dew. By now the man would be cold and wet. Where would he have gone to get warm?