A Secret Kept
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 8
"Tell me again how this happened," Troy stood behind Moffitt as he examined Hitch's leg again.
Moffitt didn't answer until he had finished looking at the bandage. He turned to face the other sergeant. "I told you, Mohammed was trying to protect me, and himself, I suppose. He thought Hitch was a German guard about to sound the alarm."
"Are you sure he wasn't trying to get Hitch to sound the alarm? He didn't aim to kill with the knife when he threw it."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," the Brit answered. "If Hitch hadn't moved, his wound might have been much more serious. We were lucky."
Troy glanced toward the Arab, who was standing off to one side of the other jeep, looking out over the desert in the grey light of morning. "So, do you think he was involved or not?"
"Not," Moffitt answered. "I think he was under suspicion and they followed him. They may have heard rumors of the meeting. I believe him when he said he wanted to protect his family by killing that officer. It is something I may have done in his place."
"If it means anything, I agree with Sergeant Moffitt," Captain Caine added his opinion to the debate. He stepped up between the two sergeants. "I saw his eyes when the Germans appeared. He had no idea they were there."
Troy nodded. "Okay Captain, if you're convinced. We'll take him back with us and…"
"No."
"Excuse me? What do you mean, no?"
"If we take him back to the base he will be seen and maybe recognized. He wants us to leave him at an oasis between here and there. He says he has friends who will help him get home. He gave me the information that I came here to get. If we leave him to get home on his own, he may be able to return to his life. The Germans may never know he was here."
"Are you sure Captain?"
"I'll take full responsibility Sergeant. He risked his life to bring us this information, I'm willing to take a chance on sending him to his friends."
"All right," Troy growled. "As soon as it gets light enough to travel, we'll be on our way. We should be at the base within a couple of hours. Let Moffitt know where the oasis is located and he'll set a course for it."
"I'll ask Mohammed," the Brit said, and he turned away to talk to the Arab.
"Sergeant Troy?"
"Yeah Captain?"
"Is everything all right?"
"Yeah, sure," Troy answered. "You got the information and we got you back. Everything is fine."
"Is it? I'm still sensing some tension between you and your team." The captain held up a hand to stop Troy from protesting. "Don't get me wrong, it doesn't seem to have affected your ability to do your jobs, but I sense some unease. Am I prying again?"
"It's all right Captain. They're still giving me time to talk to them. You may be right; they may be getting anxious. I haven't told them yet." Troy bit his lip and shook his head. "I wasn't sure I was ready to face the truth. My brother is either dead or a prisoner."
"There's no proof either way, is there?"
"No," Troy answered. "But his teammate must think so, why else send me the letter?"
"Perhaps he needed to share his concern with someone and it was easier to put it in a letter than talk to someone face to face. I'm sure it wasn't his intention to make any assumptions. Trust your instincts Sergeant, they've served you well so far."
Troy nodded.
"There is one other thing," the captain continued. "I've had some experience with secrets. And in my experience, secrets have a way of taking on a life of their own, your team may try to guess your secret, and they may come up with much worse scenarios than actually exist. That will only increase their concern, and it might begin to affect their work. A wound left untreated tends to fester."
"I'll keep that in mind Captain. There just hasn't been a whole lot of time to work things out."
"I understand," Captain Caine nodded. "And I feel responsible for that. First you had to get me here and then you had to rescue me. I hope you can get back to your own job and not have to worry about me in the future."
"Worrying about you, and others like you, is our job," Troy answered. "Anything that helps end this war is well worth the effort."
"I have the new course," Moffitt announced as he walked back to join Troy and the captain. "The sun is rising so we should be able to travel without worrying about taking the bottoms out of the jeeps. Are you ready Troy?"
Troy glanced over at Captain Caine and nodded. "Yeah, let's go." Troy slid into the seat and looked over as Hitch sat in the seat next to him. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," Hitch mumbled.
His driver's attitude reminded Troy of the captain's warning. "We'll get you to a doctor as quickly as we can. Then we need to talk."
Hitch's head snapped around to stare at his sergeant. "What about Sarge?"
"That thing that's worrying me," Troy answered.
"We can talk on the way," the blond suggested.
"No," the sergeant answered, "I don't want to have to go through it twice. Once we get to the base and finish this assignment, we can all get together and I'll explain everything."
"Okay Sarge, but until then, we're there for you."
"I know Hitch, and I appreciate it."
Hitch nodded and leaned back in his seat.
Troy started the jeep and grinned as he heard Hitch pop his first bubble in days. He was waiting for Tully to lead the way when Moffitt jumped to the ground. As Troy watched, the Brit began to fiddle with the radio. Troy could hear the static interrupted by garbled voices. Moffitt turned the knob to fine tune the broadcast. The voices were speaking in German so Troy was forced to wait for Moffitt to translate the message.
"What did they say?" Troy asked as Moffitt turned the sound lower on the radio and walked over to his jeep.
"They are sending troops to search for us," the Brit answered. "The escape was reported and they are angry about the death of that officer. Apparently he had friends in high places. There was no mention of our Arab friend, but they want the captain back and they want the men who rescued him."
"What else is new?" Troy grinned.
"They are sending spotter planes."
"Planes? Where are they going to get planes? I thought they had all of their planes busy on the coast."
"We thought so," the Brit answered, "but things can change. You did say that the information Mohammed had to share was very important. At any rate, they are sending planes."
Troy frowned. "We'd better get moving then. A plane could spot us and send every German in the area right for us."
"There is another possibility," Moffitt suggested.
"What?"
"What if they want us to panic?"
"Panic?"
"Think about it. If we think they're sending planes we might decide to make a run for it and forego our usual safety precautions. If we run in the open, we could be playing right into their hands."
"We aren't going to panic," Troy scoffed.
"Are we going to stay under cover?"
"Not unless we actually see a plane," Troy growled. "They haven't found us yet. We'll handle it the way we usually do. It's always worked for us before." Troy started his jeep again and waited for Moffitt to return to his own jeep. "Keep the radio on, just in case," Troy called to Moffitt.
Moffitt nodded and climbed into his jeep, behind the 50.
"What are you doing Doc?" Tully asked after they began to move again. "Sarge isn't going to panic."
"Troy hasn't been Troy since right after we left our base. I don't know if it's this mission, or something else. I can't be sure what he will do in his present state of mind." Moffitt slid the headphones over his ears. "Keep your eyes open. I am going to listen for any more messages."
Despite keeping the headset on, Moffitt didn't pick up any more information that helped them. They didn't see any planes in the sky either. Troy kept them on a straight course for the oasis where they planned to leave Mohammed.
An hour from the base they dropped Mohammed off at the oasis and left him there. As Troy looked back, he saw several Arabs approach the oasis on horseback. Mohammed was walking out to meet them when the hills hid them from the jeeps. They reached the base with no further interruptions.
"Welcome back Captain, Sergeant. I heard you were back." Captain Kendrick greeted the two men as they headed for his office. "It appears that the captain's faith was well founded Sergeant. I don't know how you did it but I am looking forward to hearing all about it."
"Thank you, sir," Troy answered.
"Did you get the information?" The officer asked the captain.
"Yes sir," Captain Caine nodded.
"Do we know who betrayed you to the Germans?"
"No, sir," Captain Caine answered. He went on to tell Captain Kendrick all of the details of his mission. "So you see," he finished, "Mohammed killed the German commander to protect his identity and to protect his family. We left him with his friends and he thinks he can safely go home."
"That is good news," Captain Kendricks agreed. "What about you Sergeant? Are you and your men headed home too?"
"We'd like to stay a day or two if you don't mind Captain. I'd like to give my driver a chance to recover before we head back."
Captain Kendricks nodded his permission. "Is his injury serious?"
"A leg wound," Troy answered. "Sergeant Moffitt doesn't think it's too serious. We got him here before infection set in."
"I suppose you want to go see him?"
"Yes, sir."
"Go ahead Sergeant. Captain Caine and I can finish up here. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you or your men."
"Thank you, sir." Troy excused himself and left for the hospital. When he arrived, Tully and Moffitt were waiting to hear about Hitch.
"Is this mission done now?" Moffitt asked.
"Hopefully," Troy sighed with a shake of his head.
"The we can relax and unwind?"
Troy stopped and looked at the other sergeant. "Meaning me?"
Moffitt hesitated before he nodded. "I do. You haven't been yourself lately Troy. We've been trying to give you space to work it out, but it doesn't seem to be helping. To be honest Troy, the tension on this trip has been rather tiring. I feel it, and I know the lads feel it too. We all need to relax."
"That's on me Doctor. I asked for time to work it out."
"Don't you think it's been long enough?"
"Yeah, I do," Troy answered. "I just don't know where to begin."
"Try at the beginning."
Troy nodded. "Would you mind waiting just a little bit longer?"
Moffitt frowned. "I don't understand, I thought you said you were ready."
"Yeah, but I'd rather do it all at once. Can we wait until Hitch is with us?"
"Fair enough," the Brit nodded. "Just remember, we are there for you no matter what."
"Which one of you is Sergeant Moffitt?" The doctor came out of the hospital and approached where the three of them waited.
"That would be me," Moffitt answered.
The doctor directed his next words at the British sergeant. "You did a fine job of cleaning the wound and stitching it up. I cleaned it again and gave the private a shot to help with the pain. I want him to stay off of it for a few days. I am keeping him overnight, strictly for observation."
"Thank you, Doctor. Can we see him?"
A half hour later the mood around Hitch's bed was somber. Troy had explained about the letter and none of them knew what to say.
"You didn't have to carry the burden alone Troy," Moffitt chided. "We were always there for you."
"There was nothing you could have done anyway," Troy shrugged. "I didn't want to bother you with my troubles."
"It's not a bother," Moffitt answered. "That's what friends do."
"I know, and I appreciate it, but there was nothing any of us could do."
"Not to find David," Moffitt replied, "but we could have given you support. There is still hope. Pilots have returned home after being shot down. We just need to keep our faith. David will do it if there is any way possible."
"He's a lot like you Sarge," Tully added.
"Yeah, that time he was kidnapped didn't even phase him," Hitch stated. "He was cool with the whole thing."
The conversation went round and round until Hitch started to yawn. The others left so he could sleep. They returned to their temporary quarters with the tension of the last few days completely gone.
Two days later they were getting the jeeps ready to leave for their own base. Hitch was limping but moving around on his own. Tully took care of both jeeps while teasing Hitch about getting hurt just so he could get out of the work. Hitch was loudly protesting when Troy looked up to see Captain Caine waving at him. Glancing at the others, Troy went to meet the captain.
"I heard you were leaving," the captain began. "I just wanted to see you off and thank you again for all you've done." The captain glanced toward the jeeps and caught Hitch laughing about something Tully had said. "It looks as if the rest was good for your men. They seem more relaxed."
"I took your advice Captain; I told them everything."
"And did it help?"
"It doesn't bring my brother back," Troy answered, "but yeah, it helped. I should have done it sooner."
"It doesn't look as if they are holding it against you."
Troy glanced over his shoulder at his team. "They're good men Captain. They were very understanding when I came clean."
"Well, I hope your brother makes it back Sergeant. Do you mind if I say goodbye to your team? I wouldn't feel right letting them leave without telling them thanks for their help."
Troy smiled. "They don't expect thanks Captain, but it's always appreciated."
Two weeks later the team returned to the base from yet another recon mission. Tully picked up their mail the next day and delivered it to their rooms.
"A letter for you Doc," Tully called as he tossed it onto the bed the sergeant used. "You got one too Hitch. Surprise. Surprise." He grinned as he handed the blond his letter.
"Yeah, I hardly ever get mail," the blond grinned as he reached for the letter.
"There's one for you too Sarge." Tully handed Troy his letter and then sat on the bed next to Hitch to read his own mail. The sound of paper tearing was the only sound for the next few minutes.
"My cousin just had her first baby," Tully announced to the room. "Her and her husband are going to name it after my aunt."
"Congratulations," Moffitt responded. "My father is starting another book. He's just doing the research for it now but he expects to start writing it in the next few months."
"I'll read it if he writes it," Tully promised. "What's in your letter Hitch?"
"Just the usual," Hitch answered. "My folks want me to try for a promotion. They still can't understand why I don't want to be an officer."
"The responsibility of being an officer is not for everyone," Moffitt answered. "There's certainly no shame in being an enlisted man."
Everyone turned to look toward Troy. "What's in your letter Troy? Troy?"
The sergeant looked up with tears shimmering in his eyes.
"Bad news?" Moffitt asked quietly.
"Good news," Troy laughed shakily. "David contacted his base. He broke his arm when his plane crashed but he's on his way back. They expect him anytime now."
The room erupted in rounds of congratulations. Troy kept his smile as everyone slapped him on the back.
"This calls for a celebration," the Brit announced. "I'll buy the first round."
The four men tumbled out of the room and headed for the only bar on the base. The celebration lasted well into the night.