BackTrek by Kelvin Kelley Page A

mouth.
    “Drop the weapon!” Penelli yelled at Ted.
    “Stand down, soldier!” Ted yelled at Jack, as
he ignored Penelli, and raised his voice for the first time. Jack
continued to struggle. “Stand down!” Slowly the tenseness faded
from Jack’s body as he admitted defeat, and followed the orders
that had been ingrained in him after years in the army. Penelli
began to approach Ted from the side, but quickly stopped when he
found Jack’s gun now pointed at him. "Mr. Penelli, I presume?"
Clearly baffled by everything that had just happened, Penelli
hunched down, and continued to point his weapon at Ted’s head.
    “Drop the fucking weapon!” He repeated.
    “You can relax, Penelli, the safety is still
on.” Ted said as he dropped the gun to his side, and released
Jack’s arm. Jack rolled to his side, and began to slowly get up. As
he stood up, Ted grabbed Jack’s gun by the barrel and handed it
butt first to Jack, who looked at it for a moment without reaching
for it. He looked up from the gun and into Ted’s eyes, and then
slowly took the gun from him and put it back in his holster. Though
clearly still upset, Jack had relaxed tremendously, almost to the
point that Penelli was concerned that if he needed his help to take
this guy, Ted, that Jack wouldn’t be up to it.
    “Who are you?” Penelli asked, as he lowered
his own weapon, and slid it back into it’s holster.
    “As our friend just said, I’m Ted
Truman.”
    “What are you doing here?” Jack demanded
sarcastically.
    “Business, Jack. I’m not here to make your
life miserable or drum up bad memories. I’m here on a Federal
matter.” Ted said as he brushed his coat off, and straightened his
tie.
    “Federal? You mean Army?” Jack asked.
    “Not exactly, Jack. I’m not with the Army
anymore. Let’s just say that it’s a Federal matter. Your superior
has been advised, and I’m not at liberty to discuss it.’
    “You’re not trying to pull jurisdiction on us
are you?” Penelli intervened, as he remembered the bad experiences
in the past when the FBI took charge.
    “On the contrary, Penelli. I want you to
solve the case on your own. My reason for being here is just to
inspect the crime scene, and compile what evidence or clues that
you already have. I have no intentions whatsoever of interfering
with your investigation, I assure you.”
    “Well, we’re still waiting on the M.E. to
arrive, but you can look at the scene now, if you don’t touch
anything.” Penelli offered. He knew that the Medical Examiner that
was on call would blister them all if the crime scene was
contaminated.
    “That’s fine.” Ted said as he started to turn
towards the front of the building. Suddenly he stopped and looked
back at Jack. "If that’s all right with you, Jack?" Jack stared at
him for a moment, in total silence, with only a slight hint of the
anger that had previously controlled him.
    “Yeah. Go ahead.” He said, and then gestured
for Penelli to show him the way. Penelli walked towards the front
of the building and Ted began to follow, but stopped and turned
back to Jack.
    "Thanks, Jack. I owe you one." He said. Then
he turned and followed Penelli into the building, and left Jack
alone on the sidewalk. Jack walked back over to the black and white
and slowly leaned against it. He stared back at the building that
Penelli and Ted had just disappeared into. His mind reeled with all
the emotions that he had just been through. The surprise that Ted
had shown up out of nowhere after all these years, and the
explosive anger that the bastard was back in his life again. Ted
had been the friend that had testified against him in the Army. He
had been his closest friend. At times, he had been more like a
brother than a friend. Ted had always seemed to work until all
hours of the night, on some top secret project or other. And the
last year, Jack had seen him rarely, but even when they did get
together Ted had been distant. He had been as preoccupied with his
work