Concealed

3

3

The ceremony was elementary. The account manager of Matthew’s life insurance policy had informed Judy how sorry he was that the fund was not enough to cover all of the costs of the funeral and how he felt sorry for her as Matthew had died, leaving his widow with financial problems. He would have found a thousand more excuses for not paying the funeral service she hoped for if she had not hung up on him, telling him he could drop dead himself. The moment she ended the phone call Judy realized she was in big trouble and her new unexpected financial status probably meant she would have to sell the house. For the moment she didn’t care.

She stood next to Matthew’s grave. All alone; without any relatives standing nearby.

Not many people attended Matthew Kerr’s funeral. The three men, befriended veterans, standing at a distance between the trees of the cemetery, waited until every member of the family had showed their respect to their former buddy. Now Judy Kerr was standing there all by herself, they moved forward.

“Mrs. Kerr?” Casey Deyoung asked.

Judy was startled by the unexpected visitors. “Yes?” she sobbed staring at the three unfamiliar faces.

“I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to scare you. We are former colleagues of Matthew,” said Casey.

“Colleagues?” she said surprised. “From the railroad company?”

“No ma’am. We served in the army together.”

Judy Kerr had another suspicious look at the three veterans. “The army?” she reacted surprised. “Has Matthew been in the army?”

Casey Deyoung looked at his two companions; not really knowing what to say. “Yes,” he said meaningless.

“Did he never mention the army?” the oldest of the other two men asked.

When he noticed the surprise in Judy’s face, he said: “I’m sorry Mrs. Kerr. My name is Michael Visione. This here,” he said, pointing at

the younger man standing next to him, “this is Rick Bravia. We are very sorry for your loss ma’am.”

“Thank you,” said Judy meanwhile trying to see if anyone of her friends or family could see her talking to these strangers. Former colleagues from an employer Matthew had never talked about to her.

“No need to worry Mrs. Kerr; we are only here to say farewell to our buddy.”

She stepped back, giving the men some space so they could stay closer to the grave. All three of them brought a salute to their deceased colleague even though they were not wearing a uniform.

“And where did you say you have served?” Judy asked curious to hear more about Matthew’s unknown past.

Michael Visione tried to reassure her: “I guess Matthew didn’t tell you anything because he wanted to forget about his time in the army.”

“Why would he? Did you go to war? Have you been fighting? Gulf war or something like that?” Judy asked astonished by the news the men brought to her on this tragic day.

“No ma’am,” said Casey. “We never went to war. We have been on a special mission…” He hesitated. “I’m not sure if I should tell you anything about it right now. I mean, Matthew… your husband has recently passed away…”

“He was murdered…,” she said cold-hearted.

“Yes, yes, so we have heard. Terrible. What I wanted to tell you is, that maybe he didn’t want you to know about his time in the army. Maybe we should leave it this way.”

“No!” she said resolute. “I want to know everything about him. We were only married for a year; maybe he wanted to tell me later.” The moment she said it, she realized it would be odd. Why would Matthew wait for telling her about his army time? Why would he wait for a year to pass by before telling her? She first looked at Casey Deyoung, then slowly turned her head to Michael Visione; ending up staring at Rick Bravia. “I certainly want to know all about it.”

“Alright,” said Michael. “But I think we should come back later. This is not the time or the place to have a discussion about Matthew’s past.”

“It was a secret mission, wasn’t it?” said Judy.

Casey Deyoung gave her a faint smile. “We will tell you later Mrs. Kerr.”

“Judy.”

“Judy… We will be back. For now I think you should make some time to talk to your guests.”

“We will be in town for two days,” said Michael Visione. “Is it alright if we meet tomorrow afternoon?”

“Sure,” said Judy.

After they had exchanged phone numbers the three veterans left the cemetery.

* * *

Around two o’clock the next day former privates Deyoung, Visione and Bravia showed up at the Kerr residence. They noticed the car parked in front of the house. It was loaded with fishing gear.

“Matthew’s car?” Visione asked when Judy opened the door.

She almost cried when she confirmed Michael’s question. “We had plans to go camping in the weekend. He didn’t get any further than the front door…”

She looked down on the stairs.

Casey Deyoung noticed what she was looking at. Some of the blood stains were still visible. “There are specialized cleaners who can solve this you know?”

Judy nodded her head. “I know. Someone is coming here later this afternoon. The police were not ready yet. They didn’t finish their research till this morning.”

“There’s also some kind of victim assistance…,” said Michael Visione. “You might appreciate their help or guidance.”

“I know, they have told me… Please come in,” said Judy. “I’m sorry I cannot offer you anything. I didn’t have time to go to the supermarket.”

“That’s alright, Judy. We have had lunch and coffee before we came to visit you,” said Casey. “Where do you want us to go?”

Judy invited them into the kitchen. When they were all seated, she opened a drawer; took out a small box and placed it at the centre of the table. “I only found this last night. And I didn’t show this to the police,” she said when she showed them the photo of Matthew Kerr in his army uniform. “Looks like he is standing in the jungle.”

Rick Bravia became uncomfortable on his chair.

“You are right about that Judy,” said Casey. “We have served together. We were on a mission in the jungle of Panama.” He looked at Michael Visione afraid he would be telling too much. Michael didn’t react.

“I thought the army had left Panama a long time ago?” said Judy.

“True. The US army remained in Panama till 1999.”

“So you have served there before that time?” said Judy. “Wait a minute… That’s impossible. Matthew was hardly fifteen or sixteen at the time…”

“We… We were there in 2003 Judy,” said Casey.

“But… but, you’ve just told me the army left Panama in 1999?”

“Officially,” said Michael. “Unofficially we are still there…”