Knox gazed for another moment at Stone and then gave the phone number to the guard and the fact that he had a man named John Carr with him. “Call Saunders just as soon as you can and tell him where we are.”

They were hustled back to their cells as the entire prison was put in lockdown.

As the pair sat shackled in their cell, Knox said, “I’ll do all I can do to ensure you get a fair shake. I’m not going to let Hayes make you disappear.”

“I’ve already disappeared. I’ve been invisible for the last thirty years, in fact.”

A few moments of silence passed.

“Why didn’t Hayes let you have that damn medal?”

Stone scooted up to a standing position and leaned back against the wall. “It was so many years ago, I don’t think I remember anymore.”

“Sure you do. That place you never forget. Ever.”

Stone glanced at him. “When were you in Nam?”

“Last eighteen months of the war.”

“I was more on the front end.” Stone gazed down at the floor as he spoke. He had never really told anyone about this before, but he also knew it really didn’t matter anymore. They would either die in this place or Stone would die in another prison, if he wasn’t executed.

He looked up at Knox. “Macklin Hayes had one way of fighting. Throw as many grunts into the meat grinder as he could find, and see where the chips fell. But regardless of the outcome he saw to it that the reports that went up the line all detailed his brilliance on the battlefield. Although I believe the closest he ever got to actual combat was the occasional dustup in the officers’ mess.”

“I had some brass just like that. Talked a great game but never wanted to come up to bat.”

“Hayes believed that I cost him a fast promotion to lieutenant colonel. And maybe I did.”

“How?”

“There were three villages on a patch of dirt that the higher-ups suddenly decided we had to own. I guess so they could make it seem like we were winning the war back home. They gave the assignment to Hayes. A nice little carrot for his next bump up the line to the one-star. He ordered three companies forward, one company to hit each village. The night before we were going in Hayes called a meeting of all the sergeants.”

“What about the captains?”

“They were all dead. We ran through captains and second lieutenants like you wouldn’t believe. Anyway, he ordered us to flatten the places. Nobody left.”

“No soldiers, you mean.”