Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO CAME HOME
Michael Bennett answered his son's call on the fourth ring.
Sergeant Daniel Bennett did not use speakerphone at first.
He stood beneath the awning outside Harrison's Grill while Walter watched rain run into the gutter.
"Dad, I need to ask you something strange."
Michael laughed.
"That's usually expensive."
Daniel did not laugh.
"What did Grandpa look like when he came home?"
Silence.
Walter's eyes lifted.
Michael finally said, "Why?"
"Just tell me."
Another pause.
"He was thinner."
"What else?"
"He had a scar."
Walter stepped closer.
Daniel saw it.
"Where?"
"Along his jaw. Left side."
Walter whispered, "Tommy never had a scar there."
Daniel covered the phone.
"You sure?"
"I shaved beside him for eleven days."
Daniel returned to the call.
"Did he talk about what happened overseas?"
"Almost never."
"Did he remember you?"
"I was five."
"Did he know your birthday?"
Michael became irritated.
"What the hell is this?"
Daniel looked at Walter.
"There's a man here who says he watched Grandpa die."
The line went dead quiet.
Then Michael said something Walter did not expect.
"Don't tell him where I live."
Daniel frowned.
"Dad?"
"Do not bring that man to my house."
Walter felt the cold before the wind touched him.
Michael knew his name.
Daniel asked, "You know Walter Hayes?"
The answer came softly.
"I know what my father called him."
Walter's hand tightened around the old letter.
"What?"
Daniel put the phone on speaker.
Michael Bennett's voice filled the space between them.
"He called Walter Hayes the man who left him behind."
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Then Michael hung up.
