The Veteran

by Martin Roy Hill

About the Author: Martin Roy Hill is a former newspaper and magazine journalist, now working for the Navy as a military analyst. His nonfiction work has appeared in Reader's Digest, LIFE, Newsweek, Omni, among others. His fiction has been published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, ALT HIST: The Journal of Historical Fiction and Alternate History, Nebula Rift, San Diego Magazine, and others. Martin is also the author of five published books: the award-winning "Duty: Suspense and Mystery Stories from the Cold

Excerpt

The old man found the newspapers in a restaurant’s recycling bin and folded the pages together just as they came from the print shop. Not that he was neat; they were simply easier to carry that way.

He was known on the street as Crags, due to his deeply lined, sunburned face. It gave him a cragginess that made him look older than he was. He wore a dirty, torn green combat jacket and war surplus desert camouflage trousers. Unruly wisps of gray hair peeked out from beneath a black wool watch cap.

A headline grabbed his attention: “Sixth homeless man found murdered.”

A chill crawled along the old man’s hunched spine. During the past month, six homeless men were found with their bellies slashed open. Shelters opened and expanded to offer vagrants protection during the night. During the day, homeless huddled together in groups for safety.

He wanted none of that. He didn’t trust the homeless any more than he trusted those who ran the shelters. As far as he was concerned, anyone of them might be the killer.

Crags found more discarded papers in another bin. The headline that caught his eye this time drew a deep growl of laughter. “Veterans prone to homelessness,” it read.

“No shit, Sherlock,” he mumbled, folding the papers, and placing them with the rest. “Ain’t had no breaks since I come back from Nam.”

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