EVENT HORIZON – ORCUS AIMATOS

GP of Pasific Paratrooper is one heck of a blogger and has been one of my followers since I started out on WordPress – visit him here. Anyway, he asked a very interesting question concerning detectives, and in particular, the compassion Andy Deshong (AKA – Dr. Murder) has for the victims of violent crimes. I’m working up an answer for him.

But before I get there, it might be worth looking at a major motivator for at least some of my characters.

In the first book, The Cross and the Badge, we learn there’s four friends. They went through Basic training and AIT together and graduated as MPs in the Army. All went to the same unit, and all have had similar assignments. Through sheer luck of the draw, they’ve been together since the day they met at the Atlanta Airport waiting for the bus to Ft. McClellan.

They are Will (of course), Jonesy, Terri, and Max. All of them are cowboys (indeed, Will’s first words to Terri was, “I can see by your clothing that you are a cowgirl.”).

Will we know a lot about. Max we’ve seen in action. We haven’t seen Terri much except for a brief couple of chapters in Book one but will see her in the future.

That leaves Michael (Jonesy) Jones. We’ve seen him in book one and aside from one or two telephone conversation, he’s been just one of those characters in the background.

He’s foreground here.

These four friends were called the Regulators after the hired guns in Young Guns. When you wear cowboy boots and jeans, that happens. The name was meant as a joke. These four people took the joke and ran with it. We’re talking four people in a relationship that goes beyond friendship and into that nebulous realm called family. They’ve had each other’s back, fought in battle together, and now, the Army is splitting them up. On the last night they’re all together, Terri writes up an Orcus Aimatos (Blood Oath). The oath is that they’re family. They will always be there for one another. One part of the oath states that they will hold one another accountable, seek justice on behalf of each other, and if need be, bring the other to justice.

The oath was sealed with blood. And each signed it with their own blood.

Little sick, I know, but in fairness, they were all drunk that night.

And with the exception of one or two references, the Oath is rarely mentioned.

But in Event Horizon, we discover it was a long way from something done while intoxicated. They have no choice but to put the Oath they took into action.

So, let me set the stage for you. A murder has occurred. As far as murders go, this one, like most is rather simple. We have a witness. We have someone with a clear motive. And we have a history of violence that more than points the finger at Max.

It’s apprehending the killer that concerns Will (more on that one later).

Before going after Max, Will’s friend Samantha, a reporter for the paper speaks with him and Jonesy.

She looked at Jonesy and said, “I know almost all the cops in the valley. Who are you?”

     “LAPD,” he said, extending his hand. “Will and I are brothers. We were going to go deer hunting.”

“Did you guys know the suspect?” The question was to both of us.

     “We were brothers,” I answered.

     “And where is he now?” she asked.

     “He’s up there,” I said, pointing at the mountains. “He’s running and Jonesy and I are going after him!”

     “How does your friendship factor into this?” she asked. She had to ask the question.

     I was thankful Jonesy handled it.

     “You see that,” he said, holding up his right hand, palm facing her.

     “What is that?” she asked, seeing the scar across the palm of his hand. She took a picture of it.

     “Will has one, too. So does our sis, Terri,” he answered. “And Max has one.” He paused as she wrote it all down. She looked a little confused by his explanation.

“Do you know what an orcus aimatos is?”

     I could see Sam was dipping into her well of foreign languages and coming up empty.

     “Sorry. I don’t.”

     “Blame Terri for the wording. It’s Greek and means a ‘Blood Oath.’ ”

     “I didn’t think people did those anymore.”

     “Well, it is a little primitive. And with AIDS and all, people are scared to death of doing it. But we swore one. We swore that we’d always be there for one another.     

“But then we swore something else. We also swore that if any of us ever went rogue and needed to be made answerable to the law, we would pursue and bring that person or persons to justice. We even have an official written on paper charter that says that.”

     “You hold each other accountable?”

     “Yes,” he answered. “And because of that promise made to each other and before God Almighty, we’ll do everything in our power to bring him in.”

    “And he knows this?”

    “He knows this,” I answered. “And if the situation were different, we’d expect him to hold up his end of the Oath.”

The Book of Numbers has this to say about taking an oath: ” a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”

Translation: You swear it before God, you better be ready to back it up.

In the case of Will and Jonesy, they have no choice but to put their words into action.