The Affair

"The boots on the ground outside of Kelham were an unofficial force. A local citizens’ militia. Evidently part of some weirdo network of true patriots. Apparently they were here to defend the army from unjustified harassment."

"Well, Mississippi," he said. "What do you expect?"

"They were from Tennessee, actually," I said. "And you’re missing the point. They didn’t just happen to be here. They weren’t just passing by on a whim. They weren’t here for a vacation. They were deployed here. They have a contact somewhere, who knew exactly when, and exactly where, and exactly how, and exactly why they would be needed. Who would have that kind of information?"

"Someone who had all the facts from the get-go."

"And where would we find such a person?"

"Somewhere high up."

"I agree," I said. "Any idea who?"

"None at all."

"You sure? You need to put me in the loop here if you can."

"I’m sure. You’re already in the loop as much as I am."

"OK, go back to your office. Five minutes from now I’m going to call you. You can ignore what I say, because it won’t mean much. But stay on the line long enough to let the tape recorders roll."

"Wait," Garber said. "There’s something I have to tell you."

"Like what?"

"News from the Marine Corps."

"What kind of news?"

"There’s some kind of issue with Elizabeth Deveraux."

"What kind of issue?"

"I don’t know yet. They’re playing hard to get. They’re making a real big deal about access. The file she’s in is apparently some super-toxic thing. Highest category, biggest deal in the world, and similar bullshit. But word is there was some big scandal about five years ago. The story is Deveraux got some other Marine MP fired for no good reason. Rumors say it was personal jealousy."

"Five years ago is three years before she quit. Was she honorably discharged?"

"Yes, she was."

"Voluntary separation or involuntary?"

"Voluntary."

"Then there’s nothing there," I said. "Don’t worry about it."

"You’re thinking with the wrong part of your body, Reacher."

"Five minutes," I said. "Be back at your desk."

The waitress freshened my cup and I drank most of the new brew while I counted three hundred seconds in my head. Then I stepped back to the phone and dialed Garber direct. He answered and I said, "Sir, this is Major Reacher reporting from Mississippi. Can you hear me?"

Garber said, "Loud and clear."

I said, "I have the name of the individual who ordered the Tennessee Free Citizens to Kelham. That order became part of a criminal conspiracy in that it resulted in two homicides and two felony assaults. I have an appointment I need to keep at the Pentagon the day after tomorrow, and then I’ll return to base immediately afterward and I’ll get JAG Corps involved at that point in time."

Garber was on the ball. He caught on fast and played his part well. He asked, "Who was the individual?"

I said, "I’ll keep that strictly to myself for the next forty-eight hours, if you don’t mind."

Garber said, "Understood."

I dabbed the cradle to end the call, and then I dialed a new number. Colonel John James Frazer’s billet, deep inside the Pentagon. The Senate Liaison guy. I got his scheduler and made a twelve o’clock appointment with him, in his office, for the day after next. I didn’t say why, because I couldn’t. I didn’t have a real reason. I just needed to be somewhere in the giant building. As bait in a trap.

Then I sat at a table and waited for Deveraux. I knew a woman who ate like she did wouldn’t be long.

54

Deveraux came in thirty minutes later, looking pale and drawn. Death messages are never pleasant. Especially when lightning strikes twice, against a mother who is already angry. But it’s all part of the job. Bereaved relatives are always angry. Why wouldn’t they be?

Deveraux sat down and blew a long sad breath at me.

"Bad?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Terrible," she said. "She’s not going to vote for me ever again, that’s for sure. I think if I had a house, she’d burn it down. If I had a dog, she’d poison it."

"Can’t blame her," I said. "Two for two."

"It will be three for three soon. That woman is going to take a midnight stroll on the railroad tracks. I guarantee it. Within a week, probably."

"Has that happened before?"

"Not often. But the train is always there, once a night. Like a reminder that there’s a way out if you need one."

I said nothing. I wanted to remember the midnight train in a happier context.

She said, "I want to ask you a question, but I’m not going to."

"What question?"

"Who put those idiots in the woods?"

"Why aren’t you going to ask it?"

"Because I’m assuming there’s a whole bunch of things here, all interconnected. Some big crisis on the base. A part answer wouldn’t make sense. You’d have to tell me everything. And I don’t want to ask you to do that."

"I couldn’t tell you everything even if I wanted to. I don’t know everything. If I knew everything I wouldn’t be here anymore. The job would be done. I’d be back on post doing the next thing."

"Are you looking forward to that?"

"Are you fishing?"

"No, I’m just asking. I’ve been there myself, don’t forget. Sooner or later we all hit the moment when the light goes out. I’m wondering if it’s happened to you yet. Or if it’s still to come."

I said, "No, I don’t really want to get back on post. But that’s mostly because of the sex, not the work."

She smiled. "So who put those idiots in the woods?"

"I don’t know," I said. "Could have been a number of people. Kelham is a pie the same as any other pie, and there are lots of folks with their fingers in it. Lots of interests, lots of angles. Some of them are professional, and some of them are personal. Maybe five or six of them pass the crazy test. Which means there are five or six different chains of command terminating in five or six very senior officers somewhere. Any one of them could feel threatened in some way bad enough to pull a stunt like this. And any one of them would be quite capable of doing it. You don’t get to be a very senior officer in this man’s army by being a sweet guy."

"Who are the five or six?"

"I wouldn’t have the faintest idea. That’s not my world. From where they are, I’m just a grunt. I’m indistinguishable from a private first class."

"But you’re going to nail him."

"Of course I’m going to nail him."

"When?"

"Day after tomorrow, I hope. I have to go to D.C. Just for a night, maybe."

"Why?"

"I got on a line I knew to be tapped and said I knew a name. So now I have to go hang out up there and walk the walk and see what comes out of the woodwork."

"You made yourself the bait in a trap?"

"It’s like a theory of relativity. Same difference if I go to them or they come to me."

"Especially when you don’t even know who they are, let alone which one of them is guilty."

I said nothing.

She said, "I agree. It’s time to shake something loose. If you want to know if the stove is hot, sometimes the only way to find out is to touch it."

"You must have been a pretty good cop."

"I still am a pretty good cop."