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Authors: David Rollins
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been trying to ring you on your cell for the last ten minutes.”
“It’s in my coat in the car, General. The battery might have expired.”
“Why have you seized General Scott’s records?”
Seized was perhaps too strong a word. I explained that we had merely secured them and provided the reasoning for doing that, which Gruyere largely accepted, though she added a warning. “Do try to avoid getting that woman angry, Special Agent. She has powerful allies neither you nor I want to mess with. Now, tell me you’ve got the paperwork for this in order.”
“The paperwork in order?” I repeated, loud enough for Masters to catch.
I already knew the answer to that. Masters shook her head, confirming it. My heart sank. “Yes, General. Of course we have.”
“Bullshit, Special Agent,” said Gruyere, calling my bluff. The silence was pregnant.
“I will organize things officially from my end, but this is it, Cooper.” The general’s words were careful and deliberate. She was not impressed. “Remember what I told you before you left here yesterday.”
I remembered: It’s either the biggest case of your career, or the last. “Yes, ma’am.” I read her loud and clear.
“Now, tell me what you know,” she said.
I filled the general in on Roach’s findings.
“Damn it to hell…” she said. “And no suspects?”
“No, ma’am.”
“No leads?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Better get on with it, then, hadn’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said as the line went dead.
I took a couple of deep breaths. Out with the bad, in with the good, as a certain colonel used to instruct me and my wife in our relationship counseling sessions before I stopped going—before I caught him in the shower with said wife on her knees giving his erection a good scrub with the back of her throat. The cops were shuttling boxes into the trucks. Masters put General Scott’s computer on the front passenger seat of her car and locked the door closed behind her.
“Thanks,” she said as she walked over. “You didn’t have to do that.”
I handed back her cell. “Do what?”
“Cover for me.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, how to handle this apology. And not because I hadn’t received any positive feedback from the female of the species for some time. I was annoyed with Masters for racing off to secure Scott’s papers without at least warning me. Doing it without getting the proper clearances and authorizations also rankled. Did she think Scott’s widow would just pass his things over happily? It was also probably the sort of thing I’d have done myself had I thought of it. I gave in to my gentler side and said, “Forget it. Let’s just try to make this teamwork thing happen as the big cheese intended.”
“The big who?”
“Never mind. Where are you taking all this stuff?”
“We’ve got a spare office at OSI on the base. I’m going to set that up as an operations room. Do you know where OSI is?”
“No, but I’ll find it. The guy on the front gate and I are on a first-name basis now.”
One of the policemen mumbled something at Masters, saluted, and then headed back to the lead vehicle. The three trucks pulled away.
“I’m going to head back and get Scott’s things behind a locked door. You?”
“I want to talk to the captain who watched Scott’s plane go down. Then I’m going to talk to General von Koeppen’s PA. I’d like to know a bit more about their working relationship.”
“Whose? Between von Koeppen and his PA?”
“No, the relationship between Scott and von Koeppen.”
“Oh, right.”
“Anything more you can tell me about Herr General, other than he dresses in leather chaps and prances around his office with a feather duster?”
“Who said anything about a feather duster?” She laughed, and that surprised me. I’d been thinking that perhaps the scowl on her face was permanent. “Actually, I haven’t had much to do with him. He’s a bit of a ladies’ man, or so I’ve
“It’s in my coat in the car, General. The battery might have expired.”
“Why have you seized General Scott’s records?”
Seized was perhaps too strong a word. I explained that we had merely secured them and provided the reasoning for doing that, which Gruyere largely accepted, though she added a warning. “Do try to avoid getting that woman angry, Special Agent. She has powerful allies neither you nor I want to mess with. Now, tell me you’ve got the paperwork for this in order.”
“The paperwork in order?” I repeated, loud enough for Masters to catch.
I already knew the answer to that. Masters shook her head, confirming it. My heart sank. “Yes, General. Of course we have.”
“Bullshit, Special Agent,” said Gruyere, calling my bluff. The silence was pregnant.
“I will organize things officially from my end, but this is it, Cooper.” The general’s words were careful and deliberate. She was not impressed. “Remember what I told you before you left here yesterday.”
I remembered: It’s either the biggest case of your career, or the last. “Yes, ma’am.” I read her loud and clear.
“Now, tell me what you know,” she said.
I filled the general in on Roach’s findings.
“Damn it to hell…” she said. “And no suspects?”
“No, ma’am.”
“No leads?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Better get on with it, then, hadn’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said as the line went dead.
I took a couple of deep breaths. Out with the bad, in with the good, as a certain colonel used to instruct me and my wife in our relationship counseling sessions before I stopped going—before I caught him in the shower with said wife on her knees giving his erection a good scrub with the back of her throat. The cops were shuttling boxes into the trucks. Masters put General Scott’s computer on the front passenger seat of her car and locked the door closed behind her.
“Thanks,” she said as she walked over. “You didn’t have to do that.”
I handed back her cell. “Do what?”
“Cover for me.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, how to handle this apology. And not because I hadn’t received any positive feedback from the female of the species for some time. I was annoyed with Masters for racing off to secure Scott’s papers without at least warning me. Doing it without getting the proper clearances and authorizations also rankled. Did she think Scott’s widow would just pass his things over happily? It was also probably the sort of thing I’d have done myself had I thought of it. I gave in to my gentler side and said, “Forget it. Let’s just try to make this teamwork thing happen as the big cheese intended.”
“The big who?”
“Never mind. Where are you taking all this stuff?”
“We’ve got a spare office at OSI on the base. I’m going to set that up as an operations room. Do you know where OSI is?”
“No, but I’ll find it. The guy on the front gate and I are on a first-name basis now.”
One of the policemen mumbled something at Masters, saluted, and then headed back to the lead vehicle. The three trucks pulled away.
“I’m going to head back and get Scott’s things behind a locked door. You?”
“I want to talk to the captain who watched Scott’s plane go down. Then I’m going to talk to General von Koeppen’s PA. I’d like to know a bit more about their working relationship.”
“Whose? Between von Koeppen and his PA?”
“No, the relationship between Scott and von Koeppen.”
“Oh, right.”
“Anything more you can tell me about Herr General, other than he dresses in leather chaps and prances around his office with a feather duster?”
“Who said anything about a feather duster?” She laughed, and that surprised me. I’d been thinking that perhaps the scowl on her face was permanent. “Actually, I haven’t had much to do with him. He’s a bit of a ladies’ man, or so I’ve
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