The Forgotten (40 page)

“You’ve been checking me out?”

“Your record speaks for itself. Not a lot of room in there for personal time.”

“You either.”

“Simple story, chasing stars.” She rubbed his chest. “So where do we go from here, big fellow?”

Puller jerked up and stared at her.

She laughed. “I’m not looking for an engagement ring and a wedding date, Puller. I’m talking about eating. I’m starved.”

He smiled. “Then how about we go eat?”

She kissed him, ran her fingers along a part of his anatomy that made him shudder.

She whispered in his ear, “Is that an order, soldier?”

“With all due respect, ma’am, yes, it is.”

T
HEIR BELLIES FULL
, Puller and Carson sat back from their empty plates and studied each other.

“You’re looking at me as though our relationship has changed somehow,” she said.

He cocked his head, studied her even more intently. “Hasn’t it?”

They were occupying the back corner of a restaurant. The hour was still early enough that the large dinner crowds had not come in yet. They had the place mostly to themselves.

“Why? Because we’ve slept together?”

“I can’t think of any other reason.”

“Was it that important for you?”

“I guess it wasn’t for you.”

“Don’t be offended, John, but it is the twenty-first century. Like guys have for most all of history, girls just sometimes want it for no other reason than they want it.”

“Okay,” he said slowly.

She suddenly smiled. “Feeling used?”

He looked at her, grinned back. “Turning the tables on the male psyche?”

“About time, wouldn’t you say?”

“I’m a poor representative of the typical male.”

“That’s what I like about you. Take Landry, for instance.”

“What about her?”

“She’s young and hot. She wants you in the sack, no leap of deduction there. But she’s no doubt been hit on by every cop in the department.”

“Probably has.”

“And you think the DoD is any different?”

“Come again?”

“I’ve had my ass pinched by my share of one-through four-stars. At West Point it was the same. Instructors and boneheaded plebes. Then out in the field with leafs and clusters thinking it was okay what they said and did to a woman in the ranks. Hell, during my tours of combat in the Middle East sometimes it seemed I was fighting a war on both flanks.”

She picked up her iced tea and glanced at him. “Surprise you?”

“The Army answer would be yes, it would surprise me.”

“And your answer?”

“You know my answer. It’s not the same as the Army’s.”

“Propositioned, harassed, threatened, even assaulted. Welcome to this ‘man’s’ army, right?”

He sat forward, his hands making fists on top of the table. “There are procedures for that shit, Julie. You don’t have to take it. Like you said, it’s the twenty-first century.”

“Right. And part of this century looks just like all the others. Men are still men, however much more enlightened they may be, or constrained by the threat of lawsuits, courts-martial, wrecked careers, and pissed-off wives. But they still pull that crap because they think they can get away with it. They always think that.”

“And so you just took it?”

“I didn’t say that.” She held up her fist. “Sometimes it was this. Sometimes it was a knee to the nuts. Sometimes it was just a stare. And, yeah, sometimes it was paperwork filed and careers torpedoed. But sometimes I didn’t do or say anything. Sometimes I just walked away.”

He stared at her. “You don’t seem the type to just walk away.”

“I had long-term plans, Puller. The Army wasn’t just a lark for me. I wanted big things. I wanted to do big things. I wanted the star path. I have one. I want at least two more.”

“So go along to get along? Not my idea of leadership.”

“Leadership is a funny thing. The parameters keep changing. But one thing you can’t compromise on is can you look at yourself in the mirror the next day? I always could. No matter what happened. It wasn’t my problem. It was theirs.
They
shouldn’t be able to look in the mirror. They’re the ones who couldn’t control their dicks.”

“So where does that leave us?” Puller asked.

“I didn’t come down here to get you into bed. Well, maybe a part of me did. Now that we’ve done that I can focus on what I really came down here for.”

“R and R?”

“To help you solve a case. What do we do next?”

“I’m not used to generals asking me for direction.”

“The best leaders let their people do what they do best. You’re CID. I don’t have a clue about investigating criminal acts. So, again, what do we do next?”

“The Storrows.”

“The Storrows?”

“The couple murdered on the beach. They knew my aunt.”

“You think that’s why they were killed?”

“I’m thinking that the Storrows were out a lot. Sometimes walking, maybe sometimes driving.”

“Driving, like five miles out and five back?”

“Maybe so.”

“And they told your aunt what they saw?”

“Or thought they saw. Or suspected. She wrote the letter to my old man. But she really wanted me to come down and look into things. She would have been able to tell me more, but she never got the chance.”

Puller slipped the letter from his pocket and passed it over to Carson. She ran her gaze down it.

“Mysterious happenings in the night. People not what they seem. Something just not being right. Pretty cryptic stuff.”

“My aunt was not given to overstating things. For her those words might as well be screaming murder.”

“Well, if you’re right about her death, she was entirely justified in thinking so. But if the Storrows are dead, how do we proceed?”

“Son and daughter-in-law. They reported them missing. I’m hoping they can fill in some gaps.” He rose. “You ready?”

She smiled up at him and almost purred. “After the sack time? I’m damn well ready for pretty much anything.”

M
ECHO CHUGGED WATER
from a gallon container and stared across at the big house. Everything about it was perfectly designed, perfectly placed. The shell was of amazing beauty. What lay underneath was not so beautiful.

But then that was how the world often worked.

He wiped his mouth, put the jug back on the truck, and picked up a rake. He trudged off to a patch of lawn underneath some trees. In a side lawn a large fountain poured water into a concrete catch basin. The perimeter of this “secret garden” was lined with lush plantings, wooden benches placed in nooks and crevices with cobblestone pavers underneath.

Mecho had worked this section of the estate before. He found it peaceful, meditative. He suspected this had been Mrs. Lampert’s design. He did not think that Peter Lampert was capable of contemplating such a place of serenity.

As he rounded the corner and set to work with his rake he was surprised to see that one of the garden seats was occupied.

Chrissy Murdoch held a book in her hands, but she wasn’t looking at it. She was staring off in the direction of the water that lay close enough that they could hear the rolling breakers. She wore pale green shorts, a white blouse, and tennis shoes with ankle socks. Her hair was pulled back and fixed in a tight braid. The sun filtered across her face through the branches of nearby trees.

Mecho watched her, momentarily caught up in both her beauty and her apparent melancholy.

When she started and looked his way he returned to his work,
raking flowerbeds and settling the mulch back into neat, compact mounds.

“It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” she said.

“Every day in Paradise is beautiful, isn’t it?” he replied.

“Don’t we both know better than that?”

He looked up, his large fingers gripping the handle of the rake. He said nothing, prompting her to speak again.

“Have you thought about our encounter on the beach last night?”

“Have you?”

“I’ve thought of nothing but that.”

“I’ve given it little time in my mind. I think you have me confused with someone else.”

She rose, closed her book, and drifted over to him.

“So you’re simply a common laborer who maintains a rich man’s property?”

“I’m holding a rake. My shirt is slick with sweat. I ride in a truck. I live in a hole. Draw your own conclusions.”

“But you are educated.”

“Educated or not, I have to make a living. This is not my country. One has to start from the bottom. It is the way with any country.”

“Some start from the top.”

“Those with connections. Or family wealth. I have neither. Do you?”

“I have my looks. I have a certain grace. I know which fork to hold, small talk to make. I know an Italian wine from a French. A Monet from a Manet. The rest I can fudge if need be.”

“Then you have your whole life figured out.”

“No.”

He leaned on his rake. “This is very dangerous what we do. Talking like this. Eyes and ears everywhere.”

“But not here. Not in the secret garden. Mrs. Lampert saw to that.”

“She is an accomplished lady?”

“Probably not. But perhaps real to the touch, unlike me.”

“You’re a fraud, then?”

“Most of us are.”

“You gave me an ultimatum on the beach.”

“Yes, I did.”

“I did not understand it.”

“I thought the terms crystal clear.”

“You won’t believe that I am who I say I am? Where is your proof?”

“Right before my eyes.”

“What is your interest in Lampert?”

“He is an interesting man, on many levels.”

“You let him inside your body.”

“You find that disgusting?”

“Don’t you?”

“Perhaps I do.”

“Then why allow it?”

“Life is full of trade-offs, she said.”

“What are you trading for?”

“On the beach. I thought it was clear.”

“What is your grievance?”

“What is yours?” she countered.

He stood erect, his fingers sliding up and down the rake handle.

She said, “The timing is truly remarkable. You and me.”

“Remarkable was not the word I was thinking of.”

“You were thinking the timing sucked?”

“As you said, it can only be one of us.”

“So you admit your intention?”

Now Mecho’s face darkened. He had been a fool. She had drawn him in, without seeming to do so.

He looked around. He expected to see Lampert’s security team closing in. He looked at her, trying to discern the communication wire under her blouse or her shorts.

As though reading his mind she said, “No, Mecho, it’s not that way.”

“So you say.” He turned to leave.

“Will you stand down?”

He said nothing, but he also didn’t move.

“Will you stand down?” she said again.

“Will you?” he asked.

“I guess I have my answer.”

“I guess you do.”

“It’s been a long time for us, Mecho. A long time. And much pain.”

“And you think you’re alone in that?”

“No. But I have obligations. The end result will be to your liking.”

“I have obligations too.”

He walked swiftly away from her. Away from the secret garden that held no more secrets.

Everything needed to be sped up now. The schedule, so carefully crafted, was now blown to shit.

But there was something else.

Ultimatums given were usually carried out. Prices had to be paid.

His rear flank had just been exposed. He was now fighting on two sides when only one had been anticipated.

He looked back at her.

Murdoch stood there, book in hand, staring at him.

He saw many things on her features.

Sadness.

Resignation.

But most of all, resolve.

He turned back and kept walking.

He didn’t feel sadness, or resignation.

But he did feel resolve.

The war had truly now begun.