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  “But you just said it wasn’t the police.”

  “Well, don’t the police sometimes use civilians in undercover operations, particularly if they have some inside connection to a target?”

  “I guess they do. But then you’re talking drugs or maybe gunrunning.”

  “I don’t think it was that, because I don’t think that would have scared Matt so much.”

  “He had his family out there. He might have been nervous for them.”

  “Maybe,” she said uncertainly.

  “He ever tell you a name or give a description of this ‘undercover’ person?”

  “No.”

  “Did he say how he met the person?”

  “Ran into them one day.”

  “Why would they confide in him?”

  “Because he was in uniform, I believe.”

  “But if the person were working undercover they presumably would have already been working with the police. So why go to some guy in an Army uniform?”

  “I don’t know,” admitted Strickland. “But I do know that Matt was involved somehow and he was really worried.”

  “Where are you assigned?” he asked.

  “I’m an analyst at DoD.”

  “What do you analyze?”

  “The Middle East, with an emphasis on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

  “Ever been there?”

  She shook her head. “No. I know you have. Many times.”

  “It’s okay, Barbara. Some people make good analysts and some don’t.”

  “And some people are good in combat. Like you.”

  “Would you like to analyze a situation for me?”

  She looked surprised but nodded gamely.

  “When I was assigned this case I was told that it was unusual. Four bodies in another state, one of them a DIA colonel. Normally, we’d bring the heavy artillery on something like that. Multiple CID agents, tech support, even bring folks up from USACIL. But they sent just me because it was termed unusual. You got any idea why that would be the case?”

  “DIA involvement?”

  “But General Carson said nothing Reynolds was involved in would have been connected with his murder, so they couldn’t have been concerned about that. But the SecArm’s office even called down to the lab in Atlanta about the case. They seemed to think it was some hot stuff going on, and more than just the DIA angle. Why would they have thought that?”

  “Because someone from DIA told them it was hot stuff and wanted to keep a close lid on it?” suggested Strickland.

  “I was thinking the same thing. When I earlier mentioned General Carson your face changed color.”

  Now Strickland turned pale.

  Puller said, “It’s just stuff I tend to notice. Don’t take it personally. So tell me about the lady.”

  “I don’t know her all that well.”

  “I think you know her a lot better than I do. Tell me, would Reynolds have confided in her the same concerns he did to you?”

  “Matt was a soldier’s soldier.”

  “Meaning he followed chain of command. So he would have told her. And maybe she saw an opportunity to score a victory. An unexpected one that might get her the second star, especially if what Reynolds had stumbled onto had to do with national security matters. Is that plausible? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?”

  Strickland bristled. “I think Julie Carson would crawl over the body of her dead mother to make major general.”

  “So she’s that ambitious?”

  “My experience in the military is that everyone who gets at least one star is that ambitious.”

  “So she tells Reynolds to stay on the case. Interface with this undercover person. She smells that second star. But instead Reynolds and his family get wiped out. Now Carson’s sitting on a potential bomb. If the truth comes out not only will she not get the second, but the first star might get stripped.”

  Strickland nodded. “She has to play cover-up. But she told you that Matt’s work at DIA had nothing to do with his death. That he wasn’t working on anything sensitive.”

  “What else would she say? He headed up J23. That alone is enough to believe his work got him killed. He helps prep the Chairman’s daily briefing. And if someone called Carson on it, she’d just say she was walking the ‘need to know’ fence. Stonewall me, but count on the fact that Reynolds being DIA will be deemed to be the cause of his death. And she probably is hoping against hope that whatever really got Reynolds killed never comes out. Then she’s safe. Otherwise, she’s looking at a lot of explaining if it’s discovered that she kept the lid on something big in order to score professionally. She went for the home run and popped up to the shortstop.”

  “It that’s true, she’s in real trouble.” Strickland looked almost gleeful.

  Puller said, “My job is to nail a killer, not knock off a one-star from her chosen career path. She might have screwed up, and if she did she might have to pay the piper, but that’s not my goal, okay?”

  The gleeful look fled Strickland’s features. “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  “Have a second conversation with a certain one-star,” said Puller. “I appreciate your help, Lieutenant.”

  Strickland again turned pale. “You won’t tell her it was…”

  “No, I won’t.”

  CHAPTER

  54

  “WHAT THE HELL are you doing here?”

  Julie Carson was not in uniform. She had on jeans and a sleeveless Army green T-shirt and her feet were bare. Her arms were tanned and muscled. She probably hit the gym every day and ran at lunchtime to catch the rays and keep her body lean, thought Puller.

  She gazed up at Puller, who stood on the other side of the door to her condo. In his regulation dress uniform shoes he was about six feet five and the breadth of his shoulders filled the doorway.

  “Got some follow-up questions.”

  “How’d you know where I lived?”

  “I don’t mean to insult your intelligence, but I’m an Army investigator and you’re in the Army. Like looking in the phone book.”

  “I still don’t like it.”

  “Duly noted. Can we do this inside in private?”

  “I already talked to you.”

  “Yes, you did, and like I said, I had some follow-up questions.”

  “I’m busy.”

  “And I’m investigating a murder. Of one of your people.”

  The door down the hall opened and two young people came out and looked over at them.

  “Inside might be better, General,” observed Puller.

  She glanced at the young couple, stepped back, and let Puller in, closing the door after him. She led him down the hallway. Puller noted the high-end fixtures, oil paintings, and tasteful furnishings in her condo across from Pentagon City Mall that was only one Metro stop from the Pentagon.

  “Nice commute for you.”

  “Yeah, it is,” she said brusquely.

  They settled in the living room. She’d pointed him to an upholstered chair and she sat on a small loveseat across from him.

  On the walls were pictures of Carson with an array of high-ranking military personnel and politicians. Every one of these people, and they were mostly men, had probably been instrumental in her career path. He had noted a similar photo wall in her office at the Pentagon.

  “Nice place.”

  “I like it.”

  “I still live like I was back in college.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said bluntly. “Maybe it’s time you grew up.”

  “Maybe it is.”

  “I’m not sure what sort of follow-up questions you might have.”

  “Based on new information.”

  “What new information?” she scoffed.

  “About Colonel Reynolds.” He stopped and stared at her.

  “Okay, I’m waiting, or am I supposed to guess?”

  Puller took his time sliding out his official notebook and uncapping his pen. While he
was doing that, he was also watching her. He saw Carson run her eye over his ribbon rows. You didn’t wear your ribbons or medals on your fatigues. But the dress uniform showed them in all their glory. And she could not help but come away impressed. Like his SAC had observed, Puller had been a stud in the field. The colored ribbons and bits of metal had never meant much to him. The actions behind the official awards were what he remembered. But if the military’s display of bragging rights got someone’s attention in an investigation, they were worth their weight in gold to him.

  “You’ve accomplished a lot, Puller,” she said with grudging admiration.

  “Only thing I want to accomplish right now is to find a killer.”

  “Then you’re wasting your time sitting here talking to me.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Get to the damn point. I’ve got better things to do than this. As I told you, I have to give the briefing tomorrow morning.”

  “Yeah, I’m kind of surprised you’re not still there making sure it’s perfect for the four-star.”

  “That’s none of your damn business. And let’s not forget which of us has the star. I’m beginning to lose my patience. And just so you know, I’ve got good contacts at CID.”

  “I’m sure you do.” He glanced up at her photo wall to see the image of the current CID head staring back at him. “And I’m sure they’re better than mine.”

  “So get to the point!”

  “Talk to me about what Colonel Reynolds told you about what was happening in West Virginia. Specifically what he was concerned about.”

  She looked at him in bewilderment. “I already told you that Reynolds didn’t talk to me about anything that happened in West Virginia.”

  “I know. I’ve got it written down in my notebook. I just wanted to give you the opportunity to correct the record before it becomes permanent.”

  The two stared stonily at one another.

  “I don’t like what you’re implying,” she said.

  “And I don’t like being lied to.”

  “You’re way out of line.”

  “What’s out of line is giving me false information that will make it that much harder for me to find Reynolds’s killer.”

  “Who told you that I knew anything about this?”

  “I’m an investigator. It’s my job to find out things.”

  “If people are saying false things about me, I have every right to know.”

  “If they’re false. But not if they’re true.”

  She folded her arms and sat back.

  He noted this. Before her posture was aggressive. Hands on knees, torso angled toward his, just begging to tell the truth and get this over with. Now things had changed.

  She must’ve noted his appraisal, because she said, “I helped revise the manual on interrogation techniques, Puller, so spare yourself the embarrassment of trying to read me.”

  “Would that be enhanced interrogation techniques, ma’am?”

  “You know as well as I do that the Army adheres to the Geneva Convention.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  But she sat still farther back and her eye contact was not as direct.

  He decided to press his advantage. “Was Reynolds a good soldier?”

  “Yes, he was. I told you that.”

  “And good soldiers follow chain of command?”

  “Yes.”

  “So if I told you that Reynolds had told someone else of his concerns who was not in his chain of command, it seems likely, does it not, that he would have told his direct superior as well? Meaning you? He’s the eagle cluster. You’re the one-star, as you so clearly pointed out to me.”

  She crossed her legs, her chin dipping slightly. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Sure you do. The truth will do just fine.”

  “I can have your ass in the stockade for a statement like that.”

  “But you won’t.”

  “Why? Because of your old man? He’s long gone from the ranks, Puller. So don’t try that leverage on me, legend or not.”

  “That’s not what I was thinking.”

  “Sure it was. Your poker face leaves a lot to be desired.”

  Puller continued on as though he hadn’t heard her. “Actually, I was thinking of that star on your shoulder.”

  Her features hardened even more. She actually looked like she might jump up and attack him. But to an experienced interrogator such as Puller, he could see just beneath this hard shell the beginnings of fear in the woman.

  “Why?” she said. “Thinking of trying to knock it off? Don’t even bother. I worked my ass off for it. I earned it.”

  “Actually, ma’am, I was thinking that your shoulders look broad enough to carry that star and probably at least one more.”

  This tactic had clearly surprised her. Carson uncrossed her arms and legs and sat forward. She eyed the notebook.

  Acknowledging this subtle gesture, he said, “This will all go in the report as though it took place at our initial meeting at the Pentagon.”

  “Frankly, I didn’t expect that sort of nuance from you, Puller.”

  “Probably most people don’t.”

  She looked down, her fingers nervously rubbing together. When she looked up she said, “You want to go grab a cup of coffee? I feel like getting some fresh air.”

  He rose. “My treat.”

  “No,” she said quickly. “I think I’ll buy, soldier.”

  CHAPTER

  55

  THIS SECTION OF ARLINGTON had a million places to get coffee within walking distance. Puller and Carson passed several such establishments, but all were crowded with yakking teenagers and their smartphones and laptops. They passed these and entered one off the beaten path where they were the only customers. The humidity had broken and the air was crisp and refreshing. They sat next to an open window in the café.

  Puller placed his hot cup of coffee down after taking a sip and studied her.

  Before leaving the condo she’d slipped on a white long-sleeved T-shirt and Nike sneakers. There were lines around her eyes, crow’s-feet that were stamped in more deeply than a civilian’s. Leading people who carried weapons just did that to a person. Her blonde hair stood out starkly from her tan. She was quite attractive and super-fit and carried herself like she was well aware of both. He knew she was forty-two and had worked her butt off for the one star. He had no desire to derail her career. Everyone was entitled to one professional mistake, and this was probably going to be hers.

  “You wear your dress greens well,” she said quietly. “Special occasion?”