But his training took over and he answered. In the Army your CO calls and you

just pick up the phone no matter what. Otherwise, you would not be in the Army

much longer. You’d be in a stockade. “Yes sir?” “Puller, got a call from the

Twelfth MPs.” “Yes sir?” “They filled me in on what’s going on.” Puller felt his

gut tighten a notch. “They came to see me when I was with my father.” “They told

me that too. Agent Hull seems competent. I checked his record. Not a mark on

it.” “I’m sure. He seemed good to me too.” “Damn shame all this is coming out

now.” “Damn shame,” parroted Puller. “You got a couple days’ leave, right?” “Yes

sir.” “You worked your ass off in Germany. Nailed those suckers to the wall.”

“Thank you, sir. I had a good team over there. A lot of support.” “Right.

Anyway, I was thinking you probably needed a little more R&R than a couple days.

Go ahead and take a week. Check in when you can.” Puller could barely believe

what he was hearing. “A week?” “Check in. If you need longer, let me know. I

can’t remember the last time you took any time off, Puller. Even a soldier needs

to recharge.” “Yes sir, thank you, sir.” “And Puller, step lightly. If things

get hairy it’s above my pay grade to backstop you. You do this with flanks

uncovered, understood?” “Understood.” The line went dead and Puller slowly

pocketed his phone.

 

A mixed message. But one Puller heard loud and clear. First, the time off. Then

the warning that his ass was exposed and no reinforcements would be coming.

 

He drove on. * * * Lucy Bristow did not seem familiar to Puller from across the

width of her breakfast room table.