Ellis, grunting, took a small leather wallet from his hip pocket and handed it to Staley.
"It means what it says on there," he said.
"You carry one of those things, everybody in the government, civilian agencies, as well as any military, has got to give you what you ask for. If they don't like it, they can bitch, later, after they give you what you ask for."
"Jesus Christ!" Staley said, and handed the OSS credentials back.
"You're going to get one of those," Ellis said.
"You fuck up with it, Charley, we'll send you someplace that'll make Portsmouth navy prison look like heaven. And no second chances. You read me?"
"Loud and clear, Chief," Staley said.
"You're also going to get a badge and credentials saying you're a deputy U.S. marshal. That's in case anybody asks why you're carrying a gun. You try to get by with that. I mean, you don't show the OSS credentials until you don't have any other choice. You understand?"
Staley nodded.
"Same thing applies to the marshal's credentials. Fuck up with them once, and you're finished."
"Okay, okay," Staley said.
"So like I was saying, the Navy found you in Great Lakes, and I remembered that we always got along pretty good, and that you weren't as dumb as you
look, so I told them to see if you would volunteer. And you did. And you got through the school all right, and here you are."
"Yeah," Staley said.
"Here I am."
"You can walk out of here right now, Charley," Ellis said.
"I'll get you any billet you want in the Navy. But if you stay, you're here for good. And there's liable to be more to it before we're done than driving the Colonel's Buick."
He looked at Staley and waited for a response.
"I'm in. Chief," Staley said.
Ellis nodded and then dialed one of the three telephones on his desk.
"I'm sending a guy named Staley down there," he said.
"Get him credentials, and take him by the arms room and get him a.45 and a shoulder holster, and then take him over to the house."
He hung the phone up.
"You'll get a rations and quarters allowance from the Navy," Ellis said, "and a rations and quarters allowance from us. Otherwise you would wind up sleeping on a park bench and starving. Until you can find someplace to live, we'll put you up in the garage at the house."
"The house?"
"It's a mansion over in Rock Creek we have," Ellis explained.
"There's a couple of apartments over the garage. Nice. Get yourself settled, and then come back here in the morning. I probably shouldn't have to tell you this, but I will. There's two women at the house. They're absolutely off-limits."
"Got it," Staley said.
"You fixed all right for money?" Ellis asked.
"Fine."