Zero Day (John Puller 1)

“Army and Navy Club. Little function.”

She nodded and sipped her coffee. “Matt called me about four weeks ago,” she said quickly, as though she just wanted to get this over with. She didn’t look at him. She kept her gaze on the tabletop.

“And said what?”

“He’d stumbled onto something. That was his word. Stumbled. It wasn’t planned. And I certainly hadn’t sent him out there on a mission. He was just commuting to be with his wife and kids. His call to me came out of left field.”

“Okay.” Puller took another drink of coffee and set it down.

Carson said, “He’d met someone who was involved in something. Correction, he met someone who had found out something.”

“What and who?”

“I don’t know the who.”

“How did he meet this person?”

“By accident, I think. Anyway, it wasn’t planned.”

“And do you know the what?”

“It was big, whatever it was. Matt thought it so big that we might have to call in someone on our end.”

“And why didn’t you?”

Her words came fast. “Because I didn’t know enough. I didn’t want to pull the trigger on something and have it blow up in my face. This was totally off mission. Not my jurisdiction. Hell, I don’t even think it had anything to do with the military. I was out of my comfort zone, Puller, you have to understand that. I had no control over the information flow and no way to verify it. Neither did Matt. He was relying on people he didn’t know.”

“You still could have gone to the police. Or had him go.”

“And tell them what? Matt didn’t have enough info either, at least according to what he told me. A lot of it was gut.”

“Did he think this person might have been working undercover?”

“Undercover?” she said with genuine surprise. “You mean like a police officer?”

“Sometimes civilians go undercover on their own.”

“How often?” she said skeptically.

“Once is enough.”

“Well, Matt never mentioned anything like that.”

“And what did you tell him to do? Follow up? See what he could find out? You thought maybe this might be an opportunity for career advancement? Outside the normal scope of work?”

“You put things pretty bluntly, but you’re right. And the next thing I knew he was dead. His whole family was dead. Wife, kids… everybody.” Her lips started to tremble. When she tried to pick up her coffee cup, her hand was shaking so badly the coffee spilled on her.

Puller took the cup from her, set it down, wiped the coffee off her with a napkin, and then gripped her other hand.

“Look, ma’am, maybe you didn’t play this the best way possible, but no one can every time. And I know there was no way you ever intended for any of this to happen.”

She glanced quickly up at him and then just as abruptly looked away. She turned to the side and used another napkin to dry her eyes. Puller waited until she’d composed herself and turned back to him.

She said, “Sorry about that, Puller. Generals aren’t supposed to cry.”

“I’ve seen them tear up over the bodies of their men.”

She smiled resignedly. “I was talking about female generals.”

“Okay. When you found out what had happened to the Reynoldses, what did you do?”

“Quite frankly, I freaked. And when I calmed down, the only thing I could think of was the potential blowback to me. Doesn’t paint a very flattering picture of me, but it’s the truth.”

“And you figured that the murder of the head of J23 would generate enough interest on its own? You knew there would be a lot of backdoor maneuvering from people in slots way above either one of us. And maybe you dropped some hints that until they knew for sure what was behind it all it was better to go in light with just one CID agent, treat it like a normal homicide investigation? See where the chips fell?”

“I’m not sure my plan was that refined. But I realized as soon as I said anything that it might come out anyway and I would look really bad. It’s been a hole in my gut ever since.”

“I can understand that. But you might have been closer to the truth than you thought. You said he fell into it by accident?”

“Yes. Matt also said he thought it might have national security implications. I mean, he really did say that to me. I had no way to verify it, but I know he believed it.”

“You ever been to Drake, West Virginia?”

She shook her head.

“Well, it’s not exactly a hotbed of terrorism, if that’s what we’re talking about.”

“All I can tell you is what Matt told me.”

“Fair enough. And someone did kill him because of it.” Puller thought some things through while Carson stared miserably down at her hands.

“Don’t beat yourself up too hard, ma’am. You were just seeing if maybe you could get something done, something to help the country.”

“Let’s just call a spade a spade, Puller. I thought I could use this to help get the second star. I was selfish and myopic. And now four people are dead who shouldn’t be.”

Seven, thought Puller. Actually seven people are dead.

“Okay. Anything else you can think of that might help me?”

“Matt did say that he thought whatever it was would happen soon.”

“Soon because they were afraid of exposure? Or soon because the plan had been in place for a while and it was time to execute?”

“Probably both, considering they felt the need to kill Matt and his family.”

“I’m surprised that he didn’t provide you more details.”

She said, “He didn’t leave any evidence of who the person might be? You’re sure?”

“We didn’t find much of anything. We do think a soil sample might be involved.”

She looked at him with a quizzical expression. “A soil sample?”

He nodded. “The killers may have come back for it, in fact. So it must’ve been important. That ring any bells with you?”

“Well, he did say that this thing might have far-reaching implications.”

“But he never said how?”

“No. Now I wished I had pushed him for more details. I just never thought it would end like this. I guess I should have. The Army teaches you to provide for every contingency.”

“We’re human, so that means we’re not perfect.”

“The Army expects us to be perfect,” she shot back.

“No, they just expect us to be better than the other side.”

She eyed the notebook. “How will your report read?”

“That you were very cooperative and provided me with valuable intelligence.”

“I owe you, Puller. I had you all wrong.”

“No, you probably had me pegged right. But your aim was a little off.”

“Hustling for a star and being a female can add up to a lonely life.”

“You’ve got a big family around you. It’s called the United States Army.”

She smiled weakly. “Yeah, I guess so. When this is over, look me up. Maybe we can have a drink.”

“Maybe we can,” said Puller as he closed his notebook and took his leave.

On the way to his car he glanced at his watch. He had one more stop and then he could be back in West Virginia by taking a morning flight.

Unfortunately, he probably wasn’t going to make it.

The four men had surrounded him.