Дэвид Балдаччи - King and Maxwell

An older man at the table next to theirs who had been lasciviously eyeing Dana nearly choked on a mouthful of pork.

“Did you ever consider getting a pet?” asked Sean.

“No. And for the record I don’t have a pet now.”

“So what the general doesn’t know won’t hurt him?”

She shrugged, took a sip of her drink, and said, “Can we get down to why you called?”

“I need a favor.”

She looked suitably surprised. “Then your foreplay was quite underwhelming. Care to try again?”

He leaned forward. “I’ve got a client, a very young client who just lost his dad in Afghanistan.”

“I assume the father was military?”

“Yes.”

“So you really want the favor from Curtis, not me.”

“In a roundabout way, yes.”

“What do you mean roundabout?”

Sean took another drink of his gin and tonic. “It’s sensitive.”

“I thought these things were pretty straightforward. Soldiers die, the Army notifies the next of kin. They go to Dover to see the flag-draped coffins and then they bury the dead at Arlington, if that’s their wish.”

“Very clinical of you.”

“In all the time I’ve been married to Curtis we’ve been at war. I’ve seen this film play out a lot. I hate it that we’re losing young men and women over there every damn day. It has aged Curtis like you wouldn’t believe. Years ago, while we were dating and he didn’t have a single star on his shoulder, he was a field commander over there. He was in combat. He was badly wounded. He very nearly came home in a coffin. I sat next to his hospital bed at Walter Reed for over a month wondering if he was going to make it.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that.”

“I may not be the perfect wife, but I do care about him. We have a good life together.” She looked away. “And the fact is I haven’t, well–” She paused and glanced down for a moment before staring directly at him. “The fact is I’ve been completely faithful to Curtis. I just wait at home like a good wife until he comes back, whenever that might be. And even though he’s technically stationed at the Pentagon he goes to the Middle East on a regular basis and I wait here holding my breath and praying he gets back in one piece. I’m not sure why I go for the guys who carry guns and get shot at.”

Sean gave her a puzzled look. “Then why are you all dressed up like you’re going to walk down a Victoria’s Secret runway? And why all the ‘insatiable’ talk?”

She pursed her lips. “Because I haven’t seen you in a long time and I thought it was the act you wanted to see.”

“How could you possibly think that, Dana?”

“Because I know you would never believe that I’ve changed so why should I even bother trying to convince you? The old Dana was just easier and not nearly as soul searching. And today has been a long day and I guess I just couldn’t muster the energy.”

“As crazy as that sounds, it actually makes sense.”

“Oh goody.” She pulled her coat on, covering her chest. “I’m freezing. I should have worn a sweater, and these stilettos are killing my feet.” She kicked them off and rubbed one foot against the other. “And these stockings look a lot better than they feel. It’s like being a tuna caught in a net.”

He smiled. “Why do I feel like I’m talking to an entirely different person?”

“Do you not realize that I know how much I hurt you?”

“I guess I never thought about it. Your actions spoke quite loudly.”

“I was selfish and stupid. We could have had kids.”

“We could have had lots of things, Dana.”

“I’m too old for that now.”

“You’re not that old. Women your age have kids all the time.”

“Curtis is set in his ways. And I’m not sure I have the energy to run after toddlers, Sean.”

“We all make choices.”

She finished her drink. “Can we order some food? And then we can talk more about your kid who needs my roundabout help.”

Later, when their plates were cleared and the coffees had been brought, Dana said, “Okay, talk to me.”

“His name is Tyler Wingo.”

Sean went on to tell her most but not all of what had transpired.

He was about to add something else when his phone buzzed. He looked down at the text he had just gotten from Michelle.

In it she had recounted what Tyler had told her on the drive home about his father.

Dana watched his face and said, “Developments?”

“Could be. Now they’re telling him that his father was first shot and then hit by a mortar. There are no remains left to bring home.”

“They always bring the remains home, Sean, trust me on that. If a mortar shell did hit him, the coffin will be closed and sealed. But the Army is really good about identifying the dead. I know from Curtis that the Pentagon is borderline fanatical about that.”

“I’m sure they are. It’s just curious they didn’t tell him the first time.”

“It could be as simple as they didn’t want to tell the son or the wife something that disturbing when they were already delivering such devastating news. They have protocols for this but each situation is different. You said Tyler was running through the rain with his father’s old collectible gun. It could be the Army reps deemed it unwise to tell him about the condition of his father’s body at that time since he was so clearly upset. They wouldn’t have wanted to risk traumatizing him and his mother further.”

“Stepmother,” he corrected. “But that does make sense. So why the stone wall at the Pentagon?”

“Confidentiality. They take it seriously there, particularly about combat deaths.”

“Tyler seemed like he was holding something back, though. Something that only he knew but didn’t want to tell.”

“Something about his father?”

From Michelle’s text Sean knew exactly what he had been holding back. His father had sent him a message after he was supposedly killed. He debated whether to tell Dana this, but then decided against it. She was married to a general, after all, and owed him far more allegiance than she owed Sean.

“I don’t know. Michelle seemed to think so, and she has good instincts.”

Dana drank her coffee and appraised him keenly. “So are you two a couple as well as business partners?”

“What’s it to you?”

“I’ll take that as a yes. I’ve seen her picture, read up on her. Quite a beauty. Quite an overachiever. I mean, an Olympian who can shoot straight? What a combination.”

“Why did you read up on her? And before it seemed you could barely remember her name.”

“Just a game we girls play. I’m sure she’s a ball of fire between the sheets.”

“Now, there’s the Dana I know.”

“I never said I had changed completely. What exactly do you want me to do about Tyler Wingo?”

“I would appreciate whatever you could find out.”

“I’m not a spy. I do some work with wounded soldiers and their families and I’m involved in many of the organizations that generals’ spouses typically are. But I don’t have the security clearances or computer skills to get into the Pentagon’s inner rings or hack into databases.”

“Don’t underestimate your skills, Dana.”

“What do you mean?”

Sean ran his eyes over her. “I was thinking more along the lines of pillow talk.”

She smiled. “Okay, now that I can do. Curtis is a stickler for protocols, but any man can be manipulated given the right… inducements.”

He smiled. “Like riding a bike.” His expression quickly turned serious. “But let’s be clear. Just try to work it into a conversation with the general and see what comes of it. I don’t want you to go out on a limb or take unnecessary chances. That would not be good.”