Дэвид Балдаччи - The Escape

“No extradition treaty between Russia and the U.S.,” said Kirk.

“Right. And I doubt Russia was her final destination. She was just going there to disappear. After that, it’s anyone’s bet. She certainly would have had the financial resources to do it.”

“What date was the plane ticket for?” asked Puller.

“Today. She was supposed to be on duty, but called in sick. She was clearly never going back. That’s why I went there.”

Puller eyed Knox steadily and she returned the gaze. Kirk noticed this staredown and looked back and forth between them, like she was viewing a tennis match.

“I know what you’re probably going to say,” said Knox at last.

“Really?” replied Puller. “So why don’t you tell me what I was going to say.”

“That we’re a team and I should have told you all of this. And you’d be right. And maybe if you hadn’t left me in that graveyard, I would have told you. But you did leave me and I had no idea where you were. And I had to get this done.”

Puller studied her for a while more but seemed satisfied by this explanation. He said, “I’m surprised with all the evidence you had against her that you didn’t send in a SWAT team. The Army would have.”

“That may be how the Army does things, but not us. What we really wanted was for her to cooperate with us and lead us back to whoever she was working with. In the grand scheme of things she was small potatoes. We wanted the others. That’s why I went in solo, to talk to her, to make her see reason.”

“And you almost got blown away for your troubles.”

“I have to tell you, I didn’t see that coming. There was nothing in her profile that would have led us to believe that she would have reacted with such violence.”

“Well, profiles can be misleading,” commented Kirk.

“And now we’ve lost her as a potential witness and information source. And it’s really all on me,” Knox added glumly.

Puller said, “So she saw you in her home, figured out who you were from you calling out. She knew the game was up since she was probably upstairs packing for her trip to Russia, and she panicked.”

“Well, I’m just glad her aim was off.”

“Because of the chair you threw.”

“I’m still lucky, Puller.”

“Like the hip.”

“Like the hip,” she agreed as Kirk looked at her quizzically. Knox saw this and said, “Long story.” She sipped her coffee and looked thoughtful.

“What?” Puller asked, seeing an ironic look in her eyes.

“I was just wondering when my luck is going to finally run out.”

“Don’t we all,” replied Puller.

“Well, unfortunately for you two, it seems the answer will be sooner rather than later,” noted Kirk.

“CAN YOU GIVE me a lift to my hotel, Puller?” asked Kirk as they were leaving the diner.

She had a small roller bag with her.

Knox looked at Puller. “I’m going to check in and then I’ll give you a call. I’m sure my superiors will have a lot of questions for me after the incident with Macri. And there’s always paperwork to fill out. Doesn’t seem like all that much, though, for taking someone’s life,” she added, looking depressed.

Puller said, “You took her life because she was trying to take yours.”

He watched as Knox walked off to her car.

Kirk said, “Do you trust her? I mean do you really trust her?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, I don’t. That’s why I held a few things back.”

Puller shot her a glance and said, “My car’s over there.”

They walked to his sedan and climbed in. Puller said, “Okay, what do you have?”

“Two facts, one from Todd Landry and one from Doug Fletcher, the prosecuting attorney. Which do you want first?”

“Prosecuting attorney.”

“In addition to the computer evidence there were two witnesses who testified against your brother at his court-martial.”

“Witnesses? Who were they?”

“People he worked with at STRATCOM.”

“What did they say?”

“One testified that he saw your brother meeting in a car with a man who was later identified as being an agent for the Iranian government.”

“That’s not possible.”

“And the other witness testified that she saw Robert Puller burn something onto a DVD from a secure area at STRATCOM’s satellite facility in Kansas and try to take it with him.”

“And why did the prosecuting attorney point these things out to you? They sound pretty damning and certainly wouldn’t help Bobby.”

“At the court-martial they were severely damaging. No, Fletcher pointed them out because of something in both witnesses’ written statements.”

“What was it?” asked Puller, his gaze steady on Kirk.

“What they said, what they both said in those statements.” She cleared her throat and recited, “‘It was clear to me at the time that Robert Puller was acting very mysteriously.’”

Puller kept staring at her. “They both said that?”

“To the word. What do you think the odds are of that happening naturally?”

“Slim and none. What did the prosecuting attorney do with that?”

“The statements were made available to defense counsel, of course, under the discovery rules for court-martials. But it’s not the job of the prosecutor to do his adversary’s job. So he didn’t do anything about it. But two years later it obviously had been sticking in his craw.”

“And Landry did nothing with it?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t at the court-martial and the prosecuting attorney didn’t elaborate on that point. And who knows if anything would have come of it. The other evidence they had was pretty conclusive. Similarities in witness statements probably wouldn’t have carried the day.”

“So did Fletcher think the witnesses were lying? That they were told to say that?”

“He wouldn’t go that far, and neither would I if I were in his shoes and someone asked me. If they were lying it was a little sloppy of them to say the exact same thing. Whoever’s behind this could be a micromanager, but definitely not a lawyer. People do compare witness statements just for that reason.” She paused. “And reading between the lines, Puller, I think that’s why an Article 106 spying case became an Article 106a espionage case. I think defense and prosecutor came to an agreement on that because they both thought something strange was going on. If your brother was put to death, that could never be rectified. If he were alive, albeit in prison, then maybe one day another explanation would come to light. At least that’s what I think happened.”

“You said ‘whoever’s behind this’? So you believe my brother was set up?”

“Let me tell you what the defense counsel told me. And let me warn you that it might not be easy for you to hear. And it’s the main reason I flew out here. I wanted to tell you this face-to-face.”

Puller stiffened slightly. “Okay.”

“Near the end of the court-martial, Landry wanted your brother to testify on his own behalf. The trial was not going well and Landry thought Robert would be a good witness. He was incredibly intelligent, patriotic, and articulate. Landry thought he would present well to the panel.”

“Did he testify?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“He refused.”

“Why? What would he have to lose if things were going against him anyway?”

“He let something slip to Landry, and the ‘let slip’ part is defense counsel’s observation, not mine.”

“What did my brother say?”

“That he couldn’t risk it.”

“Risk it? He was fighting for his life!”

“He apparently wasn’t worried about himself.”