The Escape (John Puller, #3)(13)

“Bobby was stationed at a STRATCOM satellite facility near Leavenworth when he was arrested and court-martialed. He didn’t have far to travel to go to DB.”

“And the STRATCOM connection dovetails right into DIA and NSC because spooks all hang around the same playground,” she added.

“I guess so,” said Puller slowly.

“The FBI is of course all over this,” added Carson. “National security issues bring out all the big dogs. I would say your brother is the most wanted man in America right now. I wouldn’t think his chances of evading capture are very good.”

“I’m surprised the FBI hasn’t been by to see me,” said Puller.

“I would imagine if they haven’t been by they are at least keeping an eye on you. But it might be that Rinehart et al. have talked to them and made it clear they’re heading the John Puller piece of this equation.”

“Complicated stuff.”

“Yes, it is. I read up on your brother’s career this afternoon,” she added.

“Did you?” he said sharply.

“Hey, don’t cop an attitude. I like to be prepared. A lot of it was classified beyond even my clearances, and some of the files seemed to have been deleted, because there were gaps. Some of the pages I saw onscreen were heavily redacted, but from what I saw your brother’s career was still pretty damn impressive. I mean, the trajectory was like a rocket. He would have easily gotten his star, and more. I even dug up a white paper he’d written on a next-generation nuclear weaponry design. I could understand about every tenth word, and I don’t consider myself stupid. Some of the math equations in the paper looked like Chinese to me.”

“He was always the smart one in the family. Officer material. I was just the enlisted grunt in the trenches.”

“Did you ever ask him if he did it?” she asked bluntly.

Puller said, “Once.”

“And?”

“And he didn’t answer me.”

“And now he’s escaped. You don’t escape from DB without help. It’s impossible.”

“I know.”

“And so you probably know something else.”

“Yeah, that my brother was guilty. And maybe he killed the guy they found in his cell. So he’s a traitor and a murderer.” As he said these words, Puller felt a sharp pain in his chest, his breathing grew shallow, and sweat appeared on his brow. He knew he wasn’t having a heart attack.

But am I having a panic attack?

He had never panicked, not once in his life. Not while bullets were flying and bombs were bursting all around him. He had been scared then, as any sane person would be. But that was not the same as panicked. It was actually the difference between surviving or not.

“John, are you okay?”

“I’m good,” he said curtly, though he really wasn’t.

My brother, a traitor and a murderer? No, I am definitely not good.

“So I guess that answers my question,” she said.

“What question?”

“You thought your brother was innocent, didn’t you?”

“Maybe I did.”

“I can understand that, John. It’s natural.”

“Is it?” he said heatedly. “It doesn’t feel natural. None of this does.”

“So what are you going to do?” asked Carson.

“My CO gave me some leave time.”

“And he also told you to stay away from this sucker.”

“And I’ve got an NSC suit and two generals maybe wanting me to take a whack at it.”

“But they gave you no direct order to do so, not that they were even authorized to give one. And you might have misread their intent. On the other hand, your commanding officer explicitly told you to stand down. So the answer is easy. You stand down.”

“He’s my brother, Julie.”

“And you’re a soldier, John. Orders are orders. You don’t really have a choice.”

“You’re right, I don’t. He’s my brother.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Putting this much pressure on yourself.”

Puller took a long breath and then said again more forcefully, “He’s my brother!”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s your brother. That ship has already sailed, Puller. He’s an escaped prisoner. The best you can hope for is that he’s captured safely and returned to DB promptly.”

“So that’s it, then?”

“What more could it be? Look, I know how you must feel. But your brother made his choices. His career and life are over. Are you telling me you want to put yours in jeopardy? And for what possible reason?”

“Everything you’re saying makes perfect sense.”

“But you’re not buying any of it.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” She took a deep breath. “So, again, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. And I wouldn’t tell you if I did know. That would just put you in an even more awkward position.”

“I’ve been in those with you before.”

“And you almost died, Julie. I’m never going to do that to you again. Never.”