The Escape (John Puller, #3)(91)

“Chief Puller? Ms. Knox?”

“I’m Puller.”

“And I’m Knox.”

“Please follow me. You’ll be in a private dining area upstairs.”

They followed the man to the second floor and then down a long hall.

Three men were waiting when they entered the small dining room. The man who had escorted them left, closing the door behind him. The three men rose. One was Rinehart in his dress blues, his chest looking armored with all the medals. Another was James Schindler in a black suit, white shirt, and blood-red tie. Rinehart introduced the third man, who was also dressed in a suit and tie. He was about fifty, fit and trim, with grayish blond hair cut haphazardly. One side of his face had sustained some type of catastrophic damage and had since been repaired, but not well. The eye socket, cheek, and jawline on that side looked more than a bit cadaverous. And it looked like the eye was made of glass.

Rinehart said, “This is Donovan Carter. He’s head of DTRA.”

Puller did his best to keep his features inscrutable at this announcement, though he found it hard. The head of DTRA was also the director of the WMD Center. So this was Susan Reynolds’s ultimate boss?

Puller introduced Knox to the men and they all shook hands.

As soon as they sat down the salads were served and glasses of white wine poured. When the servants had left them to munch their lettuce and grape tomatoes and sip their chardonnay, Rinehart looked at Puller and said, “A lot has obviously happened. We’d appreciate a full report.”

Puller shot Carter a glance and then gazed back at Rinehart.

The general said, “He’s been fully read in, Puller.”

Puller wanted to ask why that was but couldn’t think of a way to do it that wouldn’t seem insubordinate.

Puller began to deliver his briefing, going point by point. When he was done he avoided glancing at Knox for fear that she might have been staring at him for what he had left out. His kidnapping and his guardian angel. The transformers being covered up by Knox. The hit man coming to the DB to kill his brother. His suspicions about Reynolds. And what they had discovered about Niles Robinson.

Rinehart said, “A captain in the Army was part of some conspiracy at DB? Unbelievable.” He turned to Knox. “And you’re the one who had the deadly encounter with her?”

“I’m afraid so, sir. She tried to kill me. I had no choice but to defend myself.”

“And some men followed you in Charlotte and you shot one of them too,” said Schindler. “That’s astonishing.”

“It could have easily been me making that shot,” said Puller. “Knox was just faster.”

Knox said, “But I didn’t kill him. He wasn’t there when we circled back. He might have been wearing armor. Someone might have helped him get away. I don’t know which one.”

Rinehart cleared his throat. “But who could these people be? Are they all tied to Robert Puller in some way?”

Knox said, “Well, we are investigating his escape. I can’t think of another reason why they would be coming after us.”

Donovan Carter spoke for the first time. “But surely you have enemies, Agent Knox. We’ve all read your professional history since we knew you’d be here tonight. You’ve accomplished extraordinary things on behalf of your country. That comes with a price.”

“But there’s no disputing the fact that Lenora Macri tried to kill me. And that she was going to flee to Russia and then from there to who knows where. She aided the hit man coming into DB.”

“Whoa, whoa,” exclaimed Rinehart. “What hit man at DB?”

Puller gave Knox a quick glance. He had been surprised that she had said that, since he had left it out of his report. But he received a barely perceptible nod of assent from her to speak.

He took a few minutes to explain about the extra man in the MP company responding to the situation at the DB, and how Robert Puller had possibly taken his place to escape. Puller added, “Forensic analysis has confirmed that he was recently in Ukraine. Maybe he lived there. And his going to DB to kill my brother is really the only thing that makes sense.”

“Well, not really, he could have gone there to help your brother escape,” suggested Carter.

“Then why kill him?”

“They had a falling-out? It was an accident?”

“His neck was broken, using a specific technique. I don’t think it was an accident.”

“Then a disagreement of some sort?” opined Carter.

“I’m not convinced of that,” said Puller. “And when you’ve planned such an elaborate escape from a max prison, it’s not like you have a lot of time to stand around talking and arguing about details. You just execute the plan. But I don’t see how the plan works if the two of them tried to get out. The guy didn’t have an extra set of riot gear on him. And I don’t see how my brother could have walked out with a second set of gear and nobody noticed.”

Rinehart looked at Puller thoughtfully but said nothing. Carter and Schindler looked unconvinced.

“And what about Daughtrey?” said Knox. “Who murdered him?”

“Again, possibly Robert Puller,” said Carter. “It happened in Kansas where your brother escaped from.”

“Why would he target Daughtrey? I don’t think he even knew him.”