The Escape (John Puller, #3)(94)

“Thanks for answering my question, sir,” said Puller.

Carter rose, gave a slight bow followed by a tight smile. “You’re quite welcome.”





CHAPTER





48



RINEHART AND SCHINDLER left in a car driven by a man in uniform. Puller was heading out too when Knox gripped his arm, holding him back.

“Just give it a minute, Puller.”

Shortly after that Donovan Carter approached them in the lobby.

“Have time for a nightcap?” he asked, looking at one and then the other.

Puller glanced at Knox, who said, “Sounds like an offer we can’t refuse, sir.”

They walked to the bar on the second floor. There were only a few people left there and they took a table in the back. Carter ordered a whiskey soda, Knox a glass of Prosecco, and Puller a Heineken. When the drinks arrived, Carter extracted a pill from a silver case and swallowed it along with some of his whiskey.

“Painkiller,” he explained.

“Should you be mixing that with alcohol?” asked Knox.

“Probably not, but I’ve been doing it for years with no adverse results. And the whiskey makes it go down a little bit better.”

“Painkillers?” said Puller.

Carter pointed to the damaged side of his face. “In case you failed to notice, I’ve suffered injuries of unfortunately a permanent nature.”

“What happened, if you don’t mind my asking?” said Knox.

“Afghanistan in 2001.”

“Were you in the military?” asked Puller.

“I was there serving my country before the uniforms even showed up. I was captured and tortured. What you see on my face is just the visible marks. There are lots of others under my clothes. The Taliban are quite adept at inflicting pain. And scars.”

“Were you gathering intelligence?” asked Knox.

He nodded. “Intel on the ground was vital before we invaded. Afghanistan is a tough nut to crack. Many nations have tried it. The Brits. The Russians. It’s fairly simple to win the war over there turning rubble to dust, as they say. However, it’s absolutely impossible to win over the country after the tanks stop rolling, as we found to our chagrin.”

“How did you get away?” asked Puller.

“I would like to say that I was rescued, but I wasn’t. I got away on my own. Not sure how. I was out of my mind with pain. But maybe I was so desperate that I just pushed the agony out of my head. I killed the three Taliban guarding me. If I had had time, I would have tortured them before I slit their throats. It seemed fitting. But I didn’t have the option. I dragged myself about three hundred miles across landscape that resembled the moon until I reached safety. Two years of physical therapy allowed me to function physically, walk and talk and use my arms. But the scars are permanent. The pain is permanent. So I take pills and I drink whiskey, but neither to excess. And I serve my country, and I do it well. After my ordeal in Afghanistan people considered me a hero, rightly or not. At least I had the wounds to show for it. And it certainly helped my career path, which was like a rocket launch after that. I jumped back and forth between Capitol Hill and the intelligence field and built up quite an expertise on national security and foreign affairs. Attaining SES status and heading up DTRA and the center are really the highlights for me. I couldn’t expect any more. And now you know more about it than you would ever care to,” he added with a self-conscious smile.

“So why the nightcap? It struck me that you had said all you wanted to say at dinner,” commented Puller.

“I did. But I wasn’t sure that you had said all you wanted to say. And if not, I’m here to listen. You’ll find me a good listener. And without the presence of a three-star and the president’s man, I thought you might feel more comfortable in expressing yourselves.”

Knox said bluntly, “Okay, let’s do this. We really don’t think Robert Puller is guilty.”

“Based on what?”

“The evidence at trial was shaky.”

Carter shook his head as he took another sip of his whiskey. “Two eyewitness accounts? Classified data found on his person? A trail of online gambling debts providing the motive? Hardly shaky evidence.”

“The online trail could easily have been fabricated.”

“Perhaps. But the testimony of Reynolds and Robinson?”

Puller studied him carefully. “Inasmuch as you think I can’t be objective about my brother, it may be true that you can’t be objective about Reynolds, since she works for you.”

Carter sat back and considered this statement. “Let’s go down that road for a moment. Let’s assume Reynolds was lying. Why?”

“She was paid to do it,” said Knox.

“So she’s a traitor, paid to implicate your brother. Again, why? What’s so special about him?”

“As you said, he was a very valuable asset to the government.”

“Yes, he was. But our government possesses many valuable people assets, so why go after him in particular?”

“Would there be a reason to get him out of the way at STRATCOM?”

“He was getting ready to leave one branch of STRATCOM after his next promotion, as I said at dinner. He was heading to ISR, which, as you know, is also a command component under STRATCOM. I would have worked with him there, as I also mentioned.”