The Affair_ A Reacher Novel - Lee Child [134]
The lieutenant’s eyesight was not as good as mine. He approached most of the way full of one kind of body language, which changed fast when he got close enough to read my rank insignia. He stopped a respectful four feet away and saluted and said, “Sir, the colonel would like a word with you.”
Normally I treat lieutenants well. I was one myself, not so very long ago. But right then I wasn’t in the mood for nonsense. So I just nodded and said, “OK, kid, tell him to step right up.”
The kid said, “Sir, I think he would prefer it if you went to him.”
“You must be confusing me with someone who gives a shit what he prefers.”
The kid went a little pale and blinked twice and about-turned and headed back. He must have spent the walk time translating my response into acceptable terms, because there was no instant explosion. Instead the colonel paused a beat and then set off waddling in my direction. He stopped three feet away, and I saluted him very smartly, just to keep him confused.
He returned the salute and asked, “Do I know you, major?”
I said, “That depends on how much trouble you’ve been in, colonel. Have you ever been arrested?”
He said, “You’re the other MP. You’re Major Munro’s opposite number.”
“Or he’s mine,” I said. “Either way, I’m sure we both hope you have a great day.”
“Why are you still here?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I was told all issues had been resolved.”
“The issues will be resolved when I say they are. That’s the nature of police work.”
“When did you last get orders?”
“Some days ago,” I said. “They came from Colonel John James Frazer at the Pentagon, I believe.”
“He died.”
“I’m sure his successor will have new orders for me in due course.”
“It could take weeks to install a successor.”
“Then I guess I’m stuck here.”
Silence.
Then the fat guy said, “Well, stay out of sight tonight. Understand? The senator must not see a CID presence here. There are to be no reminders of recent suspicions. None at all. Is that clear?”
I said, “Request noted.”
“It’s more than a request.”
“Next up from a request is an order. But you’re not in my chain of command.”
The guy rehearsed a reply, but in the end he didn’t come out with anything. He just turned on his heel and waddled back to his pals. And at that point I heard the phone ring inside the diner, very faintly through the door, and I beat the waitress to it by a step.
Chapter
78
It was Frances Neagley on the line, from her desk in D.C. She said, “Bouton is a very uncommon name, apparently.”
I said, “Did Stan Lowrey tell you to say that?”
“No, Stan wants to know if she’s related to Jim Bouton, the baseball pitcher. Which she probably is, at least distantly, given how rare the name is. I, however, am basing my conclusion on an hour’s solid work, which turned up no Boutons at all, much less any Alice Boutons. Having said that, right now I can’t get any further than three years back with the Marines, which would miss her anyway, and if she was dishonorably discharged she probably didn’t get the kind of job or income that would show up in too many other places.”
“She probably lives in a trailer park,” I said. “Nowhere near Pendleton, either. Southern California is too expensive. She must have moved.”
“I have a call in to the FBI. And to a pal in USMC personnel command, for the ancient history. And Stan is hassling his banker friend, for the civilian stuff. Although she might not have had a bank account. Not if she lived in a