“I must have missed the part ordering me to report to some voice.”
“It would be in all of our best interests if you were to cooperate.”
“Not how it works in my world. I’m a soldier. I have
chains of command. I don’t step outside them.”
“So you won’t share your investigation results?”
“You’ll have to take that up with the United States Army.”
“You hope to bring your brother in alive. I tell you that this is not possible.”
“Why?”
“This is not possible,” repeated the voice. “If you won’t cooperate then I am asking you to stand down.”
“I was ordered to investigate. I follow orders.”
“There are many outs for you on that score,” said the voice. “The command for you to participate in this investigation runs against every protocol the military has. You should not be part of this. You will ask to stand down on those reasons. Your objectivity has been compromised, and understandably so. It’s your brother, after all. The United States Army is many things, Puller. But it is not unreasonable.”
“And you would know this how?”
“Stand down, Agent Puller. That’s all you have to do.”
“The investigation will continue regardless of whether I’m part of it.”
“That is not your concern. Will you stand down?”
“No.”
“I will ask again. Will you stand down?”
Puller said nothing, because he had nothing else to add to what he’d already said.
“I can only add as an inducement that this is far bigger than a mere prisoner escaping from custody.”
“Care to explain that?”
“To answer that would require disclosures that I am not prepared to make. Suffice it to say, you have my word that I am a patriot. The good of the country is firmly in my mind for whatever actions have been taken in the past or will be taken in the future.”
“You didn’t say what country. I doubt it’s mine.”
“You were described to me as stubborn, and tough and honorable. Those are all ideal attributes for those in uniform. But this, I’m afraid, is the exception that disproves that rule. Once more, will you stand down?”
“No.”
“Then I’m afraid it’s out of my hands.”
“Now you’re threatening me?”
“If only it were a threat, Agent Puller. Now, I’m afraid, it is a fact.”
The voice cut off and the quiet returned.
And then he heard feet moving closer. And the rack on a weapon being slid back. Puller immediately tensed, his quads and calves bracing for what was to come.
The blindfold was taken off and he blinked quickly to adjust to the brightness provided by the overhead light.
He waited eight minutes and drove down the road at a slow pace until he reached the main road. As he pulled onto it his gaze swept in all directions. He saw him about fifteen seconds later. And he eyed with more than a bit of pride his brother walking along the road, his hands free.
Some people one could completely rely on. And his brother was one of them.
As Robert Puller drove slowly along he saw his brother take out his phone and start punching in numbers. Then he turned off the main road, crossed over a berm, and disappeared on the other side.
You’re welcome, bro. And keep your head d
own from here on. It’s not