She laughed, but it died halfway out of her throat and she quickly turned somber. “Because your honesty and, well, this damn nobleness about you, shamed me. I just felt ashamed having to string you along. It was humbling, frankly. When I thought I was well past that emotion. Along with a lot of others,” she added, her voice growing very soft.
“So where does that leave us?” asked Puller quietly after a lengthy pause.
“With me asking for a second chance, or what is it now, a third chance with you? And even if you give me one I won’t blame you if you don’t believe me this time.”
He glanced down at her hip. “That scar is real enough and the wound underneath. You were limping when you walked in here and I saw you wince when you sat down.” He glanced at the other room. “When you fell to the floor to avoid getting shot, I guess you landed right on that hip. Probably hurts like a bitch.”
“Yes, it does,” admitted Knox. “More than a bitch, actually. I’d kill for a Percocet right now.”
“So is the 902d Intelligence Group at Leavenworth under the NSA’s thumb?”
“The NSA is pretty much everywhere, Puller. And the 902d is no exception.”
He nodded. “I appreciate how hard that must have been for you to say.”
“Training is training,” she replied. “But I still have a bit of free will left and I mean to exercise it.”
“Okay. It’s a start.”
Puller’s phone rang. It was Shireen Kirk.
“Hello, Shireen. Can I call you back in a few minutes? I’m a little tied up.”
She said, “No, you can’t call me back. Where are you?”
“Leavenworth.”
“So am I.”
“Excuse me?”
“I just landed and I’m in a cab heading out to find you.”
“What the hell are you doing in Kansas?”
“I don’t want to talk about this over the phone. Can we meet somewhere?”
Puller glanced at Knox, who was watching him closely.
“Yeah, there’s a diner.” He gave her the address. “I’ve got an agent from INSCOM with me. I’d like her to get read in too.”
“I’d rather just talk to you, Puller.”
“It’s going to have to be the both of us, Shireen. I trust her and you can too.”
“I’ll be there in thirty,” Kirk said gruffly and clicked off.
“Who was that?”
“Shireen Kirk. My JAG contact.”
“Where did she come in from?”
“D.C.”
“Why come all the way out here?”
“She wanted to do a face-to-face. It must be important.”
“I appreciate your wanting me to sit in. But if it makes her uncomfortable, I can bow out.”
“No, Knox. We’re a team now. We stick together.”
“You’re sure?”
“Let’s go.”
CHAPTER
30
THEY DROVE SEPARATELY back into Leavenworth and met at the same diner they’d eaten at before. Puller held the door for Knox, who was walking stiffly thanks to her banged-up hip.
“Did you get the Percocet?” he asked.
“No,” she said through gritted teeth. “But I downed four Advil. Just waiting for the suckers to kick in.”
Puller spotted Kirk at a back booth and they headed over.
“The accused has to be acting as a spy in a place within the jurisdiction and control of the armed forces or any other place engaged in work in aid of that war. There are other elements: acting clandestinely, attempting to collect certain information with intent to convey to the enemy, etcetera, etcetera.”
“But was he charged under Article 106?” asked Knox. She quickly added, “But I guess he couldn’t have been. He was convicted but he wasn’t sentenced to death.”
Kirk said, “It seems Article 106 was originally on the table, but then it was taken off. He was instead convicted under Article 106a of espionage. It’s sort of splitting hairs, because it carries many of the underlying requirements of spying although there is no requirement that it be during time of war. It also carries a capital penalty when the crime involves certain elements like nuclear weaponry, satellites, and communications intelligence.?
?
“All things my brother was involved in,” said Puller slowly.