Puller looked at the med lines going into a single unit inserted near her collarbone.
“Morph drip for the pain.”
“I think so, yes.”
“Morph messes with your memory.”
“It can. But we were talking about Lampert.” “We were?”
“John!”
“He decided to take a little trip abroad.”
“He got away? On his yacht?”
“To Bulgaria. Understand he’ll be making it his permanent home.”
“How is that possible? Didn’t the police arrest him?”
“The police were a little tardy. We took Lam- pert’s tender to an isolated spot down the beach. From there, it was easy to put him in a truck and take him away. As far as the police know he got clean away. At least that’s what I told them when they asked.”
Carson stared at him for a long moment and then said, “I think I feel the morph erasing my short-term memory.”
“I can understand that.”
“When can I get out of here?”
“A few days.”
“Will you come to visit me?”
“I’ve been living here,” he said, pointing to a chair next to the bed with a pillow and blanket over it.
She smiled tenderly at this. “Diego and Mateo?”
“Back with their abuela. And they’re living in my aunt’s house. The other prisoners are being processed and will be returned to wherever they came from. That includes Lampert’s household staff.”
“Rojas?”
Puller shook his head. “No. Not today. But his time will come.”
Carson looked overly agitated by this and Puller put a calming hand on her arm. A few minutes later the morphine kicked in and her eyes closed.
Puller went outside and called his brother at USDB. He filled Robert Puller in on nearly all that had happened, only leaving out the fate of Lampert in Bulgaria.
“Damn, John,” said his brother. “You need another month of R and R to get over the last few days of R and R.”
“Actually, I think I’m ready to get back in the rank and file.”
“What are you going to tell the Old Man?” “Not sure yet.”
“You going to tell him that his sister is dead?” Puller thought about that and finally said, “No. I’m not.”
“I agree with you.”
Puller had given Sadie the dog to Diego and Mateo. The two boys and the little dog had instantly bonded. Puller figured they would be good friends for many years. And he hoped that living in a nicer neighborhood well away from the gangs would be a big plus in their lives. And Bullock had promised to keep an eye on them.
There was a lot of paperwork and face time with Bullock, the state police, and the Feds. They said this would intensify the hunt for Stiven Rojas, but that the man had proven very elusive in the past.
“Keep trying,” Puller told them before walking out of the last debrief.
Carson was released from the hospital two days later, bandaged, bruised, and tired.
But alive. Very much alive.
“And the outcome?”
“Mission accomplished, General. Fair winds and following seas.”
“Damn good work, XO. Damn good. At ease.” “Yes, sir,” said John Puller and he lowered his hand and sat down next to his father.
For the moment no longer a solider.
Now only a son.