“Stand by one,” was all he said, and then moved closer to Branner so that she could talk and he could listen in.
“Yes, Ms. DeWinter,” Branner said.
“Julie Markham’s on her way to my office. I understand you want to talk to her?”
“Yes, we do. But we’re supposed to meet with her in Bancroft Hall. I was just going to call you.”
“Sure you were. Well, look, Agent Branner, why not make this easy for everyone-you come over here to my office.”
Jim nodded forcefully. “Okay,” she said. “That works. Mr. Hall and I will be right over.”
“Why Mr. Hall? What’s he got to do with this?”
“Is Midshipman Markham still your client?” Branner asked.
“Yes, of course. She never stopped being my client. And now I hear the Academy may not let her graduate.”
Jim motioned for Branner to give him the phone. “Liz?” he said. “Jim Hall. Let’s not do this on the phone. We need to talk to Markham, and time is of the essence. Is she there yet?”
“No, but she’s on her way over right now. Her ex-boyfriend is with her.”
“Hays? Good. And may I ask a favor? Don’t take any more phone calls, okay? And when Markham gets there, tell her we’re coming in to talk about Dyle Booth.”
“About what?”
“He’s a mid. We think he may have killed Brian Dell.”
“Whoa,” Liz said. “WTF?”
“Hold that thought, and, remember, don’t take any more calls. We’re on our way.”
Branner drove her Bronco, but Jim decided to take his truck. Both of them had turned off their cell phones to avoid inconvenient messages, but Jim had failed to turn off the police radio in his truck. The chief’s voice came up on the net as they rounded State Circle and turned down toward Liz’s office.
“Shit,” Jim murmured, picking up the mike.
“Hey, boss, the dant’s office is looking for you. And Special Agent Branner, too, apparently.”
“What’s the message, Chief?”
“ET call home?” Bustamente said.
“Got it, Chief, thanks. I take it the dant’s back in the Yard?”
“His admin guy didn’t say, but he did say the Man wants to see you, and now’d be really nice.”
“Roger that,” Jim said. “If anyone asks, you’re still looking for me.”
“Whassup?” the chief asked.
“What you don’t know right now can’t hurt you, Chief.”
“Heard that. Standing by.”
Jim thought about what to do while he waited for Branner to park. When the commandant wanted to see someone, he meant it literally, as in standing tall in his office. He suddenly didn’t feel right about having asked the chief to lie for him, so he fired up his cell phone and called the commandant’s office. He told them he was stuck out on Route 50, but that he’d had a message to call in. He was put on hold. He pulled in behind Branner, who came over to the window.
“I’m on disciplinary hold with the dant’s office,” Jim whispered after a minute had passed. Branner rolled her eyes and used her cell phone to check her voice mail.
“Mr. Hall,” came the commandant’s voice.
“Yes, sir,” Jim replied, straightening in his seat out of habit. Branner closed her phone and leaned in to listen.
“Where is Special Agent Branner?”
“Don’t know, sir,” Jim said. “I’ve been trying to raise her myself.”
“We have some new guidance in that matter you’ve been investigating. I won’t go into details over an open line, other than to say we have a SecNav determination in the matter. Branner’s people have also been informed.”
“Yes, sir, copy that. Do you have new instructions for me, sir?”
“Exactly, Mr. Hall. Back out, write up a report, print a single copy, and give that to me and the source file to Pren. Tonight, if you please.”
“I can do that, sir,” Jim said. “I’ve been keeping a running file. Are there any accountability issues remaining?”
The dant hesitated. “Just one, Mr. Hall. We’re going to address that via the Brigade Honor Committee. I understand you already approached the board regarding the individual in question.”
“Yes, sir, but that was not productive.”
“So Captain Rogers informs me. I think I can remedy that. Get me that report as soon as possible, Mr. Hall.”
“Aye aye, sir,” Jim said. “And that other matter? The tunnel matter?”
“We don’t need any more problems on our plate just now, Mr. Hall. The SecNav made that abundantly clear. In our view, the tunnel matter should go away in two weeks, right? Thank you.”
The circuit went down. A city cop appeared alongside in a cruiser and waved them out of the reserved parking spaces. Branner flashed her NCIS credentials at him and he nodded and drove off.
“Well, there it is,” he said. “We’ve been officially backed out.”
“You have,” she said. “I haven’t.”
“No messages?”
“Lots of messages,” she said. “But they all say the same thing: Call Harry Chang. No instructions, and nothing from the Academy directly.”
“Then we can still go meet with Markham.”
“I can. The question is, can you?”
He chewed on his lower lip. The Executive Department, at Branner’s request, had summoned Markham to a meeting in Bancroft Hall. Except she wasn’t going to show. Jim wondered if that fact would percolate up to the dant’s office at this hour. Was the left hand talking to the right hand? If he went with Branner, he’d be disobeying a direct order, which might cost him his job. On the other hand, the Academy appeared to be ready to come down on Markham. If Markham knew the truth about the Dell incident, this was no time to sweat the small stuff. Branner was watching him carefully.
“I’ll go. I think they’re going to railroad Markham. Not fair.”
“Unless she was indeed responsible,” Branner said. “Then you’re falling on your sword for nothing.”
“Shit happens,” he said.
She smiled at him and nodded. “Good call,” she said. “Maybe there’s hope for you after all.”
“Up yours, Branner.”
“In your dreams, cowboy.”
Hey. A little bird just whispered in my ear. Actually, it was a little E-mail intercept out of the deputy dant’s office. Someone’s been running her mouth. And now my name’s come up? The ghost of little Brian Dell getting ready to cause me trouble? I don’t think so. I think I have the cure for that shit. Everyone forgetting the video? On which you are absolutely the star? Which I can have out on the World Wide Web in a New York flash?
You think that I’ll just stand around if they corner me? Think I’ll just break down and cry, ask for forgiveness, tell them I’m a victim, too? Bullshit. I’ll take some di-rect and immediate effective action. I’ll take prisoners and I’ll execute their asses. I’ll take the high ground and tell the whole fucking Brigade what I think of them. And then, if I have to, I’ll show them all what a real man’s made of when his back’s to the wall. And I’ll do it in front of God and everybody. And you, too.
You said you wanted to go for a ride. Nobody forced you. You said you needed a rush, some thrills to make up for your oh-so-boring, so perfectly straight life. You came on to me, remember? We had a deal. So tell me you’re not going to try to stick it to me, not this late in our dark little game. Because, as we both know, I can stick it to you a whole lot worse than you can stick it to me.
Julie, baby: You bored?
They found Liz, Julie Markham, and Tommy Hays waiting for them in Liz’s darkly paneled conference room. They all sat down, and then Liz began to establish some ground rules. Branner waved her off. “We have more serious issues to talk about right now. Midshipman Markham, I’m still Special Agent Branner, and I have some questions for you about Midshipman Dyle Booth.”
At the mention of Booth’s name, Julie Markham’s face paled visibly. She looked sideways at Hays for a moment, as if to ask, How could you? Then Liz jumped in. “First, I need to know the background on all this,” she said. “They just got here, and I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Mr. Hays,” Jim said. “Tell Ms. DeWinter and Agent Branner what you told me about Dyle Booth.”