Page 31 of A More Perfect Union

“I pay for my owndinner and it can’t be tonight.”

“Another date?” Rookasked before holding up her palm. “Wait, no, don’t answer that. So, tomorrowthen.”

“Yes, but I’m seriousabout going dutch.”

“Really?”

“It’s business. I cantell you’re used to a certain level of…Let’s just say fancy meals, expensivedrinks, and cars idling curbside to take you anywhere you want to go. Anyway,that’s not me. I’m pretty basic, and if we’re going to hang out, you’ll have toget used to that.”

“So, we’re going tohang out?” Rook smiled and then spoke quickly for fear Zoey would change hermind. “Okay, burgers and beer it is. We’ll settle on the details tomorrow.” Shedidn’t wait for an answer before walking away. Zoey might think of herself assimple and basic, but Rook sensed there was a lot more to the major thanallegiance to country. Tomorrow night she’d find out what made Zoey Grangertick.

* * *

Zoey looked up to seeDavid Sharp standing in the doorframe of her office.

“Everything goingwell?” he asked.

Well wasn’t exactlyhow she’d define her first day. More like a scorching introduction to militarypolitics. The trip to the White House, being saddled with Dixon, and learningkey facts of the investigation from a civilian had Zoey feeling she might be inover her head. Not to mention Colonel Mitchell blowing off their appointmentand refusing to return her phone calls. But Sharp wouldn’t want to hear any ofthat, and she wasn’t about to ask him to bail her out. “Yes,” she answeredsimply.

“You don’t sound veryconvincing.” He strode in and sank into the chair across from her desk.

Zoey considered hernext words carefully. “I appreciate this opportunity. I really do, but Isuppose I am curious about why you chose me.”

“You want the truthor the sugarcoated answer?”

“Truth, sir.”

He ticked off thereasons on his fingers. “One, you needed to be off base for a while because thepeople you work with are pissed off at you. Two, you might not have officialexperience, but you did solid work on Nine Tech, which brings me to reasonthree. The suits on Armed Forces like you, so I figured the White House wouldtoo. And finally, I trust you to look out for the best interests of your fellowsoldiers. Is that enough?”

She resisted pointingout that her fellow soldiers probably thought investigating them wasantithetical to looking out for their interests. “Yes, that’s enough.” Sheblurted out the next question without deference. “Is there a reason you didn’ttell me this case doesn’t just involve students at McNair, but also some flagofficers stationed here at the Pentagon?”

His look of surpriseappeared genuine. “I thought that was in your briefing materials. Are you sureit wasn’t?”

She’d only had anhour with the packet before Dixon had shown up to escort her to the WhiteHouse, but she’d reviewed everything again after Rook left for the day andshe’d seen no mention of anyone other than the students at McNair. The omissionwas probably an oversight, to be expected in this giant bureaucracy. “I’llcheck again. We’ll resume interviews in the morning.”

His nod was the onlyadditional acknowledgment of her concern. “So, how’s it going? Anythinginteresting come to light?”

She paused for asecond before answering, naturally hesitant to disclose anything while theinvestigation was ongoing, but quickly shook away the thought. He’d assignedher to the case and was her direct command. Of course he had a right to knowhow things were progressing. “Nothing so far. Looks like a bunch of guys withpoor judgment, but that’s it. Of course we’ve only interviewed the officers whowere enrolled at McNair and we haven’t talked to Donny Bloomfield yet. Some ofthe other officers seem a little reluctant to talk to us.”

“That’s to beexpected. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” He stood and started toward the door,waving her back to her seat when she started to stand as well. “Don’t work toolate. Nobody expects you to solve the world’s problems on your first day.” Hepaused with his hand on the door. “And don’t let Rook Daniels bully you. Thisis our investigation and she’s here as a courtesy to the president.”

As the door shutbehind him, Zoey processed his words, focused more on what he didn’t say. Hehadn’t told her to back off, but he hadn’t encouraged her either. Neutralitywas to be expected and she tried not to read anything into it, but he was in aprecarious position, since his promotion was tied to his boss’s future. GeneralBloomfield was definitely the one with the most to lose if this scandalescalated, but she couldn’t fault him with any interference since he’d givenher this job and not reached out since.

Sharp’s reference toRook was mystifying, but it wasn’t the first time she’d gotten mixed messagesfrom a commanding officer. When your only directive seemed to be “do no harm”it wasn’t easy to navigate the politics, especially since she didn’t know muchabout the internal issues between the Pentagon and this administration. Wordwas President Garrett was supportive of the military, but no one could blamehim for being wary about any hint of scandal.

Another knock on thedoor interrupted her musings, but this time the person knocking didn’t wait foran invitation before barging in.

“Are you Granger?”

She quickly assessedthe silver eagle on the uniform of the shorter than average man in front ofher. “Colonel Mitchell?”

“Damn right. Where doyou get off trying to drag me into your little game? Tell your pal Dixon toquit calling my office and take me off your list. I didn’t have anything to dowith those women and I’ve got nothing to say to you or your little lackey aboutit. Understood?”

She nodded, notbecause she understood, but because she figured any other reaction would sendhim running. “I think we got off on the wrong foot. I’m just following orders,talking to everyone whose name came up in the records of the Lorraine DarcyAgency.” She could sense he was about to erupt again and held up a hand,careful to keep her voice low-pitched and calm. “It’s very likely your name wasin their records by mistake, but I have to talk to you to get that sorted out.Are you sure you can’t find time to meet with us before I finalize the report?”

His shoulders relaxedslightly, but his face remained curled into a scowl. “It’s a big mistake.Likely one of those damn kids who got into McNair because of their name nottheir potential is trying to drag me down. I’m a hard grader, but I’m not aboutto advance piss-poor soldiers just because of some supposed birthright. I havea family, for God’s sake. There’s no way I’d do the things they wanted me todo.”

Zoey struggled tokeep up, but Mitchell was speaking in riddles. “I’m sure no one expects you todo anything that isn’t right. I’m only interested in pursuing the facts, but todo so you have to be willing to talk to me so I can sort out fact fromfiction.” She paused to think through her strategy. Protocol demanded she notinterview anyone on the list without someone else present to witness what wassaid. Dixon was long gone, and she had no idea where Rook was or even if shecould make it back to the building quickly. Maybe she could get somepreliminary information and schedule a full interview for the next day. “Whydon’t you give me a rough idea of what’s going on, and we can talk more aboutit tomorrow? If you don’t want to include Dixon, I’ll have someone else on handwho might be more responsive to your concerns.”

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