Page 48 of A More Perfect Union

“It’s definitely beenan adjustment from running ops in the field, but I’m not as young as I used tobe.”

Zoey wanted to askhim about his experience running a Delta Force unit, but she suspected likemost soldiers who’d worked in Special Forces, he wasn’t big on sharing.Besides, as interested as she was in his service, she’d asked to meet with himfor another reason entirely. Before she could get to the reason for theirmeeting, she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Come in,” she calledout, scrambling for an excuse to get rid of Dixon. But it wasn’t Dixon. LieutenantLouden strode in and started walking toward her desk, but he stopped abruptlywhen he saw Major Riley.

“I’m sorry,” Loudensaid. “I didn’t realize you were in a meeting.”

“It’s okay. MajorRiley, this is Lieutenant Louden, General Sharp’s assistant.”

Jack reached his handout to Louden who stared at it for a moment before accepting the handshake. “Iknow Major Riley,” Louden said. “Nice to see you, sir.”

“Of course you do,”Zoey said, remembering Sharp was Jack Riley’s godfather and probably knew mostof the general’s staff. “I forget everyone around here is connected in someway. Lieutenant, how long have you worked for General Sharp?”

Louden shuffled inplace as if he was uncomfortable to be in the spotlight. “For a while now,ma’am. The general and I have developed quite a productive workingarrangement.”

Odd way to phrase it,but Zoey understood what he meant. It wasn’t unusual for an officer moving hisway up the ranks, like Sharp had, to single out other soldiers to be part ofhis inner circle and support them along the way. If she’d been more interestedin setting down roots than seeing the world, she imagined she would have beenby Sharp’s side all along as well. As it was, she’d benefitted plenty fromSharp’s at-a-distance assistance over the years in the form of several belowthe zone promotions.

“I brought the filesyou requested,” Louden said, handing over a sealed envelope. “Are you going towant the conference room again this afternoon?”

“No, not today.” Zoeyknew she should schedule interviews with the higher ranking officers who’d usedthe Darcy Agency, not to mention set up a re-interview of Donny Bloomfield assoon as possible, especially in view of Sharp’s admonition to bring this matterto a close, but she wasn’t up for spending the afternoon sitting across fromRook, acting as if nothing had happened between them. Not yet.

Louden looked at thedoor. “If you don’t need anything else then.”

Zoey dismissed himand waited until the door was firmly shut before she resumed her discussionwith Jack.

“He seems like a niceguy,” Jack said. “Has he been helping you find your way around?”

“He’s been great.This place is so big I forget what a small world it can be. Louden worked withthe general all these years, you and your sister are both Sharp’s godchildren.Did I hear correctly that your father served with General Sharp?”

“You did. They wereboth part of the Ranger unit that led the invasion of Grenada. General Sharpreceived the Medal of Honor for saving my dad, along with the rest of theirunit when they were ambushed by the resistance forces.”

“Wow, I had no idea.I mean I’ve seen the medal, but he doesn’t talk about it. Grenada, huh? Thatwas a long time ago.” She marveled at the fact she’d never heard the story ofSharp’s heroism. There were a lot of soldiers who would’ve traded on thetelling, but he had never breathed a word of it as far as she knew.

“Yep. My dad wasbarely out of West Point and had just finished Ranger training. It was hisfirst assignment and he wound up dropped in a hot mess, pinned down betweenresistance fighters. Sharp risked his life to draw enemy fire and saved all butone man from a certain death. Dad and the rest of the guys who served with himstill call him Mr. Hero whenever they get together. Sharp hates it.”

Zoey filed the storyaway, determined to look up the details at some point as a way of gainingfurther insight into her mentor, but for now she seized on the mention of theRangers to turn the conversation back to her original purpose. “Thanks for tellingme about this. I don’t want to keep you longer, but I had a question about theRangers I was hoping you could help me answer. Do you happen to know ColonelNicholas Mitchell?”

“Isn’t he aninstructor at McNair?”

“He was.” Zoeyhesitated before blurting out, “He committed suicide last night.”

“You’re kidding.That’s horrible.”

Zoey nodded, as thememory of seeing Mitchell’s body in a pool of blood and brains came floodingback. Words couldn’t convey how horrible it truly was, so she only nodded inagreement. “This is going to sound like a strange question, but do you know ifColonel Mitchell was ever part of a Ranger unit?”

If Jack thought thequestion was odd, his expression didn’t show it. “I don’t think so. I mean Idon’t pretend to know everyone who is, but I do know of him and I think I’dknow if he’d been a Ranger. Are you investigating his death? Have you looked athis file?”

She didn’t know theanswer to the first question. Did investigating Mitchell’s death fall under hermandate to sort out the Darcy Agency mess? If it did, surely she had the rightto talk to anyone she thought might have valuable information and shareinformation she had. She wasn’t entirely convinced that was the case, but Sharphadn’t given her much guidance other than she needed to “wrap it up.”

“His file is onrestricted status,” she said. “And it has been for at least the last few days,but he left a note. I’d show it to you, but I don’t have a copy.” She took abreath before plunging ahead. “It was addressed to me.” She reeled off asummary of the points in Mitchell’s letter, ending with, “He signed off withthe motto, ‘Rangers lead the way.’ I checked his public profile, but I don’tsee anything about having served as a Ranger. Even if he was a Ranger, it seemsa bit odd, but if he wasn’t, then I think he was trying to tell us something.”

“Like a codedmessage?”

“Exactly, but I’m notequipped to figure it out. I thought if he was a Ranger, then at least I’d havesomewhere to start.”

“Where is theletter?”

“I don’t know.” Thelast time Zoey had seen it, the tall, leggy blonde on Rook’s team had beenslipping it into an evidence envelope. Several times that morning, Zoey hadcontemplated texting Rook to see if she could get a copy so she could study itsome more, but reaching out to Rook now after she walked out on her last nightfelt weird.

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