Faithful Service, Silent Hearts Page 23

  Susan was a junior investigator and had only a brief contact with the captain, but she clearly remembered the suggestions that using whatever means necessary to expose McKinley was okay. She had never crossed that line but she knew others had.

  She never wanted to believe the rumors surrounding that case, but when Captain McKinley returned and Honeycutt recruited her, Susan did some digging into the sudden closing of that investigation. It seemed that the case against McKinley depended upon the testimony of her lover, who had agreed to testify in exchange for an honorable discharge. Then, for an unknown reason, the case had simply been shelved.

  Susan located a guy who worked in their records section for over twenty years and asked about the case. In a hushed tone he confided that rumor had it that the major in charge of the MP battalion, as well as CID, was screwing McKinley's lover. When that came out, they dropped the investigation, quietly reassigned the major. Her lover was given her discharge and McKinley was granted a request for an overseas assignment. All the loose ends tied up, case closed. Of course, the sordid details are omitted from the report.

  Pulling out the file on James, Susan paged through the familiar contents looking for whatever it was that had the chief obsessed with her. Scanning the pages of the official investigation, she saw nothing that she didn't already know. The first notes were from 1982. Honeycutt was the case investigator of a woman with whom he believed James had been involved. The other woman eventually resigned her commission, but nothing ever came of the link to James. Is that why he can't let it go, because he thinks she got away?

  Refocusing on her own immediate concerns Susan again turned to the blank report page in hopes that a reasonable solution might suddenly appear before her on the page. Nothing. Glancing back over at the open folder, she stared at the picture of the blond lieutenant affixed inside the left cover. Flipping to the statistical information page, Susan scanned past the PT scores and training records to examine the awards section that described in black and white a real hero. Everything about her is exemplary, except that one thing that is making Honeycutt crazy.

  That one thing. "You hypocritical bastard," Susan snapped out loud. Moving the blank page in front of her, she picked up her pen and began to write the first of two reports. The reports she knew she had to write, regardless of the consequences.

  #

  Honeycutt picked up the receiver and dialed the phone on his desk. The call was answered on the first ring. "We have her." His voice was triumphant.

  "You're sure this time?" Jefferies demanded. He was growing tired of the investigations chief jumping the gun, then calling back to say something went wrong.

  "Yes, this time I am quite certain, colonel. I will have the report I need before lunch, one way or another." He wasn't sure what Miller was going to say in her report, but that didn't matter. He had another more loyal investigator that had provided him with photographic evidence. That agent, if necessary would fill in the details that he needed to finally make this case stick. If Miller made the mistake of failing to expose James, then his new investigator would fine tune her report with the needed information.

  "Excellent. When can I expect to hear from you again?" The colonel asked.

  "Tomorrow morning. I'll call when we are on the way. Just have James in the office by 0900, and we'll take care of the rest." He hung up the phone without further comment. He felt almost giddy imagining the possibilities of the next few days.

  A sharp knock on his door pulled Honeycutt from his reverie. "Come." The door opened and a small woman with short cropped blond hair entered the office. "Good morning, Karynn," the chief smiled, "You did excellent work on Saturday night."

  She smiled back, "Thank you, chief. It was actually much easier than I thought it would be."

  "How so?"

  "I was a bit surprised about Miller, but James has always been cocky, never making an attempt to hide her preference. It is sort of poetic justice that Miller became the bait without realizing it, though."

  His mouth twisted upward evilly. Holding his hand out to her, he asked, "Is that your report?"

  "Yes sir," she handed the paperwork across the desk, "I think you will find it to be quite complete."

  "I'm sure," he accepted the pages, "but I need you to stick around a bit, just in case Miller's report needs some-um-shall we say adjustment?"

  Karynn assured him, "I'll take care of whatever you need, chief."

  Chapter 43

  A few minutes after nine Devon was manning the quick draw antenna, furiously scanning the known Hamas and Hezbollah frequencies and getting bearing readings on every signal she could capture. She had linked the computer terminal she was working on to the map printer and each time she fixed a target, a small image churned out of the laser printer on the wall behind her. The young airman that had recently joined the unit pulled the newest maps from the tray and moved to sit next to his boss, watching intently as she worked.

  "Lieutenant," he said quietly, "is it true that you were shot in the Middle East?"

  Without looking away from the monitor, she answered, "Yes, why?" Her right index finger mashed the button sending the signal to the remote antennas taking readings of the next target. Devon swiveled in her chair, watching the printer, very pleased to see the fix show a target location in the vicinity of Beirut. "Gotcha." She said aloud, grinning.

  The airman seemed embarrassed. "Um, I just heard some of the guys talking and wanted to ask you myself." She nodded at him as she began scanning the other frequencies. "Thanks for telling me." He continued, "They say you saved a special ops major's life. I am really honored to be working for you, ma'am."

  Devon turned to the young man and smiled, "You are doing a very good job, Kevin. I'm proud of how quickly you've learned to run all of the equipment. Keep up the good work." The airman blushed and moved to the keyboard on the adjacent work station and began entering data.

  "Lieutenant James, may I see you?" Colonel Jefferies stood in the doorway leading to the operations center, the bright light in the office area behind him casting him in silhouette and shadowing his face. The three enlisted men on Devon's team automatically looked over at her in question, knowing that the colonel rarely made an appearance in the ops center.

  "Certainly, sir," she stood and followed him into the outer office area.

  As they entered the colonel's office, Devon's blood immediately ran cold. Standing just inside the door was a heavyset man in a dark suit, accompanied by a short, blond woman also similarly attired. Just to their left, directly in front of the colonel's desk stood two uniformed sergeants, large black and gold military police armbands encircling their upper left arms, .45 caliber pistols in the holsters on their hips. Devon moved only her eyes from the MP's to Jefferies, who showed no emotion or reaction whatsoever.

  "Lieutenant Devon James," the plump man said as she stared at Jefferies, "You are hereby charged with violating the uniform code of military justice, conduct unbecoming an officer, to wit: engaging in homosexual conduct in direct violation of military regulation…" Devon could no longer hear his words over the pounding sound of her own heart in her ears. Jefferies stared at her emotionlessly as the MP's came forward to handcuff her. They removed her security badge from around her neck and handed it to the colonel. "…relieved of duty," the other man continued, "and remanded to CID custody until further notice." He concluded as Devon's head pounded.

  "Let's go," the man obviously in charge said to the guards as the blond woman stepped toward the front door of the offices the way they had entered.

  "No," the colonel stopped her, "go out the back way, Honeycutt."

  At the sound of his name, Devon's head snapped up and her eyes locked on his, a realization dawning on her. She stared at him, hate building within her. This was the man who had hunted Jillian and drove her away, now he was back to finish the job. She felt her bloo
d boiling in her veins as he smirked at her.

  As the MP's took her out the back door, Devon realized that they wanted to take her out through the operations area, in front of her team so that they would see her being led away in handcuffs. Her stomach churned and bile rose up in the back of her throat as they pushed her through the doorway into the ops center. She fought the tears that threatened in her eyes as they led her past her coworkers who stared in disbelief.

  The MP's led Devon into the two story brick building that housed the Criminal Investigations Division. At the end of a maze of hallways they ushered her into a ten by eight room containing a metal table with three metal straight backed chairs around it, two on one side and one on the other. One mirrored window covered half of the wall next to the door. Otherwise the interrogation room was empty. The female that had accompanied Honeycutt entered.

  "I don't really think those handcuffs are really necessary anymore, gentleman," she smiled pleasantly at Devon, "Please take them off and leave us alone." The guards did as they were told, removing the metal rings encircling her wrists that had gouged deep purple indentations and actually cut the skin in several places. Devon moved her hands around in a circular motion to encourage the blood flow to return and rubbed dried blood from the palm of her right hand. The woman extended her hand toward the single chair at the table, "Lieutenant, please have a seat."

  Knowing it wasn't a suggestion and having no other option, Devon did as she was directed and sat in the hard metal chair, folding her hands in front of her on the table. The smaller woman sat in one of the chairs across the table. Her hair was short cropped in an Annie Lennox kind of style and she wore a tasteful amount of makeup, the blush accentuating her high cheek bones, and a dusting of an eye shadow that was a sort of golden rust color making her deep brown eyes look larger. Blood red lipstick made her white teeth stand out as she spoke.

  "May I get you some coffee, lieutenant? Tea? Water?" Devon held the woman's gaze and shook her head, but said nothing. She knew that it was the woman's job to try to get her to relax, act like her friend. The woman would have done better to wait here at the office if she wanted to have any chance at all of talking to Devon. She would never forget the image of her standing with Honeycutt while he read the charges. She waited, her eyes never leaving the woman's. They weren't friends.

  "Well," the woman shrugged, "I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Karynn," she offered an unconvincing smile as she tried without success to read the lieutenant's expression. "Devon," she began again, feeling her way, "may I call you, Devon?"

  "It is my name."

  "Okay, then, Devon," Karynn leaned forward placing her palms down on the table and staring at Devon intently, "what I have to say now is very important. These investigations can get very nasty and I really want you to understand that if you are just honest with us right up front, I can offer you a lot more options. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Devon continued to look impassively at her, Mac's voice echoing in her head. They will say or do anything to make their case.

  Karynn looked at Devon for a few moments, waiting for any sign of an opening. When she saw only the steely blue expression in her eyes, she sat back and sighed. "Okay, Devon. I know you don't believe me, but I really am trying to help you. You've actually got only two options." She held up her right hand pointing her index finger in the air, "One. You sit here like a badass and say nothing and everything that is in the file gets explained the way Honeycutt wants the story told." Her middle finger now popped up forming a V, "Two. You start talking to me and I can write some mitigating factors into your report." The blue eyes continued to stare.

  "In the first scenario," Karynn continued, "you get a courts martial trial, a dishonorable discharge, and maybe even jail time. In the second option, I can offer you a general discharge and no jail time. You get to get on with your life." She shrugged her shoulders, "Doesn't seem like a hard decision to me."

  Her mind racing with a thousand different thoughts that collided and blended in her brain, Devon sat quietly trying to reign in her feelings. Images of Jillian flickered in her mind like mental flash cards. She thought about how Honeycutt must have given her a similar speech to get her to talk and she must have agreed because Jillian got out and now after all this time, Honeycutt had finally found her.

  The stinging pain of betrayal stabbed into her chest, painfully squeezing her heart. And then strangely, she felt a separate feeling of protectiveness. Jillian had always told Devon that she was stubborn to the point of foolishness. Maybe that's what was going on now, because although she knew the easy way out of this was to admit her relationship with Jillian, she couldn't do it. It felt wrong somehow. Part of you still loves her. Fuckin' A.

  "Lieutenant?" Karynn was still waiting for a response.

  Closing her eyes briefly, Devon drew a deep breath, conjuring up images of Jillian, Alex, Ann and Mac. One by one she pictured their faces, drawing comfort and strength she sent out a silent plea for guidance. Opening her eyes to look at the agent seated in front of her, she said simply, "I have nothing to say to you."

  For a second, respect flashed in the brown eyes but it quickly disappeared as Karynn stood. "Wrong answer," she said quietly.

  The door banged open and Honeycutt waddled into the room. Devon clamped her jaw shut so hard that it ached. She warned herself not to lose control, no matter what he said because that would give him what he wanted. Vowing to win the round about to begin, even though she sensed the win might cost her more, she sat back in the chair, put on her best emotionless mask and stared at him with impenetrable eyes.

  "Leave us," he dismissed the female agent as he folded himself into the chair opposite the detainee. The chair groaned in protest under the weight of his frame. He scrutinized the woman finally in his custody after two years of unremitting pursuit, waiting for his chance. He couldn't hide the intense satisfaction that he felt when he looked down at her hands on the table and observed the visible cuts and bruises that were beginning to form on her wrists.

  Her gaze was hard as she stared at him but the evidence of strain was obvious; her eyes were bloodshot and sunken into dark circles outlining the sockets. "Well, lieutenant, it seems we finally meet."

  #

  As Susan entered the building just before eleven, she noticed the guard standing in the hall outside of the interrogation room and wondered who they had brought in this morning. She entered her office area expecting to see Jones at the desk opposite hers, grumbling about the duplicate paperwork that was required for all government work. Instead, she was caught off guard at the sight of Karynn sitting with her feet up on his desk, apparently having made herself at home.

  Making her way to the coffee pot that sat on a small metal stand in the corner of the room, Susan poured herself a cup. "I see the interrogation room is already in use this morning," she said in greeting, tilting her head in the direction of the hallway. "Anything good?" She leaned her hip on the counter watching the other investigator, noting that she was dressed a bit more formally than the usual office attire. Her navy suit jacked was open in the front revealing her holster and badge.

  Swinging her legs off the desk and leaning forward with her elbows in the middle of the large calendar that covered most of the desk surface, Karynn's smile was predatory. "Only the chief's most wanted subject. We removed her from the NSA building a couple hours ago." Her eyes gleamed, "You should have seen her face."

  She knew that was going to get a response out of agent Miller. Karynn watched the two of them at the bar and had seen the way Miller looked at the lieutenant. She knew that look. Miller had fallen for her target and that was unacceptable. Weak. As far as Karynn was concerned, Miller should be in the box right after James. For now, though, watching the color drain out of the other woman's face as she realized the identity of the prisoner down the hall was enough.

  Strugg
ling to maintain a controlled bearing, Susan managed, "Most wanted subject?" Maybe it wasn't Devon. She forced herself to keep her facial expression neutral and calmly wait for the answer.

  "Come on now, Susan," Karynn said dryly as she stood, "we both know who that is. As a matter of fact, didn't I hear that you were filing the final damning report to close the James case?" She reveled in the slightly panicked look in Susan's eyes. "I was just about to go watch the chief in action," She opened the door and motioned for Susan to come along, "Shall we?"

  Susan followed in silence to the large window of the interrogation room, staring in disbelief at the scene unfolding inside. Honeycutt was leaning over Devon just to her right, hands flat on the table, his face inches from her right ear. His round face was contorted in an angry expression as he snapped at her, spittle visible on the side of his mouth. The lieutenant stared straight ahead toward the glass, seemingly looking directly at Susan, but she knew that the inside was mirrored. She heard Karynn let out a chuckle and flip the switch on the wall, allowing the sound of the room to be heard.