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Going west the ti it They paid us back the hours we had lost two days before We landed at Dulles at two in the afternoon I said good-bye to Joe and he found the cab line and headed into the city I went looking for buses and was arrested before I found any
Who guards the guards? Who arrests an MP? Indirectly for the Provost Marshal General&039;s office There were two W3s and a W4 The W4 showed me his credentials and his orders and then the W3s showed ave et knocked on my ass I smiled, briefly I approved of his performance He carried himself well I doubted if I would have done it any different, or any better
"Are you armed, Major?" he said
"No," I said
I would have been worried for the army if he had believed me Some W4s would have They would have been inti a superior officer froh duty But this particular W4 did everything right He heard me say No and nodded to his W3s and they moved in to pat me down about as fast as if I had said Yes, with a nuclear warhead One of theh ood few minutes before they were satisfied
"Do I need to put the cuffs on you?" the W4 asked
I shook my head "Where&039;s the car?"
He didn&039;t answer The W3s forhtly behind me The W4 walked in front We crossed the sidewalk and passed by the bay where the buses aiting and headed for an official-vehicle-only lane There was an olive green sedan parked there This was their ti up at that point, ready to hter They were a good teaainst one, they reduced the odds to maybe fifty-fifty But I let them put me in the car Afterward, I wondered ould have happened if I had run for it So that I had
The car was a Chevrolet Caprice It had been white before the arinal color inside the door frame It had vinyl seats and manual s Civilian police specification I slid across the rear bench and settled in the corner behind the front passenger seat One of the W3s craot behind the wheel The W4 sat next to him up front Nobody spoke
We headed east toward the city on the hway I was probably five minutes behind Joe in his taxi We turned south and east and drove through Tysons Corner At that point I knew for sure where ere going A couple of ns to Rock Creek Rock Creek was a small toenty-some miles due north of Fort Belvoir and forty-some north and east of the Marine place at Quantico It was as close as I got to a permanent duty station It housed the 110th Special Unit headquarters So I knehere ere headed But I had no idea why
One Hundred and Tenth headquarters was basically an office and supply facility There were no cells No secure holding facilities They lockedon the table and locked the door and left uys in before So I kneas done One of the W3s would be on station in the corridor outside Maybe both of them would be So I just tilted the plain wooden chair back and put my feet on the table and waited
I waited an hour I was uncoured if they knew all of that they&039;d have kepttwo hours Or more As it was they caestured with his chin that I should stand up and follow him out the door The W3s fell in behind hts of stairs Led eways At that point I knew for sure where ere going We were going to Leon Garber&039;s office But I didn&039;t knohy
They stopped lass with CO painted on it in gold I had been through it many times But never while in custody The W4 knocked and waited and opened the door and stepped back to let me walk inside He closed the door behind me and stayed on the other side of it, out in the corridor with his guys
Behind Garber&039;s desk was a man I had never seen before He was a colonel He was in BDUs His tape said: Willard, US Array hair parted in a schoolboy style It needed a triray pouchy face that must have looked old when he enty He was short and relatively squat and the way his shoulders failed to fill his BDUs told y to his left and plucking at his pants where they went tight over his right knee Before I had been in the room ten seconds he had adjusted his position three times Maybe he had heed nails No wedding band Divorced, for sure He looked the type No ould let him walk about with hair like that And no wife could have stood all that rocking and twitching Not for very long
I should have come smartly to attention and saluted and announced: Sir, Major Reacher reports That would have been the standard ar to do that I just took a long lazy look around and ca easy in front of the desk
"I need explanations," the guy called Willard said
He ain
"Who are you?" I said
"You can see who I am"
"I can see you&039;re a colonel in the US Ar to you before I knohether or not you&039;re in my chain of command"
"I am your chain of command, son What does it say onofficer," I said
"And where are we?"
"Rock Creek, Virginia," I said
"OK, asked and answered," he said
"You&039;re new," I said "We haven&039;t ht hours ago And noe&039;ve met And now I need explanations"
"Of what?"
"You were UA, for a start," he said
"Unauthorized absence?" I said "When?"
"The last seventy-two hours"
"Incorrect," I said
"How so?"
"My absence was authorized by Colonel Garber"
"It was not"
"I called this office," I said
"When?"
"Before I left"
"Did you receive his authorization?"
I paused "I left ahe denied authorization?"
"He wasn&039;t here He got orders for Korea soot the MP coadier General&039;s job"
"He&039;s acting The promotion will no doubt be confir
"Garber&039;s gone," Willard said "I&039;o-round continues Get used to it"
The room went quiet Willard smiled atwas out froround
"It was good of you to leave your travel plans," he said "It made today easier"
"You think the arrest was appropriate for UA?"
"You don&039;t?"
"It was a sined post without authorization, Major Those are the facts Just because you had a vague expectation that authorization ranted doesn&039;t alter them This is the army We don&039;t act in advance of orders or permissions We wait until they are properly received and confirmed The alternative would be anarchy and chaos"
I said nothing
"Where did you go?"
I picturedon her aluminum walker I pictured my brother&039;s face as he watched me pack
"I took a short vacation," I said "I went to the beach"
"The arrest wasn&039;t for the UA," Willard said "It was because you wore Class As on the evening of New Year&039;s Day"
"That&039;s an offense now?"
"You wore your na
"You put two civilians in the hospital While wearing your naht hard I didn&039;t believe the fat guy and the farmer had dropped a dime on me Not possible They were stupid, but they weren&039;t that stupid They knew I knehere I could find them
"Who says so?" I asked
"You had a big audience in that parking lot"
"One of ours?"
Willard nodded
"Who?" I said
"No need for you to know"
I kept quiet
"You got anything to say?" Willard asked ht: He won&039;t testify at the court-martial That&039;s for daot to say
"Nothing to say," I said
"What do you think I should do with you?"
I said nothing
"What do you think I should do?"
You should figure out the difference between a hard-ass and a duure it out real quick
"Your choice," I said "Your decision"
He nodded "I also have reports fro what?"
"Saying you acted in a disrespectful manner toward them"
"Then those reports are incorrect"
"Like the UA was incorrect?"
I said nothing
"Stand at attention," Willard said
I looked at him Counted One thousand Two thousand Three thousand Then I came to attention
"That was slow," he said
"I&039; to win a drill competition," I said
"What was your interest in Vassell and Cooenda for an Ar I need to know if it contained classified inforenda," Willard said "Vassell and Coomer have made that perfectly clear To ht, technically But to willfully disbelieve a senior officer&039;s direct answer is disrespectful It&039;s close to harass I believe there was an agenda"
Now Willard said nothing
"May I ask as your previous command?" I said
He shifted in his chair
"Intelligence," he said
"Field agent?" I asked "Or desk jockey?"
He didn&039;t answer Desk jockey
"Did you have conferences without agendas?" I asked
He looked straight at me
"Direct orders, Major," he said "One, terminate your interest in Vassell and Coomer Forthwith, and immediately Two, terminate your interest in General Kras raised on that matter, not under the circumstances Three, terminate Lieutenant Summer&039;s involvement in special unit affairs Forthwith, and i her file as far as I&039;m concerned she alill be Four, do not attempt to make further contact with the local civilians you injured And five, do not atteainst you in that
"Do you understand your orders?" he said
"I&039;d like the," I said
"Verbal will do," he said "Do you understand your orders?"