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The world is changing I had always been a loner, but at that point I started to feel lonely And I had always been a cynic, but at that point I began to feel hopelessly naive Both ofout froy, and the other because its reliable old values see I felt like a man akes alone on a deserted island to find that the rest of the world has stolen away in boats in the night I felt like I was standing on a shore, watching s shapes on the horizon I felt like I had been speaking English, and now I realized everyone else had been speaking a different language entirely The world was changing And I didn&039;t want it to
Suuessed she had been hiding around a corner, waiting for Willard to leave She had folds of printer paper under her ar news in her eyes
"Vassell and Cooht," she said "They&039;re listed on the gate log"
"Sit down," I said
She paused, surprised, and then she sat where Willard had
"I&039;ht now"
"What do you ht," I said "Fort Bird is a very e place First Kra both cases down, to spare the army&039;s blushes"
"He can&039;t close Carbone down"
"Training accident," I said "Carbone tripped and fell and hit his head"
"What?"
"Willard&039;s using it as a test for ram or not?"
"Are you?"
I didn&039;t answer
"They&039;re illegal orders," Summer said "They have to be"
"Are you prepared to challenge them?"
She didn&039;t reply The only practical way to challenge illegal orders was to disobey theeneral court-le with a guy way higher on the food chain, in front of a presiding judge ell aware of the army&039;s preference that orders should never be questioned
"So nothing ever happened," I said "Bring all your paperwork here and forget you ever heard of
"And speak to the guys ere there last night Tell theet what they saw"
She looked down at the floor
"Then go back to the O Club and wait for your next assignment"
She looked up at me
"Are you serious?" she said
"Totally," I said "I&039; you a direct order"
She stared at ht you were"
I nodded
"I agree," I said "I&039;ave her a et clear and then I picked up the folded paper she had left behind There was a lot of it I found the page I wanted, and I stared at it
Because I don&039;t like coincidences
Vassell and Cooate at six forty-five in the evening of the night Carbone had died They had left again at ten o&039;clock Three and a quarter hours, right across Carbone&039;s tiht across dinnertime
I picked up the phone and called the O Club dining rooe would call eant and asked her to find out as et hi of coffee for me
"He&039;s all tied up," she said "Could be half an hour His name is Franz"
"Can&039;t be," I said "Franz is in Panama I talked to him there face-to-face"
"Major Calvin Franz," she said "That&039;s what they told me"
"Call them back," I said "Double-check"
She left my coffee on ain after another four minutes and confirmed that her information had been correct
"Major Calvin Franz," she said again "He&039;s been there since December twenty-ninth"
I looked down at my calendar January 5th
"And you&039;ve been here since Deceht at her
"Call so ones only Start with Fort Benning, and work through the alphabet Getthey&039;ve been there"
She nodded and went back out The NCO fro room called me back I asked him about Vassell and Coomer He confirone with the halibut, and Coomer had opted for the steak
"Did they eat on their own?" I asked
"No, sir, they ith an assortuy said
"Was it a date?"
"No, sir, we had the impression it was impromptu It was an odd collection of people I think they all hooked up in the bar, over aperitifs Certainly we had no reservation for the group"
"How long were they there?"
"They were seated before seven-thirty, and they got up just before ten o&039;clock"
"Nobody left and came back?"
"No, sir, they were under our eye throughout"
"All the time?"
"We paid close attention to theeneral&039;s rank, really"
I hung up Then I called the ate Asked who had actually eyeballed Vassell and Cooeant&039;s nauy and have hiuy froet back to h the previous evening, and he confirmed he had personally witnessed Vassell and Cooain at ten
"Car?" I asked
"Big black sedan, sir," he said "A Pentagon staff car"
"Grand Marquis?" I asked
"I&039;m pretty sure, sir"
"Was there a driver?"
"The colonel was driving," the guy said "Colonel Cooer seat"
"Just the two of them in the car?"
"Affirmative, sir"
"Are you sure?"
"That&039;s definite, sir No question about it At night we use flashlights Black sedan, DoD plates, two officers in the front, proper IDs displayed, rear seat vacant"
"OK, thanks," I said, and hung up The phone rang again immediately It was Calvin Franz, in California
"Reacher?" he said "What the hell are you doing there?"
"I could ask you the exact same question"
The phone went quiet for a beat
"No idea what the hell I&039; here," he said "Irwin&039;s all quiet It usually is, they tell h"
"Did you check your orders?"
"Sure," he said "Didn&039;t you? Panama&039;s theat the sands of the Mojave? Seeht I oing on Unlikely that we both upset him"
"What exactly were your orders?" I said
"Temporary XO for the Provost Marshal"
"Is he there right now?"
"No, actually He got a teot in"
"So you&039;re acting CO?"
"Looks that way," he said
"Me too"
"What&039;s going on?"
"No idea," I said "If I ever find out, I&039;ll tell you But first I need to ask you a question I came across a bird colonel and a one-star over here, supposed to be heading out to you for an Armored conference on New Year&039;s Day Vassell and Coomer Did they ever show?"
"That conference was canceled," Franz said "We heard their two-star bought the farm somewhere Guy called Kra ahead without him Either that, or they can&039;t think at all without hi to get his command"
"So Vassell and Coomer never came to California?"
"They never came to Irwin," Franz said "That&039;s for sure Can&039;t speak for California It&039;s a big state"
"Who else was supposed to attend?"
"Armored&039;s inner circle Soain So about the agenda?"
"I wouldn&039;t expect to Was it important?"
"I don&039;t know Vassell and Coomer said there wasn&039;t one"
"There&039;s always an agenda"
"That&039;s what I figured"
"I&039;ll keep my ears open"
"Happy New Year," I said Then I put the phone down and sat quiet Thought hard Calvin Franz was one of the good guys Actually, he was one of the best guys Tough, fair, as co ever knocked hih to leave Pana that he was still there But he wasn&039;t still there I wasn&039;t there, and he wasn&039;t there So who the hell was?