AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He re-tightened his blanket around his torso, making sure all the evidence of his shameful transgression was hidden, and began to walk off.
“Thank you,” she shouted to his back. “I hope you come back another time.”
Frustrated and mumbling to himself, kicking himself in the ass for his complete stupidity and lack of judgment, he chalked it up to the nerves he was carrying around, worrying about his meeting tomorrow. Who the heck did she think she was? He was going to be meeting the President of the United States, and he might have to tell the man that no, he wasn’t interested. Whatever they were going to offer him, he wasn’t interested.
Opening the driver door, Venom adjusted to move over and sit in the passenger seat like he had on the way over. Harper carefully scooped himself onto the seat, still partially covered by the blanket, perching on top of the warm fleece. He was careful to keep his seat clean.
When he glanced at Venom, he saw the dog had been staring at his crotch and then met him eyeball-to-eyeball.
“Not you too, Venom. Don’t start with me. It was an accident.”
As if he understood, Venom turned and faced the windshield as Harper drove the two of them away to safety.
Chapter 6
Harper was metat Dulles International Airport by Admiral Patterson’s driver, dressed in civilian clothes, which made Harper nervous as hell. The kid didn’t look older than high school age, but Harper was used to feeling old, especially these past couple of years. He couldn’t tell an eighteen-year-old from a mid-twenties tadpole.
“Nolan Pierce. Welcome to Washington,” the kid said as he extended his hand.
“Harper Cunningham. Please call me Harper.” He kept the handshake as brief as possible.
“You have luggage?” the young driver asked.
“Just this.” He held up his duffel and turned to the side so Pierce could see his computer case. “And I am armed. I’m required to divulge this to you, just so you know.”
“I will inform the admiral of this, of course. He’s waiting for you outside.”
Harper was led through the bustling airport lobby, full of groups of tourists and business men and women racing to catch flights to and from all over the world. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d been here, and always, it was for some kind of a ceremonial function. He had been the honor guard for several team members he’d been close to who didn’t make it home.
But today was completely different. The Suburban at the arrival and pickup area was allowed to idle, unlike the general population. The windows were blacked out. Local airport police ignored the vehicle, which sported the special starred D.C. plates indicative of the passenger’s rank. Pierce opened the rear door and spoke to the admiral quietly, then nodded, backed up, and made room for Harper to gain entry.
The two men sat alone in the rear.
Admiral Patterson shook his hand. “I’m glad you could make it, SO Cunningham.”
“Harper. It’s Harper, sir. I don’t want to hear SO anything, if you don’t mind.”
Admiral Patterson leaned forward, putting his hand on the driver’s shoulder.
“Nolan, we have to make good time here. I’d like not to have the president wait too long.”
“I understand, Sir. I’ll do the very best I can. We’ll get you there on time,” Pierce answered.
The admiral turned to Harper. “Are you comfortable? Want some water or something stronger perhaps?”
“No, thanks, Admiral. I’m good. I do have some questions, if you don’t mind?”
“Go right ahead. Nolan here has clearance, but he wears ear buds.”
“Thank you. You said you had some proof about the misinformation.”
Harper figured it might as well be something they talk about right away since, if there was some kind of an error made, he didn’t want to be airing dirty laundry in front of the commander-in-chief.
“Yes. Turns out that this particular person—his name was Commander or General Okubo, you’ll recall—was originally the one taking credit for murdering several of the missionaries that day. It was assumed Lydia was among them. I think in the fog of war, the statements from survivors were found not to be accurate. It took us awhile to get the proper DNA testing, and her DNA was initially not found. However, I do have a photograph, and this picture is rather graphic. I must ask your permission first before I show it to you.”
“A picture of Lydia?” Harper’s mouth went completely dry. He coughed into his hand.
“We wanted confirmation, if you could. But are you sure?”
