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Charlie walked up to it as a woman stepped out. The woman was short with slicked-back, black hair. She wore a United States military uniform.
The woman was clearly formidable, Hammer thought. She was a five-star general.
He walked up to Charlie but remained a few paces behind her.
“Charlie Jackson? I’m General Anna Lu with the United States government. I’ve been sent on a retrieval mission.” General Lu stuck her hand out, and the two women shook hands.
Then the general turned to Hammer.
“I take it you’re our man on the ground?” Her voice was curt, but he sensed camaraderie in her words. “The United States Army extends its thanks to you.”
“Thank you, General,” Hammer said. “We also have a prisoner of war for you.” He pointed to the tree where Ajmal was still tied. The general turned to the chopper. Two men in military fatigues hopped out.
“Retrieve the prisoner.” General Lu spoke quietly but with authority.
“Yes, ma’am.” Both men replied and headed off to Ajmal.
“Why don’t you both join me in the bird, and we can head off in a few minutes?”
Hammer wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed that rescue had finally arrived. He should have been relieved, but all he felt was a large emptiness settling in his chest. He was losing Charlie with every step she took toward the helicopter.
“Now,” General Lu said, “let’s start our debriefing, shall we? You’ll have to do this again in front of JAG and the Attorney General. But I need this for my records.”
And with that, Charlie started speaking. Hammer remained quiet, for the most part, except to agree with her account of things. He noticed she sanitized a lot of the events from the past few days. Charlie was doing her best to paint him in a good light.
She was also leaving out any mention of their relationship. Not that Hammer expected her to reveal what they had meant to one another. But why was he disappointed that she was hiding him?
Once Ajmal was securely in the helicopter, General Lu gave instructions for takeoff.
And soon enough, the helicopter was in the air and flying back to the United States of America.
After they had their talks with the government, Charlie would leave him, Hammer decided. She would go on to expand and develop her career.
It was for the best. Hammer wasn’t exactly the best person to take on a dig. Besides, once he was free from his contract, he would be going to his mountain. He would be homesteading. He’d get a cow, a few sheep, and a goat to keep the grass short. He would have a vegetable garden like his parents had when he was a boy. He would experience nature at its most raw.
And, because of the solitude, he’d be able to shift whenever he wanted.
And he would never see Charlie again.
TWENTY-FIVE
CHARLIE
“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Charlie’s government-appointed lawyer leaned forward on his desk, trying to give the appearance that he was listening. “Is there anything more I can do to help?”
Charlie shook her head, even though she wasn’t entirely sure it was the truth. Had he done anything to help her in the first place?
“No, I’m all right,” she replied, wondering if that was another lie. She still hadn’t adjusted to the way that everything had changed since she had gotten home. She figured her brain was shocked by the trauma, and she often felt as though she was only half-engaged in her surroundings.
For someone who had always been so sharp and aware, she felt like she was sleepwalking most of the time these days. And that’s why, no matter how many questions the lawyer asked or how many suggestions he made, she was just going to nod numbly along with him.
“If you think of anything, you have my number,” he reminded her. “But I’m sure you’ll be fine. They’re going to ask direct questions, and you just have to answer them. You’re not in any trouble here, so try not to get in your head and stress out. That’s all,” he advised.
Charlie wanted to laugh. Get in her head? She couldn’t pull enough sense together to microwave a pretzel lately. Somehow, she doubted that thinking too deeply was going to be the problem.
“Thank you,” she said politely. Standing, she nodded uncomfortably, not sure what else to do. “Goodbye, Mr. Wheeler. Thank you for your help.”
She drove home in a fog, but luckily, she arrived in one piece. On the way, she reflected on the importance of tomorrow.
