A familiar motion took over, growing more and more frenetic as the fire inside each of them reached a point of no return.
Her moans were becoming more rapid. She started to talk. Telling him in his ear precisely what it was she wanted.
A while later Puller gave one last shudder and fell limp over Carson. She was gasping and trying to catch her breath and telling him how pleased she was at his performance. Together they slowly moved down to lie flat on the bed side by side.
“That was truly unbelievable, John,” she murmured in his ear.
It was, thought Puller, and he told her so.
She turned, faced him, and kissed him, first on the cheek, then the lips, sliding her fingers up and down one side of his face.
It had been a while for Puller. He worried whether he could bring the necessary level of passion. Apparently he had. And that made him feel both satisfied and relieved as he lay there next to her. He was still breathing hard, like he’d just completed the Army two-mile in record time.
“I don’t do this sort of thing lightly, just so you know,” she said.
“You don’t seem the type.”
“I’m not,” she said firmly, propping herself up on one elbow and looking at him.
“I’m not either,” he said.
“Trust me, I know.”
“You’ve been checking me out?”
“Your record speaks for itself. Not a lot of room in there for personal time.”
“You either.”
“Simple story, chasing stars.” She rubbed his chest. “So where do we go from here, big fellow?”
Puller jerked up and stared at her.
She laughed. “I’m not looking for an engagement ring and a wedding date, Puller. I’m talking about eating. I’m starved.”
He smiled. “Then how about we go eat?”
She kissed him, ran her fingers along a part of his anatomy that made him shudder.
She whispered in his ear, “Is that an order, soldier?”
“With all due respect, ma’am, yes, it is.”
CHAPTER
70
THEIR BELLIES FULL, Puller and Carson sat back from their empty plates and studied each other.
“You’re looking at me as though our relationship has changed somehow,” she said.
He cocked his head, studied her even more intently. “Hasn’t it?”
They were occupying the back corner of a restaurant. The hour was still early enough that the large dinner crowds had not come in yet. They had the place mostly to themselves.
“Why? Because we’ve slept together?”
“I can’t think of any other reason.”
“Was it that important for you?”
“I guess it wasn’t for you.”
“Don’t be offended, John, but it is the twenty-first century. Like guys have for most all of history, girls just sometimes want it for no other reason than they want it.”
“Okay,” he said slowly.
She suddenly smiled. “Feeling used?”
He looked at her, grinned back. “Turning the tables on the male psyche?”
“About time, wouldn’t you say?”
“I’m a poor representative of the typical male.”
“That’s what I like about you. Take Landry, for instance.”
“What about her?”
“She’s young and hot. She wants you in the sack, no leap of deduction there. But she’s no doubt been hit on by every cop in the department.”
“Probably has.”
“And you think the DoD is any different?”
“Come again?”
“I’ve had my ass pinched by my share of one-through four-stars. At West Point it was the same. Instructors and boneheaded plebes. Then out in the field with leafs and clusters thinking it was okay what they said and did to a woman in the ranks. Hell, during my tours of combat in the Middle East sometimes it seemed I was fighting a war on both flanks.”
She picked up her iced tea and glanced at him. “Surprise you?”
“The Army answer would be yes, it would surprise me.”
“And your answer?”
“You know my answer. It’s not the same as the Army’s.”
“Propositioned, harassed, threatened, even assaulted. Welcome to this ‘man’s’ army, right?”
He sat forward, his hands making fists on top of the table. “There are procedures for that shit, Julie. You don’t have to take it. Like you said, it’s the twenty-first century.”
“Right. And part of this century looks just like all the others. Men are still men, however much more enlightened they may be, or constrained by the threat of lawsuits, courts-martial, wrecked careers, and pissed-off wives. But they still pull that crap because they think they can get away with it. They always think that.”
“And so you just took it?”
“I didn’t say that.” She held up her fist. “Sometimes it was this. Sometimes it was a knee to the nuts. Sometimes it was just a stare. And, yeah, sometimes it was paperwork filed and careers torpedoed. But sometimes I didn’t do or say anything. Sometimes I just walked away.”
He stared at her. “You don’t seem the type to just walk away.”
“I had long-term plans, Puller. The Army wasn’t just a lark for me. I wanted big things. I wanted to do big things. I wanted the star path. I have one. I want at least two more.”
“So go along to get along? Not my idea of leadership.”
“Leadership is a funny thing. The parameters keep changing. But one thing you can’t compromise on is can you look at yourself in the mirror the next day? I always could. No matter what happened. It wasn’t my problem. It was theirs. They shouldn’t be able to look in the mirror. They’re the ones who couldn’t control their dicks.”
“So where does that leave us?” Puller asked.
“I didn’t come down here to get you into bed. Well, maybe a part of me did. Now that we’ve done that I can focus on what I really came down here for.”
“R and R?”
“To help you solve a case. What do we do next?”
“I’m not used to generals asking me for direction.”
“The best leaders let their people do what they do best. You’re CID. I don’t have a clue about investigating criminal acts. So, again, what do we do next?”
“The Storrows.”
“The Storrows?”
“The couple murdered on the beach. They knew my aunt.”
“You think that’s why they were killed?”
“I’m thinking that the Storrows were out a lot. Sometimes walking, maybe sometimes driving.”
“Driving, like five miles out and five back?”
“Maybe so.”
“And they told your aunt what they saw?”
“Or thought they saw. Or suspected. She wrote the letter to my old man. But she really wanted me to come down and look into things. She would have been able to tell me more, but she never got the chance.”
Puller slipped the letter from his pocket and passed it over to Carson. She ran her gaze down it.
“Mysterious happenings in the night. People not what they seem. Something just not being right. Pretty cryptic stuff.”
“My aunt was not given to overstating things. For her those words might as well be screaming murder.”
“Well, if you’re right about her death, she was entirely justified in thinking so. But if the Storrows are dead, how do we proceed?”
“Son and daughter-in-law. They reported them missing. I’m hoping they can fill in some gaps.” He rose. “You ready?”
She smiled up at him and almost purred. “After the sack time? I’m damn well ready for pretty much anything.”
CHAPTER
71
MECHO CHUGGED WATER from a gallon container and stared across at the big house. Everything about it was perfectly designed, perfectly placed. The shell was of amazing beauty. What lay underneath was not so beautiful.
But then that was how the world often worked.
He wiped his mouth, put the jug back on the truck, and picked up a rake. He trudged off to a patch of lawn underneath some trees. In a side lawn a large fountain poured water into a concrete catch basin. The perimeter of this “secret garden” was lined with lush plantings, wooden benches placed in nooks and crevices with cobblestone pavers underneath.