The Escape

by David Baldacci

  “Why were you following Carter?”

  “I’m trying to do what I’m sure you’re trying to do: Solve a problem.”

  “Of who set you up and why?”

  Robert nodded. “Susan Reynolds was in on it.”

  “We talked to her. She told Carter that you were at her house and threatened her. Injected her with poison.”

  Robert held up his phone and pushed a button. Puller listened to the exchange between his brother and Reynolds that he’d recorded.

  “It proves nothing, of course. She could just say she said it so I wouldn’t kill her. And it wasn’t poison. I just let her imagination take over and then knocked her out with a sedative.”

  “Russians?” said Puller.

  “A red herring, at least I think it is. You heard about Niles Robinson?”

  “It was his kid that was the motivation, right?”

  “Yes. He was talking to me on the phone at Union Station when someone gunned him down.”

  “That’s what I figured.”

  “Did you? Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. I recorded that conversation too. The salient point was he said someone might have a problem with me getting the slot at ISR.”

  “Who?”

  “He never got a chance to tell me.”

  “Daughtrey took your slot at ISR. Then he went to Cyber Command.”

  “And now he’s dead.”

  “He was found in my motel room back in Kansas.”

  “I saw you there with a woman. Didn’t know he was found in your room.”

  “The woman is Agent Veronica Knox, INSCOM. Know her?”

  “No.” He paused, eyeing his brother steadily. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions for me.”

  “And some answers. DB? A Ukrainian was sent in to kill you after they orchestrated knocking out the power. A Captain Macri was in on it. Knox ended up killing her in a shootout.”

  Robert fiddled with a pen he was holding. “When the guy came into my cell, I was already suspicious. I knew before I ever went there that DB had backup power that was infallible. But it had failed. I also knew that when the power went out the cell doors automatically locked. That didn’t happen. They opened. That meant someone had screwed with the software. Now I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on or that I was the target. But I decided to stay in my cell and see how it played out. When I heard someone at my cell door I called out that I was on the floor with my hands behind my head. When the guy came through the door he had a knife, when standard operating procedure is a gun in a situation like that. And you would never have only one guy clearing a room. You’d have at least two. This guy was clearly a rogue.”

  “And by using a knife he can kill you silently, whereas a shot would bring a bunch of other MPs.”

  Robert nodded. “And a knifing could be attributed to another prisoner who had fashioned a shiv and might have had a grudge against me. That would probably be the explanation when they found my body. No one would suspect one of the MPs.”

  “And I’m sure they were counting on that. But you turned the tables on them.”

  “I wasn’t on the floor with my hands behind my head. I was behind the door. I disarmed him. When he started yelling at me in what I recognized was Ukrainian I knew he was trying to kill me. So I killed him instead.”

  “Snap-crackle-pop? At least that’s what occurred to me from the ME’s description.”

  “Came in handy, bro. For that I thank you.”

  “Then you put on his gear and left that way.”

  “Lucky for me he was about my size.”

  “So you went back on the truck to Leavenworth and then got away. But how did you change your appearance so drastically?”

  Robert smiled and touched his nose. “After I moved to Kansas I rented a storage unit under a fictitious name. Set up credit card and bank accounts under that name and outfitted the storage unit with things I would need to change my appearance and also some other items.”

  “Why? You couldn’t have been expecting to be arrested and then escaping from DB?”

  “Didn’t figure in the equation at all. But while I was at STRATCOM I would disguise myself and go out undercover to military watering holes around the base.”

  “But why?”

  “When I got to the satellite facility I learned that people stationed there weren’t being as tight-lipped as they should be. Classified info was getting bandied about in places it never should have been. I was instrumental in busting up a ring of people that were preying on drunk soldiers and personnel from STRATCOM to get information to sell, or blackmail them with.”

  “And no one knew about your alter ego?”

  “That would have defeated the point. But it came in extraordinarily handy when I got away from DB. I could change my appearance, gun up, have equipment, cash, and a credit card, and be on my way.”

  “So what have you been doing since you escaped?”

  “Trying to work out who set me up.” He paused and stared pointedly at his brother. “Look, I’m stunned they allowed you anywhere near this case.”

  “Three-star named Aaron Rinehart and a guy from the NSC, James Schindler, came to me, along with Daughtrey. They set it up.”

  “I’ve met Rinehart. I know of Schindler. Never crossed paths with Daughtrey. But still, what’s their angle?”

  “I don’t know. A JAG friend told me she didn’t see any positives for me in the scenario.”

  “I’d call that good advice.”

  “You were following Carter, so you suspected him?”

  “Reynolds works at the WMD Center, which he runs. Daughtrey worked with him at ISR. I’m not sure if he was the ‘person’ Robinson was mentioning, but it seemed a good place to start. I haven’t found many leads on this sucker, so I intend to follow up all of them until I hit the right one.”

  “Is it all about money? I think it is for Reynolds.”

  “She has a Joan Miró in her mini-mansion,” said Robert.

  “So my colleague Knox pointed out.”

  “That painting is worth at least a few million dollars. That’s reason enough for STRATCOM to do surprise searches of every sensitive personnel’s home. Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees. But I don’t think it’s all about money for all of them.”

  “What, then? If they’re traitors then they’re selling stuff.”

  “Maybe, but I think there’s more to it than just cash.”

  Puller mulled this over. “By the way, I think I figured out how Reynolds got that DVD in your pocket.”

  “How?”

  “Her father was a magician. She assisted him. I’m sure she’s quite adept at sleight of hand.”

  “I’m sure you’re right.”

  Brother looked at brother.

  “So what now?” asked Puller.

  “Tell me what else you’ve learned,” said Robert. “I’m sure it’s a lot.”

  Puller did so, keeping nothing back. He could see that his brother’s mind was going a mile a minute, taking it all in and then neatly cataloging each piece.

  Finished, he said, “What about you?”

  Robert took a few minutes to fill in his brother.

  “So you think there’s a conspiracy going on?” asked Puller.

  “I do. It can’t be simply one person.”

  “I told you about those men kidnapping me?”

  “Yes.”

  Puller studied his brother for a long moment. “Was it you? Did you fire the shots?”

  Robert slowly nodded. “I was glad I could be there for you, John. Knowing you, you probably would’ve made it out okay on your own, but, well, I was glad I was there to help. I haven’t been able to do that much with you over the last two years.”

  “No bones about it, Bobby, you saved my life. But you could have made contact with me then.”

  Robert looked guiltily at him. “I thought about it, trust me. But it would have put you in an untenable situation. You’d be duty-bound to arrest me.”
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br />   “But you made contact now. Why?”

  Robert sighed. “Because I didn’t know if I’d ever get another chance. I know how many people are out looking for me. Highly trained people good at their job. I…I just wanted you to hear things from my side. I wanted you to know that…”

  “I never believed you were guilty of anything.”

  His brother smiled weakly. “Sure you did. Or at least you weren’t certain.”

  “I found out about the threatening letter you got in your cell.”

  Robert’s smile faded. “Who told you that?”

  “Doesn’t matter. You took a dive to protect Dad and me. Your career, years of your life, everything, Bobby.”

  “The fact is I was too arrogant. I never thought I’d be convicted because I wasn’t guilty. Talk about naïve.”

  “You still took a dive.”

  “I couldn’t let anything happen to my family,” he said quietly. “You two were all I had left.”

  “Any idea who they might be?”

  “No. But you said the voice you heard when you were kid-napped thought of himself as a patriot. That’s both interesting and disturbing.”

  “Why disturbing?”

  “Because in my experience, patriotism, while a fine quality, can fuel quite a dangerous agenda if taken to the extreme.”

  “An agenda as yet unknown,” said Puller.

  “I think we can cast a little bit of light on it.”

  “How?”

  “If I was prevented from going to ISR and Daughtrey filled my slot, then that’s something.”

  “But what would be the reason?”

  “I’m honest and above reproach. I can’t be bought. Unusual language coming from a convicted traitor, but it is the truth. Daughtrey, on the other hand, might’ve been none of those things.”

  “And they wanted him at ISR. Carter told us how important that component is to our national defense.”

  “In many vital ways ISR is our national defense.”

  “So a traitor could do a great deal of damage?”

  “Catastrophic.”

  “What do you know about Daughtrey? How did he get that far in the military without anyone suspecting?”

  “If he is guilty. We don’t have definite proof of that yet. But if he is guilty, who’s to say when he went over to the other side, or what the motivation was?”

  “If he was a traitor why kill him?”

  “You said he was part of the team that recruited you to work on my case?”

  “Yes.”

  “So if he was bad, he was doing that to piggyback on the investigation. He was hoping you would find me and he could make sure I never got back to DB alive.”

  “But how can you hurt them?”

  “I don’t know. I was nothing to them while I was sitting in DB, John. Something happened to trigger this.”

  “Okay, let’s say that’s true. Let’s go back to the question of why kill Daughtrey?”

  “The main reason to kill an operative is pretty obvious.”

  “He decided to defect?”

  “Or had a change of heart of some kind. Maybe he had a conscience and drew the line at outright murdering someone.”

  “Then he signed his own death warrant.”

  “Yes, he did.” Robert rubbed his thighs with his hands. “So how can we work together without anyone knowing?”

  “A couple of burn phones?”

  “And we can use that code I invented that we used as kids.”

  “You always said it was unbreakable.”

  “I guess we’ll find out.”

  “One more thing, Bobby.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’ve got a letter for you to read.”

  His brother’s eyes narrowed. “A letter? From who?”

  Puller got the document up on his screen and handed his brother the phone. “Just read it.”

  Robert took the phone, his features curious, and started to read. Though the letter was relatively short, he was still reading, or more likely rereading, five minutes later.

  Finally, he handed the phone back to his brother.

  “That’s why the charges were dropped to espionage from spying,” said Puller quietly while watching his brother closely.

  “Difference between life and death,” Robert said in a hollow tone. It seemed like every bit of energy had been struck clean from him. “No one ever told me about the letter.”

  “I didn’t know about it either, until very recently.”

  Puller looked at the screen. His father’s letter had been extraordinary, if for no other reason than that Puller had never seen this side of his father. Even though his brother had already read the letter, Puller felt he had to do it. He believed he owed it, to both men.

  He cleared his throat and read:

  I had the honor of serving my country in uniform for four decades. Many people who think they know me would probably believe that such service was the high point of my life. They would be wrong. The crowning glory of my life is and will always be as the father of two extraordinary young men. Indeed, God has shown that there can be no higher purpose for a man. And while I was absent for many important moments in their lives, not a single day ever passed without me thinking about them. I love them more than I have ever loved anything or anyone in my long life. So I write to you today, gentlemen, as a person who does not see a grown man faced with the destruction of his professional life and the loss of his liberty, but rather as a father who sees the young boy with a beautiful mind, a kind and sympathetic nature, and an extraordinary heart, who, I know beyond doubt, is innocent of these charges. And I trust that time will prove me right. And by God, I will await that day with all my strength, all my spirit, and all my love for my son, Major Robert W. Puller.

  Puller couldn’t go on because his voice was cracking. He stopped reading and looked up.

  Robert started to say something but then stopped, put his elbows on his thighs, and hung his head.

  When his big brother started to weep, Puller sat next to him and put an arm around his shoulders.

  The Pullers sat there for a long time together, big, strong, and courageous men transformed back into two little boys by an old man’s loving words that had come a lot later than they should have.

  CHAPTER

  50

  PULLER met Knox in the lobby of the W Hotel the next morning. Though he tried hard to hide it, she apparently noticed something different.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  He rubbed his eyes. “Didn’t sleep much last night.”

  She didn’t look sympathetic. “Join the club. I don’t think I’ve slept a full night since I met you.”

  They walked out of the hotel and to his car parked on the street. The air was surprisingly crisp and cool, with a light breeze. A jet overhead made a sharp left bank to avoid flying over restricted airspace after taking off from Reagan National.