The Forgotten (john puller)

by David Baldacci

  “Lot of military bases around here,” commented Puller.

  “Right. I guess you’d know that being in the military.”

  “And there’s Pensacola, where all the naval aviators go to learn to fly. And Hurlburt Field, although that’s really part of Eglin. Air Force has its special operations command there among other things.”

  “You obviously know a lot more about that than I do.”

  “Probably not a lot. I’m Army. The Air Force operates at a higher altitude.”

  “Well, again, I’m sorry about your aunt.”

  “And I’m sorry for scaring you. I really appreciate everything you did for Betsy.”

  He walked her to the door, turned on the outside door light so she could see better, and watched Ryon walk down the driveway to her car, a blue Ford Fiesta with a large dent in the passenger door.

  As she drove off, Puller saw a police cruiser coming down the road. He didn’t manage to close the door in time. And he was aware that the exterior door light made him about as visible as a digital billboard.

  The cruiser did a hard left into the driveway and the driver hit the rack lights.

  Puller stood there watching as Chief Bullock stepped out of the car and headed toward him, one hand on his sidearm, his gaze dead center on Puller.

  CHAPTER 27

  Bullock stopped when he was within five feet of Puller, who had stepped out onto the front stoop. “You want to tell me what the hell you’re doing here? And then try to give me a reason why I shouldn’t arrest your ass right now.”

  Puller held up the keys to the house. “Got these from my aunt’s lawyer.” He slipped the copy of the will out and held it up for Bullock. “She left me the house. It’s all in here. You can call the lawyer if you don’t believe me or what the document says.”

  Bullock lurched forward, snatched the will out of Puller’s hand, and read it under the porch’s exterior light. He folded up the will and handed it back to him.

  “I’m no lawyer, but it looks like you got yourself a house. Of course if your aunt was killed I guess that gives you a first-class motive to kill her.”

  “Except that I wasn’t in Florida when she died.”

  “And you can prove that?”

  “If I have to. And if I knew I was going to inherit the place, why would I come down here, kill her, and then show up here and get arrested so you’d know I was down here at all?”

  “Maybe you’re stupid.”

  “You’ll have to take that up with the Army.” “I’ll take it up with you anytime I want so long as you’re in Paradise.”

  “Can we call a truce here? If I rubbed you the wrong way, I apologize. It was not my intent.” Bullock rocked back and forth on his heels, let out a loud exhale of air, and said, “Forget it. Much my fault as anybody’s. I tend to get the hair on the back of my neck up too quickly.”

  “No problem. I can understand that.”

  “You still think your aunt’s death wasn’t an accident?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve talked to the ME and I saw her body. Nothing has jumped out at me.”

  “But you’re still not sure?”

  “I guess you can never be sure. Maybe I’m looking for something that just isn’t there.”

  “Folks do that sometimes.”

  Puller put out his hand. “Look, I know you’re busy. Whatever happened on the beach today looked pretty important. I’m going to head back to where I’m staying. Thanks for not arresting me.”

  Bullock shook the hand and then said, “Yeah, it was pretty bad.” He stared at Puller. “What we found on the beach.”

  Puller took this as an offer from Bullock to talk about the case.

  “Drowning?”

  “No. Both shot in the head.”

  “Both?”

  “A couple actually. The Storrows. Nancy and Fred. Like you remembered hearing at the station. Well-known folks around here. Been here longer than me. They took walks on the beach every night. They did the other night and never came back.”

  “Any witnesses? Clues?”

  “Bodies were pretty badly decomposed. Nobody has come forward saying they saw anything.”

  “Motive? Robbery?”

  “Mr. Storrow had twenty dollars in his pants and a gold wedding band on his finger. Mrs. Stor- row’s diamond ring was still on her finger.”

  “They have any enemies?”

  “Not a one that I know of. They were retired. They grew up together in Fort Walton Beach. High school sweethearts. Moved to Paradise a long time ago. He owned a string of businesses, small stuff, gas station, Subway shop, mobile phone store. He sold all of them quite some time ago and he and the wife were spending their golden years in pretty comfortable style.”

  “And the couple who reported them missing and who were at the beach today?” said Puller.

  “The Storrows’ son, Chuck, and his wife, Lynn.”

  “Not making any accusations, but any motive there?”

  Bullock shook his head. “Son is a banker here in town and makes a great living. Doesn’t need a dime from his parents. They were very close. Played golf every weekend. Had parties at each other’s homes. Genuine affection there.”

  “So maybe it was a random thing. Wrong place, wrong time.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “Can you tell from where the bodies washed ashore where they entered the water?”

  “Having some guys who are good with the tides and currents around here doing that for me. Might narrow down a place to search. We already have a time frame for when they left the house for a walk.”

  “I know I’ve got no jurisdiction in this, but if you want another pair of eyes to look over stuff while I’m down here, I’d be glad to.”

  “Okay, Puller, depending on how things go I might take you up on that. You have a good evening. Glad we worked things out here.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  Bullock trudged back to his car and Puller closed and locked the front door, then walked to his car and headed off. He drove to the spot where the Storrows’ bodies had washed ashore.

  Wrong place, wrong time, maybe. Which meant they might have seen something or run into someone and that had cost them their lives.

  Mysterious happenings in the night.

  He gauged the distance he had driven from his aunt’s house.

  My house now. And what do I do with it?

  The distance was 2.2 miles. This was not where his aunt had driven to. Whether or not that meant the Storrows’ murders were unconnected to what had happened to his aunt was not a question he could answer right now.

  I don’t know enough. I may never know enough.

  He was out of his element. He had no powers of investigation down here. His official duffel with all the equipment he typically needed to solve crimes was all the way back in Virginia. Then he had an idea. He picked up his phone and called USACIL, or the United States Army’s Criminal Investigation Lab, at Fort Gillem, Georgia. He had a contact there, Kristen Craig, whom he had worked with on many cases. He knew the hour was late, and Georgia was actually an hour ahead of Paradise, but he also knew that Craig often burned the midnight oil.

  Tonight proved to be one of those times. She answered on the second ring. He explained to her what he was doing and what he needed.

  She said, “I have a shipment going out to Eglin tomorrow morning. I can put the duffel on the plane. You can drive up and get it around noon your time.”

  “You’re a saint, Kristen.”

  “Just remember to call and tell my boss that around review time.”

  She gave him the necessary information to retrieve the duffel. Before ending the call she said, “Are you really in a place called Paradise?”

  “I really am.”

  “I take it that the fact that you need your investigative duffel means the town is not living up to its name?”

  “Your deductive skills are exceeded only by your ability to work miracles.”

&n
bsp; “You keep talking sweet to me we might have to get serious.” She laughed and clicked off.

  Puller slid the phone back into his pocket and put the Corvette in gear.

  His work was not over yet tonight.

  Not by a long shot.

  CHAPTER 28

  Puller had already spotted the place before, a Hertz rental outlet that stayed open until eleven. He pulled to the curb and got out. It only took a few minutes before he had turned in the Corvette and driven off in a GMC Tahoe. The man at the counter seemed surprised that Puller would want to trade in the Vette for a glorified truck/van, especially in a beach town, but he smiled and handed him the keys.

  “Have a terrific time in Paradise, sir.”

  “Yeah,” said Puller.

  He next went to a beach clothing store and purchased a baseball cap that read “Paradise Is Forever,” sunglasses, and sneakers. Flip-flops or sandals were more typical of beach attire, but one could not run in flip-flops or sandals, at least not very far or very fast. He also purchased some T-shirts and cargo shorts with big pockets that could hold big things, like weapons. He changed into the shorts, T-shirt, and sneakers in the dressing room, put the ball cap on, slipped the shades into a pocket along with his Mu, and walked out.

  He was physically imposing enough that it would be hard to miss him in a crowd, but most people’s observation skills were poor. Dressed the way he was now, he could probably walk right past White, Black, and Latino and they wouldn’t even look at him twice. At least he had to hope for that.

  He parked two blocks from the Sierra, but on the same street. It was well past dark by now but not quiet. There was a lot of activity around here at night, and not just on the beach. Cars gunning up and down streets, people yelling. He heard footsteps running. Whether they were heading to trouble or away from it he didn’t know and didn’t really care.

  Diego had said his casa where he lived with his abuela was down the street and to the left.

  Puller checked his watch and then scanned the street. He figured that White, Black, and Latino had all awoken by now, made sure their brains were still in their heads, to the extent that they had any, and were now on the revenge path. He further speculated that they would have done some recon of their own and found out that he was staying at the Sierra and drove a flashy Corvette. Thus the transfer to the Tahoe. Plus the Tahoe had a lot more space and Puller figured he was going to need it. His investigation duffel would be pretty big and the Vette’s trunk wasn’t that large. They might have recruited more muscle to help them enact that revenge, seeing as how three of them were not enough. And they were also now spooked and suffering from concussions.

  It might come to bullets this time instead of fists.

  But before he confronted that, Puller wanted to check something else out.

  He walked down the street, slipping past the Sierra, and nearly ran into a boy coming the other way. Puller caught him by the arm to keep him from falling.

  “You okay?”

  The boy’s small face was all bunched up in anger. He cursed at Puller.

  “Can you tell me where Diego lives?”

  He cursed at Puller again, the expletives coming out in a mishmash of English and Spanish.

  Puller slipped a five-dollar bill out of his pocket. “You can either take this or a bar of soap in your mouth.”

  The boy pointed down the street. “The blue one. On the second floor.”

  Puller gave the boy the fiver and he ran off. The blue one meant the little building with the blue awning. It seemed to be a rooming house composed of two stories and what looked to be about eight rooms, four up, four down. There was a wraparound deck on the exterior of the building and Puller made his way up the stairs. He knocked on one door but there was no answer. He was about to knock on another one when the door opened and Diego stood there.

  He looked up at Puller and right away Puller could tell something was wrong.

  “What is it, Diego?”

  There was movement over Diego’s shoulder and Puller was able to answer his own question.

  Isabel was standing there with Mateo next to her. Her face was bruised and so was Mateo’s. Someone had used them for punching practice. Mateo was sniffling and coughing. Isabel said nothing. She just stared at Puller with unfriendly eyes.

  But Diego said, “Isabel told me what happened. I want to thank you for helping her and Mateo.”

  “Are they your brother and sister?”

  “My cousins.”

  Isabel stepped forward. “We all live with our grandmother.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Working,” said Diego. “At a restaurant on the water. The Clipper. She works in the kitchen.”

  “As a cook?”

  “No, as a cleaner,” said Isabel.

  Puller motioned to their injured faces. “Who did that?”

  “Who do you think?” said Isabel.

  “I’m sorry but I had to step in, Isabel. I couldn’t just let them do that to you.”

  “Why not? It’s happened before.”

  “You’re not a puta,” retorted Diego. Mateo began to cry.

  “Maybe lama puta” said Isabel.

  “No, you’re not,” said Puller. “It’s not a road you want to go down.”

  “Oh, right. I’ll just go to college and become a doctor or something.”

  “Why not?” asked Puller.

  She looked at him pityingly. “What planet do you live on?”

  “You are not a puta” Diego said again and she looked away, gently stroking Mateo’s head to make him stop crying.

  Puller refocused on Diego. “Did you see the car?”

  Diego looked over at Isabel, who was watching them closely. He stepped outside and closed the door.

  “What happened to your and Isabel’s parents?” Puller asked.

  Diego shrugged. “One day they were here and then the next day they weren’t. They might have gone back to El Salvador. I do not know.”

  “Doesn’t your grandmother know what happened?”

  “She does not say if she does.”

  “And your parents would just leave you all here?”

  “They must think this is better than to go back there. They wanted the best for us. Now I am the man of the house. I will take care of things.”

  “Okay, I like your guts, but you’re still just a kid.”

  “Maybe I am a kid, but I found your car.” He paused. “And you said there would be more money.”

  “Did I?” But Puller had already pulled out a twenty. “Give me the details.”

  Diego gave him the license plate number first.

  “How’d you get that? It was covered up.”

  “The men they have to eat, right? When they do, I take a rag and wipe the dirt off. Before they come back, I put the dirt back on.”

  “Describe them to me.”

  Diego did so.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  Puller handed him the twenty bucks.

  “Isabel and Mateo. Did someone come here and hurt them?”

  Diego shook his head. “Not here or I would have looked like they do too, because I would have tried to stop them.”

  “Tell me about the men I knocked out. Are they part of a gang?”

  “They want to be, but they are so stupid that no one wants them. They run some drugs on their own, but nothing much. Then they hassle people. And get money for that. They are scum.” “Do they have friends?”

  “Anyone here has friends, if they have the money to pay for them.” As he said this, Diego carefully folded up the twenty and placed it in his pocket.

  “Think they’re waiting for me back at my place?”

  Diego shrugged. “I think you must be very careful.”

  “Thanks for your help.”

  “I just do it for the money.”

  “I admire your honesty.”

  “Don’t trust anyone in Paradise, mister, including me.”

  �
�At some point, Diego, you have to trust someone. You need any help, you can come to me.”

  “If you are still alive, mister. We will see.”

  “You can just call me Puller.”

  “Okay, Puller. Buena suerte.”

  “Yeah, you too.”

  Puller walked off. Part of him was thinking about having to deal with the three stooges again, and possibly their paid help. But part of him was thinking about the descriptions that Diego had just given him of the two men in the Chrysler.

  Lean, fit, buzz cuts. They fit the description of men who had the same employer he did.

  The United States military.

  CHAPTER 29

  Puller walked to the Tahoe, climbed into the back, stretched out, and thought about what he had just learned.

  If the guys in the Chrysler were former military, then that changed the balance of things. They might very well see through his disguise and change rides. They might be able to fire at him faster than he could fire back.

  And if they were still in the military he wondered why they would be here following him.

  If they weren’t in the service he wondered the very same thing.

  After what had happened to him in West Virginia it was possible that the military had put a tail on him. He decided to see if that theory held any water. He called Kristen Craig back.

  She must’ve recognized his number because instead of hello she said, “Miss me already?” “Always.”

  “Seriously, don’t you ever sleep?”

  “Look who’s talking.”

  “Yeah, but I heard what happened in West Virginia. Not the official story, because there is no official story. But just scuttlebutt, stuff between the lines. I think you could probably write your own ticket right now. Even take a vacation if you wanted to.”

  “I’m on vacation. Well, sort of.”

  “I have my iPad ready to take down your next assignment, boss.”

  Puller chuckled to himself. He got a kick out of the lady, he really did. If she weren’t married, he might have even asked her out.

  “I need a license plate run down.”