“Sure,” Martindale said, as he headed for the door. “Bum some incense for me when you’re done communing with nature. Meanwhile, I’ve got work to do.”
North Las Vegas, Nevada
Duane Deverill popped open the bottle of Duckhom Merlot and poured, finishing with a flourish. “There you go,” he said proudly. “A pretty good ‘95. Should go well with dinner tonight.”
Annie Dewey had arrived a few minutes earlier, still in her flight suit. She plopped her briefcase down on the sofa table. “Sounds great,” she said distractedly, unzipping the flight suit to her waist. “What are you fixing?”
“Fixing? Me? Sorry, babe, but I called Pizza Hut. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Heck no,” she said. “Red wine and pizza are my favorites.”
He came over to her with a glass of wine, touched rims, then gave her a kiss before they drank. “Here’s to you,” he said. After he took a sip, he added rakishly, “Hey, that was nice.”
She smiled enticingly, but pushed him away. “Sorry. I need a shower first. I smell like I just got done with a week in the cockpit instead of just three hours.”
“Allow me.” He sat her down on the couch, removed her flying boots and socks, then helped her slip out of the flight suit. She wore a white T-shirt atop an athletic bra, and cotton panties. Smiling mischievously, he then started at her toes, kissing and sucking them, then moved up her leg to her waist, then her belly, then back down to her waist.
She gently but firmly lifted his head. “Shower first, okay?”
He smiled back at her, but his eyes registered his concern. “Sure.” He let her up off the couch, then watched as she collected her flying gear. “Everything okay?”
She half turned toward him and nodded. “Everything’s fine. I guess I’m just tired. Long day today.” She turned to face him and smiled wearily. “You’re wonderful, you know that?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Dev said happily. He took a sip of wine and watched Annie as she headed off toward his bathroom, shedding the rest of her underwear. “Well, wine can definitely wait.” He kicked off his sandals and pulled his T-shirt off with one hand. “I’ll join you.” But at that exact moment, the doorbell rang. Dev made a big, demonstrative pantomime of disappointment, punching and kicking the air in mock animal frustration. “We’ll reheat it. Don’t worry. You go ahead and start, and I’ll be right there.” He collected cash from his wallet and went to the door, mentally calculating the amount and the tip and getting the cash ready in his hand to hurry things up as he opened the door …
… and saw Colonel David Luger standing there. He shook off the confusion and embarrassment quickly. “Hello, sir.”
“Dev.” Luger noticed that Deverill was definitely blocking not just his way but his view of his apartment, so he didn’t try to look around him. “Could you ask Annie to come out to the patio and have a few words with me?”
“Maybe,” Dev said.
“Maybe?”
Dev eyed Luger suspiciously. “We heard that you were decertified, sir,” he said. “The last we heard, you were being evaluated at Brooks for delayed stress syndrome.”
“Something like that.”
“You on medication?”
“None of your business.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, sir,” Deverill said. “You’re at my house, we’re not in uniform, and Annie’s a friend and my aircraft commander. It is my business.” He looked carefully into Luger’s eyes. He couldn’t tell if Luger was on antidepressants or sedatives — he looked perfectly normal — but he knew he was no expert. “Were you discharged from Brooks? Are you coming back to the Lake?”
“Ask her to come out here, please,” Luger said.
“When were you released from Brooks, Colonel?” Dev asked. “Or … were you released from Brooks?”
“None of your fucking business.”
“Hostile, Colonel, very hostile,” Deverill. said. “Could it be possible you broke out of the hospital? Maybe I should call the sky cops and ask them.”
“Do what you want. Just ask Annie to come out here.”
“I don’t think so,” Deverill said. “If you’re okay and you’ve been released from Brooks, you can see Annie at the Lake tomorrow. But if not … you might be dangerous.”
“Dangerous? What the hell do you mean? What do you think you’re doing?” He saw Luger’s face and neck muscles tense up.
He went on full alert, eyes narrowed, measuring Luger up. They were of equal height; Luger was younger, but Dev had at least forty pounds on him. “I don’t think I like your tone of voice, sir. I’m asking you to leave.”
“I asked you to ask Annie to come out and talk with me,” David said evenly, controlling his temper. Dev stood his ground. He knew he had absolutely nothing to stand on — if Dev said no, that was it, unless Annie herself knew he was here. He raised his voice and peered over Dev’s left shoulder, “Annie, it’s David. Would you come talk to me?”
Dev put his hands on Luger’s chest and tried to push him away from the door. “I asked you to leave, Luger. Now I’m telling you—get out.”
Luger swept Deverill’s hands away from his chest with a speed that surprised him. “Don’t push me, Deverill.”
“Don’t raise your voice at me in my own house, Luger,” Deverill snapped.
“David?” Annie was standing behind Dev in the doorway, wearing one of Dev’s tank tops, which barely covered her bikini bathing suit bottoms. “What are you doing here?”
“Annie, I want to—”
“I told you to leave, sir,” Deverill said, quickly restoring his polite but firm, protective voice. It was too late to try to keep them apart. He turned to Annie. “The colonel is being loud and rude, and he’s not being very straightforward about his mental condition.”
“His mental condition?” Annie charged to the front door and tried to push Dev away. “Dev, move aside…”
“This is not a good idea, Heels,” Dev said. He had one more chance to break the bond that still existed between these two, and he decided in that instant to go for it. “I think he broke out of whatever medical mental exam program he was going through. I think he’s AWOL. Look at his eyes — I think he’s on drugs. He came up here looking for you and itching for a fight.”
“Screw you, Deverill.”
“Tell her, Colonel,” Deverill goaded him. “Tell her. Are you supposed to be here? Or are you AWOL?”
“Fuck you, Deverill!”
Deverill couldn’t believe it — maybe he had happened on the real reason for how Luger was here. Could it be that Luger really had escaped from Brooks? Had they had him in the loony bin, or almost there, and he’d escaped? “Which is it, sir? Are you on drugs? Did you break out of custody somewhere?”
“Dev, stop it!” Annie shouted. “What are you doing?”
“You want to take me out now, don’t you, Colonel?” Dev shouted. “You gonna take a shot at me?”
He did. It came out of nowhere, with a snap that surprised Deverill again, even though he was on full alert and he had already seen Luger move once tonight. The blow landed on the left side of Dev’s face, staggering him.
“David!” Annie cried. She helped Dev into the living room, holding his face. There was a drop of blood coming out of the corner of his left eye. “David, are you crazy?” David Luger’s face went blank, and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Her face registered surprise when she realized what she’d said. “I … I didn’t mean that…” she stammered. “David…”