4th, after a little more than six hours on the road. North
Carolina was pitch dark and cold. Very cold, so I jogged the two
hundred yards to heat myself up. I was out of breath when I got
to the gate. I was logged in and I ran down to my office. It was
warm inside. The night watch sergeant with the baby son
was on duty. She had coffee going. She gave me a cup and I
walked into my office and found a note from Summer waiting
for me on my desk. The note was clipped to a slim green file.
The file had three lists in it. The women-with-Humvees list, the
women-from-Irwin list, and the main gate log for New Year’s
Eve. The first two lists were relatively short. The gate log was a
riot. People had been in and out all night long, partying. But
only one name was common to all three compilations: Lt/Col.
Andrea Norton. Summer had circled the name in all three
locations. Her note said: Call me about Norton. Hope your mom
was OK.
I found the old message slip with Joe’s telephone number on
it and called him first.
‘You holding up?’ I asked him.
‘We should have stayed,’ he said.
‘She gave the nurse one day off,’ I said. ‘One day was what
she wanted.’
‘We should have stayed anyway.’
‘She doesn’t want spectators,’ I said.
He didn’t answer. The phone was hot and silent against my
ear.
‘I’ve got a question,’ I said. ‘When you were at the Pentagon,
did you know an asshole called Willard?’
He stayed quiet for a long moment, changing gears, searching
his memory. He had been out of Intelligence for some time.
‘Squat little man?’ he said. ‘Couldn’t sit still? Always shuffling
around on his chair, fussing with his pants? He was a desk guy. A major, I think.’
105
‘He’s a full colonel now,’ I said. ‘He just got assigned to the
110th. He’s my CO at Rock Creek.’
‘MI to the 110th? That makes sense.’
‘Makes no sense to me.’
‘It’s the new theory,’ Joe said. ‘They’re copying private-sector
doctrine. They think know-nothings are good because they’re
not invested in the status quo. They think they bring fresh
perspectives.’
‘Anything I should know about this guy?’
‘You called him an asshole, so it sounds like you already
know about him. He was smart, but he was an asshole, for sure.
Vicious, petty, very corporate, good at office politics, exclusively
interested in number one, excellent ass-kisser, always knew
which way the wind was blowing.’
I said nothing.
‘Hopeless with women,’ Joe said. ‘I remember that.’
I said nothing.
‘He’s a perfect example,’ Joe said. ‘Like we discussed. He was
on the Soviet desk. He monitored their tank production and fuel
consumption, as I recall. I think he worked out some kind of an
algorithm that told us what kind of training Soviet armour was
doing based on how much fuel they were eating. He was hot for
a year or so. But now I guess he’s seen the future. He got
himself out while the getting was good. You should do the
same. At least you should think about it. Like we discussed.’
I said nothing.
‘Meanwhile watch your step,’ Joe said. ‘I wouldn’t want
Willard for a boss.’
‘I’ll be OK,’ I said.
‘We should have stayed in Paris,’ he said, and hung up.
I found Summer in the O Club bar. She had a beer on the go
and was leaning on the wall with a couple of W2s. She moved
away from them when she saw me.
‘Garber’s gone to Korea,’ I said. ‘We got a new guy.’
“Who?’
‘A colonel called Willard. From Intelligence.’
‘So how is he qualified?’
‘He isn’t qualified. He’s an asshole.’
106
‘Doesn’t that piss you off?’
I shrugged. ‘He’s telling us to stay away from the Kramer
thing.’
‘Are we going to?’
‘He’s telling me to stop talking to you. He says he’s going to
turn down your application.’
She went very quiet. Looked away.
‘Shit,’ she said.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I know you wanted it.’
She looked back at me.
‘Is he serious about the Kramer thing?’ she asked.