Safe And Sound. J.D. Rhoades

Keller said. “Come on. They said something.”

      She sighed. “They said that they could neither confirm nor deny the whereabouts of Sergeant David Lundgren.”

      Keller nodded. “Sounds familiar.”

      She laughed bitterly. “I’ll bet. Bet you’ve said it yourself.”

      “Ms. Fedder,” Keller said as he stood up, “when I was in Saudi, my squad and I got separated from our unit. It was late at night, out on the desert. A passing helicopter mistook our Bradley for an enemy tank. The Army killed nine of my men, men I was responsible for. If I hadn’t been outside to take a leak, I’d be dead, too. I still have nightmares about it.” He walked toward the door. “The Army acted like it had never happened, and tried to get me to do the same.” He paused with his hand on the doorknob. “You might want to consider that before making any judgments about me being some sort of tool for the Army.”

      She was unfazed. “And what about you, Mr. Keller?” she said. “You haven’t judged me?”

      He thought about it for a moment. “Okay,” he said. “It’s a fair point. Tell you what, I’ll make a deal with you. You don’t call me a whore and I won’t call you one.” He walked out.

      Keller waited in the car for another five minutes, until Marie came out. She slid into the driver’s seat. She didn’t look at Keller or start the car. Finally, she said through clenched teeth, “You mind telling me what that was all about?”

      Keller looked out the window. “Guess we didn’t hit it off.”

      “You didn’t hit it off because you acted like a total jackass. What the hell is the matter with you, Jack?”

      “I don’t trust her,” Keller said. “She’s not telling you the whole story.”

      Marie shook her head and started the car. “Well, she still wants me on the job, God knows why. I sort of danced around the question of your involvement. From now on, you let me deal with the client, okay? You seem to have lost your people skills.” She began backing the car out of the parking space.

      “Suits me,” Keller said.

      Marie slammed on the brakes. “So now you’re pissed at me?” She took a moment, then a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “I get it. Look, Jack, you didn’t want this job in the first place. Just forget the whole thing.”

      He looked at her. “I said I’d help, and I will,” he said. “I’m not trying to back out.”

      “If you’re going to be this big a pain in the ass, I don’t need your help,” Marie snapped. She finished backing out, then slammed the car into gear. Tires squealed as she sped out of the parking lot. They drove in silence for several minutes. Finally, Marie said, too casually, “You seeing Lucas again anytime soon?”

      Keller’s eyes narrowed. “Why, you think I need to see a shrink about this?”

      “Well,” Marie said, “something about this situation’s put a bug up your ass. Lucas has helped you a lot. He’s gone to bat for you. And since you won’t talk to me…” Her voice trembled slightly on the last word.

      Keller looked out the window. “I’ll call him,” he said after a few moments. “He’s been bugging me about taking him to the beach anyway.”

      “When?” Marie said.

      “This weekend. First I’ve got to make some calls to Fort Bragg. See if we can get somebody to tell us how to find Lundgren.”

      “Where are you going to start?”

      “Probably the Provost Marshal. If there’s legal papers to be served, it’s their lookout. After that, I’ll try the Inspector General. What about you?”

      “I’m talking this afternoon with the operator of the day care where Alyssa was when Lundgren took her. You want me to drop you at my office?”

      “Yeah, that’d be good.” The tension between them had eased, but only slightly. Neither spoke until they had gotten back downtown and Marie pulled up outside the office. “Okay. Let me know what you find out,” Marie said.

      “Right,” Keller said as he got out. “See you later.”

      “Later,” she said. It wasn’t until she had driven off that he realized she hadn’t asked if he was coming over.

CHAPTER FOUR

      “EighteenthAirborneCorpsHeadquartersCompanyOfficeoftheProvostMarshal lCorporalDetwilerspeakingcanIhelpyou?” the female voice on the other end of the line compressed the prescribed greeting down into an unrecognizable blur of words, just like any other Army clerk Keller had ever met.

      “Corporal,” he said, “my name is Jackson Keller. I’m attempting to locate a Sergeant David Lundgren regarding his…regarding a legal matter.”

      “What sort of legal matter, sir?”

      “It involves his daughter.”

      “Support matters are handled by an allotment from the soldier’s pay. If you give me his unit designation I can give you the name and number of the officer to contact.”

      “It’s not a support matter. It’s about custody.”

      “That would be the office of the Judge Advocate General, sir. It would be handled by the JAG office at his unit level. If you give me his unit number, battalion first…”

      Keller took a deep breath. He remembered well the first rule of military bureaucracy: What ever the problem is, make it someone else’s responsibility. “I don’t think JAG represents him, Corporal. We believe Sergeant Lundgren kidnapped his daughter.”

      The clerk didn’t miss a beat. “That would be Criminal Investigation Division, their number is 555-4976, hold on and I’ll try to connect you.” Keller tried to say something else, but before he could get a word out, there was a click, then silence. Keller waited. A few seconds later, another click and a dial tone. He had been disconnected.

      Keller sighed. He doubted that CID would get involved. Just like civilian cops, military police loathed domestic situations. He was convinced that he was going to get nowhere here. Still, he wanted to be able to tell Marie he had tried everything. He dialed the CID number. He waited for the clerk to complete his greeting, then began again. “I’m trying to locate a Sergeant David Lundgren—”

      “That case is being handled by Special Agent Wilcox. Please hold.”

      Keller was taken aback. What case? he thought to himself.

      After a moment, a man’s voice came on the line. “Major Wilcox, can I help you?”

      “Major Wilcox,” Keller said. “My name is Jackson Keller. I’m trying to locate—”

      “Sergeant David Lundgren, right,” Wilcox said. “May I ask what your relationship is with Sergeant Lundgren, Mr. Keller?”

      “I’ve been employed by the lawyer representing the mother of his child. We need to try to find him.”

      “Support matters are handled by—”

      “It’s not child support, damn it!” Keller snapped. “He’s taken his daughter. There’s a court order for her return.”

      There was a pause. “You mean to tell me he might have a child with him?”

      “You mean you aren’t—” Realization struck Keller like a hammer between the eyes. “Holy shit,” he said. “The Army really doesn’t know where he is, do they?”

      “Where did you say you were, Mr. Keller?” Wilcox said.

      “I didn’t,” Keller said and snapped the cell phone shut.

      He tried to call Marie. He got