In her mind, Ellie had already decided that Project 112 and Project SHAD were not the evil and sinister works of her government, like Senator Quincy hoped to prove. But at the same time, she did believe the government owed these veterans some kind of compensation if they had become ill from their exposure. She hated that the DoD would rather bury them in worthless blacked-out, photocopied documents from half a century ago than provide the last of these men the health benefits they deserved. But in order to do that, men like her father and Colonel Hess—men who were hailed as heroes—would need to admit that they had done something wrong.
Instead of getting caught up in that nonsense, since Ellie knew she had no control over the outcome, she committed herself to what she could control. She kept glancing at the door, waiting and hoping that Carter had been successful in ordering a subpoena for Colonel Hess. After all, she was not a novice at using her political credentials. That was one thing she’d learned very quickly in this city. You embraced and used your power and authority or you’d be crushed by those who weren’t afraid to.
Now she needed Carter to come in and tell her it was a done deal before Quincy brought up the subject of Hess not being able to appear before the committee on the opening day of the hearing.
Quincy, however, droned on about how important this hearing was, telling them that the failure of those congressional attempts in the past made their task more urgent. A bill in 2008 would have provided those veterans who were a part of Project 112 and Project SHAD with health benefits. That bill had failed. Some of those veterans hadn’t given up, even though their congressmen had. They were hoping to push for another bill that would finally acknowledge them.
Ellie knew too well that the 2008 bill failure probably had very little to do with its merits, though she hadn’t been in the Senate at that time. In fact, when she first took office she dove in with plenty of good intentions, sponsoring and crusading for worthy causes only to watch the results of her efforts become political fodder, nothing more than bargaining chips. It mattered more what a bill was attached to than what it contained.
To make anything happen, she’d learned, she needed to play the game, keeping score with favors—“I’ll vote for this if you vote for that.” Somewhere along the way she’d lost her passion for the causes she’d believed in so dearly. She couldn’t remember when it became more about her own survival than her purpose for being there in the first place. Even now she still watched the door, waiting for her assistant.
Come on, Carter, she found herself chanting in her head. She had seen glimpses of what this man-child was capable of doing. If she was going to create a monster, could it at least be a monster that benefited her? So intent was her concentration that when the stooped elderly man wearing his dress blues shuffled into the room she didn’t recognize him. He was accompanied by a younger man, a very handsome man, also in dress blues.
Senator Quincy stopped his rambling, shoved his thick body away from the table, and stood to greet the men. “Colonel Hess, Colonel Platt, thank you both for joining us.”
Ellie felt the heat rush to her face. The man who had entered the room looked nothing like the brilliant biologist she knew. Granted, it had been years, perhaps a decade, since she had last seen him in person.
She stood as Quincy guided the two colonels to the empty chairs at the other corner of the table, just opposite Ellie. The old doctor’s eyes lit up when he saw her, and she was pleased with the recognition. After all, she was the one who had called him and asked him to be one of the experts to testify. She wanted the others to realize that. Maybe they would see that she had some connections of her own. She wasn’t just the junior senator from Florida—the one who was fighting for her life to remain the junior senator from Florida.
He took her hand first, ignoring several others who had offered theirs. His grip was firm, even if he added his second hand over the top of hers in that handshake men seemed to think was necessary when addressing a woman. Still, she was beaming.
And then he said to her, “Look at you. Your father would be so proud, little Ellie Delanor.”
14.
Haywood County, North Carolina
It was too damned hot to breathe.
A hundred degrees at ten in the morning. That was Afghanistan.
Creed knew it would only get hotter. He already felt the weight of his gear, seventy-five pounds riding on his back. He couldn’t think about that right now. It didn’t matter how uncomfortable he felt, he was there to clear a path through hostile territory. The marine platoon he was assigned to certainly didn’t care. To them he was a perpetual outsider. Creed and his dog were there to do a job and then move on to the next platoon.
Only now he couldn’t see Rufus. The dog knew not to go too far out of his sight. Eighteen months old and he still had that easy lope of a Labrador puppy. But everything else about the dog projected strength and discipline. He got right down to business and worked hard for the same goal.
Always the same goal—find toy.