The Innocent

Chapter





36


THE STOP AT WFO took longer than Robie had thought it would. He sat in a chair while Vance bustled around, filling out papers, briefing superiors, thumbing her phone and clicking computer keys and looking more and more tired with every passing minute.

Robie gave his official statement of events and then watched the ensuing activity. Part of him wondered if everyone was just running around in circles and accomplishing little.

“I’ll drive,” said Robie as they headed to the garage after they were finally done.

“Don’t you ever get tired?” she asked with a yawn.

“I am tired. Really tired, in fact.”

“You don’t look it.”

“I find things work better that way.”

“What way?”

“Not showing what you’re actually feeling.”

She gave him directions and he took the GW Parkway south to Alexandria.

When they pulled into her condo building Robie said, “You have water views of the Potomac?”

“Yes. And I can see the monuments from my place too.”

“Nice.”

They took the elevator up and she unlocked the door to her place. It was small, but Robie immediately liked it. Clean lines, no clutter, and everything seemed to have a purpose, nothing was strictly for show. He assumed that matched the owner’s personality.

Nothing for show. What I see matters.

“Reminds me of a ship’s cabin,” he said.

“Well, my father was career Navy. Apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Other than I spend most of my time on dry land. Make yourself comfortable.”

He sat on a long couch in the living room while she unpacked some medical supplies she’d taken from WFO. She kicked off her flats and sat next to him.

“Off with the jacket and the shirt,” she ordered.

He looked at her awkwardly but did what she asked, setting his holstered gun on the coffee table.

When she saw the tats her eyebrows hiked.

“Red lightning, and what’s the other one?”

“Shark’s tooth. Great white.”

“And why those?”

“Why not?”

She looked more closely and her eyes widened as she saw the old wounds the tats were obscuring.

“Are those—”

“Yeah, they are,” he said tersely, cutting her off.

She busied herself with the medical supplies after this mild rebuke, while Robie stared at his hands.

“What are you, thirty-five?”

“Forty. Just.”

“You’ve got to be former special forces right? Ranger, Delt, SEAL. They all have builds like you, although you’re taller than most of those guys.”

He didn’t answer her.

She cleaned the wound, applied some antibiotics, and then wound gauze around it, taping it securely down.

“I brought some painkillers. Pill or syringe?”

“No.”

“Come on, Robie, you don’t have to play all macho with me.”

“It’s got nothing to do with that.”

“What, then?”

“Knowing your pain tolerance is important. Pills and needles mask it. Not good. I could be slipping and I’d never know it.”

“Guess I never thought of that.”

She put her things away and looked at him. “You can put your shirt back on.”

“Thanks for patching me up. I appreciate it.”

He slipped his shirt back on, wincing a bit as he did so.

“That’s nice to know,” she said, watching him.

“What?”

“That you’re human.”

“I thought you could tell that from my ability to bleed.”

“You need anything else? Hungry? Thirsty?”

“No, I’m good.” He looked down. “This the couch?”

“Yes. Sorry, I’ve only got the one bedroom. But even though you’re tall the couch is extra long.”

“I’ve slept in a lot worse conditions, trust me.”

“Can I?”

He folded his jacket over the arm of the couch. “Can you what?”

“Trust you?”

“You invited me here.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.”

He walked to a window overlooking the water. To the north he could see the lights of D.C. The triumvirate of the Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington monuments were plainly visible. And rising above them all, the colossal dome of the Capitol.

She joined him.

“I like getting up in the morning and seeing that,” she said. “I figure it’s what I work for. Fight for. Defending what those buildings represent.”

“It’s good to have a reason,” said Robie.

“What’s your reason?” she asked.

“Some days I know, some days I don’t.”

“How about today?”

“Good night,” he said. “And thanks for letting me stay here.”

“I know we only just met today, but it feels like I’ve known you for years. Why is that?”

He looked at her. From her expression it wasn’t an idle question. She wanted an answer.

“Looking for a killer bonds people pretty quickly. Almost dying together bonds you even more.”

“I guess that’s probably right,” she said, though her tone spoke of disappointment with his answer.

She got him sheets and a blanket and pillow and fixed up the couch for him over his protests that he could do it himself.

Robie walked over to the window and looked at the monuments again.

Tourist sites, really. Nothing more.

But there could be more, if one thought about it. If one did something about it.

He turned to find Vance next to him.

“You can, you know,” he said.

“I can what?”

“Trust me.”

Robie couldn’t look at her as the lie rolled off his tongue.