The USB drives Sully gave me for Christmas were actually full of tactical operations intel and Taliban profiles. Each and every one of the files was apparently corrupt and the drives had been overwritten with porn, but the information was still there, lurking beneath the surface, waiting for someone to come and find it. Crowe’s digital military ID was stamped on the files, showing the times and dates when he had downloaded them from the army’s protected servers. Sully’s digital military ID was nowhere to be found. A week after the drives were handed over to the military police, Sully was unexpectedly released from Camp Haan. Linneman called me to relay the good news.
“I think you should be the one to go get him,” he told me. “He’s been pretty wild over the fact that they haven’t let him call you. I’m sure he’d appreciate a pick up from his girl over a dusty old man like me.”
I drove out to Camp Haan in Mom’s 4Runner, the whole way dreading having to face another arrogant man dressed in uniform, but when I got there, a tall, handsome guy dressed in civvies greeted me instead. He came to get me at the gate and walked me inside the building, introducing himself as Sam. He was pretty young, still in his mid twenties, but he walked with an air of importance, and when we passed other soldiers in the hallways of the administration building Sam took me through, they all stopped and saluted him without exception.
He led me to a small, windowless room and gestured for me to sit down at a low table—the only item of furniture inside the room. “Sully will be with you in a second, Miss Lang. If you’d please wait here, I’ll be back in a moment too with Sully’s release papers.” He left, and I sat down at the desk as he’d instructed, trying not to bite my fingernails.
Five minutes later, Sully was escorted into the room by two armed guards. He was dressed in military uniform, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days. There were dark circles under his eyes, but his back was ramrod straight, his chin held high and proud. When he saw me, he rushed into the room and threw his arms around me, sweeping me up off the floor.
“Damn it, Lang,” he said through gritted teeth. “I thought you wouldn’t come.” He rained kissed down onto my face. Putting me down, he cupped my face in his hands, scanning me from head to toe, as if storing every last minute detail of me to memory in case he never saw me again.
“Of course I came,” I whispered. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“The U.S. Army doesn’t see it that way,” he said. “I still fucked up pretty bad. I should never have done what I did.”
I leaned my forehead against his chest, closing my eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. “You loved your brother. That’s all. And whatever you may have done, it seems like you’re in the clear. They told Linneman you were going to be released.”
Sully frowned. “They did?”
“Yeah. The officer who came and got me at the gate said he was getting your release paperwork.”
At that moment, the door opened again and Sam appeared, hurrying into the room. He gave us both a brief smile, and then held out his hand to Sully. “Second Lieutenant Coleridge. I don’t believe we’ve met.”
Sully shook Sam’s hand, head tilted ever so slightly to one side. He looked perplexed. “Coleridge?” he repeated.
“That’s right, sir. Sam Coleridge. Your brother pulled me out of that burning wreck outside of Kabul. I was only nineteen at the time.”
Sully rocked back on his heels, recognition dawning on his face. “That’s right. Kabul.”
“We’re almost done here, sir. If you’d just sign here, where we’ve indicated with the red crosses, then we can get you on your way.” Sam handed Sully the paperwork in his other hand, smiling wider.
“I don’t understand. Ronan wasn’t—”
“Don’t worry, sir. It’s all been taken care of. I personally testified that you weren’t the one to pull me out of that wreck. It was definitely Ronan Fletcher, as records of that night confirmed.”
“But what about the letter I wrote? I confessed that—”
Sam shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know of any letter being held in evidence relating to this matter. As far as we’re concerned, Ronan Fletcher served a total of five tours in Afghanistan, saving the lives of well over thirty-eight men during the period of his service. The USB drives that were found in his house were taken by him, under the proviso that they were something else entirely. We believe he had zero knowledge of their hidden contents.”
Sully closed his hand around the pen Sam was offering him. “Ah. I see.”
“Yes, sir. Luckily for you, this matter was resolved. You’d have been sent to Gitmo for sure, otherwise. Probably wouldn’t have stepped foot in the States again.” The tone in Sam’s voice made things very clear—he knew Sully was the man who saved him. He knew perfectly well that Sully had broken the law, but he was feigning ignorance in order to save him now.