Samantha called ahead to the hotel and had the bags brought down from their room to the lobby. After loading them into the truck, they headed to the airport to catch their flight back to Bragg. It wasn’t quite one o’clock, so they would land at Bragg and still have enough time to interview Jared and Semeana.
“How long is the flight?” Samantha asked as she loaded her bag onto the plane.
“Only about two hours. We should have plenty of time to get some questions answered before they shut down the detention center for the night,” Raleigh replied as he found a comfortable spot toward the back of the plane. Motioning to Sam, he patted the seat next to him, grinning at her that sheepish I am up to something smile. “Why don’t you sit that pretty little ass right here next to me, so I can take advantage of you during the flight?”
Sam laughed as she sat next to him and strapped herself in, preparing for the flight to take off. Raleigh settled into his seat with his typical leaning back posture, covering his face with his hat, placing his hand on her leg then closing his eyes.
“I don’t know how you can sleep like that,” Sam blurted as she tried to get comfortable.
“It’s easy, darlin’. Just lean back and close your eyes,” he said as he patted her leg. “Now try and get some rest. I know you’re tired. You were snoring like a chainsaw cutting through a walnut tree in the meeting with Harper.”
“I was not,” she quickly snapped back.
“Oh yes, you were, and it was a cute little snore to boot.” He laughed as he weaved away from Samantha’s flying fist that still landed on his bicep.
“Ouch!” he teased. “That hurt.” He laughed as he rubbed his arm.
“You’re not hurt!” She smiled and leaned in to peck him quickly on the cheek.
As the engines began to whine and the plane got closer to taxiing the runway for takeoff, Raleigh grabbed headsets that hung behind them and handed Sam a pair. “Here,” he said, “put these on. They will help with the noise; it gets too loud back here without them.”
They soon felt the lift of the plane as it left the runway and they were in the air. It didn’t take too long after that before they were both out. After a couple of hours, they felt the jolt of the tires as they hit the runway, landing at Fort Bragg.
“Hey Sammie, we’re here. Get up, woman.” Raleigh laughed as he shook Samantha awake. “I’m surprised the landing didn’t wake you, girl. You can sleep through anything, I suppose, can’t you?”
Sam stirred and rubbed her eyes. “Pretty much,” she answered.
Raleigh grabbed the bags and slung them over his shoulder. “I’ve got the bags. Would you go down and see if our ride is here?”
Samantha started down the cargo door when she heard Raleigh yell, “You look as good going as you do coming. That’s a hard thing to do.” He smiled and waved her off.
“Great genes!” she yelled back, laughing as she turned toward the tarmac.
As she stepped off the plane, a young specialist walked toward her, waving then yelling, “Are you Sergeant O’Hara?”
“Yep, that’s what my name tag says,” she answered, smiling.
“Oh yes, you’re right, Sergeant. I apologize.” He stood straight, looking at her.
“No need to. I am just giving you a hard time. At ease, Specialist. You’re good. Where’s the truck?” she asked.
“Sergeant, it’s just on the other side of this building. The guards wouldn’t let me bring it in closer.”
“It’s okay. Why don’t you go grab the bags from Chief? Then we can get on the road.”
The young soldier turned and ran toward the plane, stopping just in front of Raleigh and rendering a salute. “May I grab your bags, Chief?”
“Yeah, here ya go. Where’s the truck?” Raleigh asked.
“Chief, it’s parked just on the other side of that building right there.” He pointed at a machine shed that sat just near where the cargo plane had stopped. “The guards wouldn’t let me bring it up here. They said it was because of security.”
“It’s okay, Specialist. I promise this rank didn’t make my legs disappear, and it sure didn’t cause me to forget how to walk,” he said, laughing.
The young specialist grinned and looked up at Raleigh. “I suppose not, Chief. The truck is right this way.” He pointed toward the shed again. “If you and the sergeant will follow me, I will get you to the detention center as quickly as I can.”
Since the airport was just on the other side of Bragg, they didn’t have to travel far. As they pulled into the parking lot, news vehicles still sat scattered throughout the area. Reporters were standing in the middle of the road while their cameramen stood on the side out of traffic. Maneuvering the truck through the crowd and past the journalists was tricky, but they finally managed to find a spot to park.
“Well!” Raleigh said as he climbed out of the passenger seat. “This is a real cluster fuck if I ever saw one. Who’s in charge?”
As the specialist came around the back of the truck to grab the bags, he answered Raleigh’s question. “Chief, I couldn’t tell you who’s in charge of dealing with the reporters. I apologize. I was told to bring you here to meet Major Chambers. He is just inside; I will go get him. If you like, you can follow me in. I have a key card.”
Grabbing their bags, Sam and Raleigh followed the young soldier inside the detention center to a waiting area. The soldier addressed Raleigh as he was senior officer. “Chief, I will be right back with Major Chambers. Till then we have coffee on the table behind you, and down the hallway is a snack machine.”
“Thank you, Specialist,” Raleigh replied.
The soldier then turned and left the room. Raleigh poured himself a cup of coffee while Sam prepared to head down the hallway to the snack machine.
“You want anything from the machine, Chief?” she asked. She leaned on the door frame, waiting for his order. Raleigh looked at her, his eyes gleaming as if they were newly etched diamonds.
“Is anyone in the hallway right now?” he asked.
“Nope,” she replied.
“Good. I wanna say this one thing really quick. You look so fucking good standing there right now, I wanna bend you over this table right here and pound your pussy till you scream.”
Sam’s face blushed, and she smiled. He did love that smile of hers and how her eyes sparkled, especially when she was close to orgasm. That’s when her eyes became a fiery gunmetal gray that turned him into a lovesick puppy.
She quickly turned, not replying to his comments, only repeating her plans. She was still a bit flustered by what she had overheard this morning while Raleigh was on the phone. But she spun around and smiled.
“Anything you want, Raleigh. I am here to serve you.” She winked and turned back toward the door to the hallway.
“I will make sure to remember that!” he teased. As he watched Samantha turn down the hallway, Raleigh yelled to her as she started to turn the corner and disappeared from his view. “Will you grab me a bag of Cheetos Chili Twists, please?”
While Samantha was grabbing their snacks, Major Chambers appeared in the waiting area. “Good afternoon, Chief. How was your trip?”
“Great, Matty. How’s everything here?” he asked.
“It’s going well. We have continued interviews of Sergeant First Class Thompson and his wife. We haven’t found out much. He refuses to talk to anyone but you. So same as before. I can get you set up down the hallway if you like. We have a room ready. We’ve just been waiting for you to arrive,” Matt replied. “Where’s your new side piece, I mean sidekick?” Matt teased.
“Sergeant O’Hara is down the hallway at the snack machine. We can grab her on the way,” Raleigh scoffed.
“What?” Matt questioned.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” Matty asked.
“Don’t act like a pig, man. What she and I have is not your concern. Got it?” Raleigh scolded.
“All right, Fitz, no problem. I’m just curious. You know I am just concerned for ya after the last girlfriend you had. This sergeant can’t even begin to touch what that psycho bitch did. I am just looking out for you. You are my brother in arms, and I am just worried about you,” Matt proclaimed as he led Raleigh down the hallway.
Grabbing Samantha as they passed the break area, she quickly handed Raleigh the bag of Chili Twists. Following the men to the interrogation room, she cracked open her Diet Pepsi and settled into the corner where a single chair sat then pulled out her pad and pencil.
“I’m ready to take notes, Chief.”