Sam was still laughing at the sight of Raleigh dancing naked in the room, surprised he didn’t break his neck as he wiggled into his jeans. Raleigh was grabbing the last few secret items from the hotel store and put them in what he referred to as his seduction bag while Sam waited in the lobby by the fountain. His seduction bag, also known as his Army duffle bag, contained all he needed for a successful seduction or what he referred to as Operation Seduction. This seduction would differ greatly from the others. This one would be forever if he could crack her code.
As he finished his shopping and walked up to the counter to pay, one item drew his attention—a small, heart-shaped locket with the words Forever & Always on the front. He picked up the locket and opened it. On the inside the words read, I will love you.
Perfect, he thought and added it to the pile. When the moment is right, this will be perfect. I will give it to Sam at the restaurant just after dessert. I’ll have the band play a romantic sexy county song then get up and place it on her neck. Yeah, that will work, she’ll have no choice but to fall madly and deeply in love with me. I hope.
Raleigh grabbed the bags from the counter, stopped by the valet to see if the hotel had the limo ready, then handed him the receipt and met up with Sam by the fountain. “You ready, darlin’?” He took her hand in his and headed for the revolving door to the valet area where the limo was waiting. As they exited the hotel, the driver opened the door to the limo.
“Is that for us?” Sam turned to Raleigh, and he could tell she was excited.
“Ya, darlin’. That’s for us.”
“Oh my gosh, really? I’ve never been in a limo before. This is so cool.”
“Well, get in, baby.”
Sam crawled in and sat near the bottle of chilled champagne Raleigh had the limo service prepare. The interior of the vehicle was decked out in black leather, and lit just dimly enough that her eyes needed to adjust. Raleigh slid in next to her, grabbed the bottle, and poured two glasses, handing one to Sam then clicking her glass with his.
“You don’t think it’s too early for champagne, do you?” he said as she sipped from the glass and wrinkled her nose.
“The bubbles tickle. I’ve never had champagne before.”
Raleigh looked at Sam, almost in shock. “You’ve never had champagne before? Where have you been hiding at, girl? Under a rock?”
She laughed and popped him on the arm. “No, I’ve just never been with anyone that drank it, and well it is expensive. Besides that, Momma never had no money for that kinda stuff.”
“Whoa! Did I just hear a bit of a country come out of that sweet mouth of yours?”
“Maybe a bit,” she said, smiling. “I’m not from Shecago,” she said, attempting her best Chicago mobster impression. She failed miserably and they both laughed hysterically.
“Ok, so I am not a comedian.”
“Oh ya, I caught that much.” He laughed and grabbed a pretzel from the bowl next to the champagne.
Sam, curious to see where they were going, attempted to press the button to lower the window.
“Nope. No cheatin’. You have to wait until we arrive.”
“But…”
“No buts…you gotta wait.”
Sam pouted and gave Raleigh a sad puppy look. “Nope, it’s not gonna work, darlin’.” He turned his head and looked the other way. “I just won’t look at you. If I don’t look, I won’t give in.”
“Please,” she begged.
“Tell ya what. Once we get on the interstate, we’ll open the moon roof and you can peek out that. Deal?”
“Ok, deal, but I wanna stand up and look out.”
“Ok, deal.” Raleigh held out his hand. “Shake on it.”
Sam shook his hand and pulled him in for a kiss. “What was that for?” he asked.
“For being you.”
Raleigh felt his cell phone vibrate, grabbed it from his pocket, and looked down at the screen. Damn! It’s the general. Just let it go to voice mail and check it later.
“Who was that?”
“No one, darlin’. Hey look, we are on the interstate now. Let’s get that moon roof open.”
Raleigh worked the button and the roof moved open. Sam stood up and poked her head out the window, holding her hands up like a kid on a roller coaster. So cute. Just like a kid. I love that about her. His phone vibrated again; Raleigh grabbed it and looked at the screen. It’s the general again. Damn it. I best get this.
“Chief Fitzgerald speaking. Hello sir, what can I do for you?”
“Ya Chief. I’m gonna need you to come to my office today. We’ve had a situation come up and you’re gonna wanna hear this. When can you be here?”
“Well, sir, I was on my way out for the day, but hold on, sir.”
Raleigh looked up at Sam, who was still popped up through the moon roof, waving and blowing kisses to all who passed her. He grabbed her shirt and gave it a tug. “Sam,” he said, waiting for a response. He covered the microphone on the cell then repeated his plea, “Sam, baby, come down for a second.”
Sam leaned down to Raleigh cocking her head close to his nose. “Baby, this is the general. He wants us to come to the post as soon as possible. We gotta change our plans for now. I'm sorry, darlin’. Promise to make it up to you tonight. Ok?”
Sam smiled and kissed Raleigh on the forehead. “No problem. I’ll hold ya to that promise.”
Raleigh lifted the phone back to his ear. “Sir, we can be there in an hour. Is that good?”
“Yes, that’s great. I will see you then.”
Raleigh hung up the phone then told the driver to take them back to the hotel. Raleigh could tell Sam was disappointed and he felt terrible, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He would have to wait and make it up to her later that night when he took her to dinner.
“We are gonna need to change into uniform to see the general. You ready to meet one of my oldest friends?”
She thought for a second and fear crept in. One of his oldest friends is great, but it’s not like he can introduce me as his girlfriend or anything. It was that thought that made her feel the worst and confused her at the same time. Why would it matter? He doesn’t want me long term anyway. He’s a hit it and forget it kind of guy. Sam figured if she kept telling herself that, it might sink in and the thought of a forever with him would leave her mind. He doesn’t want forever, so just forget it.
“Yeppers, I’m ready!” Sam was freaking out on the inside, and the butterflies in her stomach stirred. She was so not ready to stand in front of a general, let alone one of Raleigh’s oldest friends, and this man was both. As ready as I’m gonna be. I feel like I’m gonna vomit. Sam’s head was spinning; she wanted Raleigh, but the thought of him rejecting her continued to gnaw at her. She wasn’t sure she could handle being rejected—not by him. He was everything she had ever dreamed of. A man like him only came once in a lifetime, and if he gave her the chance she had decided she would take it.
The limo pulled up in front of the hotel. They jumped out and ran up to their rooms. They had forty-five minutes to change and get to the general’s office. “You sure you’re ok, Sam?”
“Ya, I’m ok. Just a little nervous. It’s not every day a sergeant gets called into a general’s office.”
“I promise everything will be okay. I will be right there next to you. Besides, he’s a pussy cat. In fact, he will probably be a little jealous that I get to spend time with you and he can’t.”
They quickly changed and loaded into a rental car that the general’s aide had sent to them.
“Grab your bag, darlin’, and let’s get goin’.”
Sam grabbed her bag and glanced at Raleigh. “Should I grab the paperwork from the warehouse?”
“Ya, I think it might be a good idea. We can go over what we found.”
Pulling up to the Special Operations Center headquarters, it was like he never left. Nothing had changed; the post looked the same as did the faces. As they walked into the building, Raleigh was stunned by the sheer amount of familiar faces he saw. He figured most were there because of the warehouse fire on the other side of post. They walked through the steady stream of people, many of who greeted him as they walked through. Sam was impressed that so many knew him. Mr. Popularity.
“You know a lot of people, Chief.” She hated having to call him Chief. She much preferred to call him Raleigh or baby. But using his rank was necessary in public so she did not draw attention by straying from Army protocol.
“Yeah, I was stationed here almost my whole Army career until a few years ago.”
“Why’d ya leave? Seems it’s a nice gig. Plenty of funding, too. Special Operations always gets all the money.”
“It’s not as glamourous as you might think, Sergeant. Spent a lot of time away with lots of deployments and no relationships, family, or otherwise. Twenty-four-seven Army. My team became my family and when the team…”
“Raleigh, my old buddy, how ya doing man?” Sam looked up, and when she realized it was the general, she snapped to attention. He held his hand out to Raleigh; the two shook hands and exchanged man hugs.
Raleigh drew his attention to Sam, introducing her. “General, this is Sergeant O’Hara of the Twelve-Sixty-Sixth Transportation Company out of Chicago.”
Sam exchanged looks with the general, still standing at attention. “Good morning, sir.”
“At ease, Sergeant. Come on into my office, you two. I think what we have might be of some interest to your investigation.”
The general’s office was large and ornate, like nothing she had ever seen in her life. It reminded her of an old English library like the ones you see in the movies. Oak furniture decorated the room the walls were covered in oak bookcases, and a large, oak desk sat in the middle. The room smelled of furniture polish and lavender. Two leather chairs sat perfectly spaced in front of the desk. This is fantastic and so beautiful.
“Take a seat, and I will have my adjutant grab what I need. It will be just a minute.” The General pushed the button on a call box on his desk. “Major Chambers, can you bring in that evidence the fire department pulled out early this morning?”
The voice on the other end replied, “Yes, sir, I will be right in.”
“Is that Major Matt Chambers, sir?” Raleigh asked.
“Yep, sure is,” he replied.
The door opened and Raleigh jumped up from his chair. He held out his hand to shake the major’s hand. “Matty, how ya doin’, man?”
“Fitz! Fitz, man, I haven’t seen you in forever. Where ya been hidin’?”
“Somewhere you wouldn’t find me.” They laughed as the major placed the cardboard box on the general’s desk.
“Well, hey man, hit me up when you're done here. We will go for a drink afterward.”
The general cleared his throat. “Are you two done now?”
They both stood tall and answered, “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”
“Fitz, why don’t you come over here and take a look at what I got here.” Raleigh walked behind the desk next to the general. Peering inside the box, Raleigh saw a partially burned, light green notebook. The general handed him a pair of latex gloves. “You’re gonna need these.” Raleigh picked up the notebook and fanned through the pages. Names, phone numbers, and addresses were listed in alphabetical order. Dates, times, and places as well. Equipment listing with national stock numbers and prices. But it was the name on the back of the notebook that caught his attention. In black magic marker, as big as life was the name, SFC Jared Thompson. Raleigh’s heart sank.
“Where did you get this? What the hell is going on? Sir?” But Raleigh already knew the answer and he could tell by the look on Matty’s and the general’s faces that it had been found in the warehouse fire. He felt like he had been gut punched. The pieces were coming together, and he didn’t like where they were leading.
“Are they sure it's Jared’s book?” Raleigh pleaded with both men.
Matty answered Raleigh, “They’re pretty sure. They pulled prints and are hoping they can pull some DNA from it. They’re just not sure what kind of damage the fire might’ve done. I know this is a shock, Fitz, but we gotta go where the evidence leads us. Right now it’s not lookin’ good.”
Raleigh’s mind was racing. All the clues they found in Chicago were making more sense and now this. What have you gotten yourself into, Jared?
“So, Tommy’s not on a mission?” They had called Jared “Tommy,” short for Thompson, ever since they all sat one drunken night and watched “Tommy Boy” on TV. Jared had acted out the scene with the fat man in a little coat, the team decided the nickname fit, and it stuck.
“Nope, and hasn’t been seen much lately either. Not since he got married to that Afghan girl he met when they were on a mission there.”
“Married?” Raleigh was shocked. “When did this happen? Why didn’t anyone let me know?”
“Hell, Fitz, we thought you knew. We figured you were the best man. He left on leave and came back married. We were as shocked as you are now. Sorry, man, really we are. We know how close you two were.”
Raleigh had to sit down. This was all almost too much to take in all at once. Jared’s not on a mission, he’s nowhere to be found, and he’s married to an Afghan girl. “Ok, so where do we go from here?”
“Well, right now we are waiting for DNA results on the notebook. We have a soldier in custody, a Specialist Brian Jackson from the Eleventh Supply and Support Battalion. He was seen on video leaving the area near the warehouse right before the fire. We are hoping to get in and interview him. You wanna come?”
Raleigh sighed. “Yeah, I do, if y’all don’t mind me hangin’ around and askin’ a few questions.”
Matty looked at Raleigh. “Man, I am sorry. If you need anything…”
“Nope, not at all. I just want answers, man,” Raleigh scoffed.
Matty shrugged. “Well, I can drive you over.”
“Thanks, Matty, that would be great. But I have a few questions I wanna go over with you and the general first, if you have a minute? Won’t take long, and it concerns what we’ve been discussing.”
“Of course, Fitz, shoot.”
Raleigh glanced at Sam, and she could tell she was getting kicked out of the room. This was the top secret stuff Raleigh had told her she couldn’t be privy to. How she hated secrets!
“Hint taken, Chief. I’ll be outside in the waiting room.”
“Thanks, Sergeant.”
Sam made herself scarce as quickly as she could. The temperature and the attitudes were transforming in that room. She was safer in the waiting room anyway.
Raleigh began by laying out the paperwork they had found in the warehouse in Chicago, explaining each piece of evidence that pointed to Jared and other 9th Special Ops personnel. He showed the picture of the evidence found on Staff Sergeant Wilson’s body—the paper with Jamal Hendricks’ name and the address and phone number scribbled on it.
“Wait, Jamal Hendricks?” Matty snapped a look at the general.
“Yeah, Jamal Hendricks,” Raleigh replied.
“He’s that kid that was staying with Tommy and his wife a few months ago. He’s been here a few times, actually. Told everyone he was helping the kid get on the right track.”
“Well, right now he’s the prime suspect in Staff Sergeant Wilson’s murder in Chicago.” Raleigh’s mind was racing. This is all just too crazy. What has Jared gotten himself into?
“We can finish going through all this later. I am supposed to interview our arson suspect in a few minutes. Let’s head out and grab that hot little blonde you got waiting for you behind that door.” Matty winked at Raleigh. “Nice catch, man. You tap that yet?”
Raleigh realized for the first time how piggish men could be. He didn’t like that Matty referred to “tapping that” about Sam.
“Nope.” Raleigh verified.
“Bullshit. The famous Fitz hasn’t bedded the beautiful, blonde, shapely sergeant?” Matty snorted.
Raleigh snapped back. “Nope, and even if I had, I wouldn’t tell you guys.”
“What? You not tell about a conquest? What’s happened to you, man?”
“Nothing.” Raleigh shrugged his shoulders and turned toward the door. “I haven’t even given it a thought.”
“Ok, whatever you say, Fitz. But me and the general call ‘bullshit.’”
“Call it whatever you want, but she’s different,” Raleigh professed.
“Wait? What? Different? Oh, now we get it! It all makes sense now. You’re in love with this girl, aren’t you?”
“Let’s get going.” Raleigh walked out the door and motioned to Sam. “We are gonna head over to the detention center. It’s fifteen hundred hours now. Why don’t you go back to the hotel, shower, and get ready for tonight? When I get back, I am taking you to one of my favorite restaurants in Fayetteville. We shouldn’t be long, and I promise I will brief you when I get back. Is that okay?”
“Yes, of course.” Raleigh handed Sam his credit card and whispered his pin code in her ear. “There’s a dress shop in the hotel. Go buy yourself something nice to wear for tonight. Okay?”
“Um, are you sure?”
“Yep, never been more certain in my entire life.”