said I’d help, and I will,” he said. “I’m not trying to back out.”
“If you’re going to be this big a pain in the ass, I don’t need your help,” Marie snapped. She finished backing out, then slammed the car into gear. Tires squealed as she sped out of the parking lot. They drove in silence for several minutes. Finally, Marie said, too casually, “You seeing Lucas again anytime soon?”
Keller’s eyes narrowed. “Why, you think I need to see a shrink about this?”
“Well,” Marie said, “something about this situation’s put a bug up your ass. Lucas has helped you a lot. He’s gone to bat for you. And since you won’t talk to me…” Her voice trembled slightly on the last word.
Keller looked out the window. “I’ll call him,” he said after a few moments. “He’s been bugging me about taking him to the beach anyway.”
“When?” Marie said.
“This weekend. First I’ve got to make some calls to Fort Bragg. See if we can get somebody to tell us how to find Lundgren.”
“Where are you going to start?”
“Probably the Provost Marshal. If there’s legal papers to be served, it’s their lookout. After that, I’ll try the Inspector General. What about you?”
“I’m talking this afternoon with the operator of the day care where Alyssa was when Lundgren took her. You want me to drop you at my office?”
“Yeah, that’d be good.” The tension between them had eased, but only slightly. Neither spoke until they had gotten back downtown and Marie pulled up outside the office. “Okay. Let me know what you find out,” Marie said.
“Right,” Keller said as he got out. “See you later.”
“Later,” she said. It wasn’t until she had driven off that he realized she hadn’t asked if he was coming over.
“EighteenthAirborneCorpsHeadquartersCompanyOfficeoftheProvostMarshal lCorporalDetwilerspeakingcanIhelpyou?” the female voice on the other end of the line compressed the prescribed greeting down into an unrecognizable blur of words, just like any other Army clerk Keller had ever met.
“Corporal,” he said, “my name is Jackson Keller. I’m attempting to locate a Sergeant David Lundgren regarding his…regarding a legal matter.”
“What sort of legal matter, sir?”
“It involves his daughter.”
“Support matters are handled by an allotment from the soldier’s pay. If you give me his unit designation I can give you the name and number of the officer to contact.”
“It’s not a support matter. It’s about custody.”
“That would be the office of the Judge Advocate General, sir. It would be handled by the JAG office at his unit level. If you give me his unit number, battalion first…”
Keller took a deep breath. He remembered well the first rule of military bureaucracy: What ever the problem is, make it someone else’s responsibility. “I don’t think JAG represents him, Corporal. We believe Sergeant Lundgren kidnapped his daughter.”
The clerk didn’t miss a beat. “That would be Criminal Investigation Division, their number is 555-4976, hold on and I’ll try to connect you.” Keller tried to say something else, but before he could get a word out, there was a click, then silence. Keller waited. A few seconds later, another click and a dial tone. He had been disconnected.
Keller sighed. He doubted that CID would get involved. Just like civilian cops, military police loathed domestic situations. He was convinced that he was going to get nowhere here. Still, he wanted to be able to tell Marie he had tried everything. He dialed the CID number. He waited for the clerk to complete his greeting, then began again. “I’m trying to locate a Sergeant David Lundgren—”
“That case is being handled by Special Agent Wilcox. Please hold.”
Keller was taken aback. What case? he thought to himself.
After a moment, a man’s voice came on the line. “Major Wilcox, can I help you?”
“Major Wilcox,” Keller said. “My name is Jackson Keller. I’m trying to locate—”
“Sergeant David Lundgren, right,” Wilcox said. “May I ask what your relationship is with Sergeant Lundgren, Mr. Keller?”
“I’ve been employed by the lawyer representing the mother of his child. We need to try to find him.”
“Support matters are handled by—”
“It’s not child support, damn it!” Keller snapped. “He’s taken his daughter. There’s a court order for her return.”
There was a pause. “You mean to tell me he might have a child with him?”
“You mean you aren’t—” Realization struck Keller like a hammer between the eyes. “Holy shit,” he said. “The Army really doesn’t know where he is, do they?”
“Where did you say you were, Mr. Keller?” Wilcox said.
“I didn’t,” Keller said and snapped the cell phone shut.
He tried to call Marie. He got the message saying she was either unavailable or had left the calling area. He fumbled for a moment for his wallet, then pulled out Tamara Healy’s business card. He worked his way though a receptionist and a paralegal before being allowed to leave a message on her voice mail.
“It’s Jack Keller,” he said. “They’re not stonewalling you. The Army doesn’t know where Lundgren is. They’ve got CID looking for him. And that…I don’t have to tell you, that’s weird.” He hung up.
***
Wilcox put down the phone. He took a moment to look again through the Lundgren case file. Finally he realized he was just stalling for time to avoid making the next call. He sighed. He hated having to report to anyone else. It was especially rankling when it was a civilian.
Still, orders were orders. He picked up the phone and dialed. It was answered after one ring. “Gerritsen.”
“This is Major Wilcox at Fort Bragg,” he said. “I was just contacted by a Jackson Keller. He said he was looking for Lundgren.”
“Did he say why?” Gerritsen asked.
Wilcox could see Gerritsen in his mind’s eye. The preppy-boy good looks, the dark glasses…He shook a pair of Rolaids out of the plastic bottle on his desk. “He said he worked for an attorney. There’s a custody case going on. Lundgren’s apparently the father.”
“Right,” Gerritsen said.
“You knew about that,” Wilcox said.
“We did, yes.”
“And
