“He blamed me in part for the nature of his discharge. He thinks that I’m the reason he can’t get disabilitybenefits.”
“Did he have cause to believethat?”
“Do the crooks you put in prison believe their time behind bars is your fault?” Mia could see that her words had hit home. “Some people have a hard time taking responsibility for their ownactions.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Wu glanced at the documents again, flipping through them. “I searched his file for some documentation—how he was wounded, when and why he was discharged. There’s nothing here. Do you want to fill mein?”
Mia’s pulse skipped. “He was dischargedafter—”
A knock at the door cut her off, gave her a reprieve, the door opening to reveal a man with a dark ponytail. “Hey, Wu, you got aminute?”
“Sure thing.” Wu stood, leaving Mia alone, giving her time tothink.
What the hell was she supposed to say? The conditions of Andy’s discharge were classified. The whole catastrophe was classified. She had been ordered not to talk about it with anyone. She didn’t agree with how the Army had handled the situation. If she’d had any say, Andy and the others would have been court-martialed. Instead, Army brass had buried everything—and ordered her to keep her mouthshut.
Mia had always followed lawful orders, and she wasn’t going to stop now. She would tell the detective the truth, but not the whole truth, and hope he was satisfied. He would have to go up the flagpole if he wanted moreinformation.
The door opened, and Wu entered, shutting the door behind him and returning to his seat, his gaze fixed on her. “It seems you have friendshere.”
Shedid?
“One of them is waiting for you in thelobby.”
Joaquin.
He was waiting forher?
The idea both irritated her—and lifted her spirits. Her friends from work had stared at her with suspicion. Her boss, a man she trusted, had put her on leave. But Joaquin was here. He barely knew her, but somehow, he believedher.
She wasn’talone.
“He’s got a couple of buddies in the department, high-ranking cops who are also friends of mine, and they’re breathing down my neck to know why you’re here.” Wu said this as if this were her fault, part of some conspiracy orsomething.
That was news to Mia, and it raised her spirits evenmore.
“How long are you going to keep me here? I’ve answered every question you asked me, some of them more thanonce.”
“Not that last question. We gotinterrupted.”
Oh,right.
Shit.
“Andy was discharged after being wounded when he left our forward operations base withoutauthorization.”
Wu’s eyebrows rose. “You mean he wentAWOL?”
How could Mia explain this and maintain the secrecy that the government demanded? “Not AWOL exactly. He left the post without authorization along with others from the company, including our CO, and came under attack. This is what led to his being injured anddischarge.”
“Why is there nothing in thefile?”
“I can’t answer that question.” She truly could not answer it—but she misled Wu as to the reason for that. “I wasn’t in charge of his servicerecord.”
Wu nodded, his gaze dropping to the files in front of him, a thoughtful frown on his face. “Thanks for your cooperation. Don’t leaveDenver.”
“When will you finish reviewing the securityfootage?”
“Hard to say.” He stood. “This isn’t the only case we’re workingon.”