W E B Griffin - Men at War 2 - Secret Warriors

by Secret Warriors(Lit)

  Whittaker asked.

  "Just shut up and get in the Buick, Jimmy," Canidy said. "I'll explain later."

  "I can't imagine how the Department of Justice has become involved in this," the colonel said.

  "But I'll tell you this, Mr.- What did you say your name was?"

  "Canidy," Canidy furnished. 4j)ll tell you this, Mr. Canidy," the colonel went on. "Perhaps you didn't understand me. I am from the Office of the Chief of Staff, and I have every intention of assuming responsibility for this officer and any material he may have in his possession."

  "Colonel," Canidy said, "the justice Department has just assumed responsibility for this officer. If you have any questions, may I suggest you refer them to the Attorney General?"

  "This officer's not important," the colonel said.

  "You can have him if you like, But I must have the letter he has in his possession."

  "Colonel," Whittaker said matter-of-factly, "General MacArthur told me to deliver the letter in person."

  "And I'm telling you, Captain, that I am here to take it from you.

  That's an order." The muscular, stocky Navy chief petty officer who was driving the Buick walked up. "Chief, would you put Captain Whittaker in the car, please?" Canidy said. "Yes, Sir," Ellis said.

  "If you'll come with me, please?"

  "Now, just a minute!" the colonel fumed.

  "I will have that letter! "I'm sorry about the mix-up, Colonel," Canidy said.

  "But I have my orders. I'm sure you'll understand." He walked quickly after Whittaker and Captain Ellis. The colonel made one last attempt.

  "I order you, Captain," he called after them, "to give me that letter."

  "Sorry," Whittaker said over his shoulder. The confrontation and the colonel's frustration seemed to amuse him.

  "I don't know who you are, Colonel, but Marshal Wyatt Earp and I are old friends. I think I'd better go with him." He opened the rear door of the Buick and got in. There was a man sitting against the far door, wearing a blue overcoat. "Welcome home, Captain Whittaker," he said.

  "My name is Doug lass."

  "What about your luggage, Captain?" Chief Ellis asked. "Luggage?"

  Whittaker parroted incredulously.

  "Luggage?" Chief Ellis grinned, closed the door, and quickly got behind the wheel. Canidy trotted in front of the Buick and slipped beside Ellis.

  "Get out of here, Chief," he said, "before that colonel has a chance to think of something to do." After they were moving, Whittaker asked, "What the hell was that U.S. marshal business all about? What are you doing here, anyway? The last I heard, you were in China, flying P-40s for the Flying Tigers."

  "That was fun for a while," Cariidy said.

  "But then they started shooting at me, so I came home."

  "And became a U.S. marshal?" Whittaker asked.

  "Clever, Richard! An essential occupation that keeps you out of uniform."

  "We're from the Office of the Coordinator of Information," Doug lass said. "What the hell is that?"

  "Colonel Donovan runs it, Jimmy," Canidy said. "And we work for Colonel Donovan," Doug lass said, "and he wants to make sure you deliver that letter to the President."

  "Where are we going?" Whittaker asked. "To your house," Doug lass said.

  "We're using it now as sort of a hotel. We'll see that you get a good night's sleep-you must be exhausted and in the morning we'll see about you delivering your letter."

  "I was wondering about that," Whittaker said.

  "How would I do that? I can hardly walk up to the White House gate and announce I've got a letter for Uncle Franklin."

  "We'll take care of it in the morning Doug lass said. "Who the hell are you guys?" Whittaker asked again.

  "What do you mean, Dick, you're working for Bill Donovan? What's he got to do with this? "Can you hold your curiosity overnight, Captain?"

  Doug lass asked. "We'll explain it all in the morn in " i;@

  9. I immy," Canidy said.

  "For tonight: Colonel Donovan tells us what to do, and he told us to meet you. Asking questions around here is like farting in church.

  Whittaker and Chief Ellis laughed. "Are you hungry, Captain?" Doug lass asked. "Starved," Whittaker said. be."

  "We asked the cook to stay up," Chief Ellis said, "in case you would "You're in the house, Dick?" Whittaker asked.

  "Living there, I mean?"

  "Your house is now sort of a fraternity house for strange people," Canidy said.

  "Like you and me."

  "I'll be damned," Whittaker said. "And you'll be surprised, no doubt, to hear that our house mother is Cynthia Chenowith," Canidy said. "No kidding?" Whittaker said. He had been in love with Cynthia Chenowith, the daughter of a close family friend, since he was seven and she was ten.

  At those ages, the age difference seemed to be an insurmountable problem. Now, he thought, it seemed like a minor inconvenience, even though Miss Chenowith showed no more romantic interest in him than she had at ten. "There's something you ought to know about her, Jim," Canidy said. "I really think that should wait until morning Doug lass said quickly. "I don't," Canidy said.

  "I think he should know before he sees her, and she's likely going to be there when we get there."

  "What should I know?" Whittaker said. There was a moment's hesitation.

  Whittaker realized Canidy was waiting for permission to continue.

  Okay," Doug lass said." Tell him.

  Maybe you're right. "They did get word to you about Chesly?" Canidy asked. Chesley H. Whittaker was Whittaker's uncle. "Yeah," Whittaker said.

  "Uncle Franklin took care of that. He ordered MacArthur to find me and tell me."

  "Uncle Franklin"-Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President of the United States-was not really Whittaker's uncle, but the families were so close that Whittaker had grown up calling Roosevelt "Uncle Franklin" and thinking of him that way. "He was with Cynthia when he died," Canidy said.

  "At the house."

  "I didn't know that," Whittaker said. "I mean with her, Jimmy," Canidy said. It took Whittaker a moment to digest that. "Jesus Christ!" he said softly.

  "Does my aunt know?" The sly was at a hall game in New York, with Colonel Donovan, when they got the word about Pearl Harbor," Canidy said.

  "Then he came to Washington with Donovan. Donovan went to the White House. Chesly went to the house on Q Street. To Cynthia's apartment.

  He suffered a stroke. just dropped dead."

  "In the saddle?" Whittaker asked lightly.

  Canidy, embarrassed, did not reply. "Jesus," Whittaker said.

  "That's only supposed to happen in a dirty joke."

  "Cynthia called Donovan at the White House. He couldn't leave, so he sent Captain Doug lass and the chief. They took care of things, so there was no scandal.

  I don't think your aunt knows."

  " How did they 'take care of things'?" Whittaker asked. "We fixed it so the body was found in his shower," Chief Ellis said. "You carried his body from her apartment to his room?" Whittaker asked. "Yes, Sir," Ellis said. "Thank you," Whittaker said, And then, a moment later, he asked, "How tight a secret is this?"

  "It's known only to the people in this car, plus, of course, Colonel Donovan and Miss Chenowith," Captain Doug lass said, "How did you find out?" Whittaker asked Canidy. "I was afraid you'd ask that," Canidy said.

  "How did you?"

  "I've had several run-ins with Cynthia," Canidy said.

  "It came out during one of them."

  "What kind of run-ins?" Whittaker asked. "Does it matter?" Canidy asked.

  "You put the make on her?" Whittaker asked.

  "You sonofabitch! "No," Canidy said.

  "I didn't put the make on her."

  "Then what?" Whittaker asked angrily. "Your beloved, Jimmy, almost got me killed," Canidy said. "How?"

  "Stop right there, Canidy!" Doug lass said. "I want to know what the hell he's talking about!" Whittaker said. "I'm sorry, that's out of the question."


  "I was somewhere," Canidy said.

  "Doing something. And the end of the game was when they sent a submarine to pick us up."

  "What the hell are you talking about?"

  "When we reached the submarine, the skipper said he was sorry as hell, but he had orders to keep us from coming aboard. "By force of arms if necessary' is the way he put it."

  "Who are'we'and'us'?" Whittaker asked.

  "No, Canidy!" Doug lass said.

  "Don't even start into that." Canidy raised his hand in a gesture meant to assure Captain Doug lass that he wasn't going to violate security, and then went on: "At the time, I thought somebody else was responsible for giving that order," Canidy said.

  "I was going to feed him his balls the next time I saw him. So Captain Doug lass decided he had better tell me who had really made the decision. It wasn't who I thought it was, it was Cynthia."

  "Cynthia?

  She's involved in whatever it is you're doing?"

  "Donovan was so impressed with the way she handled herself-when Chesly died, I mean-that he gave her a job," Canidy said. "Doing what?"

  Whittaker asked. "No, Canidy," Captain Doug lass said again.

  "Be very careful."

  "I was so god damned mad, Jimmy, that I told Captain Doug lass that Cynthia wasn't the sweet maiden he apparently thought she was."

  "That was a pretty shitty thing to do, Dick," Whittaker said. "Under the circumstances, Captain, I think Dick's reaction was understandable," Doug lass said. "What circumstances?" Whittaker asked.

  "Is she now fucking somebody else? Donovan, maybe?"

  "That's not what I meant," Doug lass said. "Is she, or isn't she?"

  "For what it's worth, I don't think so," Canidy said. "Certainly not Donovan, and I don't think anybody else. She's too busy playing spy master."

  "That's enough of that, Canidy!" Doug lass snapped. In a moment, he went on: "Under the circumstances, Captain Whittaker, I thought it necessary to fill Canidy in on the circumstances surrounding your uncle's death.

  "Jesus Christ!" Whittaker said. And then he laughed. "Well," he said.

  "At least Chesly went out happy. All's well that ends well, they say."

  Canidy looked at him curiously. That was not the reaction he had expected "Tell me this, before the joyous reunion," he said.

  "Will Cynthia know that I know she was fucking my uncle?" No," Canidy said." And she doesn't know that I know, either. "Then let's keep it that way," Whittaker said.

  "Okay?"

  "So far as I'm concerned," Doug lass said, "there is no reason to bring up this subject ever again."

  THREE I When the Buick reached the house on Q Street, the driveway gate was open and Ellis drove right in, stopping the car on the cobblestone drive in front of the garages.

  11 Who,s the guy on the gate?" Whittaker asked.

  "He looks like a cop."

  "There's a security arrangement here," Doug lass said. "I feel like I'm in a Humphrey Bogart movie," Whittaker said. "I'm going to have Ellis take me home," Doug lass announced, "I think it would be a good idea to put Captain Whittaker's letter in the safe."

  "I'll put it in the safe, Captain," Ellis said, "if it can wait until I get back."

  "No, you won't," Whittaker said.

  "I've kept it this far, I'll keep it the rest of the way." Doug lass thought that over. "Whatever you wish, Captain," he said.

  "I'll be back here around eight in the morning We can arrange for you to deliver it then," "Okay," Whittaker said. Doug lass got out of the car. He leaned in again and gave Whittaker his hand, but didn't say anything more to him. Ellis tapped the Buick's horn ring. The plainclothes security man started to open the gate again as Canidy and Whittaker got out of the car and walked toward the kitchen.

  There was a skinny black woman sitting at the kitchen table. She looked somewhat disapprovingly at them, Whittaker in particular. "Is Miss Chenowith here?" Whittaker asked. "No, but she should be soon," the black woman said. And then, indicating Whittaker with a nod of her head: "He's staying?" Canidy nodded, "She know?" Canidy shook his head no. "She told me that if anybody came in she didn't know about, they was to be put in the second-left bedroom," the black woman said.

  "She said she'd be back by now. I don't know why she's not."

  "Who's in the master bedroom?" Whittaker asked. The black woman looked at him curiously.

  "They save that for important people."

  "Can you fix the captain something to eat?" Canidy asked, amused. 44

  I suppose so. If he's hungry."

  "Steak and eggs?" Whittaker asked.

  "And french-fried potatoes?"

  "This time of night?"

  "Make him whatever he wants," Canidy ordered flatly. The black woman shrugged. "Is there anything else we can get for you, Captain?"

  Canidy asked, as if Whittaker were a total stranger. "I need clean clothes. I need a razor, and a comb and brush. And underwear and socks. I have to see a dentist, and I think I caught the crabs," Whittaker said.

  "Where would you like to start?" Canidy laughed.

  "You're a real basket case, aren't you, Jimmy? " he asked. "And you, on the other hand, are not only well fed but here, and not wearing a uniform. I'm going to have to find out how you did that, you clever son of a bitch."

  "Cowardice. It works every time," Canidy said. "Bullshit. I'm the biggest coward you ever met, and you won't believe what those sons of bitches had me doing."

  "You look like hell, and you smell like a barroom floor, but I'm glad to see you anyway."

  "Fuck you, Dick," Whittaker said fondly. "We can give him pajamas and a robe," the black woman said practically, "and a comb and a razor and a toothbrush and that sort of thing-" "Pajamas and a robe? Christ, I'd forgotten there were such things," Whittaker said. "-but I don't know what to do about the crabs," the black woman went on matter-of factly.

  "Unless you go to that all-night drugstore on Massachusetts Avenue."

  "I'll send the chief when he comes back," Canidy said. "I didn't mention that I also don't have any money," Whittaker said. "Don't worry about that," Canidy said.

  "I'll trust you. You have an honest face."

  Ellis returned as the black woman was frying a steak. Canidy told him what Whittaker needed, and handed him money.

  "Get him whatever else you think he needs," he added. "Right," Ellis said.

  "It won't take me long. You going to be all right?"

  "We'll be fine," Canidy said. "I only look this way, Chief," Whittaker said.

  "I'm not really crazy."

  "You really want eggs with this steak?" the skinny black woman asked.

  Whittaker nodded.

  "Four, sunny-side up. And toast. She shrugged and went to the refrigerator. "And coffee," he said.

  "And milk." While Whittaker ate at the kitchen table, Canidy took a cup of coffee and sat down with him. The black woman went out of the kitchen and returned with pajamas and a robe.

  "I couldn't find slippers," she said. "Thank you," he said. She saw that all the food she had heaped on his plate was gone. "if that's all you want to eat, I'll show you your room," she said.

  Whittaker was unsteady on his feet, It was entirely possible he couldn't make it upstairs by himself. "I'll show him," Canidy said quickly, and went with him. He was glad he did. Whittaker had to haul himself upstairs on the banister railing. In the upstairs foyer, Whittaker stopped at the door to the master bedroom. "As I recall," he said," the shower in here has two heads. I'll use this."

  "The way it works around here," Canidy said, "is that rooms are assigned by Miss Chenowith. Miss Chenowith goes into a snit when someone dares disobey her. Miss Chenowith, I think you should know, is very impressed with her role in the hierarchy around here."

  "Fuck Miss Chenowith," Whittaker said, laughing, "which seems to be a splendid idea, come to think of it."

  "You going to be all right in there?" Canidy asked seriously.

  Whittaker looked terrible. His e
yes were bloodshot and burning, he was thirty or forty pounds underweight, and he looked as if he was teetering over the edge of exhaustion. "I look that bad, huh?"