Code Name: Red Rock Read Online Free PDF Page B

Peters scribble on the pad in front of him. The rigid set of his wide shoulders and fierce scratching of his pen added to the palpable tension in the room. When he looked up and met her eyes, the strain on his face was apparent. Impressive sitting at his desk, the general at his full 6 ft. 4 in. was overwhelming. As he rose to his feet he responded to her salute with a flick of his hand and motioned her to the chair in front of his desk.
    Neither of them spoke for a long moment. The bear of a man held her gaze. His perpetual frown formed deep crevices on his brow matching the furrowed creases on his weathered cheeks and around his mouth. Only the web of lines circling his steely gray eyes spoke to the laughter that was often there. Jesse hitched a breath as she met his eyes. There was no humor on the general’s countenance today, only a deeply troubled expression. Jesse missed his smile. She’d seen it often. In addition to being the commanding officer on the post, the general was her friend.
    “Jesse, Jesse, Jesse.” He paused and then barked, “What the hell , Major?”
    Jesse hitched a breath and forced out a terse response. “I presume you’ve heard?”
    The General growled. “Not only have I ‘heard’ but I have here a sworn statement from Col. Caldwell.”
    He waved a large paw at the sheaf of papers on his desk.
    Holding up his hand, demanding her silence, General Peters’ voice was gruff, serious.
    “For the moment, Major, you and I are going to speak off the record. We will be having a formal conversation soon enough. Agreed?”
    When she nodded her agreement, the General gave a deep sigh and leaned forward, his beefy arms resting on the desk.
    “Jesse, you know that slugging a superior officer at the very least forces me to consider an Article 32 inquiry. As you also know a negative result could mean a general court martial. Given the nature of the offense, chances are that I could get it knocked down to an Article 15 non judicial punishment hearing, but you would still be looking at serious charges.”
    The General paused letting his words sink in. Jesse didn’t need to hear them. She’d spent the night studying the United States Uniform Code of Military Justice . Not an optimist to begin with, the descriptions of the various Articles, although couched in arcane legal jargon, were terrifying.
    “Let’s go over the facts as I know them.”
    Jesse interrupted. “You mean the facts as stated by Col. Caldwell… Sir.” At the warning light in the General’s eyes, Jesse had added the ‘sir’ and swallowed hard trying to quiet her rising anger. Naturally, Elliott had been there at the crack of dawn with his case laid out—every ‘i’ dotted and ‘t’ crossed. No doubt he’d had several JAG officers craft it for him. The thick stack of papers on the desk combined with the troubled frown on General Peters’ face confirmed that what Jesse knew was a bad situation was worse than she’d thought.
    “Let me reiterate the ‘facts’ as stated in Col. Caldwell’s statement. According to the Colonel, after you and he turned the mission target over to our British Colleagues, you asked the Colonel if you could go to his hotel suite for a debriefing.”
    The general ignored her disbelieving gasp and continued.
    “According to the Colonel, once you arrived in his suite, you removed your wig and several articles of clothing.” Again, ignoring her outraged gasp, the general glanced at the papers. “To be specific, your shoes. After you had a couple of drinks, you ‘came on’ to the Colonel. When he attempted to dissuade you, you became enraged and struck him. Hard enough to break his nose and spilt his lip.”
    Jesse couldn’t hold back her derisive snort.
    The general held up his hand to silence her.
    “To continue. The only person present besides you and Col. Caldwell to observe the incident was his private aide and house man, PFC Kolmar, whom I interviewed this morning.”
    Jesse broke in.