The General and the Horse-Lord (23 page)

“I was thinking about moving the office into the dining room. We hardly ever use that dining room, and we can eat in the kitchen on Thanksgiving. It’s big enough for me and Gabriel to have workspace. That would free up two bedrooms, so each of the kids could have their own. He was Macavity, the Mystery Cat?”

“I can’t believe you knew that!”

“Gabriel told me.”

“You left before my soliloquy. Grizabella sings a really famous song. Want to hear?”

“I’ve heard you sing before, kiddo. But yes, I want to hear your song. Always and forever.”

J
OHN
was studying the dining room, trying to figure out where he could fit the desks, when George Fox called. “Hey, John. You left last night before the Kitty Cats did their Elvis medley!”

“Oh. Sorry I missed that, George. How are things with you?”

“Good. I just got a call from Charlie Lathrop’s assistant, asking me to take a drive up to Santa Fe and see him. How about them apples?”

“If he’s got a brain in his head, he’ll be begging you to take over some potential disaster of a school. What do you think?”

“I did have a friend at New Mexico Tech mention the vice president’s position down there is vacant. No one’s wanted it because the president has such a reputation. Stainless-steel balls and all that.”

“I thought the president at New Mexico Tech was a woman?”

“Yeah, she is. That’s the point.”

“Ah. That might be a fun job, George. Maybe he’s giving you some experience before the next president’s job opens.”

“Maybe. I’ll see what he says. But I’m going to remember your negotiating advice, John. I could always retire, spend the next few years travelling. My wife has mentioned how much she would like to do that very thing. Are you going to work on that book you were talking about with Charlie?”

“Maybe. Seems I’ve got a lot of family things going on right now. I need for life to settle down a bit. Then I can get to work.”

“I’ll give you a call when I hear anything. Oh, did you see that girl reporter last night? She was hot on the trail of a story, looking for a cover-up and political malfeasance. She’s a nice girl.” George sighed. “Her mother was one of my favorite students when I was still in the classroom. Seems like just yesterday.”

“I did see her. She was wearing a trench coat and carrying a little memo pad?”

“Yeah. I hear she’s got the front page byline of the student newspaper whenever she wants it.”

“Interesting. Well, I’ll be looking forward to seeing what she comes up with. Good luck, George.”

Cody Dial knocked on the door in time to help him move the dining room table out to the shed.

“I had a feeling things were going this way when I saw how happy he was last night.”

“He told you I said he could stay here?”

Cody nodded. “I thought I would help you move some furniture.” They looked into the garage, and both shook their heads over the clothes scattered across the floor and dripping off the bed.

“Kim said we could move those art supplies out, and put a bed and desk in that corner for Billy.”

Cody nodded. “That would work. You tell Billy a fair price for rent, and make sure you collect. I don’t want him to get the idea he can sleep somewhere for free. He’s got scholarship money.” He looked around again. “I’ll run out, get a bed and a desk. Maybe a little dresser for his clothes. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“I’ll go with you if I can. I need to pick up a second desk for Gabriel. I’m going to set us up an office in the dining room.”

“Gabriel has a couple of kids?”

“Yeah. A girl, eight, and a son who’s fourteen. You met him last night.”

“Boy’s got a big chip on his shoulder.”

“Yes, he does.”

They climbed into Cody’s pickup truck, and John saw a black sedan with dark windows turn the corner and drive slowly down his street as they were pulling out of the driveway. His heart seized up a bit, his stomach filling with ice. It looked like a government vehicle. Was the inspector general coming to read charges against him? He could be arrested, pending reinstatement on active duty and court-martial. John couldn’t believe this was actually a possibility. What was worse, he felt shaky and weak, like his foundations were crumbling. If he wasn’t General Mitchel, he didn’t know who he was. He thought about what Martha had said to him about burning his life to the ground. It felt like she might get her wish.

Chapter 18

C
ODY
D
IAL
was as helpless as John was in a furniture store, or maybe more, if that was possible. They stared around at desks made out of glass and metal and old-fashioned cherry wood and antique look-alikes. John threw up his hands. “We’ve got Kim and Billy and
we’re
trying to decorate? Why don’t I give them a thousand bucks and let them go shopping?” He looked at a few more price tags. “Maybe fifteen hundred bucks.”

“I can throw Billy some spending money.” Cody spotted the kid’s quilts and blankets, bought Billy a quilt covered with little horses and boots and cowboy hats. It looked like a bedspread for a five-year-old who had just decided he wanted to be a cowboy when he grew up. It came with a little rug shaped like a cowboy boot. “Trust me, he’ll love it. You haven’t seen his collection of boots. Billy looks at cowboys and sees style. I look at cowboys and see hard work that needs to be done.”

“I’ll keep an eye on things if you need to get home.”

Cody sighed. “I’m getting a bit itchy being in the city. Seems the city is full of people who talk before they think just to fill up the quiet.” He looked over at John. “Present company excepted. You and Gabriel come on up and ride, you get a notion to spend some time on a horse.”

“Thank you, maybe we will. Gabriel would fly his little helicopter up to Cheyenne at the drop of a hat.”

“What did he fly in the army?”

“Apache attack helo. AH-64.”

“That the one with the big rocket launcher?”

“You bet.”

“He looks like a man who would not hesitate to pull the trigger, he’s got an enemy lined up in his sights. I’m the same way myself.”

Cody dropped the bedspread and rug in the garage, went off to find Billy and say good-bye. Kim was at Ho Ho’s doing the prep. They’d stayed late the night before, cleaning up from the show. The front windows looked cleaner than John had ever seen them. Kim brought him a pot of tea. “You want some soup, Uncle John?”

He shook his head. “Could I talk you into buying furniture? Doing some decorating?”

Kim’s dark eyes went big. “The first thing we throw out is that ratty old couch and get something in leather, maybe cream-colored leather!”

“What’s wrong with the couch? The couch is fine. I was thinking about a couple of desks for me and Gabriel in the dining room, and furniture for Billy in the garage. We might have to make up rooms for the kids, like lavender walls for Martie? Or pink?”

“So you were thinking about a couple of beautiful and functional rooms, and leave the rest of the house looking like a barracks?” Kim shrugged. “Okay, okay, whatever you want. What’s the budget?”

“A thousand bucks?”

Kim burst out laughing. “Are we shopping at Goodwill?” He was giggling when he went back behind the serving counter, clutching John’s Visa card. John made a note to call Navy Federal Credit Union and tell them he was going to be making some big purchases.

John went out running, made a longer loop than usual, thinking about Gabriel. Gabriel voted yes, but he was leaving it up to him. Of course he was. He always had. But John understood clearly what he wanted. He thought maybe it was the first time Gabriel had ever asked him for anything, other than a shed to store his tools. And it felt like he was asking for the world.

What did John value most? Loyalty. Privacy. The privacy felt critical to him, like it was essential for his life to stay on an even keel, to keeping his balance in an off-balance world. But even more than that, he’d valued the quiet, private times with Gabriel though the years. They’d made a secret garden, filled with peace, and time out of world, and love. It was those times that he could feel in his mind, their warmth and brightness, like they held some light the rest of his life did not.

So there was no question what he was going to do. Gabriel had never asked him for anything, and it was inconceivable John would say no. But how? Did he need to be concerned about tactical advantage? One of the best lessons for the warrior-philosopher was to gather like-minded warriors to the cause so one was not fighting alone. George Fox was a warrior, though he was only now learning the difference between politics and leadership. Charlie Lathrop was still a question. Cody Dial? A warrior, no question, but he’d played his part and retired from the battle. The young student reporter? They would have to see what she did with the information she’d gathered. Kim and Billy? Beautiful, gentle souls. He thought of their art show, felt a warm bloom of affection for the kindness of their worldview.

Now, on to his personal war, his and Gabriel’s. Gabriel could be at risk as well from an IG investigation, but they would never go after him without going after the general first. John didn’t have a feeling for the mood at the IG. Sometimes they wanted to be seen to be very supportive and caring about the concerns of military spouses. Other times they took a hard line and protected their service members. No one would confuse this gambit as anything but the bitterness of a soon to be ex-spouse. Gabriel was going to research the current members of the IG’s office to see if there was anyone they knew. The thought of pulling some strings to keep himself from a personal scandal caused his stomach to twist into an ugly little knot. Who knew Martha had such a vindictive heart? By the time she calmed down, and decided to regret playing for revenge, it would be too late. Gabriel wouldn’t forgive this. Maybe she wouldn’t, either.

Out
. What would it be like to talk to a reporter, to talk about being gay and in the military? It seemed to be a betrayal, but was it really? Would the old boys who had always supported him still have supported him if they had known? Was he a different person, a stranger, the gay general, or was he the person he’d always seemed to be? And Gabriel voted yes. Maybe what he needed to do was go talk to one of his mentors, to one of the old men who had depended on him to solve their thorniest problems. Now he had a problem of his own, and he wondered what their advice would be.
Out
or in?

H
E
SENT
Gabriel an email with one word: YES. He called Kim, who was with Billy in a furniture store downtown. “Yo, Uncle J, what’s the credit limit on this thing? Twelve thousand?”

He was silent, waited him out.

“Okay, okay, just kidding. You’re going to be
amazed
!”

“I always am. Call your friend at
Out
and tell him I said yes.”

“Holy shit!” Kim was breathing into the phone. “I can’t believe it! I never thought you’d do it. Man, I owe Billy ten bucks!”

“I may be late. Keep your Uncle Horse-Lord company, and I better not come home to find a new couch in the living room.”

“So where are you going?”

John hung up the phone. He gave Charlie Lathrop a call. “You and I need to go see Governor Martinez today.” He listened to Charlie breathe.

“John, it’s more complicated than that. I can’t just demand she….”

“I speak to her today, or I speak to a reporter. Today.”

“Okay, John. I hear you. I’ve just been…. What’s your schedule look like?”

“I’ll be in Santa Fe at three,” John said.

“Did you hear? Prentiss Walker is down in Albuquerque. Seems he’s had to put Brian into the hospital for rehab. Word is alcohol, but it always is down there in cowboy country. My guess is he’s got some preacher in there praying over Brian so he’ll stop looking at boys.”

“I hadn’t heard.” He thought a moment. He hated to leave town with Prentiss Walker near his boys. Well, Gabriel could look out for them if a problem cropped up. “Okay, I’ll see you at your office at three.”

Governor Martinez was rushed, and had obviously carved some unplanned time out of her busy day to see them. She slowed down, though, when she started going through the updated report John slid across her desk. She read carefully, then looked up at Charlie. “Does the media have this?”

“Not that I know.”

“Maybe,” John said. They both looked at him. “A young student reporter attended the art show on Friday. She had some independent information about the two most recent assaults on students.” He paused. “I understand the student newspaper comes out tomorrow.”

“Charlie, how could this go on for so long?” The governor’s jaw was getting tight.

Charlie adjusted his suit coat. It looked to John like it was getting small across the shoulders. “We have no proof that would stand up in court, but the preponderance of evidence suggests that Simon Wainright was shielding Brian Walker from complaints made by these boys he was dating.”

“These boys he was hitting, you mean.” John looked steadily at Charlie. “Students he was sleeping with and hitting.”