Walker (In the Company of Snipers #21) - Irish Winters Page 0,64
see it?”
Jumping to her feet, Persia scanned his tidy desk and easily located the missing lens. “I didn’t know you wore contacts,” she said, pointing her index finger to the tiny rounded, blue disk that, fortunately, wasn’t near any of those papers, but perched on the framed portrait of his family. Right below Kelsey’s smiling face. Wasn’t that a peculiar coincidence?
“Infection,” he grumbled, opening his pencil drawer and pulling out a small tube of contact cleaner. Or something. It must double as cleaner and moisturizer, she thought, as quickly as he spritzed a few drops of liquid between his index finger and thumb, then tilted back, blinked at the ceiling, and placed that puppy right back on his left eyeball. “Lexie came home with pink eye and I caught it.”
Ewww. Persia couldn’t watch the harsh way he handled that puffy red eyeball. Ouch. Her eyes hurt in sympathy. She could never wear contacts. Couldn’t stand to touch her eyeballs like that. Just no.
“Who has the ICC incarcerated this time, and what’s he or she accused of?”
Several ICC member countries had recently targeted US troops in Afghanistan, by name, claiming they’d committed genocide, when they’d bombed certain terrorist cells. Which was just plain hogwash, as her father would say. American troops were only in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at that current president’s request. He’d wanted assistance routing the latest swarm of infidels invading his country. The USA had complied. He’d asked for help, and that was what he’d received. If he’d wanted to play politics, he’d chosen poorly. Because the current United States president stood by his military. Every single time.
End of story, as far as Persia was concerned.
“Former SEAL, Lieutenant Walker Judge,” Alex answered, still blinking, but still keeping on. “Just got word today that he’s in the ICC’s detention unit. What do you know about him?”
A tiny voice whispered in a darkest corner of Persia’s mind. Walker Judge… Hmmm.
“Not much, other than what I’ve seen on the news, only you can’t trust anything coming from our media these days, so I’m still not sure what I know. A former Navy SEAL, Judge was tried and convicted a year ago, I believe. I was in South America at that time, so I’m not up to speed on all the details surrounding his crime or his trial. If I remember right, there was questionable doubt as to the validity of the prosecution’s evidence.” She wanted to ask. ‘Right?’ but didn’t dare.
Alex simply nodded.
Persia searched her mind for what else she knew on the subject, but honestly, that didn’t amount to much. “The buzz over at The Agency focused on the man Judge was accused of murdering, USN Commander Wallace Goff. Another agent in my office, a former SEAL, worked under Goff’s command.” Man, who had that special agent been? Think, Persia. Think! “His name will come to me later, and I’ll let you know who it was when it does. Anyway, I recall him saying Wallace Goff was a flaming jackass. He blamed Goff for his SEAL team’s increased attrition rate. He hated Goff’s guts, and said he was known for getting good men killed while he got his face in the Military Times.”
“Goff also wore a Trident.”
Okaaaaay, so he’d survived Hell Week and he was a SEAL, that was good to know. Big deal. How did that fit into this discussion about Walker? “Are you saying that Judge murdered his CO because of Goff’s leadership style?” Commanders had been fragged for less.
Instead of answering, Alex said, “Goff never saw battle. Not once.”
Persia cocked her head, trying to understand where he was going with this train of thought. But really, a SEAL who’d never seen battle? Not just any SEAL, but a commanding officer? How did that work? Was it even possible to achieve that high rank without filling the ‘armed conflict’ square during his pre-CO career?
Better question, what leadership style could any CO have had if he’d never fought alongside his men? But again, Persia opted for silence instead of opening her mouth and proving how little she knew about military mindsets. She was, after all, one of the few civilians working for Alex. Doc Fitz didn’t count because she ran the onsite TEAM clinic. Didn’t need to be former military for that. And Beckam’s wife, Camilla, was currently on extended family leave. No one was sure if she’d ever come back after the birth of their first child, so Persia didn’t include her, either.