Marine One

I spoke loudly into the speakerphone, 'Tinny, Mike Nolan.'

'Hey, big shot. What's up?'

He knew what I needed him for. It was always the same thing. He found things, or found things out. He knew how to dig and to find information no one else could find. After a ten-year stint in the Marine Corps as an enlisted man, he got his private investigator's license. He did that for a couple of years, then worked as an investigator for the Baltimore District Attorney's Office. He ultimately moved up to chief investigator for that office. He'd somehow gotten sideways with them, just short of his retirement, which made his departure all the more puzzling. He never talked about it. He implied it had to do with race. He was black and the new DA was a white woman who apparently hated him. He did rub some people the wrong way and had a general distrust of authority, but mostly for those who had authority and didn't deserve it.

After his falling-out, he had moved to Washington, D.C., to set up his own private investigation firm. He now worked almost exclusively investigating criminal cases on the defense side and loved making life difficult for district attorneys, U.S. attorneys, and other arrogant government-employed assholes.

'Tinny, I need your help.'

'Hold on. Let me get in my car.' We could hear him disarming the alarm in his car-his prized black Corvette-opening the door, closing it behind him, then being enveloped in silence. 'All right. I'm in a big damn hurry so talk fast.'

'The government's already threatening criminal charges against WorldCopter, one of the families will probably hire an attorney who will sue them for infinity dollars, and I got all kinds of questions that need answering. I want you to help me answer them. There's nobody better. I want you to help me dig into everything, starting with the pilot.'

'The pilot?'

'The pilot. Collins. You've heard some people on the news talking about what a fabulous pilot he was; war hero. But I've got suspicions I need help with.'

'You're going to hang this on the pilot? In the middle of the biggest thunderstorm in the history of Maryland?'

'I'm not trying to hang it on anybody. I'm trying to keep from getting hung on. I'm chasing every fact down every rabbit hole, but I need people who can navigate down rabbit holes that I can't fit in. That's you.'

'I'm bigger than you, Nolan, not smaller.'

'Yeah. The metaphor broke down. You get the point though.'

'What do you want me to check out on this pilot?'

'Everything you can-medical records, fitness reports, his citations, everything. We've got to get them from the Pentagon, from family, wherever we can.'

'One Marine to another, Nolan, I can get those records out of the Pentagon. You know I can.'

I looked at Justin and Rachel, who were staring at me. I put up my hands. 'I don't want you doing anything illegal; this all has to be aboveboard.'

'Right. What else?'

'We should probably get together and talk about all the other things. I've got a to-do list that's taken on a life of its own. You've got to help me get some sleep, Tinny.'

'All right, Mike, let's do this. But there's one other thing. I don't think I told you about my new rate sheet.'

I just rolled my eyes. I saw this coming. 'A new rate sheet? You're killing me.'

'No. I wouldn't do that. And the new rates are effective today. I'll fax you a copy of the sheet this afternoon.'

'What are your new rates?'

'As of right now, they only apply to complex cases. I'll work the other cases into the new rates as the new cases come in, but unfortunately they're twice what I've charged up until just yesterday.'

'Come on, Tinny. Give me a break.'

'I'm giving you a break by getting involved in this. This thing has stink all over; you just can't smell it yet. You're too excited about being involved. I'm telling you, this thing's going to be ugly. When you're talking about the president being killed, his family, his wife, an American hero pilot, and a French helicopter company, the currents are going to be so deep and so swift, you'll get drowned in about a millisecond. And I'll be there to pull you out. I may have to triple my rates.'

'Just send me the rate sheet. I'll be in touch.'

'I'll send you that rate sheet right away. By the way, this pilot, Collins, what's his first name? What's his address?'

'You jumping right on this, Tinny?'

'If you think this guy's got something to do with the accident, somebody else is going to think that too. I'm sure the feds are already digging, but I'll beat them to it. I promise I'll get to something before they do. Something they might not even look for.'

'His name is Chuck Collins. His address is in Woodbridge, Virginia.'

'Charles? Okay. What's his wife's name?'

'Melissa. What difference does this make? You leave her out of this.'

'Not a chance, friend, not a chance. See ya.' And with that, his cell phone went dead.

I looked at Rachel and Justin, who were both still staring at the speakerphone. 'I hope that was the right decision.'

Rachel said, 'He's never failed us before. It's just sometimes his methods are a little sketchy.'

'I've got to make a call,' I said. They got the hint and left for their own offices. I dialed Britt's number at his office in Arlington, Virginia.

Britt was a Beltway bandit. His company lived off government contracts, mostly military. He worked for Bachman Aerospace, which was developing a series of light-helicopter UAVs-unmanned aerial vehicles. Drones. His division had developed a helicopter the size of a coffee table that had eight rotor blades, four rotating in one direction, and another four on top of the first four rotating in the opposite direction. Counterrotating blades. No tail rotor necessary. It ran on a small jet engine the size of my forearm and could fly 120 miles per hour after vertical takeoff. It carried all the sensors the Marine Corps wanted: video, infrared, and the newest radar system. Even weapons. The Marine Corps was hot to purchase this amazing little helicopter. Britt was in the middle of the contract proposal and had no time, but when he heard that the call was from me, he immediately picked up the phone. 'Nolan! What are you doing?'

'Thanks for taking my call, Jason, I know you're busy.'

'Never too busy for a fellow Marine.'

I wasn't sure how to approach him. I needed to gather everything I could on Collins, but I didn't want to make Britt think I was taking advantage of our friendship. 'How about Marine One?' I said casually.

Britt sighed. 'Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Can't believe they took off in that storm. You got any ideas?'

'Yeah, I got lots of ideas, but I should tell you what I'm doing.'

'What?'

'You remember I practice law in Annapolis?'

'Sure. From Marine pilot to parasite on the great American economy, keeping the world safe for felons and child molesters.'

'I'll remember that when you get arrested. Because I'm sure you wouldn't want to be represented by some parasite attorney.'

'True. I'd rather rot in prison than pay a cent to a lawyer. So what are you talking about?'

'I do civil cases too, not just criminal.'

'And?'

'I've been hired to represent WorldCopter in the crash of Marine One.'

'Are you shitting me? Talk about getting thrown into it.'

'Yeah, it's a pretty crazy time. So far it's just a bunch of investigations, but I'm sure the other shoe will drop at some point. It's the kind of case that you always want, until you're in it, then you wonder what happened to your life. Look, I need to ask you about something, but if you don't want to talk to me about it, that's okay. But I have to find some stuff out. Can you help me out?'

'What?'

'Collins.'

There was a pregnant pause as Britt suddenly got the point of my call. 'I wondered when somebody was going to start asking me about him. I didn't think it'd be you.'

'Anybody else asked you about him? Since the accident?'

'No.'

'Listen, if you don't want to talk to me, that's cool. A lot of this is going to get real official real fast, but I need to do some quick checking on Collins. What do you think?'

His voice warmed only slightly. 'I'm gonna be answering a lot of questions about him anyway.'

I picked up my pen and prepared to take silent notes. Witnesses clam up when they hear a keyboard. 'So, let's go back to the beginning.'

Once Britt got over the idea of talking about Collins, he began gushing information. He spent an hour talking with me. They had been in the same squadron more than once. He had observed Collins up close both as a peer and as a superior officer. Several things he said stuck with me. After telling me about a near accident Collins had been involved in, which wasn't his fault, he mentioned in passing that Collins read a lot.

I knew a lot of Marines who liked to read, contrary to their general reputation. Some of it was from the 'Marine officer reading list,' which was started by General Alfred M. Gray when he was the commandant of the Marine Corps. But this sounded different. 'Where did he read?'

'What do you mean?'

'How would you know he read a lot?'

'Because I saw him.'

'Where?'

'Ready room. Kept books in his chair in the ready room.'

'That's odd.'

'It was. Lots of guys were interested in politics, what was going on, Rush Limbaugh sort of books. You know.'

'But he was different?'