Seven Days

ISBN: 0976355426

 

Lieutenant Colonel Victor Sexton had to go through with it. He realized it the moment he was handed the message from Rosetta Upton, the wife of his former Special Operations Commander and now senator. He was certain she was calling to make sure he’d keep the blind date that night with her niece. A mixture of dread and anticipation bounced through him.

Victor stuffed the message in his army fatigues front pocket. His thoughts scattered, he strode through the highly polished hallway of CID. Long, smooth, and confident strides carried him to the office of Captain Jose Benitez. The room was empty.

Since it was Friday and payday, Victor had dismissed a majority of the staff, a privilege he rarely allowed, but they had done exceptionally well on their last training exercise, therefore, they earned the day off. He was tough on his personnel, but the brand of military discipline and training he enforced could save lives: theirs and his.

Shifting his briefcase to his left hand, Victor pulled out the manila folder containing a copy of his discharge orders from underneath his right arm and placed it in the box on the desk marked In. Next week he would begin his life as Victor Sexton, civilian, not commander of the Criminal Investigation Division, which conducted criminal investigation ranging from deaths to fraud, on and off the military post.

“Attention!” Sergeant Jurarez bellowed.

“At ease,” Victor responded. “I hope you have a quiet night.”

“So do we, sir,” Private First Class Bone replied.

“Colonel Sexton.” Turning, Victor started at Sergeant James who met him before he left the building. “Sir, I’m glad I caught you,” he said. “I need your signature on some promotion orders.”

Victor nodded at the highly efficient soldier. “How many do we have?”

“Five sir.”

“I’m happy to sign the orders. I like it when we pin more rank on our men and women. It helps keep morale up. Anyone from your section?”

“Sergeant Vivian Givens sir. She made staff sergeant.”

“Outstanding,” Victor answered.

Victor quickly signed each document and returned the folder to Sergeant James.

“Thank you sir. Enjoy your weekend.”

“You do the same.”

Victor exited through the barracks doors and made his way to his black Pathfinder, throwing the briefcase onto the passenger seat. He turned the key in the ignition on and pulled out into the late-afternoon traffic.

To keep his mind occupied, he turned on the radio, and Najee’s smooth saxophone playing accompanied him. It was hard to believe that he let himself be persuaded into a blind date. “What was he thinking?” He should have just said thanks, but no thanks. It’s not as if it was part of his military obligation, but Rosetta talked him into it. It was too late to back out without looking unsympathetic.

Rosetta’s niece had arrived two months earlier from Frankfurt, Germany. If he believed the senator's wife had been the type to set him up, he would never have agreed to the blind date. Instead, he believed she was helping her niece be acclimated to the area.
Rosetta informed him she would make reservations at Cadence at eight under her name. Victor would meet his date there. Though his family owned and operated the club, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to meet his date at the club.

Indecision was a characteristic with which people who knew Victor would never associate him. His outstanding military career demonstrated this. Commissioned in 1987, through the Army ROTC program with a Bachelors Degree in International Affairs from Howard University, Washington, DC, and a Masters Degree in Business Management, he was a third-generation soldier. Neither his father nor grandfather came close to matching his outstanding military career. The walls in his office and home were covered with awards, plaques. His uniform held ribbons for service.

Victor took pride in putting his life on the line for what his country stood for, freedom and democracy. As for his accolades and his life on the line, they way Victor saw it, he was simply doing the job he was sworn in to do sixteen years ago. Before he was the commander of CID, he served fourteen years as a member of Special Operations, one of the most elite units in the world. He had represented the United States in numerous campaigns: Grenada, Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf where he was wounded. He was awarded a purple heart. His second for bravery during combat.

The truck eased in and out of the traffic forty-five minutes before Victor parked in front of the split-level house and surrounding acreage. Victor had moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland, two years after transferring from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He had passed the house with a for sale sign after visiting Major Raymond Hall, a former team member who currently worked at the Pentagon. Victor had stopped and copied down the Realtor’s telephone number.

A couple days later the agent set up an appointment to show him the house; two months later Victor closed.

Victor got out of the truck and approached the front door. Shifting the briefcase to his left hand, he put the key in the lock and activated it. When the door opened, he bent down to scoop up the mail. He entered the foyer then the living room.

Decorated in tan, the room possessed enough space to include the European wall unit and bar he had purchased on an assignment in Germany three years before. Standing six foot three, Victor needed space to move freely without bumping into furniture.

He maneuvered around the La-Z-Boy chair and dropped the keys and mail on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Tossing his briefcase on one of the cushions, he looked at the telephone a few feet away sitting on the end table, and then it rang. Victor walked over to the phone. Maybe it was Rosetta calling to tell him she’d found someone else to take her niece out.

“Hello.”

“It’s about time.” The woman’s voice said on the other end.

No such luck. It was his sister, Tonya Sims.