Chapter 36 Chapter Thirty-Six

Twenty-five minutes later, Cole's car turned into a street.The houses here look old, but are well maintained.The porch is very spacious and the lawn is neat and beautiful.She parked the car in the driveway in front of an asymmetrical sloping roof.The walls of the small building are gray, and the yard is surrounded by a white picket fence. The surrounding scenery is beautiful and pleasant.It looked more New England than West Virginia. Puller got out of the car, took out clean clothes from the trunk, and caught up with Cole in front of the door. "This is a nice place. How long have you lived here?"

"I grew up here." "Is it your parents' house?" "I bought it after they passed away." "Did they die at the same time?" "That's right." She seemed reluctant to make further clarifications. "It looked like a house on the rocky coast of Maine." "I know, that's why I like it so much." "Are you a girl with long pitched roofs?" "Maybe I'd like to be a girl like that." Pooler looked at the other homes on the block. "Your house is special here. Why?" "My dad was in the Navy for a while, so he saw the outside world very young. He loved the sea. He built this house himself."

Puller pushed the solid post of the porch. "He's so hands-on. He loves the sea so much, why does he come here?" "He was in the Army from West Virginia and came back home. I have a few calls to make. You can use the bathroom upstairs, towels and everything else you need." "thanks." He found the bathroom, turned on the shower, undressed and stood under the hot water.Five minutes later he dried himself off, got dressed and walked out of the bathroom.He bumps into Cole walking down the corridor in his plush bathrobe. "God, you finished washing so quickly?" she asked, looking up at him.Because she was barefoot, Puller was more than a head taller than her.

"You can't hang around when the soldiers are all there waiting to be washed. It just became a habit of mine over time." She said: "I can't do it as fast as you, but I will hurry up." "Since I'm done washing, you can use this bathroom." "No, my toiletries are all downstairs." "But your bedroom should be upstairs?" She snapped, "You don't need to know where my bedroom is, Puller." Puller stepped aside in front of her and looked over her shoulder into the distance. "Okay, can I have some water? Those who survived the explosion will be thirsty."

"There's bottled water in the fridge in the kitchen." "Just drink from the tap." "Our tap water doesn't work here. Drink from the bottle." Downstairs, he went into the kitchen and she into the bathroom.He heard the sound of rushing water, and imagined her standing under the shower to take a bath.He forbade himself to continue thinking.Work, at least his work, was never easy to mix with other things. It's like a galley on a ship: functional, clean and tidy, with no wasted space. Her sailor father clearly embodies the Navy's philosophy in running the family.

Both parents died at the same time.Must be some kind of accident, Puller thought.But Cole is clearly reluctant to talk about it, and it doesn't concern him. Puller opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of Deer Park mineral water.While drinking water, he admired the view of the backyard through the window.The lawn had been mowed, the flowers watered, and a small stone fountain was running.On the far side of the yard are white swings, a firepit for bonfires, and a wooden gazebo covered in purple vines with a barbecue grill underneath. The landscape was so peaceful, so soothing, it was not at all like the place he had imagined it would be for Sam Cole.He didn't know why he thought so.In fact he knew very little about this woman.

He pushed open the kitchen door and walked out onto the back porch, drinking mineral water as he went. He closed his eyes and thought about the tripwire.He didn't notice it at first, until Cole almost tripped over it.Then her calf hit the tripwire, not much, but enough.It stands to reason that they should be killed.There's just a slight delay between triggering the detonator and the explosion.Puller understands why. Maybe the device of the bomb detonator is not very good, and the sensitivity is relatively poor.Or the guy who planted the bomb thought that if you hit a trip wire, you'd be tripped by it.For two seconds you will be puzzled.Then you got up from the ground, just in time for the bomb to explode, and your head was blown to nowhere.

As a result alone, Puller did save his own life and Cole's.But he wasn't good enough, far from good enough. I'm not who I used to be.I'm much worse off than I used to be. After leaving the battlefield, your senses are dulled.You are half a beat behind when things happen. He had already expected such a moment when he left the battlefield.Still, it's hard to imagine that it would feel so vulnerable and helpless.The only way to solve this situation, in fact, is to return to the Middle East and fight a bloody way again in the raging flames of war. But I don't want to go back from the bottom of my heart.Six expeditions, with many bullets and bomb scars on his body, I can't remember how many times I almost lost my life.After everything I've been through, I don't want to go back.

Does that mean I'm a coward? Cole came out a few minutes later to find Pooler sitting on a backyard swing.Just now she was wearing slacks, a blouse, and a pair of flat shoes.Now Cole has changed into a light blue sleeveless sundress with a V-shaped neckline, and a pair of white sandals with a heel less than three centimeters high.Puller preferred her current attire to her loose casual attire. Cole came over and sat beside him on the swing, smoothing his skirt with his hands as he folded his legs.Her hair was still wet, and she smelled of jasmine and cloves.She leaned back on the swing chair and closed her eyes.

"Shouldn't we go?" Puller said. "I called Jen and said we were late," she said, rubbing her temples. "Did you tell her why you were late?" She opened her eyes and looked at him. "No, I don't see any reason to tell her about it." "I checked the registered mail at the post office." She stared at him and asked, "How did you check?" "Just a few questions." "Aren't you waiting for me to check?" "Sometimes, speed is everything. And sure enough, the post office is only three minutes away from my hotel."

Puller couldn't help smiling.Cole also responded with a smug smile. "Tell me what you found." "It was sent by a company in the soil testing business." "Why did Reynolds test the soil?" "I wish I knew the answer." "If the puppy didn't chew up and swallow that mail, it means the guys who came back to the scene and killed Larry Wellman took it. But, again, how did they know there would be Such an email?" Puller drank the water from the bottle and screwed the cap back on. "Like I said, they can deduce the existence of the mail in the same way we can. They realize that it was the postman who found the body. Why him? Unless he has a registered mail and needs someone to sign for it. ...that's the only reason the postman came to his house. So what's in the registered mail? They decided to come back and check. Don't know exactly what to find, but they thought it was worth the risk." "But how do they know we haven't found the mail yet?" "Maybe they'll be able to get some inside information," Puller said. "I can't believe there's someone in my police force who's doing something inside and out." "I'm not saying that's necessarily the case. I'm just saying that you have to factor in that possibility." "And what about the bomb just now?" "In fact I'd rather see it as a good sign." "Meaning you've upset some people, as the sheriff said?" "yes." "If there's any connection between this and the murder. You're pissing off Dickie and his big friend." "Do you really think they will retaliate by blowing me up?" "No, you may be right." She closed her eyes again, leaned her head on the back of the swing chair, rubbed her temples with her hands, and made a bitter look on her face. "I haven't asked how you're doing yet," Puller said softly. "I hit you hard. Are you okay? Concussion symptoms or something?" "I'm fine. You knocked me out of breath, but it's better than the other results." She opened her eyes, stroked Puller's forearm lightly with her fingertips, and didn't move her hand away. "And I haven't said thank you yet." “It was so dark. If there was sunlight on it, the trip wires would reflect light and people would usually be able to spot them. So the Taliban and al Qaeda guys were willing to bury the pressure plates and other detonators with earth.” "I didn't even see it." She leaned over and kissed Puller lightly on the cheek. "Thank you for saving my life, Puller." Puller turned to look at her.He felt tears glistening in her eyes, but Cole looked away before he could confirm. "this is nothing." Cole took his hand off his arm and stood up. "We gotta go. I'll drive. Leave your car here. We can drive my pick-up truck. I'm tired of driving that police car at the moment." Puller watched her take a few steps forward.Against the backdrop of the setting sun, Sam Cole looked glamorous in a sleeveless dress. Puller stayed there, admiring the beauty in front of him. Cole turned around. "Don't you want to move?" Puller stood up. "I am coming."