Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN SEARCHING FOR SAMUEL
Captain Hale spoke to Samuel in San Francisco after passengers deplaned.
Not in a secret office.
Not with security guards.
At a quiet corner near the gate while Nora ate pretzels from an airport shop.
Hale sat opposite him.
“I need to tell you why Whitmore’s reaction bothered me.”
Samuel waited.
“Several years after Kandahar, there was a civil case involving component certification.”
“I remember something about that.”
“You were named in internal correspondence.”
Samuel frowned.
“As what?”
“A potential witness.”
That did not make sense.
“I never sued anyone.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Hale explained.
During litigation involving a supplier chain, Whitmore Aerospace’s attorneys identified service members whose statements might affect how equipment performance was described.
Samuel’s name appeared because his original military statement mentioned the failed restraint system during casualty movement.
Nothing illegal about identifying a witness.
The strange part came later.
A former Whitmore employee contacted federal investigators claiming company executives had wanted to know which wounded soldiers remained “reachable.”
Samuel’s name was on that list.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did anyone contact me?”
“Not that I’ve seen.”
Samuel rubbed his thumb against the top of his cane.
“Then why would Charles Whitmore recognize me twelve years later?”
Hale nodded.
“That’s my question.”
Nora returned with pretzels.
Conversation ended.
Hale wrote his number on a card and handed it to Samuel.
“If anyone contacts you about this, call counsel before you speak.”
Samuel gave him a tired look.
“I’m going to the ocean.”
“I know.”
“Tomorrow.”
“I’m not stopping you.”
“Good.”
Hale smiled faintly.
“You haven’t changed.”
Samuel looked at the cane.
“A few parts.”
May you like
That made Hale laugh.
Then he left.
