He folded the official page in half and tapped it twice on the desk.

“You’ve still got that practice bomb clearance at Sandbridge at nine tomorrow morning,” he reminded me.

“Kenneth and I will have the perimeter locked down by ten,” I said.

“See that you do,” he said.

“If you hit highway traffic and come in late, that lieutenant will use the clock to shut you out.”

I picked up the signed page and walked out to my truck.

At six thirty that evening the sun was sinking behind the tall pines in back of our house.