"Good," she says, and smiles over at him. Ross, meanwhile, shoves his phone into a pocket and stalks back toward them.

"Stevens was honorably discharged last year," he says, looking like he's sucking on a lemon. "Which isn't to say someone back home isn't using him to play both ends against the middle, but there's nothing official. I'll do more digging. The last thing we need is for this to turn out to be some kind of power play by the States."