Back in 1997 I met this guy named Peter Z. (withheld last name) at church. I was the new guy looking for girls to date, he and his wife were regulars at the church in question. It didn't take long for Pete and I to become friends, as "birds of a feather" tend to gravitate towards each other. He claimed he was in the Army as a 1st Lt. but resigned his commission after GWI. Now, I have no military background but have always had an interest in it and most people I've met said I looked the part regardless. Well, Pete and I wound up becoming good friends. We played paintball together, hung out together, he even gave me tips on how to "survive" Y2K if things went in the crapper. He was in his late 30s and in great shape and owned his own business as a corporate fitness trainer.
Fast forward to the fall of 2001. The attacks of September 11th hit and it wasn't too long after when Pete started disappearing. He no longer attended church and it was getting harder to hang out with him. My phone calls would go unanswered for days (he was always very prompt with details, even returning calls quickly) and when he did call back it was only for a minute or two. Conversations were short. Supposedly, he folded up his business and started working for a company as a traveling salesman, selling personalized pens, pencils, coffee mugs, etc.
A traveling salesman.
Anyway, whenever he'd call, it was always from airports (so he claimed), never from home. At one point I asked him point blank if he was an Air Marshal. He laughed and said he wasn't. That was pretty close to the last time I ever heard from him. That was late 2002.
I still wonder if he was called back to do some type of .gov work (spy? covert stuff?). What do you guys think?
(btw, I posted this in a GD thread but figured this forum might be more appropriate)