Zanna tried to slide the bangle over her wrist, but it wouldn’t go over the wide part of her hand.
“Don’t worry,” Raul said. “There’s a solution to that.” He removed a piece of card in the lid of the box to reveal a tiny screwdriver. “Let me show you.” He unscrewed the two real screw heads and the bangle came apart in two c-shaped pieces.
Zanna offered him her wrist, but he put the pieces together and retightened the retaining screws.
“I shouldn’t be the one to do this,” he said. “The sales assistant told us there’s a coupla traditions that go with this bracelet. The first is, you should not buy it for yourself; it must come as a gift.”
“And the second?”
“That you should be ‘locked in’ by the person who loves you enough to have bought it.”
“From the look on your face, there’s a further tradition?”
“You’re never supposed to remove it . . . but you’re a civilian so I guess you can fulfill that one.”
Zanna moved the bracelet this way and that, admiring its elegant simplicity. Raul handed her the piece of card that had concealed the screwdriver. She unfolded it. and her breath caught as she held it for Raul to read. On it were five, short, Spanish words. ‘Gracias y lo siento. Ding’. The lump in Zanna’s throat was threatening to asphyxiate her.
Raul sucked his teeth. “He’s saying ‘Thank you, and I’m sorry’ . . . whoa, man.” Raul pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
Tears slid down Zanna’s cheeks. She ran her fingers around the bracelet and without looking up, she asked, “Where are they, Raul?”
“I don’t know.”
She raised her head.
“I honestly don’t know, Zee. He gave me the box for safe-keeping and said I was to give it to you if he ever texted me a certain word.” He lowered his voice. “I got that text this morning.”
Zanna’s stomach lurched.
Raul placed his hand on her arm. “Remember how you used to sit with him in the real early stages of his recovery?”
She nodded slowly.
“When you were—allegedly—filling out reports.”
With indignation, Zanna said that she, indeed, had been filling out reports.
“Yeah, well,” Raul said, flicking his tongue over his lips. “He used to watch you too.”
Zanna did a double take. “He did?”
Raul nodded. “He got why you did it too—used his room, that is. You knew no one would disturb you there. Probably the only place you could be guaranteed some peace and quiet, and nobody coming looking for you.” He rubbed his nose. “Don’t think you can ever creep up on a Scout Sniper, Zanna. He always knew you were there.” He tipped his head. “You, me—and probably Commander Gant when he had a moment—were the only ones to sit with him. He intimidated the hell outta Amanda, Abadie, and the others. They just did the necessaries and then left him alone.”
Zanna gave a rueful smile. “I never picked up the courage to actually really talk to him, though.”
Raul reached a hand to her. “Oh, you did. Your attitude and body language talked to him all the way through his rehab. You told him through it that you cared about him, that you liked him, that you wanted to be with him.”
“So, why didn’t he respond to any of that?”
Raul shook his head. “Cos he was scared of you.”
“I find that very hard to believe.”
“Seriously. You stood up to him. You never let him intimidate you.”
“He terrified me! He can be so cool, so calm . . . so damn cold.”
Raul paused to take out another cigarette. Once lit, he said, “Ya know, when you went to that funeral, he thought you paid for that airline seat upgrade.”
Zanna pursed her lips. “Why on earth would he think that?”
“For the worst possible reason, in his eyes, because you felt sorry for him.”
“I have never felt sorry—”
“Don’t worry—Doyle, was it?—put him right. Said he’d heard of wounded guys getting upgrades on flights, hotel rooms, car hire, and stuff. I guess it’s Corporate America’s way of saying, ‘thank you’.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “He said you were—”
“Wait a minute. You mean you used to talk to him about me?”
Raul grinned. “He used to talk about you a lot, Zee.”
“Why didn’t he say something?”
“He didn’t think . . . .”
“He didn’t think, what? Oh, please don’t tell me he didn’t think I was interested in him.”
“Oh, no. He knew you wanted him. That’s the point. At first, he thought that was all you wanted. That’s what they all want from him. They only see the smile—and the body.”
Zanna snorted. “That is a refreshingly bizarre role reversal. A man who wants more than just casual sex, and is offended that a woman should only want it from him.”
Raul considered her for a moment and then took a deep breath. “He thought you deserved someone better than him, Zanna.”
“There isn’t anyone better than him. Doesn't he realize how—” She laughed through her tears. “I was going to say, how special he is.”
“Oh, he knows he’s special, all right, but not in the way you mean. And it looks like the feeling’s mutual, judging by that present.” He stubbed out his cigarette. “He tried to make you hate him.”
“It nearly worked, but every so often, I’d see that little chink of light in his soul.”
“He thought you were only going to be around for a few months, then he’d never see you again, but he said he came close to cracking that day in the pool—after you told him about Angel—when you saw the brand.”
Zanna slapped her forehead. “I knew it! Why didn’t I do something?”
“Maybe you should have. He was never going to. He thought you and Myler were getting it on.”
“Myler? He’s married!”
“Yeah, and every time he saw you two, you were fooling around.” He paused. “Then there was that time you met him and Mace out on the trails.”
Zanna cringed at the memory. She had gone for a test drive with Myler in his old Jeep Wrangler, prior to buying it from him. He thought she’d enjoy something with off-road capability and they’d been having a fun time driving on a hilly dirt track. They had come across Rivera and Mason running along one of the trails, in their seemingly never-ending quest to become the fittest Marines on the planet. They were in full battle rattle; carrying rifles and laden with large, heavy rucks. Zanna had asked playfully if she could offer them a ride.
Rivera glanced at Myler and answered. “No, thank you, ma’am. We’re in the middle of a training session, right now.”
Zanna screwed up her face. “He thought I was mocking him, didn’t he? Rubbing his nose in it that I was with an officer.”
Raul shrugged. “I told him that’s just the way you are. You’re the same around Gant and Myler as you are around me and all the other enlisted personnel. You don’t put people in boxes. You accept people for who they are not what they are, but he wasn’t gonna move in on officer territory.”
“So, why has he made a move now?” Zanna traced the words inside the bangle. “Oh, my god, he’s saying ‘Goodbye’, isn’t he? Wherever he’s gone, and whatever he’s gone to do, there’s a chance he’s not coming back from it.”
“Whenever those guys deploy, there’s a chance they won’t come back. They know it. They accept it. It’s who they—who he is, Zanna.”
There it is again!
“They’re on very short notice to deploy. Could you live with that? Knowing that if he got up in the night to go to the head—bathroom—there was a chance he wouldn’t come back to bed . . . ever?”
“Are bathrooms that dangerous in Southern California?”
Raul shook his head, grinning. “He likes your dry humor, too. He loved all those routines you devised for him. Though, he did think that maybe you didn’t push him hard enough.”
/> “Hah, he didn’t need anyone to push him. He was his own worst nightmare of a Drill Instructor.”
Raul looked down at the ground, and then sheepishly back up at Zanna. “You know all those times you thought I was spaced out?”
“I was seriously concerned you’d started to take drugs.”
“Closest I’ve ever come to it.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I was hitting the Red Bull damn hard.”
“Did you have a personal problem at the time?”
He chuckled, “Kinda, yeah. I was buddying Rivera in the Wet Room, sometimes till two or three in the morning. Man, he couldn’t get enough of the exercise pool and the length pool. He’s used to going without sleep. Me, I like my seven hours a night now. When he wasn’t in the pool, he was on the treadmill. When he wasn’t on the treadmill, he was on the weight bench.”
“Why didn’t he tell me? I’d have buddied him too.”
“No offense, but you wudda never stayed awake. I struggled—and failed—sometimes.”
Zanna cocked her head. “Was that why Angel was so tired sometimes too?”
“Yeah, Rivera was pushing him like he pushed himself.”
“Suppose either of them had gotten into trouble in the water?”
“There was always someone with them, but Ding and Angel know how to deal with that sort of thing. They’re trained in open water survival and rescue. They were never going to suffer an SWB.”
“A what?”
“Shallow Water Blackout. It’s caused by lack of oxygen in the brain. People hyperventilate before going under, thinking it increases lung capacity. It doesn’t, it depletes your blood of CO2 and the brain just doesn’t tell you to breathe. You blackout and sink. Drowning isn’t always as unpleasant as people think,” he said, with a wry smile.
“No one’s ever told me about that. Thanks, Raul.”
“My pleasure, ma’am. Basic Navy training.”
“And Commander Gant condoned this late night activity?”
Raul examined the grain on the table.
“Oh, please tell me you weren’t going behind his back?”
“That would have been foolhardy.”
“Flipping heck, you’re telling me he was one of those in there with them!” No wonder he looks so damn fit!
“I’m not telling you anything.”
Zanna smiled. “He can speak without saying a word.”
Raul’s head snapped up. “Where did you hear that?”
“Commander Gant said it in reference to Rivera.”
“Just that bit?”
“Yes. Why? There’s more?”
“It’s from the last line of the Recon Creed: ‘A Reconnaissance Marine can speak without saying a word and achieve what others can only imagine.’”
“There’s a strong bond between Rivera and Angel, isn’t there?”
“There’s a strong bond between all the team. They care about one another if they get injured.”
“You know that’s not what I meant.”
Raul ran his hand over his chin while watching Zanna. “Angel has been a mentor to Rivera ever since Rivera enlisted and they’ve been best friends for years—more so since Angel’s wife died.”
“Amanda told me about that. So sad.”
“After Estela passed away, Rivera became Angel’s rock for a while. Then Angel met Amanda . . . and you met Rivera.”
They both laughed, then Raul fell serious once more. “They’re always there for each other; no questions asked.”
Zanna’s eyes widened. “I think I understand the significance of the Purple Heart gift now.”
“I was sure you would. You’re a smart girl.”
She cradled the medal in her hands. “I love it, but I’ll return it to him . . . when he gets back.”
He squeezed her arm.
“I’ll treasure the grand gesture, but as it’s his only one, he’s going to need it when he wears his dress blue alphas.”
Raul sat back, took his chin in hand and nodded wisely. “Chu da gurl.”
She wagged a finger at him. “And one day, Petty Officer Garcia, I’m going to get you so drunk, you will tell me all about your time as a Recon Marine.”
36
The pervading odor of coriander coming from the bag over Amanda’s head added to the confusion of events. She’d been bustled into the back of an SUV and her heart rate, despite having slowed somewhat, was still above normal and she was shaking now the adrenaline rush was leaving her system. Despite waves of nausea, tips from the kidnap and hostage survival course she’d been required to attend prior to her first visit came flooding back. Tips she’d never envisaged needing to use but which the instructors had been at pains to instill. Have we been separated? She called out to Washington, but the reply she received came in the form of a slap and an order to ‘be quiet’ from the man sitting next to Amanda. How long had they driven? Several hours was the best guess she could come up with. It was light when they started. It was dark now. In which direction were they traveling? She had no idea. However, the pressure changes in her ears told her they were climbing and it had become noticeably colder.
The vehicle came to an abrupt halt. Amid harsh words in an alien tongue, rough hands groped at Amanda and dragged her from the vehicle. A second vehicle pulled up alongside. Her hood was yanked off. Darkness had fully descended and she shivered in the freezing air. By the moonlight, she could make out some low-roofed buildings. Washington was standing next to her; her hood also removed. The curt head shake told Amanda to keep her mouth shut.
Two men led Washington away. Another man gripped Amanda’s arm. She tried to shake him off, but he dug his fingers deep into her arm and dragged her toward one of the mud-walled huts.
Oh, dear god, no! Amanda struggled against the man and he slapped her across the face with his free hand. He pulled open the door and shoved her inside. Amanda tripped on the uneven ground and fell. She curled into a tight ball and prayed whatever he was about to do would soon be over. The door squeaked shut, cutting off the man’s cackling. Amanda’s calf muscles started to cramp and she stretched out her legs to relieve the pain and dared to sit up. A rush of relief at being unmolested coursed through her. Will he come back? That thought brought on waves of nausea and a bout of dry-heaving. The sparse light shining through a hole in the back wall cast eerie shadows around the virtually empty, one-room space. A rolled-up mattress with a pile of blankets lying on top occupied one corner. Her teeth chattered and she shook, so she unrolled the mattress and placed a blanket on top of it. She took another couple of blankets, wrapped herself in them and paced the small room. Her mind kept replaying the cold-blooded killing of the injured Marine. What have they done with the other one? He seemed prepared to die and I kept him alive. That look on his face when they led him away. Her thoughts turned to Angel. What if he’d been providing their protection? What if he had been there? He might have been killed along with the others.
Honor Courage Commitment Page 30