hangin’?” barked the voice of Andy Carr, one of his Brothers from SEAL Team 3 in Coronado.
“I’m good. I’m good. That’s right. You’re detached now. Are you here?”
“Almost detached. Waiting for the paperwork. Hell yes, I’m here.”
“You bought a little place here,” Jason said into his cell. “How close are you to Sunset Beach?”
“Fuck you, Jason. That’s where I’m living, man.”
“I apologize then. I could have had you join me when I freed Thomas.”
Andy cleared his throat. “I was partly calling about that. So you did the deed, then?”
“Last night, at dusk.”
Neither man said anything for a few minutes. Jason watched a young, sunburned red-headed boy of about ten skim the flat surf on a boogie board strapped to his ankle.
“I’m sorry I missed it. But I’m glad you gave him a proper sendoff. Thanks for doing that.”
“Yup. It’s what we do.” He was surprised to experience a tear slipping down his cheek. He flicked it away with his thumb and forefinger.
“So where at Sunset are you staying? If I’d have had half a brain, I would have insisted you stay with us.”
“I’m slightly south. St. Pete’s.”
“Ah, man. You’re paying nosebleed rates. How long are you staying?”
“I was thinking about five, six days.”
“Well, that settles it. Bring all your gear and come on over. Don’t argue, ’cause Aimee will kick your butt. Just check out and come on. You’re like five, ten minutes away at high traffic.”
“I don’t want to impose.”
“God, Jason. I feel totally like a stoned teenager to have missed what you were doing. I probably even saw you walking down the beach, and it just never registered, man.”
“No worries. I knew you had a place nearby. It was cool the way it worked out. It was just him and me. Like it always was.” Jason decided to leave out his conversations with Thomas from inside the urn or the words of his ancestors. Andy would never understand things like this.
“You lie well, Jason. Now get your stuff, and Aimee and I will give you the grand tour. You probably got sick of hearing me talk about it.”
Jason chuckled.
“It’s right on the beach. Probably not as nice as Hawaii, but she and I make a pretty good team, and we’re thinking of making the arrangement permanent.”
“Thought you were going up to Little Creek.”
“I am. Team 4 is deployed right now, so I have a little time before we re-hook up.”
“Where is their theater?”
“Oh, it’s all over the place. They’ve been doing some stuff in South America and the Caribbean. Mexico. I’m hoping it will be a good fit. They lost their senior medic a year ago evacuating some embassy staff and friendlies in Venezuela. Everyone on that squad is new, so Kyle wants me to push it and grab that job. He’s tight with their LPO, Peterson.”
“Good. Well, it sounds like you’ve got a plan. I liked Aimee that one time I met her at the party.”
“Quit talking and get over here, Jason. I’ll start fixing lunch.”
The clerk at the front desk grilled him about his desire to check out early. “Did you find another place discounting their rooms? There’s a lot of that going on. I have authorization to match any deal they offered you.”
“No, sir. I ran into a buddy, and he won’t take no for an answer. I knew he was in the area, but he called me just now, and he’s insisting. Sorry, man.”
“Well, that I can’t match. But I will do this for you. I won’t charge you an early cancellation fee if you promise to give us a try next time you’re out here. How’s that?”
“More than fair. Done deal.”
Jason held the slip of paper he’d written the address on in his right hand, steering the Hummer with his left. In less than five minutes, he was slowly driving down a narrow alleyway over white sand and crushed shells. He saw Andy standing outside a garage door with a couple of beers in his hands.
The house had recently been painted a coral-red color with off-white trim. New windows had been installed on the second and third floors. A concrete mixer and some tools were propped against the other garage door. Bags of concrete were stacked several high.
Andy insisted on handing Jason a beer first, and then they hugged. He peered into the truck. “Where’s your stuff?”
“Just a duffel in the back. No firepower.”
“Really?”
“Oh, I’m packin’, just didn’t bring any of my long guns.” Jason was quick to correct Andy’s misconception. He didn’t