Page 57 of True Valor
Cruz glanced at Gabe, his eyebrows drawntogether.“And why aren’t you at work?”
“Night training.Check your phone, Hollywood.We’re not due in until 4:30.Youwillbe there?”
“Well, since I’m not on leave like Batman,”Cruz nodded at Nic, “I guess I will be.You gonna eat?”
“No, I just came by to look in your car forsome papers I may have left in there.”
With that, Cruz tossed Gabe the keys and hefinished his tea in one slurp.Then, he left.In minutes he tossedthe keys back, from nearly across the room, and left again.
With the previous conversation summed up—theydidn’t know enough and didn’t have any proof of what they didknow—the rest of the meal was spent in idle chit chat.
As they walked out to the car, both Nic andCruz began beeping.In unison they reached for their pagers.It waslike a quick draw competition to see who could get it from the clipfastest.
“You’re on leave,” Cruz said as he fished hisphone out of his pocket and dialed.“This is Cruz, D’Onofrio iswith me, but he’s on leave.”He paused and they continued walking.“Yes.All right.I’ll be there in fifteen.”
Cruz slid his phone back into his pocket andpointed his keychain at his car.“Plane crash.At least onesurvivor hanging on the edge of a cliff just northeast of HalfDome.”
“Cool.”
As Julie watched, she again saw atransformation, like she had at the cabin.From Clark Kent toSuperman.This time, she saw it times two.
“Too bad you can’t go.”Cruz grinned atNic.
“Yeah, I’m really upset that I won’t get tospend the night clinging to the side of a mountain in the dead ofwinter.”
The words didn’t match the look on his face,though.And as they drove to the base, Cruz continued to rev upwhile Nic just became more and more quiet.
The quiet was a bit intimidating, but Juliespoke up anyway.“Can I ask a question?”
“Course,” Cruz replied.
“Pagers?Aren’t they way old technology?Idon’t think I’ve seen one since I was like three.”
“They may be old,” Nic said, “but they’rereliable.A huge percent of the places we go don’t have cellservice.Or it’s wicked bad cell service.So we use both.”
“Makes sense.”
Another long silence followed.
As the guard waved them through the gate, Nicasked, “Who’s going?”
“Me, Gabe and Clancy I guess.Luck of thedraw who goes down and who stays on the bird.Mac’s flying.”
“Good.Maybe they’ll let us listen in.”
There were no signs pointing the way to thePJ section on base.But once there, it was unmistakable.Not onlywas the building tagged with the PJ logo—a huge angel withoutstretched wings holding the globe in her hands—but the parkinglot was painted with Jolly Green Giant feet that led to the frontdoor.
A number of SUVs were scattered through theparking lot and two Harleys were parked just outside the frontdoor.Testosterone on display.In spades.
Julie thought she saw a fleeting shadow crossNic’s face as he walked inside.
Warm obscenities greeted Nic—until theynoticed Julie with him.He returned the reception with a one-fingersalute and a smile.
As they got further back in the building,Julie noticed the unmistakable smell of musty military gear.A mildrush of emotion filled her as she thought of her dad.
Gabe looked up from where he crouched on thefloor, his gear arrayed around him.He wore a one-piece flight suitthat fit him like a glove and his baseball cap was backwards.Hisnametag saidAngel.
“Hello again, Julie.”He smiled.Another guyapproached and deposited his gear nearby.“Julie, this is Will.Will, Julie.”
