Page 2 of Dan

Yakito stopped, looking around him, wondering if it was real or fake. He hadn’t felt an earthquake to spurn the tsunami, but it didn’t mean that there wasn’t one making its way on shore.

Across the street, he spotted the culprit and knew. Frowning, he slowly opened his robe. Dan had a split second to decide whether he should shoot or allow the man to do his damage.

It wasn’t that he minded killing him, but in Japan, guns weren’t a good thing. Even working with their local government and law enforcement, if he were caught, the people would scream for justice against him.

“Take the shot!” yelled his commander.

Dan stood at the pole, carefully lifting his sidearm. He steadied his hand, leveling his arm just as Yakito locked eyes. Yakito lifted the trigger cover that hid the button in his hand, and Dan fired.

In a split second, the bullet traveled across the street and straight through Yakito’s heart, forcing him to drop the detonator. By the time the team stood around him, Japanese police and military were crowding toward them. His commander looked up at the team, nodding his head at them.

“Time to run, boys. See you at the meet point.”

Dan knew that running wasn’t the option for him. His six-feet-six body running down the street would be spotted with ease. Instead, he casually walked down the alleyway, lifting the cover from the small moped. Switching his black baseball cap for an orange stocking cap and safety vest, he drove casually down the alley toward the next side street.

He didn’t panic. He didn’t attempt to make any sudden moves. He just slowly, cautiously wove his way through traffic, putting as much distance between himself and Yakita as he could.

Two hours later, they were sitting on the deck of the massive aircraft carrier that had been in port on the pretense of a joint military training operation.

“That was fucking close,” said Dan.

“Too close. Japanese authorities are blaming it on a terrorist group and giving credit for the takedown to one of their own. We’re okay with that,” said his commander.

“This is your last one, right, Dan?” asked Sutton.

“Yeah, man. It’s time for me. I’ve been beaten down enough, and my body is starting to feel it. I need to go home to my family and work for the family business.”

All eyes rested on him as he looked down at his feet. He didn’t speak much of his parents, but these men were as well-trained as he was, and they damn sure weren’t stupid.

“You’ve never said what the family business is,” said Profit, giving a gentle prod to his friend and teammate.

“No, I haven’t,” said Dan, casually looking out to sea.

“Listen, Robicheaux, we know that you have your reasons, but did you really believe we were all stupid enough to not know your last name? I mean, the Robicheaux Rangers are legends. When you mentioned your grandparents’ names, well, it didn’t take a genius to know who Wilson is.”

Dan stared at his teammates. They were waiting for a response, but he wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“I never meant to keep anything from you,” he said quietly. “You guys understand what it’s like. We don’t tell everyone who and what we are as Navy SEALs. Imagine what that’s like for my family. As you so eloquently pointed out, they’re legends.

“My grandfather, Wilson, was considered one of the best SEALs on a team that included legends who work beside him still. My paternal grandfather, as you said, is legendary in the Rangers. I didn’t want any special treatment, and I didn’t want to put my neck out there anymore than it already is.”

“You do have a long neck,” smirked Gardner. “We’re cool with it, brother. Maybe one day, we’ll be lucky enough to get out of here and put an application in. We’d appreciate a good word.”

“You know I will,” smiled Dan. “We’re always looking for new team members. There are a lot of tests to pass. Psych evals, competency tests, IQ, and the physical tests can be brutal, along with hand-to-hand. But, from what I hear, the team is busier than ever.”

“The world is more fucked up than ever,” frowned Gardner. “The military can’t keep this up forever. Coming in and saving other countries, spending our money, using our weapons. It just can’t continue.”

“I agree, which is why my family does what it does. At least we stopped Yakita, but there will be a dozen more to take his place,” said Dan.

“Did we ever hear why he was doing what he was doing?” asked Sutton.

“Something about hoping to tear out the infrastructure of the U.S. from the inside out,” said Dan. “I’m not sure what that means, but we’ve stopped him for now. Let’s hope we get a breather before the next one.”

“We get to breathe later,” smirked Sutton. “You’re on your way home.”

“I guess I am,” said Dan, nodding.

“You got a girl back home? I mean, you never really date that I can see, so I always figured that you had someone.”

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