“That,” Renard said, “is also a place I once turned.”
Before Jake could decide if he wished to pursue the question, Renard redirected the conversation.
“You’ll have to forgive me,” he said.
“For what?” Jake asked.
“For having withheld the information I’m about to give you. I was instructed to do so.”
Anxiety rose in Jake’s chest.
“What is it?”
“A message from an old friend.”
“I don’t have any old friends,” Jake said. “If you don’t remember, I left an identity and a life behind a few months after I met you.”
“Not all of it,” Renard said. “Admiral John Brody remembers you, and he knows you’re still alive and have just helped him in his recent naval victory.”
“No kidding! Sweet! Can I see him when I get back?”
“I’m afraid not, at least not immediately. He’s soon to be launching a presidential campaign, and he can’t be seen associating with treasonous ghosts.”
“What did he say? You said he had a message.”
“He says thank you for turning your life around and helping him and your country. And it is your country, despite what you did with the Colorado. He’s trying to forgive you for the sailors lives he holds you responsible for taking, but whatever came over you, he’s sure there was a reason. When he can meet you with the assurance of secrecy, he would like to do so.”
“When’s that going to be?” Jake asked.
“I’m afraid that will be difficult to ascertain,” Renard said. “The man who holds the most power over your head in the states is also about to become Admiral Brody’s political enemy. You may have to wait until the Republican primary has ended before Brody could ask the favor of Rickets allowing the connection to you without exploiting it.”
“Rickets? He’s got the tact of a rhinoceros, but he wouldn’t screw John like that. It would be hitting below the belt.”
Renard looked out the window, the nearest terminal catching his gaze.
“Good men behave poorly when fighting over something they covet,” he said. “Best to avoid the temptation of letting them place you between them.”
From the first class cabin, Jake watched the lights of Taiwan recede into a glow over the horizon. He wondered about the spirits of the men around and below him who patrolled the air and sea, allowing himself a moment of pride in his service to them.
He reclined into a deep sleep, woke up in mid-flight for three hours during which he distracted himself with a movie before falling back asleep. Turbulence on the descent into Los Angeles International Airport shook him from a dream that escaped his memory upon awakening.
When he deplaned, he jogged toward the immigration booths, his thumbs stabilizing his backpack’s shoulder straps. He found short lines remaining from the prior international arriving flight, and when he reached the counter to present a fake passport and false story about a business trip, he felt vulnerable. But a smile and a stamp later, the agent dismissed him.
Skipping baggage claim to seek his next flight, he found easy passage through customs. But when he exited the doors to freedom from government controls, a visitor surprised him.
Dressed in open-toed Birkenstock shoes and a striped hemp pullover, his older brother Nick stood in the throng of passengers who paused in transit to collect their bags and chart their routes to their next gates.
Incredulous, Jake wrapped his arms around his lithe sibling’s shoulders and then released him.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “You couldn’t wait six more hours to see me?”
“There’s more to it than that.”
“I figured.”
“Pierre told me to meet you here, outside customs.”
“Ah, Pierre. That explains a lot. What’s this about?”
“He said he wanted me to make sure you went straight home after arriving in the states. I guess he didn’t like your hopping around airports the last time you were here.”
Jake thought of the incarcerated terrorist with whom he had sought counsel.
“I’m sure he didn’t,” he said. “I told him about who I visited on my travels, and I guess he didn’t want me going to the same places. He wants me to get home to Linda.”
“So do I,” Nick said. “But I want to talk to you first before we get home.”
“Sure, but wait until we’re at the gate,” Jake said. “We need to hurry to catch the next flight.”
After boarding the plane to Detroit minutes before crosscheck, Jake reclined in the first class chair beside his brother.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“I sense that you’ve grown recently,” Nick said.
“No shit. It doesn’t take a genius to make that general statement.”
“You listened to me, didn’t you?”
“About what?”
“About finding a new channel for your anger other than killing. You still have the anger, but you’re developing wisdom and peace to better contain it.”
Jake tested his brother’s conviction.
“What if I told you I killed more people in the last three days than in my entire life up to that point? Huh? What would you say to that smart ass?”
“I’d say you were lying. Some things I just know, and you crossed over an important line since I last saw you.”
“Yeah, okay,” Jake said. “You got me. So, what’s next on your agenda for dissecting me?”
“You need to find a new perspective on life and spend time working on your lingering anger.”
“Fine, Nick. I have to hand it to you. You’re making sense. You’re getting through to me. I think I can work on this, especially if I can keep Pierre and Rickets out of the picture for a while.”
Nick twisted in his seat, clasped his palms around Jake’s hand, and closed his eyes.
“Now? Aren’t you afraid of collapsing to the ground again?”
“No. Quiet please.”
Jake looked out the window and noted that the aircraft rolled away from the gate. Nick released his hands.
“Well, what did you find? Or feel, rather?”
“You’re not ready yet,” Nick said. “You’ve made a lot of progress, but you’re not quite there. And you need to hurry. I think Linda is pregnant.”
Jake’s body bristled, and he slipped into a warm bath of enthusiasm and anxiety.
“Linda’s pregnant? Did she tell you? Are you sure?”
“No. I doubt she knows yet. In fact, I’m sure she’s only beginning to suspect. I just noticed the life auras in her womb recently.”
“Don’t screw with me and get me excited about this because of your intuition and your sixth sense.”
“You don’t have to trust me,” Nick said. “Nature will take its course and prove me right soon enough. But assume that I am right, and then consider the changes you need to make, or at least continue making, in your character to be a father.”
“I’m already a stepfather.”
“This is different, and you know it.”
Jake knew it, despite his protestations. He pondered his brother’s advice in silence as the ascending plane pressed him against his seat.
Once at level altitude, he spoke over the humming engines.
“Okay. So, if I agree with everything you say, then I need to start taking my anger seriously. I think I can do that. I know I can. And if you’re wrong, then I’ve still done something I should be doing anyway.”
“Yes,” Nick said. “That’s a very constructive attitude about it.”
“Wait. Hold on,” Jake said. “You said auras in her womb, right?”
“More than one,” Nick said. “But they were overlapping and too amorphous to tell how many. Twins, triplets, I don’t know. There’s no guarantee that she’ll carry all of them to term, if any, and you have to be ready to deal with all the outcomes.”