He thought fast. Should he say China or San Francisco? “Yes, I come from China after long wait.”
“Your English is good. Your cousin here on Maui?”
“Oh, no. He is in Pearl City.”
“Yep, been there a time or two. On Oahu up above the big Navy base there. Cost a few bucks to fly over there, but you know that since you must have flown over here. You sure travel light.”
“Oh, left suitcase in locker at airport.”
The rig came to a stop. They had entered a small town with a lot of people up and on the streets already. It couldn’t be a half hour after sunrise.
“This is where I turn off. Going to see my new grandson. You have a good life there now, young man. You do that.”
Chun stepped down from the old truck and waved. Yes, he would. He certainly would have a good life. Now, all he had to do was take a bus to the airport. He could find that easily. He was going to Oahu and to Pearl City, where he did have a cousin.
Murdock could not remember feeling so miserable. He blinked open his eyes. It was almost light. Not really, but not dark either. In the misty changeover before the light had completely gobbled up the shards of darkness. He moved where he lay on the ground, and a stab of white-hot pain seared through his right shoulder.
What the hell?
Oh, yeah. Some bastard had shot him. He blinked back the pain and looked around. He was in the fringes of the brush near some good-sized pine trees. Ten feet across the forest floor he saw DeWitt looking out at the clearing.
“See anybody out there yet?” Murdock asked.
DeWitt came up with a start and turned and looked at Murdock. He stood and walked over to his unit commander.
“Hey, thought you were going into Daffy Duck land. Glad you’re back. We’re almost ready to start a sweep and see who we missed last night, if anybody.”
“If we missed any chinks last night they must be halfway to Guam by now. Wouldn’t you be?”
“Sure, but we have to make the sweep. Then if it’s cleared and safe, we’ll get in gear to find the hostages.”
“Right. Be with you in a shake.” He forgot and pushed with his right hand to sit up, and screeched in surprise and pain.
“Oh, damn.”
“You stay put, CO. I have enough men for this. You take it easy on that shoulder. Mahanani tells me it could be a bad one. So just sit and stay.”
“Like a good dog?”
“Whatever it takes. I’ll be back in about thirty. Follow us on your Motorola.”
DeWitt called the troops up and they worked the brush on the side of the clearing all the way around. In the thickest part of the brush and woods near the far end of the clearing, they found a well-worn trail that led away from the clearing. DeWitt and Ostercamp followed it. Fifty yards along on a small rise, they found a cabin that had been camouflaged so well they didn’t see it until they were within ten yards of it.
“The nuns who run the place?” DeWitt asked.
He called out, but had no response. Ostercamp opened the door slowly and DeWitt darted inside.
“Goddamn,” he bellowed.
Ostercamp charged through the door and stopped in a second. The two nuns in their simple habits sat at a plain wooden table they had probably made themselves. Food on the table and clean plates and silverware indicated they had not yet started their meal. Both had multiple bullet wounds in their chests.
“Bastards,” Ostercamp said.
“Leave them just the way they are,” DeWitt said. “We’ll let the civilian authorities take care of this part.”
They finished the sweep of the rest of the camp and the brush twenty yards deep on all sides in an hour. Their twelve Chinese prisoners were yelling and calling to them. Ching talked to them in Mandarin and told them that they were not going to be shot. They were POWs and would get taken care of soon.
DeWitt used the SATCOM and raised the Sea Knights on TAC Two.
“Yes, Red Hill, we know the area. Give us an LZ and we can be there in a half hour. A red flare would be nice.”
“You have a doctor with you?”
“Negative on the sawbones.”
“Roger that. We’ll see you soon.”
The last hour before sunrise, Governor Itashi couldn’t sleep. He paced back and forth in their small campsite under the tall trees and tried to think it through. They had heard nothing through the night. No more shooting, thank God. He stared upward. Before long, Vince would be working his way up through the brush to see what had happened at the campsite above.
He shook his head. It had been a nightmare. From what he knew about Sara, she must have been raped by the Chinese officer. That could have been the only way she could have surprised him enough to stab him, then shoot him. She was a remarkable woman. Just remarkable. So intelligent, so smart, so practical. He didn’t know what he would do without her on his staff.
As he thought about it, Sara stirred, then sat up. She saw him, and stood at once and walked over to him. She motioned to him, and they walked a dozen feet away from the camp and out of sight of the others.
“Tom, I just want to say how well you’re holding up. I think this trauma is about over for all of us.”
He caught her hands. “I admire you for what you must have done up there so you could rescue us. I’ll never forget it. You must have some reward.”
She looked up, her eyes twinkling in a soft smile. “As I remember, I have a rain check for a kiss.”
“Oh, yes, at least one.” He bent and kissed her lips tentatively. Then again with more seriousness. Her arms came around his neck and they kissed again, both of them breathing heavily. She pulled away. Her smile was broader now, as if some landmark had been reached.
They went back to the small clearing and the governor roused Vince.
“Hey, time to play spy,” Governor Itashi said.
Vince came up wide awake. “Damn, already light. I wanted to go up there a half hour ago. So, I go now but with a lot more care. I don’t want either side to shoot me full of holes.”
“Take it easy. Don’t get hurt.” The governor gave him the pistol. “If it’s all right for us to come up there, fire three quick shots.”
“I can do that.”
Vince took one more look at them, then pushed the pistol into his belt and worked through the brush up the hill.
It took him only ten minutes to scramble to within twenty feet of the clearing above. The camp looked deserted. Then he saw three soldiers of some kind come out of the brush on the far side and head toward the center. They were definitely not Chinese. He waited a moment longer. Four more men in cammies and floppy hats showed, and went into the same brushy area across from him. Some kind of a gathering place.
Vince wasn’t sure what to do. He’d never been in the Army. He wasn’t sure how the gunmen would react if he suddenly appeared. A call. Yeah. Might work. He waited until he saw another of the armed men, and called out in a loud baritone.
“Help. We need help over here.”
The military man said something into a lip mike near his mouth and ran toward where he had heard the sound.
Vince waited. The soldier came and waved his weapon at the area. “Who said that? Where are you?”
“Who are you?” Vince called. “You don’t look Chinese.”
As he said it twelve more men surged from the brush across the way and ran toward him.
“We’re American Navy SEALs,” the armed man said.
Vince frowned. Navy? Sure looked like Army. “You hunting somebody?”
“The governor and his staff. You part of it?”
A civilian ran up and came near the edge of the brush. It was Karl Tucker. Vince recognized him.