Chapter 6
SIX
PALLAS
The streets of Manila were normally just like any other city, but this time there was a strange kind of energy flowing around them as his team walked along toward the embassy. Well, part of his team.
They'd all arrived on the military transport but left the area in different vehicles in smaller groups. A group of four, two groups of three and two couples.
Pallas was in the first group to make their way to the embassy and as they exited the paid cab, they laughed at a shared joke, taking time to meet the eyes of some of the passing locals. Jammer even stopped to buy some fruit from a stand outside of a grocer.
The last thing they wanted to look like was a bunch of Marines ready for conflict.
They might be ready to defend themselves and the embassy, but they weren't advertising it to the curious people who watched them come and go on the street.
The guards at the gate made quick work of checking their identification as they were told to expect the team and Pallas was the last one inside of his group of three to feel the cool air of the embassy on his face.
Jammer unlocked the suitcase that he'd brought with him, and Arctic unpacked their uniforms and set them aside while Pallas started assembling their weapons.
The Marines on duty at the embassy greeted them with polite nods, but it was the civilians who worked in the embassy offices who looked at them with open curiosity and some with relief.
When one of the guards arrived to take Pallas to meet the Ambassador, the others gave him a knowing nod and watched him walk out of the office behind the guard. The briefing was about to begin.
KAWEHI
It had barely been more than twelve hours since she'd received the phone call from Dom, but Kawehi felt herself more than a little anxious.
Every time the door opened at the front of the bowling alley, she turned to look even though she knew that it wasn't going to be Dom coming in through the door.
It didn't matter.
She had to look.
Some of their regulars noticed the difference, but they'd been there through Nick's disappearance and didn't ask about her skittish behavior. They were a little quieter than normal, but she knew that was their way to help.
A group of tourists on vacation coming through the door just shy of midnight didn't help, but their playful banter and raucous laughter helped to take her mind off of where Dom was and what he was doing.
The group was from Wisconsin, and they were very well prepared with cow jokes that had her laughing along with them, not because she thought they were particularly funny, but she knew how good it was to make others feel comfortable and she'd had plenty of practice doing that.
However, it wasn't until their third game that she realized one of the men was openly flirting with her.
He'd come to the counter to get another pitcher of beer, but this time, he'd come by himself. As she turned around to pour the beer into the pitcher, she heard him clear his throat. "Do you work here every night?"
She smiled and answered without turning around. "Not every night. We do get a few days off here and there."
"Would you like to use one of those nights off coming out to dinner with me?"
Kawehi turned back around, with the pitcher held securely in her hands.
"Sorry. I have..." She paused, thinking about what she had.
Maile might have called Dom her boyfriend, but they hadn't really talked about what they were to each other.
Instead, she decided to go with her own feelings. "I have a boyfriend."
She put the pitcher down on the counter between them and he leaned in with his hands on the edge of the countertop.
"You had to think about that," he smiled at her, "are you sure?"
A little put on the spot, Kawehi looked up at him and nodded. She'd given them a label even though they hadn't had 'the talk,' but as soon as she'd said it out loud, she realized how much she meant it. "I know... Sorry. Things are new for us, but I'm very sure."
He shook his head and handed her a twenty and a five. "Looks like my vacation was a little too late."
She reached into her apron to make change, but he waved her off.
"Keep the change. It was worth it just to see you smile."
Kawehi relaxed in that moment and thanked him. "Good luck on the new game."
"Thanks." He picked up the pitcher of beer. "I'm going to need it. I suck at bowling."
As he walked away, Kawehi started to wipe down the back counter.
Her uncle cleared his throat and beckoned her into the kitchen with a crook of his finger.
He lifted his chin at her as he folded his arms across his chest. "You're smiling again."
She shrugged, but she knew that her uncle wasn't going to take that as an answer. "I'm feeling better."
He smiled at her, lines forming at the outside corners of his eyes. "Good. Good. I was worried about you earlier."
Kawehi tried to wave off his concern. "I'll be okay.
I think it just hit me hard, you know? Right here.
" She put her hand over her heart. "It meant a lot that he called me before he left.
I know he can't tell me more than he did, but it was nice to get a chance to say.
.." She swallowed at the knot that suddenly formed in her throat. "It was nice to say goodbye."
Her uncle walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her as she laid her cheek on his shoulder. "You're a good girl, Kawehi. If this man is worthy of you, he'll tell you these things. He won't let you wonder and worry."
She felt her uncle's reassuring embrace lifting her spirits again. "You're the best uncle ever."
Kawehi heard his laughter and smiled.
"I'm your only uncle!"
"You'd be the best no matter what," she reassured him.
He gave her a gentle pat on the back and released her with a gentle sigh. "You keep your chin up, girl. He'll be back soon."
She walked back out to the counter, smiling.
He'd come back and she'd be waiting.
PALLAS
Two days later, the shit hit the fan, and no, it didn't say Marine.
It said all kinds of nasty things, but they didn't speak the language. They were left to get translations from Marines working at the embassy and nothing was good.
They'd had their briefings on the protests from the ambassador herself, who'd explained that the citizens had been wound up by a planned visit from the US Secretary of State.
"Misinformation is running rampant. You'd be surprised how many people don't bother to read several accounts of news before taking one account as gospel."
Buck had spoken for the group when he'd told her. "Not really, Ma'am. We've heard our share of shit news. Sorry, my apologies."
The ambassador had laughed out loud and waved off Buck's horrified apology. "I appreciate your candor. It's hard to see people upset by news and viewpoints that have so little connection to reality, but it doesn't make things less worrisome or dangerous."
As they stood sentinel at the windows on the second floor, protecting the outer perimeter of the ambassador's office, they caught sight of a fire arcing through the air.
"Fire!"
Voices from the first floor reached them as the front doors of the embassy blew open and Marines rushed out to put out the fire. Buck and Pallas escorted the ambassador back into her offices. "Ma'am," Pallas gave her a pointed look, "are you ready to be evacuated to the base?"
She shook her head. "I know you're trying to be careful and proactive, but I'm not planning to leave. If we leave, that sends a message that I'm sure none of us want to deliver to the masses outside."
Pallas nodded.
He wasn't going to argue with the ambassador. He'd talk to Wolf when he'd gotten some rest. They'd talked Wolf into putting his head down for a few hours as he'd been on duty almost since they'd arrived in the Philippines.
"I know it's a lot to ask of all of you since you're here to protect us, but I need to project a strength here. I need to keep our presence here. The people need to know that we're not running when things get tough."
"You don't have to explain yourself, Ambassador." Pallas knew if it came down to it, the ambassador would go with them to the base to be evacuated if it came down to it. But they were also there to project that same strength to the local public.
They may have been fed a lot of misinformation, but their frustrations were real.
No one had been hurt, yet. But being hurt was always a possibility in their job. It was their service to their country that was the reason they were there at the embassy.
"I hope that by the time all is said and done here, neither of you will feel that your time has been wasted."
"No, ma'am."
"Absolutely not, ma'am."
She smiled at them both. "You're both good men.
Everyone serving here is wonderful. It's been a real honor to serve my country in this role, but as much as I imagined discovering about service as an ambassador for the United States, I've truly seen and discovered more in the last few days than I did in the last two years.
I'm more thankful to my staff than I ever thought was possible. "
She turned and looked at them both in turn, settling her gaze on Buck. "Does that make any sense?"
Buck nodded, almost smiling at her. "Yes, ma'am.
There have been a number of times when I've had to rely on the members of my team for my survival.
And while we've trained together to protect each other and complete our missions, you never know what you're really capable of until you're in the thick of it. "
She drew in a breath and let it out. "My husband and I have gone through something similar.
I know he thought I was crazy when I accepted the offer to become an ambassador.
We had a good life in Chicago before this and I know he was perfectly happy there, but once I decided what I was going to do about the job, he was all in.
He knew that offers like this don't come along all that often and he knew that I wanted to serve my country. "