“Talk to Sergeant Smithers again when we get stateside and we’ll set something up. He’s the best advocate you have for the lateral promotion, but I’m willing to be at the meeting if you want. Then you’ll still have to earn your promo points to get your E-5.” If Andrews made corporal he’d still be the same pay grade as he was now as a specialist, but he’d have more authority and bragging rights to use back home. Who knew, maybe it would be good for him. Or it might make him a bigger asshole.
She picked her pen back up, signaling an end to the conversation. “Anything else?”
“No. Thanks for your time, ma’am,” he added.
The show of respect didn’t ring true. “Good luck.”
With a final, tight nod, he turned and left the office.
Well that had certainly gone better than she’d anticipated when he’d first approached her. Honor heaved a sigh of relief and went back to her paperwork. When she was done she headed over to Tillman to see if Ace was there yet. They’d agreed to meet for a bite to eat before Ace had to be at a briefing. Probably about target locations the intelligence folks had flagged for further investigation on the suspects behind the base attack. Or so Honor hoped.
She found the Tillman Center busy as ever. People were playing video games and cards while snacking on the offerings from the food area. Chicken and waffles, pizza and salads and fruit. She grabbed a plate and sat down to wait for Ace, who showed up a few minutes later. The pretty pilot was tall, blonde and confident, so Honor wasn’t surprised to see several pairs of male eyes follow her as she made her way to the table.
Ace’s brown eyes warmed with affection as she reached Honor. “Hey. How’re you doing?” Ace sat in the chair across from her.
Honor shrugged. “Okay. Just weird that she’s gone.” She missed Erin like crazy already.
“Yeah. It was weird before, when she was on leave to recover from the bombing. Hard to believe she won’t be coming back at all this time.”
“I know.” The thought was depressing as hell, actually.
“You’ll be outta here in a couple days anyhow.”
She nodded. “For a while, at least. You’ve got what, another three months left?”
“Thirteen weeks, two days and seven hours left on this tour. Not that I’m counting or anything.”
Honor chuckled. “And Ryan?”
“He’s got leave scheduled a month or so after I go stateside, but he may not get it. With the OPTEMPO picking up here again, I’m betting it’s not too long before I’m back at work here.”
Honor swallowed a bite of chicken. “You planning to stay in for a while, then?” She knew Ace loved her job, loved the hunt.
“A couple more years at least, yeah. We’ll probably get married in the next year or so if we can swing it, and as long as command’s okay with that, I’ll likely do another year or two before I put my request in to get out and do something else. We want to have a family.”
That made her grin. “I just had an awesome image of Ryan holding twin daughters with a terrified look on his face.”
Ace laughed. “Payback, baby. He deserves it.” She helped herself to a strawberry from Honor’s plate. “Hey, I heard about the wounded Night Stalker today.”
From what she’d heard, only one had survived the crash. Honor set down her fork. “And?”
“Pilot named Blinski. There’s a good chance he’ll make it. But he’s burned pretty badly. He’s got a lot of surgeries to get through.”
Her appetite gone all of a sudden, Honor pushed her plate aside. “Any word on Liam?”
“No, but I can ask around.” She opened her mouth to say something else then broke into a smile as her gaze settled on something over Honor’s shoulder. “Or we could just ask them.”
Honor turned in her seat to find Cam Munro and Jackson Thatcher heading their way. Cam smiled and raised a hand, his dirty blond hair still wet from a recent shower. Dark-haired and slightly taller than Cam, Jackson followed a step behind him.
“I see you two are taking advantage of tonight’s fine dining menu,” Cam said with an easy smile as he straddled a chair beside Honor, Jackson taking the one beside Ace.
“It’s a nutritionist’s dream buffet,” she said, pushing her plate over so he and Jackson could help themselves to what she had. “Haven’t seen you guys around in a long time.”
“They’re keeping us busy,” Jackson replied, opting for one of the carrot sticks Honor had put on her plate to make herself feel less guilty about the rest of her meal.
“I talked to your lovely fiancée yesterday,” she said to Cam, who was engaged to Devon, an Army helicopter pilot who used to room with her, Ace and Maya, before being wounded in a crash a year and a half ago.
“Yeah, she said you’re heading back to JBLM in a couple days. She’s super excited to see you. Hope you like talking about wedding stuff,” he added in a dry voice.
“I love to talk weddings,” Honor answered. “Although I have to admit I’m dying to see her decked out in a wedding gown. When I first heard you guys were getting married, I was worried she’d walk down the aisle in a pair of jeans and a Seahawks jersey.”
Cam gave her a warm smile. “Whatever she wants. All she needs to do is tell me the time and place, and I’ll be there waiting.”
Ace blinked at him. “Okay, you seriously need to talk to Ryan for me.”
Cam arched a brow at her. “You guys getting hitched too?”
A light flush stained Ace’s cheeks. “Not yet, but when it happens, I want to plan everything myself.”
“Because you’re a total control freak,” Honor muttered.
She shrugged. “Well, can you imagine what would happen if Ryan was planning it? God only knows what he’d come up with for the reception. Some cheesy theme, I’ll bet.” She looked at Jackson. “Were you as chill about your wedding as this guy?” she asked, nodding at Cam.
“We eloped,” the dark-haired PJ responded, his deep brown eyes glinting with amusement as he bit into a chicken strip. “No planning required. I popped the question, she said yes. We got married barefoot on the beach in Kauai at sunset the next night, with only a JoP presiding and a couple celebrating their fiftieth anniversary to act as witnesses. It was perfect.” He whipped out his phone and pulled up some pictures, showing them to her and Ace.
In the photos Jackson wore khakis and a white button down shirt, while Maya had on a white and blue Hawaiian print dress that showed off her beautiful golden skin, and a bunch of white orchids nestled in her pinned-up dark hair. They were standing in profile to the camera, hands clasped at waist level as they gazed into each other’s eyes. Maya might be tough as nails and the last woman on earth to ever be accused of being mushy, but the love and adoration she felt for Jackson was captured beautifully in those pictures. It warmed Honor’s heart to see it.
“That’s so romantic,” she said with a sigh. “How is Maya these days? I haven’t heard from her in about a month.”
“She’s doing good. Getting all her stuff ready to submit to the FBI.”
Hard core, considering what she’d gone through during her captivity. “And I heard she’s getting one hell of a letter of recommendation to go along with her application,” Honor added with a satisfied grin.
Jackson smiled as he swallowed a bite of chicken. “The Secretary of Defense has been true to his word about backing her application, yes.”
“Good,” Ace said with a nod. “Least he can do after you guys saved his life.”
Jackson shrugged, as though his harrowing escape from a terrorist prison with Maya and the SecDef wasn’t a big deal. “Just did my job.”
And that’s why PJs were so freaking heroic, Honor thought with a fond grin.
“Either of you guys seen Liam in the last day or two?” Ace asked suddenly.
Both men looked at Ace and got real quiet, which told Honor everything she needed to know. From their reaction she knew for certain they’d been on that mission with Liam. It was possible that Liam had even flown them to and from the crash site.