“You think he’s doing a good job?”
“Sure.”
“See anything that troubles you?”
“Let’s hear what’s eating you.”
“I think he may be in bed with Israel.”
“What? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Where does he go first when we need info? Israel. Where does he have a pal on the ‘inside’? Israel. Too many crosscurrents at work here. I don’t like it.”
Cunningham rolled his eyes but tried not to let Sami see. “You’re losing it. He’s the most quality guy we’ve got. He’s cool.”
“I don’t think so.” He accelerated hard and the four-cylinder engine strained to meet his demands as they merged onto the mostly deserted freeway. “Ever hear of Mega?”
“No. What is it?”
Sami didn’t answer.
17
Woods stood next to Big, anxious for the officer boat to touch shore at Piraeus. He knew they should be excited about a new port, liberty, all the things that were supposed to make his job fun. But it wasn’t like that. Other thoughts clouded his mind. Vialli, the XO and Brillo, and now Gator, whom he hardly knew.
“Aw shit, Trey,” Big said.
“What?” Woods replied.
“Look who’s standing on the pier.”
Woods looked at a woman who was carefully watching the officer boat approach the pier. “Who is she?” he asked.
“Gator’s wife,” Big replied. “She was at the Air Wing party before we left on cruise. Look at her,” Big said, studying her body language. “She hasn’t heard.”
“Oh, no,” Woods said. He checked the officer boat for anyone from Gator’s squadron. “I’m sure not going to tell her.”
“I’m not going to tell her,” Big said, searching desperately for some way to dump the unpleasant job on someone else. He spotted the Air Wing Maintenance Officer coming out onto the deck. “Greebs,” he said, calling to him. “Gator’s wife is on the pier. Someone’s got to tell her.”
Greebs looked at them both. “Not me,” he said. “Didn’t even know the man.”
The boat touched the pier as the coxswain reversed the engines to stop its forward progress.
Woods and Big watched in fascination as Gator’s wife smiled and waited anxiously for the officers to get off the boat. She had flown all the way from the States for this port call to see her husband for the first time in three months. She was wearing a silk blouse, tight white pants, and heels. Her freshly washed black hair glistened in the Greek sunshine. She had something in her hand that Woods couldn’t make out. “This has the makings of a disaster, Big,” Woods said.
A Petty Officer jumped off the bow onto the pier and tied the boat off. He hurried to the stern and tied off the other line. The coxswain killed the engine and the boat settled into its place next to the pier.
Woods and Big held back, hoping someone else would recognize Gator’s wife and beat them to the pier to take the poor woman aside. The officers streamed right by her and headed toward the waiting taxicabs fifty yards away at the head of the pier.
Finally, Woods and Big stepped ashore. “Hi,” Woods said to her. “I’m Sean Woods.” Big stood behind him, pretending to look for someone or something down the pier. “You remember Big,” he said. “I think you met at the Air Wing party.”
“Hi,” she replied. “I’m Susan Gomez—”
“Right, Gator’s wife.”
“Right.” She smiled. “Have you seen him? He promised he’d be on the very first O-boat ashore,” she said. “Is this it? Did I miss it?”
“No,” Woods said. “This is it.” Woods hated this. He wished he had just kept walking. “Let’s go over there for a minute,” he said, pointing down the pier away from the taxis and the activity. He put his sunglasses in his pocket and moved away slowly.
Susan followed, but with a growing sense of foreboding.
Finally, Woods stopped. Turning to her, he met her eyes. She was stunningly pretty, but her face was full of fear. She couldn’t speak.
Woods held her shoulders. “Last night, Gator was on the last recovery. He was on final approach, and got into a descent that he never pulled out of. His F-18 hit the water and he didn’t eject. He was killed, about ten o’clock. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but that’s why he’s not on the boat. Someone from his squadron should have been here to tell you, but they were trying to find you. I don’t think they knew how to get in touch with you.”
She stared at him with no comprehension, her mind refusing to accept what he had just said. “What?” she said finally.
“Gator’s dead,” he said. “His airplane went down.”
Woods put his arm around Susan’s shoulder. Susan’s thin body began to shake, as she fought back the truth that would change her life forever. Tears erupted from her eyes and ran down her cheeks. “Are you sure? Could there be some mistake?”
“No, they’re sure.”
“Where is he? Did they find his body?”
“No,” Woods replied. “They’re still looking for him. They’ll have people out there all day, looking for wreckage, trying to figure out what went wrong.”
She covered her eyes with her hand, her diamond wedding band glimmering in the sunshine. She shuddered. “I don’t know what to do,” she said. “He was…” She couldn’t finish.
At the pier, another officer boat was tying up. “Big, go see if there’s someone from Gator’s squadron on that boat.”
“Rog,” Big said. He hurried down the pier and waited for the officer boat to unload.
Woods reached for Susan and held her close to him. “I’m sorry,” Woods said. Her mouth pressed into his shoulder, muffling her sobs. He stroked her hair, trying to comfort her. He didn’t know what else to say or do.
Big came back with another officer in tow. “Susan, here’s the XO,” Big said, relieved.
Gator’s XO looked at the scene and knew he had blown it. He was the one who was supposed to tell Gator’s wife about her husband. He had taken the Chief’s word for it as to when the first O-boat would leave. He hadn’t anticipated a bunch of anxious officers talking the coxswain into going early. “Hello, Susan,” he began. “I’m sorry about Gator. We don’t—”
“Is he really dead?” she asked, searching his face for any glimmer of hope.
“I’m afraid so.”
“But you haven’t found his body. He might still be out there.”
“We saw his airplane hit the water, Susan. He didn’t even punch out.”
“Aren’t you still looking for him?”
“Yes, we are, but he isn’t alive. Maybe we’ll find his body, but probably not. Don’t get your hopes up because we’re out there looking for his body. Look,” he said, wanting to comfort her, but not having any idea how to, “I’d like you to come with me. I have a place arranged. There are some things we need to do.”
The XO turned to Woods and Big. “Thanks. I missed the first boat. I owe you one.”
Woods spoke. “You need us for anything else?”
“No. I’ve got it from here. Thanks for stepping in.”
“Sure,” Woods said.
The two of them watched Susan and the XO walk slowly down the pier in the beautiful sunshine.
“You did good, Trey,” Big said.
“We didn’t have any choice.”
Big hitched up his jeans and tucked in his shirt. “Oh yes we did. If I’d been by myself I’d have walked right by her. No doubt about it.”
“So now we set off to go get your flokati rugs.”
“Yeah,” Big replied. “But I don’t feel much like shopping. That sure took the fun out of the morning. Nothing like staring mortality in the face.”