A hand shook him, and for a brief moment, Stone thought he was back on the chopper. He could almost hear the familiar
Except it wasn’t there, and he wasn’t on a chopper. He was on a trans-Pacific airliner heading toward Manila.
And the hand belonged to Wren. “Bad dream?” Her voice was quiet. Her eyes conveyed her worry.
Stone blinked, and was relieved that he hadn’t woken up with wet eyes. That happened, sometimes, when the nightmares took him back. Especially when it came to the delivery of flags to wives and mothers and girlfriends, the 21-gun salutes. The first shovel of dirt and the snapped salutes. Nancy’s wife, crying silently, stoically, as his casket was lowered into the dark hole. Blake’s girlfriend sitting at his bedside for three months as he recuperated from the slug through the lung.
“Yeah,” Stone mumbled, his voice gruffer than it needed to be. “Something like that.”
“Talk about it?” Wren’s hand drifted over to rest on top of his. Apparently she’d switched spots with Jimmy, who had been sitting next to Stone when the flight started.
Stone stared at her small, dark hand touching his lighter, bigger one. “Nothing to talk about. Just a bad dream.”
“Dream, or memory?”
“Same thing, most of the time.”
“But you won’t talk about it?”
Stone felt a rush of irritation. “You’re really pushing this, aren’t you? No, I’m not talking about it. It’s nothing you need to hear.”
“Does it have anything to do with why you’re so against this trip?”
Stone took several deep breaths. “Yeah, I guess it does. But we’re here, and I’ve said my piece. Just…do me a favor, okay?”
“Anything.” Her hand tightened around his.
“Never go anywhere alone while we’re in Manila. Always go in a group, and don’t ever wander away from where you’re supposed to be. No exploring.”
“Why?”
“Manila’s a dangerous place. What we’re going there to do? A bunch of white girls traipsing around the red- light district? It’s like handing ya’ll up on a silver platter.”
“I’m not white.”
Stone couldn’t help the smirk. “No you’re not, I guess. What are you, then?”
Wren shrugged, but he could tell she was trying hard to affect nonchalance. “I don’t know. I was adopted. My adoptive parents think I’m Filipino, though. They’re not sure, because my adoption was closed.”
Stone examined her features, nodding. “I think they’re right.”
“That’s why I needed to go on this trip. I want to know my heritage.”
“Understandable.”
Wren was silent for awhile, lost in thought. Eventually, she glanced at Stone. “What about you? What’s your background?”
Stone shrugged. “All-American good ol’ boy. Grew up in Virginia, near Arlington. My dad’s an Admiral in the Navy. Spent most of my life on the base with the other Navy brats. Joined the Navy at seventeen.”
“What about your mom?”
He stared out the window at the rippling field of ocean waves growing larger as the airliner made its descent. “She was a typical Navy wife. Not much to say. I’m not really close to my family.”
“Brothers or sisters?”
Stone shook his head. “Nope. Just me. I’ve got an uncle, my dad’s brother, but he’s a colonel in the Marines, stationed in Okinawa for the last twenty years. I’ve seen him twice in my life. Once at Christmas when I was eleven, and once when my unit passed through Oki.”
Wren shifted in her seat, clicked the buckle into place. “Why aren’t you close to your parents?”
Stone chuckled. “You ask a hell of a lot of questions, you know that?”
She ducked her head, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I’m just curious.”
“It’s fine, I guess.” He hated talking about himself. “My dad was never around. He was always on base, being important. When he was home, he was an asshole. Sorry, a jerk. I shouldn’t cuss, probably. My mom was always busy too, you know? Always off at fundraisers and brass-wives parties. I just…spent most of my childhood alone, fending for myself. I don’t have any reason to like them. I don’t hate my folks, I just…don’t care about them.”
Wren didn’t seem to know what to do with this information. “That’s…sad. I love my parents. They’re my best friends. I can’t imagine not…not caring whether I ever saw them or not.”
Stone shrugged. “It is what it is. I had my unit. They’re my family. I still talk to them a lot.”
Wren nodded. “I’ve never been on a plane before. Taking off was kind of fun, but this is…scary. What if we crash?” She fished her cross from beneath her shirt, rubbing it between her thumb and index finger.
“We won’t.” There was a soft bump, and Stone squeezed her hand. “See? We’re already down.”
“You’ve probably flown a lot, huh?”
He laughed at that. “Babe, you have no idea. Big old airliners like this are nothing. Try sitting in the back seat of an F-22 making a night landing on a carrier during a thunderstorm.
