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Wanting to wash before reporting to Colonel Price, Ethan moved cautiously down the cloud covered, night-shrouded hill toward the showers without a flashlight because a light invited death by sniper.
He wasn't worried about losing his way—he knew the layout of the ARVN ranger camp in the highlands near Kon Tum well enough that he could have gone anywhere inside its barbed-wire perimeter blindfolded.
Gunny's death had hit him hard. He hadn't realized how close he'd grown to the man.
They had been together for two tours and had taken trips to Saigon in addition to spending five days of R & R in Thailand, then Hong Kong the following year.
Two others had also died on the mission—Toski had been one. If Gunny was Ethan's father figure, Toski had been his adopted brother.
The loss of his Marine Corps family was agonizing enough, and he worried about what might happen to Tuyen if Ortega followed through with his threats. The best he could hope for was that the CIA agent was just a bad nightmare.
Ethan walked carefully down the hillside toward the showers, his flip-flops slapping against his heels. His arms and legs felt as if they were old rubber bands ready to break, and the weight of the submachine gun hanging from its strap around his naked shoulders felt much heavier than it was.
A pale, glistening demon moved toward him from the showers. When the man was close enough, Ethan recognized Ortega and bile climbed his throat in response.
"Bastard," he said hoarsely. With a surge of angry adrenalin, he lunged at the man.
Ortega easily sidestepped away, and a forty-five appeared in the CIA agent's hand. Ethan stumbled back, away from the weapon aimed at him. Ortega poked a finger at him; then in a loud voice, said, "You are getting what you deserve, man. Your fucking life is over. Traitor!" Grinning, he continued up the hill.
Dazed, Ethan watched Ortega's pale back vanish into the inky darkness. He didn't have the strength to follow, though he was tempted to use his Greaser on the bastard. The thirty rounds in the magazine would cut the man in two.
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§ “Running with the Enemy” was awarded an Honorable Mention in General Fiction at the 2103 San Francisco Book Festival
§ Discover a new world of Publishing–-the 2013 San Francisco Book Festival Event held on May 18 at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in SF.
