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That was a major turn-on.
“I’ll be your wingman anytime.” Zack lifted his hat off as if to take a bow, then placed it back on with a chuckle. “That was fun.”
“I invited her and Tracy to the barbecue.” We both walked toward the truck.
“You’re my favorite, you know that?” Zack grinned and slapped my shoulder.
“See, when you cook for me, good things happen. With your food and my charm, it’s a win-win.”
We raced toward his truck and headed for the highway. The trip to the airport was long, with my best friend running over any possible details from my first date with Sue.
“I still can’t believe you didn’t call that girl when you got back. She’s gorgeous.”
I slammed the truck door closed and held up a hand to stop traffic as we hurried across the road.
“My head space was compromised when I got home, but thanks to the safe house, I feel like I have a reason to be living again.”
“Well,” he turned after we spotted Frank, “it’s a good thing this is all working out, and look, our buddy is here.”
“Not a word.” I shoved a finger in his face.
“Hey, boys.” Frank shook our hands with his duffle bag over his shoulder. “Any word from Ray?”
“Not yet.” I knew Ray took Jimmy’s death the hardest. They had grown up together, but his sister assured me he just needed space. I disagreed but respected their wishes. “I’ll go over and check on him soon.”
“Good.” His smile changed to a happier one. There was a sense of peace having us all together. Almost like we could breathe again. “What’s new?”
“Well,” Zack gave me a smirk, “Daniel has a new girl.”
I turned around and punched him in the shoulder as Frank’s face lit up.
“Looks like we have a story for the road, boys.”
We took the winding back roads of Redstone almost to the top of the mountain before we veered off, taking a hidden road through the thick trees.
“Has anyone questioned the construction up here?” Frank was a numbers man. We’d been damn lucky to have him with us in Nam, as he could calculate impossible distances over sprawling terrain within a few yards. We would have blindly followed him anywhere.
“No.” I rolled down my window to get ready to demonstrate something. “We spread the word we’re doing construction for the Cuttingham family. They just made their first million in the green air industry. I know their son, Ken, well, and he even got their family to donate toward what we were doing.”
“Smart.” Frank seemed impressed as I slowed down.
“There will be three checkpoints, with armed soldiers, one starting here. You’ll have to show your ID to move on, and so on and so on. This will be the safest place to be.”
“Holy…” Frank moved to lean out his window as we approached the house. “That’s massive.”
“You have no idea.” Zack hit my shoulder with excitement.
After the tour of Shadows, which was almost finished, we took some beers out to the patio and looked over the lake, dreaming of what was to come with our newfound freedom.
We were going to pave a new path with the Army and change lives for the better.
Daniel
Barry Lake was cool, and the sun was hot, so it was the perfect place to gather to enjoy our day off. The construction of Shadows was hard work, and, despite the hired help provided by the Army, who used a heavy NDA clause, we all pitched in wherever we could.
I flipped the burgers and listened to Zack fill Frank in about how we are going to use the elements around us to train. Since the lake wasn’t overly busy, we were free to talk about the safehouse without a worry.
“We’ll use the mountains, the water, the helicopter, the woods, everything that each of us has a background in,” Zack went on. “We’ll all train as a team, one solid unit.”