He spotted Jim and grinned as he shouted across the terminal. “Yo, asshole, how ya doing?”
Jim laughed as he went to shake the man’s hand. “Asshole? That’s nice, considering I’m here to save you.”
“I know, and thank you.” Dunk pulled him in for a hug disguised as a chest bump. “I’m just celebrating my freedom as a civilian. I’ve saidsirenough for a lifetime, so I’m playing with all possible alternatives.”
Jim laughed again. “You look good.”
“You, my friend, look like shit on a stick. Knees hurting bad, huh?”
“I’ll live.”
Dunk got serious. “That doesn’t cut it, man. You can’t just live with the hand you’re dealt, you gotta livewell.” But then he grinned again. “You know, leaving the Teams doesn’t have to mean that your best days are over. That’s just a myth.”
Jim felt his hackles rise. “Yeah, well, I’m not ready to leave the Teams yet. This is just a break while the doctors figure out which operation will fix my shit for good.”
Dunk gave him a measured look. “We all leave, eventually. One way or another. I’m just saying it doesn’t have to suck. I finally did some of that traveling I’d always wanted to do. Paris, Berlin, London—you know, with time to look around and visit an art museum or two. Iceland rocked. Fjords of Norway—via cruise ship while I was still in the chair, and then again, camping. Saw the midnight sun and then the Northern Lights. Oh, andfuhhhkingEaster Island!Thatwas crazy.”
Jim nodded. “And Machu Picchu. I saw the pics you posted on the Team message board.”
“Like I said, I’m living well. I know you can’t quite let yourself believe it, but it’s been pretty great. And the camp’s been fun. And lucrative. Everyone and their little brother wants to pretend to be a SEAL. Glad young Thomas talked you into joining our merry band.”
“Yeah,” Jim said. “I’m not sureI’mglad yet. I’ll let you know. Oh, message from O’Donlon. He’s on the same flight as Thomas and Rio—into Tampa, arriving tonight. He’s going to rent a car, so no need to pick them up.”
“Thanks,” Dunk said. “That’s good to know. I’m going to text him, see if he can’t also shuttle a pair of campers who are prolly coming in on that same flight. And speaking of campers, I’m picking up the first arrivals right now. Three of ’em…”
Jim realized that Dunk had been holding a clipboard beneath one arm. It had a sign taped on the back sayingSEAL World. Dunk now held it up in front of him, and Jim stepped back a bit so as not to block it.
It would be interesting to see the kind of guys who would sign up for this type of boot camp session and…
Holy shit, the princess and her boy band had come out of the bathrooms, pointed straight at Dunk, and were now heading directly toward them.
Jim turned and looked behind them, but no, there was no car rental counter back there—just the terminal wall. They were definitely heading for Dunk and his sign.
The princess faltered slightly as she met Jim’s disbelieving eyes. Her own were wide and such a light shade of blue that they were practically crystal gray. She was almost ridiculously, strikingly beautiful—but if she’d appeared in a line-up of potential SEAL World campers, she’d be the dead-last person Jim would pick as someone willing to spend money on anything other than a trip to the mall. With the boy-band coming injustabove her.
“Uh-oh,” Dunk muttered.
“So… this is not typical?” Jim muttered back, just to confirm.
“Not even close,” Dunk muttered. “We’re inclusive, of course, and we occasionally get women, which is great, but I do like to have advance planning, because, well… Some campers aren’t as open to letting girls into their boys-only playtime. In fact, I’ve been thinking about offering a women-only class, but… We’re picking up what Ithoughtwere brothers. Clark and A. DeWitt. And someone else named… Ken Price.”
“Maybe the kids are Clark and A,” Jim offered, “and she’s just the incredibly hot nanny…?”
Oops, he’d said that a little too loud—she was close enough to have heard him, and her mouth tightened as her cheeks flushed. But she aimed a smile at Dunk as she asked, “Are you Senior Chief Duncan? I’m Ashley. DeWitt. Thelawyerfrom California….?”
The A stood for Ashley, and she was a lawyer, not a nanny. Jim knew that last piece of info was for him, even though she didn’t deign to look at him again.
In fact, she barely glanced in his direction, even after she’d introduced her brother Clark—the Spike-the-vampire wannabe—and his friend Kenneth-not-Ken-with-the-Colin-Firth-accent. Even when Dunk intro’d Jim as one of his new camp instructors, she only gave him the vaguest of polite smiles.
As they walked out into the brilliance of the day, heading to the parking lot, Ashley chatted easily with Dunk. It wasn’t until they got to the SEAL World van that Jim caught up and realized they were talking about the technology behind Dunk’s prosthetic, which was interesting. Most people either stared or ignored—he would’ve taken Ashley for a full-on ignorer.
Or maybeJimwas the one that she was going to ignore for the entire week.
***
A few short miles outside of Sarasota, the suburbs rapidly vanished, giving way to orange groves and fields of cattle.
And although the camp was well off the main road, the compound was far less rustic than Ashley had feared it would be. It was located at the site of an old RV park, and the participants were housed in a motley collection of ancient but well-kept trailers in all shapes and sizes. Some were streamlined and white, some were bubble-shaped and shiny silver, some were square and brightly colored. All were hooked up to water and electricity, but instead of being parked close together in tight rows, they were scattered throughout the sandy-soiled, pine-and-palm-treed campground, nestled in their own private patches of shade.
