Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset (11 page)

I asked him how I could get that one spot.
He told me I’d have to compete for it and volunteer to be a grunt.
Well, being a pretty smart college kid, I aced the
enlistment-screening exam and maxed out the physical fitness test
that day. I got the slot and left for boot camp two days later.

Cal looked back at Brian and continued.

CAL
: I know
you’re thinking that by the time I got on that bus I regretted my
decision. Nope. It was the opposite. Every moment I grieved for my
parents, I also felt like I was doing SOMETHING. Enlisting in the
Marines was the best thing I could’ve done. The rest is
history.

BRIAN
: Holy
shit, Cal. I’m really sorry about your parents. I had no
idea.

CAL
: Yeah,
well, it’s not something I advertise. Look, Doc, I don’t regret
what I did then and I definitely don’t regret what I did to those
gang bangers. If you’re not cool with that, maybe you should
leave.

Now it was time for Brian to get angry.

BRIAN
: Who
do you think I am?! I’m not some pussy that gets sick over a little
bit of blood. I don’t give a shit that you killed those guys. They
deserved it. I wish you’d finished off the other two.

Brian stopped and took a deep calming
breath.

BRIAN
:
Look, I’m here to help, ok? You’ve gone through some really shitty
situations. I’m more concerned about you mentally than some dead
criminal.

CAL
(defensively): I’m fine. I know how to take care of
myself.

BRIAN
:
Yeah, right. I know you didn’t learn THAT in The Corps. We’re
brothers, remember? You’ve gotta be straight with me,
man!

Cal snapped his glare back at Brian.

CAL
: You
want me to tell you that my body aches all day because Jess is
dead?! You want me to tell you that half the day I wish I’d died
with her?! You want me to tell you that I want TO KILL those
motherfuckers over and over again?!

BRIAN
(yelling back): YES! You can’t keep that shit inside, man!
You’ve gotta let it out or it’ll eat you alive. You’ve seen some of
those boys that come back from the desert and just clam up. Most
turn into drunks or druggies. I don’t want that you happen to
you!

Cal stared at Brian panting from the
exertion. He finally laid back down and threw his hands to his face
and sobbed uncontrollably. The bottled up pain surfaced in full
force as Brian sat next to his friend and put a comforting hand on
Cal’s shoulder. The outpouring of emotion lasted for five minutes
until Cal finally collapsed unconscious.

Brian expertly checked his friend and made
sure Cal was ok. He just needed some well deserved rest. He stood
up and walked across the room, sat in a leather recliner and began
his vigil.

DANTE
: What
do you mean he left?

Dante listened to his cell phone as anger
raged on his face.

DANTE
: You
told me they had to tell you if they were gonna release
him.

More talking on the other end.

DANTE
: Did
you at least find out where they took him?

The answer he got was not what he
wanted.

DANTE
: Well
then I guess you’re gonna have a bad night. And don’t even think
about not showing up. You’ve got some explaining to do.

He shut off the call and
sat back on the dirty couch. Dante was sick and tired of being on
the run. The only good news was that he’d somehow managed to
recruit a couple more boys to join his crew. He only got that done
by offering way more of cut than he usually did. It really was his
only choice because everyone knew Dante couldn’t show his face on
the streets.
Once this thing blows over,
I’ll take my money back anyway.

Dante’s plan of taking out the hero Marine
as he was leaving the hospital was now scrapped. He’d have to find
another way to get to the guy. The gang leader was still confused
about how the dude had managed to be released without having to go
through normal hospital protocol. Maybe there was more to this guy
than he knew. He’d have to do some digging.

As he sat thinking in the dingy hideout a
plan began to formulate. If he couldn’t get to the Marine himself,
he’d somehow have to get him out in the open.

Think, Dante, think.

+ + +

Cal awoke to the thin
stream of light coming from the curtain-covered bay windows. His
eyes focused on Brian asleep in the leather chair across the
room.
I’ll bet he’s been sitting there all
night.

He tested his balance as he
slowly rose into a sitting position. His wounds still throbbed but
they’d be muted a bit after a couple pain killers. Cal quietly
shuffled to the bathroom to relieve himself. After he was done, he
brushed his teeth, washed his face and threw down two pain
pills.
Time for breakfast.

As he walked back into the main room Brian
got up from his chair and did a quick stretch while yawning.

BRIAN
: How
you feeling, Cal?

CAL
:
Alright. About last night, I…

BRIAN
:
Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you got it out. Now we can work on
getting you better.

CAL
: So
what’s on the schedule for today’s torture?

BRIAN
(chuckling): Travis stopped by while you were passed out and
he said you guys have a nice gym on campus.

Cal nodded.

BRIAN
: I
thought I’d wheel you over there and we could do some stretches and
PT. You up for it?

CAL
: Yeah.
I need some fresh air.

BRIAN
: Me
too. Let me go take a leak and then I’ll help you get changed. You
wanna eat before or after?

CAL
: Let’s
do after. I don’t want to puke up everything at the gym. My gut’s
still not right.

BRIAN
:
Cool. Give me a minute and we’ll head out.

Fifteen minutes later, the
pair emerged from the suite. Cal rested comfortably in an off-road
looking wheelchair.
Probably some super
upgrade Trav hooked up for me.
At least
they could take it on some of the trails if they wanted.

After leaving The Lodge, Cal directed Brian
to take a left and head down three blocks. As they traveled Cal
described some of the surrounding buildings.

CAL
: That
one over there is the mess hall and the one behind that is the
HQ.

At a brisk pace, they reached the gym in only a
couple minutes. Although sparsely decorated, it looked to Brian
like all the newest equipment was housed within the facility.

CAL
: This
is the main area with free weights and machines. We’ve got a cardio
room around the corner that has flat screens. Where should be
start?

Brian looked around.

BRIAN
:
Let’s head over to that spot with the mats. We’ll kill some
stretches first.

Thirty minutes later, Cal was drenched in sweat and
panting with exertion. The stretching alone had been excruciating
for the wounded warrior. Moving on to the treadmill felt like
death. Nevertheless, he finished the tortuous physical therapy
session with a determined smile on his face. It felt good to move
again.

BRIAN
:
Alright, that’s good for today, Cal.

Cal nodded and rolled over.

CAL
: Let’s
go get some food and then I want to introduce you to some
people.

Brian looked at his friend quizzically but
kept his mouth shut and helped Cal into the wheelchair.

The duo left the gym facility and headed
toward the chow hall. As they entered the smell of scrambled eggs
and pancakes greeted them. They found a booth in a corner and Cal
took a seat.

BRIAN
: What
do you want me get for you?

CAL
: Two
eggs over-easy, country ham, a stack of pancakes and some orange
juice.

BRIAN
: Got
it. I’ll be right back.

The companions finished breakfast with the
occasional greeting from company employees who stopped by to say
hello to Cal. Brian noticed that rather than be embarrassed or
standoffish, Cal spoke openly with the visitors and knew most by
their first names. It wasn’t something he’d expected and mentioned
this on the way out of the dining facility.

CAL
: Yeah,
I’ve spent a lot of time on both campuses over the years. I’ve even
been in on some of the hiring interviews. Dad really wanted me to
see the inner workings at SSI and included me whenever he could. I
even had a hand in hiring some employees. That reminds me…take a
left up here. I want to introduce you to somebody.

Brian took the next left. They walked down
four blocks finally reaching a low structure. Brian pointed at the
front door and Cal nodded. As they passed through the double doors,
the former corpsman noticed the pressurized feel as the heavy glass
door sucked back into place.

BRIAN
: What
is this place?

CAL
: We
call it the Bat Cave.

BRIAN
: You
mean like Batman’s Bat Cave?

CAL
:
Yep.

Cal didn’t explain further
as the two strolled up to the front desk. The two security guards,
heavily armed, greeted Cal by his first name and came around the
desk to shake his hand. It was obvious to Brian that both men (each
the size of an NFL linebacker) liked and respected Cal. It wasn’t
some employee attempt to suck up to the future boss. These guys
really admired Cal and it seemed that they held him on some sort of
pedestal.
Interesting
.

They waved goodbye, Cal promising to meet
the two guards at the gym soon, and headed to the bank of
elevators.

They boarded the first to
arrive and Brian shifted around to select a floor. There was only a
second floor and nine buttons below the first floor.
A bunch of subfloors
. He
looked at Cal questioningly.

CAL
: Press
B9.

Brian pressed the very
bottom button for B9.
Nine levels
down?

It took less than a minute for the elevator
to descend and open its doors. As they opened, Brian smelled the
incoming air. It smelled like the air wing hangers he remembered
from his time with the Marines. It was that unique smell of oil,
grease and metal. The smell brought back a flood of memories from
his time spent at Cherry Point to his cruises on the gator
freighters.

CAL
: Ok,
before we head down to see Neil, I want to give you a little
background. Neil was one of my finds for the company. We went to
school together at U.Va. and he was two years ahead of me. He’d
been my resident advisor my first year at school. Neil was a
brilliant triple major who hardly studied. He was a funny mix of
hip social butterfly and technological genius. I won’t even tell
you what his IQ is. So anyways, his family came over from India
when Neil was a little kid. They didn’t have a lot of money and
really worked hard to make ends meet. His father was almost as
smart as he is. I met him once. Mr. Patel started a cell phone
company out of his garage and soon had a booming business that he
exported back to India. The hard work paid off and family made a
lot of cash. Neil grew up in the business and learned to love
tinkering with the surplus cell phones his dad would bring in.
Pretty soon he was doing all the repairs for his dad’s company. He
just had this knack for fixing and building stuff.

CAL
: Well,
going into his fifth year at school his mom and dad went on a trip
to India then over to Pakistan to solidify some business contacts
that were going to open a new headquarters for Mr. Patel’s company.
While they were in Pakistan both of Neil’s parents were kidnapped
and later killed. Some tiny terrorist outfit claimed responsibility
and no one was ever caught.

Neil went into a real tailspin. He and his father
were really close and Neil didn’t know how to cope. He went off the
deep end; started drinking all the time, screwing anyone he could
get his hands on and started dabbling in drugs. Let’s just say he
really didn’t give a shit anymore.

So I bump into him one night at some party and I
notice he’s a little crazier than I remember. I somehow convince
him to stick around and hang out with me. Over way too many drinks,
he finally broke down and told me the story about his parents. Up
to that point I’d had no idea. It was obvious that he’d given up
and didn’t want to deal with life let alone school. Then the poor
dude passed out on my couch.