1942

“It’s all in the envelope. The navy has a problem. They’ve lost something important, and they want us to find it, and you in particular have been chosen to do it. The fools sat on the problem until it was almost too late. Apparently some important people were on a ship that got sunk and they wound up on the Big Island. Your job is to find them and make certain they don’t fall into Jap hands. That ought to tie in with your plans to skip the surrender ceremonies.”

“I’m damned,” Jake said.

“Probably. The navy would have the marines do it, but they’re all gone, so it’s up to us. You’ll have a squad of infantry with you. I don’t know who these people are on Hawaii, or why they’re so damned important, but it was stressed that the Japs cannot get their hands on them under any circumstances, is that understood?”

Jake understood. His orders were to kill them if capture appeared imminent. Good Lord, who were they?

“One other thing,” Collins said. “These navy types may have rank on you, and that cannot be permitted to interfere with your duties. You were just promoted to the temporary rank of major, right? Well, that’s been changed to a permanent grade, and you now have the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel. Who knows, if this damned war lasts long enough, you might outrank me, although you’ll never, ever, be smarter or better looking. Oh yeah, the orders also have you reporting directly to someone in Washington so you won’t be court-martialed if you decline to honor Short’s order to surrender. It won’t mean anything to the Japs, who’ll probably chop off your head if they catch you, but it might save your tail in the future.”

“Who’s the someone in Washington who’s now my boss?”

“Marshall,” Collins said and chuckled as Jake’s jaw dropped.

Jake’s emotions were mixed. Rank and recognition were things he’d always dreamed of, but they had come during an enormous and humiliating American defeat, and he was expected to be an assassin if it became necessary.

Collins laughed. “Like I said, we leave tonight. Get your things in order and be back here at ten.”

“I’m a bachelor and I’m totally dedicated to the army. There’s little to put in order.”

“Then go say good-bye to the widder woman you’ve been seeing and you think I don’t know about.”

“Bastard,” Jake said with a grin as he left Collins.

He didn’t want to leave Alexa alone in Honolulu, but at least he’d be free and not in a prison camp. In that case, perhaps he could help her out while attending to the rest of his plans. He would also ask a favor of Toyoza Kaga. Jake had no idea which way Kaga would leap when the Japs took over, but asking him to maintain a discreet observation of Alexa and Melissa was nonpolitical and couldn’t hurt.

Alexa tried not to cry. With Tim gone, Jake had become her friend and her anchor. That and the fact that she was genuinely fond of him made the thought of his leaving all the more upsetting.

Damn the military and its secrets, she raged inwardly. All Jake had been able to tell her was that he was departing for someplace that night. But if he had been going stateside, she realized, there would have been no need for secrecy. He hadn’t said he was going to the mainland, which meant he would still be someplace on or near the islands. Interesting.

On the plus side, Jake had brought some more supplies and a bottle of white wine, which she, Melissa, and Jake had finished. They’d had to drink it warm, but it still tasted good.

Melissa said she heard the baby crying and left the two of them sitting on the couch. Jake’s large hand was enfolded by Alexa’s two.

“The last time you left me,” she said, “I told you to be careful. I should have waited until this.”

“It worked once, say it again.”

She smiled and kneaded his hand. “Be careful. Now, what words of wisdom do you have for me?”

Jake took a deep breath. Life was already awful on Oahu, and it was going to get much worse. He had arrived during the day and been faintly surprised at the lack of Japanese air activity. The ruined buildings, charred vehicles, and cratered fields he took as a matter of course. The Japanese were all focused on the area around Schofield and the dissolving defense line north of the Honolulu perimeter. The result was that Honolulu enjoyed a temporary reprieve, although the rumblings of bombs and shells echoed in the distance while clearly visible fingers of smoke reached skyward.

“Last time I told you to survive. Just do that, Alexa-survive. Do whatever you have to do, pay any price, just survive. Cheat, lie, steal, anything; it doesn’t matter what you have to do as long as you survive. Stay alive and I can look for you. If you don’t, I can’t.”

She squeezed his hand harder. “When will the army surrender?”

“A few days, maybe a week. In the meantime, you and Melissa get into the city and stay in the crowds. You don’t want to be two women alone out here when the Jap army comes through.”

“But will it be that much safer in Honolulu?”