Home Goes The Warrior

by Jeff Noonan

  After showering and returning to his stateroom, Lee dressed in his work khakis and sat down at his little stateroom desk. He hastily took an inventory of his civilian clothes and then started a list of the clothing he needed, as well as the things that he had to accomplish to prepare for both the school and the subsequent transfer.

  By the time the lists were finished, the ship was starting to come alive. He wandered aft to the wardroom and sat down for breakfast, still lost in thought. But his fellow officers around the table weren’t about to leave him in quiet contemplation. They’d all heard about yesterday’s visitors, and they weren’t about to let him get away without an explanation. Luckily, Lee and Agent Wright had discussed this yesterday. Without hesitation, he rolled out the story that they had formulated. He told them that the Navy yard in Philadelphia was having problems with missile system overhauls, and he was going there to give them a hand. But first he was going to a school to teach him about the latest changes to the new missile systems that the shipyard was installing these days. He’d be gone for a couple of months, and then he’d come back and pick up his stuff before heading to Philly. To a man, his friends were unhappy for him. No sailor wanted to go to Philadelphia for duty. It was just too big and too expensive. Besides, it was cold there.

  Lee grinned and shrugged. “That’s Navy life, I guess. We take the bad with the good.” Secretly he was pleased that no one questioned the story.

  After breakfast, Lee spent a few hours with the officer who was taking over his job, going over the status of the missile equipment and introducing him to some of the crew members he hadn’t yet met. Then he excused himself, went to his stateroom and changed into civilian clothes. From the phone in his stateroom, he placed a call via the ship’s switchboard to Maggie’s BOQ room. He caught her shortly after she wakened. Knowing that the switchboard operator was probably listening in, they made the conversation short. He was going to pick her up at noon and they would go to lunch. He could tell that she was curious, since they hadn’t planned to see each other this early in the day. But she kept the peace for now.

  The little restaurant he chose for lunch was one they had frequented many times in the past. Overlooking San Diego Bay, it was quietly beautiful. It was a place where romance was never far away.

  He had been mentally stumbling, trying to figure out how to explain his transfer and school to Maggie without violating the Navy’s secrecy edict. Finally, he’d decided to just tell the truth. If he couldn’t trust her, who could he ever trust? He knew that this decision wouldn’t look good if anyone found out about it. But at this point, he simply didn’t care. He wasn’t going to build a life with Maggie based on lies.

  When they were settled in the restaurant, he opened the conversation. “Sweetheart, I’m leaving on Sunday for about two months. Where I’m going and what I’m going to be doing are classified at the Top Secret level. But I want you to know the truth. I know that you can keep a secret, but I have to ask you anyway. Will you promise me that you will keep my whereabouts and my new job secret?”

  She gave him a strange, quizzical look before replying. “Of course, you nut. Don’t forget, I’ve got a security clearance also.” She was talking about the Secret clearance that she had been given while she was stationed in Viet Nam. That was good enough for Lee.

  Maggie never interrupted while Lee told her of the previous day’s unusual visitors and the new role he was going to take on for the Navy. When he was done, she was quiet for a moment before asking, “Lee, don’t you still own a home there?” She had dragged information out of Lee on previous occasions, and she knew about his sudden departure from the East Coast after his parents’ death. But he’d always been reluctant to go into detail, so she only had a sketchy understanding of his situation.

  “Yeah, but it won’t come into play at all here. I don’t plan to be in Philly any longer than absolutely necessary. I’ll do the job they want me to do, but then I’m coming home to San Diego and the woman I love.”

  That got a big smile from her, but she was staying serious. “Well, if that doesn’t work out, there’s a Navy hospital in Philadelphia and I’m due for rotation soon anyway.”

  She went on, “But let’s think about other things. First, we only have two nights before you have to leave. Let’s get out of the BOQ room and go to a nice hotel. I’ll get someone to take my shifts this weekend and we can at least be together for now. Besides, you can’t go shopping without me, and you have to get some new clothes. You’ll be a laughingstock if you try to go to the FBI Academy in the old crap you’re wearing now.” She laughed at her own sally, her voice tinkling in the air and making his heart jump a little. He nodded in solemn agreement with her comments, but she wasn’t done yet. “When you get back from school, they said that you would have a normal transfer to Philly. Right?”

  “Yeah, I plan to drive out so that I’ve got my car with me there.”

  “No, my lovely Lee. You aren’t driving to Philly. We are driving to Philly. We’re going to make it a real vacation. We’ll go to Vegas. We’ll go see the Grand Canyon. We’ll drift down and have drinks on Bourbon Street. We’ll find other touristy things to do, and we’ll have a ball. When we get to Philly, I’ll catch a plane back to my boring San Diego life. But for once, we’ll do a vacation like normal human beings do!”

  Lee was speechless. She had taken his terrible news and turned it into something that would be wonderful. He said the only thing he could think of right then. “Dammit woman, I love you with all my heart!”

  Again, her smile. “I know. Me too. Now, let’s get some lunch and head for a shopping center. We have work to do.”

  They spent the next two nights at the Hotel Del Coronado, in a room that overlooked the bay. Except for taking time to buy clothes and pack his gear, they never left the hotel. It was a weekend they would both remember forever.

  Very early that Sunday morning, he found himself on an airplane heading east. He relaxed and stared blankly out the window, his thoughts drifting far from his present time and place.

  He was going back to Philadelphia. He had to admit that the thought of returning and facing everything he had left behind so many years ago was frightening. Just thinking about it was causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

  He was honestly afraid to return to his old hometown. The explanation he had offered to the FBI agent about his Philadelphia connections had been true, but it was definitely not the entire story.

  What he hadn’t mentioned to anyone was the fact that his father had been a prominent Philadelphia lawyer. He’d been a mob lawyer.

  When Lee was a child, the names of Philadelphia mobsters were as common in the Raines household as were the names of his school friends. On several occasions, the Don of the Philadelphia Mafia, John Oda, and his number two, Anthony (Big Tony) Bruno, had held meetings with his father and others at the Raines home.

  When Lee’s father and mother died in that car wreck, there had been talk of mob involvement, although nothing was ever proven. Lee had mentally discounted this because the accident had been, in his mind, the obvious product of icy roads and too much alcohol. But he hadn’t waited around to find out the truth. As soon as the funeral was over, he had climbed into his car and headed for destinations unknown.

  Lee’s uncle, Michael Hare, was a partner in a CPA firm in the Philadelphia suburb of Media, Pennsylvania. He had been the appointed guardian in the will left by Lee’s parents. When Lee decided to leave Philadelphia, Uncle Mike had taken on the task of consolidating the estate, disposing of unwanted assets and arranging for the rental of the family home. He’d arranged for a trust fund to be set up in Lee’s name, using the assets willed to Lee, life insurance proceeds, and the money he received from the asset sales. Lee had not been interested at the time. In fact, to this day, he had no idea what was in the trust account. Once a year, Lee sent Uncle Mike his tax information, and Mike filed all the required forms.

  Lee had never looked into, or touched, the trust fun
d. He just didn’t want it. In the back of his mind, he had always thought that someday he would donate it to a good charity. But before he could do that, he would have to get involved and possibly sell the home. Somehow he had just never been able to wrap his mind around any of this. He had just refused, for over fifteen years now, to think about anything related to his childhood in Philadelphia.

  The pilot’s voice brought him back to the present. “If you look out the windows on the left side of the plane, you have a good view of Las Vegas.” He smiled and looked, thinking of the trip that he and Maggie were planning.

  Lee’s mind drifted back in time again. He had just been a kid when he left Philadelphia. He hadn’t been back since. Not even to visit his old home or the graves of his parents. Now he was being forced to return.

  To make matters even worse, this new assignment might force him to do battle with the very people he had known so well in that past life: his father’s old clients. John Oda was long gone. But Anthony Bruno was now the undisputed boss of the Philadelphia branch of the Cosa Nostra. When Lee was growing up, he remembered that he had always called the Don “Uncle Anty,” a name adopted when the infant Lee hadn’t been able to pronounce “Anthony”.

  Life had indeed dealt him a very strange twist of fate, he reflected. Things would be far different when the Navy’s Lieutenant Lee Raines arrived in Philadelphia. There would be no Uncle Anty this time. It was very likely that the Don and the lieutenant would meet, but under far different circumstances. If the FBI agent’s suspicions were correct, Lee might have to take millions of dollars out of Uncle Anty’s cash flow. The thought made a chill run down his spine.

  CHAPTER FOUR - THE ENCOUNTER

  n FBI driver picked Lee up at the airport and drove him to Quantico. That was, as Lee said later, the last rest he got until he was on the return flight to San Diego. As soon as the car arrived at Quantico, he was briefed on his schedule and the school curriculum. He found that he was going to receive classroom training for eight hours a day, six days a week. He was also assigned to a two-hour evening session that alternated between hand-to-hand combat and firearm training. He was expected to be in training for sixty hours a week for the next two months. It reminded Lee a bit of the SEAR Training he’d been through before he left for Viet Nam.

  After the briefing, he was assigned a room on campus where he was to live for the next two months. The next morning, Lee reported to the classroom as he had been instructed the day before. From then on, his life was an absolute blur for the next eight weeks. He was trained in law, forensics, investigative techniques, communications and all types of law enforcement equipment. In the evenings he worked out with a professional trainer and honed his boxing, karate, and shooting skills. On Sundays, he slept, studied, and did laundry.

  After the first four weeks, Agent Wright dropped in regularly to see him. He’d been assigned as the agent in charge of the “Philadelphia Shipyard Project” for over a year now and he was watching Lee’s progress intently, convinced that his future success was tied directly to his new protégé’s performance.

  Finally the eight weeks passed. But, much to Lee’s chagrin, his departure was delayed. Agent Wright spent another two days with Lee, going over everything he had on file regarding the shipyard case. During this two days, the two also made arrangements to contact and communicate with one another once Lee reported to the shipyard. Only when this was done was Lee allowed to board the return flight, exhausted but feeling prepared for the task ahead of him.

  Today was Tuesday and he was scheduled to arrive in San Diego about midnight tonight. He and Maggie had agreed that he would go straight to the ship tonight, get some sleep, and then prepare for his transfer. Tomorrow he would pack up his belongings and go through the check-out process aboard ship. He knew that Captain Neilsen was planning a going-away ceremony aboard ship Wednesday afternoon, so he wouldn’t be able to leave until that was over. Maggie was taking leave starting on Wednesday and they planned to meet as soon as he could get off the ship.

  Lee was anxious to get on the road. The vacation Maggie was planning was very much on his mind. He’d never done anything like this before and he was excited. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have no work and no responsibilities for two entire weeks.

  When he arrived in San Diego, he took a taxi to the ship. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. It had been a very long, hard, two months.

  He arose and did his morning run as usual. He couldn’t help but notice that he ran easier and farther today than he had just a few weeks ago. The FBI training course had left him in terrific physical shape. I hope it helps! He was still dreading what he might encounter when he got to Philadelphia.

  His morning was totally consumed with packing his gear and stowing it in his car, then working his way around ship, checking out and saying his goodbyes to the many friends he had gained over the past few years. It was a long, emotional, morning.

  Captain Neilsen had scheduled a going-away ceremony for Lee in the wardroom, as was normal for departing officers. But when the word of this got out to the crew, the captain was visited by a group of chief petty officers. The crew had a request. They wanted to be included in the ceremony for the lieutenant. The wardroom wasn’t big enough. So the captain moved the ceremony aft and outside to the ship’s helicopter deck.

  At 1400 hours, the ship’s speaker system announced, “The going-away ceremony for Lieutenant Raines will commence immediately on the helicopter deck”. The announcement startled Lee, who hadn’t been told of the change. He left the wardroom and made his way aft. He was astounded at what he found.

  It looked like every person aboard the ship was crowded onto the deck. A podium had been set up, and the captain was waiting behind it. When Lee arrived, the captain commented, “Here he is finally. Late as usual.” But his sally wasn’t heard by the assembly. The speaker system on the podium was drowned out by the cheering of the crowd.

  When the din died down, the captain launched into a little speech that mentioned the things the ship had done in the past two years and the role Lee had played in them. Then he presented Lee with a ship’s plaque, engraved with Lee’s name and his dates of service aboard the ship. All of this was standard fare; the type of ceremony that would usually have been held in the wardroom. Lee was prepared for this and, when the Captain finished, he moved to the podium. Standard protocol called for him to read the engraving on the plaque, then thank the captain, say goodbye to the assembly and leave. At the podium, he began reading from the plaque, “Lieutenant Lee Raines, Assistant Combat Systems Officer,” Then the unthinkable happened. He was interrupted by a first class petty officer named Hollowell, a man who had stood some watches with Lee in the Gulf of Tonkin. Hollowell called out, “Can we hold up for a minute, Lieutenant? The crew has elected me to say something before you sign out of here.”

  Startled, Lee answered him. “Sure.”

  Hollowell turned around, and another sailor handed him a long, thin box. He then came forward, opening the end of the box and speaking loudly as he approached the podium. “Lieutenant Raines, there’s not a lot of officers in this man’s Navy that live up to the true meaning of the words officer and gentleman. But you do that every day. You’ve held our feet to the fire when you needed to, and you always said thank you when it was warranted. We’ve seen you aboard ship, on the beach, and under pressure. You have given every one of us something to emulate. In return, we want to give you something so that you don’t forget us. The crew of this ship is very proud to present you with this token of our respect and admiration. Thank you for being our leader and our friend.”

  With that, Hollowell reached into the box and pulled out a sheathed naval officer’s sword. He moved forward and presented it, lying across his outstretched hands, to Lee.

  Lee was absolutely astounded. He glanced across at the captain and saw that his mouth was hanging open in astonishment. Lee gathered himself and reached out his hands and, almost in a refl
ex, accepted the sword from the young enlisted man. Hollowell was blushing red. Lee, not knowing what to do next, looked down at the sword and pulled it partially out of its sheath. As soon as he did, he saw that the long silver blade had been engraved.

  He started to read the engraving aloud. “To Lee Raines, an Officer and a Gentleman,” Lee read, his voice breaking a bit at the end. Tears began running down his cheeks as he stood silent, his gaze roving across the sea of faces in front of him.

  Finally he managed to speak. “Thanks, guys!” His voice was a croak and everyone there could see that he could say no more.

  At that point, one of the chief petty officers stepped in, raising his hat high in the air and singing in a loud voice, “For he’s a jolly good fellow, . . .” The crew took it up and Lee turned to leave, waving his goodbye to them. When he reached the passage leading forward, the last point from which he could see the crew, he stopped and turned. He snapped to attention and gave them his best salute, holding it for a moment. In a loud, clear voice, he said, “I will never forget this.” As his hand came down from the salute and he turned to leave, someone yelled out “Three cheers” and the crew cheered the departing lieutenant.

  The captain led the way to the wardroom, where Lee sat on a couch, just looking at the sword in his hands. Captain Neilsen was holding the ship’s plaque and now he handed it to Lee. Their eyes met, and Neilsen shook his head admiringly. “Lee, you’ll never understand the extent of your influence on those men. You’ve got a rare gift. You have the ability to talk to anyone at their level without either them or you feeling any inhibitions. That doesn’t come around often, and today you saw a little of what that gift can bring you. Don’t let it fade.” He smiled again and reached over to shake Lee’s hand. This had been an unprecedented occasion, and they both knew it.