Page 101 of Over the Top

A few SEALs had taken incoming fire and had minor injuries, but nothing life-threatening.

At about dawn, Spencer took a phone call and then strolled over to have a conversation with the ex-SEALs who’d stuck around. As one, they all piled expectantly into their vehicles.

“C’mon,” Spencer said to Gunner. “Get Chas and Poppy and load them up.”

Gunner frowned. Spencer wasn’t usually the cryptic type. It was part of why he’d been a good team leader. He shared all he knew with his guys.

Spencer drove, and Drago rode shotgun in the front seat. Gunner and Chas flanked Poppy in the back seat.

“Where are we going, Spence?” Gunner asked when they reached the outskirts of Honolulu.

“Kenji Tanaka texted me an address. He said to bring reinforcements.”

“Does he know that means a whole platoon of SEALs?”

Spencer shrugged. “I’m just doing what the man said.”

Gunner got the distinct feeling Spencer knew something he wasn’t sharing. They pulled into a massive estate that sprawled beside the ocean, with several acres of manicured lawn stretching around a magnificent Asian-inspired home.

A half-dozen silent Asian men in dark suits watched while all the SEALs piled out of their vehicles and surrounded Gunner, Chas, and Poppy in a tight phalanx. They made their way into the house, and Gunner was aware that for so many men, they moved exceptionally quietly into a huge living room.

Six gray-haired Japanese men sat around a table in what looked like some sort of formal meeting. One man stood stiffly at the foot of the table, with no chair for him.

A younger Japanese man, perhaps in his thirties, rushed forward when they came in, and Poppy caught sight of him and squealed.

“I’m Kenji Tanaka. And that’s my daughter.”

Poppy waxed more cautious when Kenji approached, eyeing him carefully. It took him a couple of minutes of speaking to her in Japanese for her to be absolutely sure he was her father. But she eventually held out her arms to him, and Gunner’s heart shattered as she threw herself into her father’s arms.

Tears ran down the man’s face as he held his daughter tight. If he’d needed any more proof that this was Poppy’s father, the tears did it. Only a parent could react that way to the return of their missing child.

Chas made a tiny sound beside him, a barely audible keen of grief and loss. Gunner looped an arm over Chas’s shoulders, pulling him close to his side. Only the two of them would understand the agony the other one was feeling in this moment of what should be a joyful reunion of father and daughter.

One of the gray-haired men, the one sitting at the head of the table, spoke formally in English to the man standing at the foot of the table. “Sora Oshiro. Your grandson’s American gang of thugs stands accused of kidnapping my granddaughter. While I do not blame you for the sins of your descendent, you would do well to pass along this message to him and his people. Any further attempts to strongarm my business operations will not be tolerated. And any action that in any way endangers any member of my family will be met with swift and deadly force.”

The man at the foot of the table bowed his head in a pose of humility.

The speaker swept a hand toward the tight cluster SEALs still hovering close to Poppy and her father.

“Not only has your grandson angered my family, but he has also angered this family. I assure you, Sora-san, the family of Navy SEALs is perhaps the only one more formidable than my own. And your grandson and his gang are now their enemy.”

Gunner noted the SEALs around him going out of their way to scowl at the man being berated at the foot of the table. And if he knew them, the retired SEALs were memorizing the man’s face carefully.

“My granddaughter not only has the full protection of the Tanaka Clan, but she also has the full protection of the United States Navy SEALs. The next time the Oshiro gang would target me or mine, tell your grandson to remember that and weigh how many more of his people he wishes to lose.”

The man at the foot of the table bowed deeply and left the room without ever speaking a word. In a few moments, the sound of a motorboat speeding away broke the silence.

Without warning, the stern man at the head of the table broke into a big smile and stood up. “Welcome to my home, gentlemen. I am in your debt for your protection of my Kamiko.”

Well, then. Despite any differences with his son, Grandpa wasn’t immune to his adorable granddaughter, apparently. Gunner glanced down at Chas, who raised his eyebrows in response.

“Which of you is the teacher who rescued my daughter?” Kenji asked.

“Umm, that would be me,” Chas said, stepping forward. “I’m Chasten Reed.”

“It is a great honor to meet you, Mr. Reed. And the soldier who helped you?”

Gunner hated the attention but cleared his throat. “Master Chief Gunner Vance, Mr. Tanaka.”

---