Page 31 of Spring UnVeiled
“For officers, it is.”Dylan squinted as something flashed to the back of his mind.He glanced at his calendar.“Fuck.I’m Officer of the Day for Team 1.I can’t go.”
“Thanks for deserting me, but I get to meet the new C.O.first,” Adam boasted.“Not that he’s going to remember me or any of us junior officers.”
“I think the Chiefs should go, especially since I’m not going be there.”Dylan added that to his list of discussion items.
“I guess they expect a packed house, not just because it was the captain’s daughter, but a lot of people around here knew her.”Adam checked the assembling chiefs in the outer office.“A few are still missing.”He picked up and continued his previous conversation.“Have you met the new captain?”
“No.I don’t think he’s been around much.He just arrived on Friday and then his daughter died that night, so we were told in this morning’s troop briefing.”
Adam leaned in conspiratorially.“Rumor has it she died in childbirth.”
“That’s horrible.”Dylan looked up from his notes and signaled for the men to come in.
“No, what’s horrible is that they’re stuck with a newborn baby.While up at Troop Headquarters I overheard that Lieutenant Commander Jenkins and his wife went to their house Saturday night to set up the baby’s bedroom.I also heard that the captain is divorced, and he was there being all loving every time his ex-wife cried.”
“Who knows.Maybe they’ll get back together if they have to take care of the infant.”Dylan wondered what it would be like to have to take care of a baby at their age.When he turned thirty a few months ago, he looked around at the other lieutenants.Several had been married and divorced.A few of them had kids.With all the shit he had to do as the commanding officer of a platoon, he didn’t know how the married lieutenants got everything done and had time for a wife and kids.
“Fuck.I almost forgot about the good part.”Adam was such a gossip, but he was certainly a good source of information.He knew about everybody and everything.“The captain and his ex-wife got shared custody of the baby.”
One of the chiefs piped up, “Are you talking about the new captain?I can’t believe he’s got a newborn baby at his age.I don’t know whether to be proud of him for still being able to reproduce or sad that he has a baby to care for.”
Dylan quickly corrected the man, explaining that his daughter died in childbirth, leaving the captain and his ex-wife with a newborn.
The platoon chief, a crusty SEAL who’d seen too much by age thirty-seven offered his sage advice.“I feel sorry for the old man.My kids are five, seven, and nine.I wouldn’t want to go through bottles and diapers again for anything.When mine were that little, I was begging for deployment.”
“I didn’t know you were married,” Adam noted.
“I’m not… But I’m on the lookout for number four,” the salty SEAL laughed.
“You’re a glutton for punishment,” one of the other chiefs said.
“Nope.I like being married.I just don’t like having a wife.”The room erupted in laughter.
Once Dylan got the rowdy group calmed down, he decided to get straight to the point.“Have any of you ever attended a party at Miss Nami’s?”
Obviously, everybody recognized the name, but every man shook his head.
Dylan continued, “Do any of you know any SEAL who has someone from a foreign country living with him?”
A chorus of “No,” filled the room.
Whew.They’d dodged that bullet.
Dylan went on to explain the top-secret project.As they discussed how they were going to get an invite to Miss Nami’s parties, they all agreed that a couple of the chiefs should go to Group Headquarters and find Boudreau Fontanelle to get an invitation.
“We need to identify every SEAL involved.”Dylan then explained what was illegal about the woman’s enterprise.“This is human trafficking.We’re not going to tolerate any SEAL being involved in anything like this.We know right from wrong and this is just wrong.Miss Nami is targeting sailors, especially SEALs, since we get more money for combat pay.”
Grunts rose around the room.
Dylan continued, “How many hostage rescues have we participated in?Human trafficking is against the UCMJ.We need to help these girls by freeing them.They are basically slaves.And if the SEAL is living off base, getting a housing allowance, technically that apartment is being rented by the U.S.Navy.These men are going to be arrested.It’s our job to identify them.Most of us gave up our apartments when we left, knowing we were going to be gone for six months.”
Heads nodded in agreement.
Since it was almost lunchtime, they thought they might be able to catch the yeoman on his way out of the building.With their friends on Teddy’s team away on leave, their cover was perfect.
“I need two volunteers to approach the yeoman.”Dylan wasn’t surprised when every man in the room stepped forward.
“This isn’t going to be much of a hardship,” Chief Scott Ringer declared.“I haven’t been laid in ten months.”
