Main Dishes

PART 2 The Gunnery Sergeant’s hand was heavy on my shoulder, but I didn’t feel it. I was already somewhere else, somewhere back in the screaming metal cockpit, feeling the vibration of the rotor and the heat of the fire. Then, the doors exploded inward. It wasn’t a tactical entry; it was a storm. General…

PART 2 A gleaming black sedan, its front fenders adorned with the fluttering flags of a three-star Admiral, sped toward the pier. Its tires squealed violently against the asphalt as it came to an abrupt, jarring halt just feet away from the confrontation. It was followed immediately by a large white transport van that skidded…

PART 2 The bell above the diner door jingled. Sergeant Major Thorne stepped inside, his eyes cold and analytical, scanning the room. Behind him, six Marines in dress blues marched in perfect, unified step, their heels striking the linoleum like a funeral drum. They formed a living wall just inside the entrance. The diner froze….

PART 2 The heavy metal door of the office violently kicked open, slamming into the wall with a thunderous crack. The sound made all three men inside the room jump. I stood in the hallway, watching through the open frame as the dust literally fell from the ceiling hinges. Framed in the doorway stood Admiral…

PART 2 “Room at 10 hut!” The voice cracked like thunder through the humid air of the supply tent. It wasn’t just a random military police officer at the door. It was the base Sergeant Major. Behind him, flanked by a phalanx of heavily armed Shore Patrol officers, strode Admiral Vance. Admiral Vance was a…

PART 2 His thumb froze on the page. Harris Vance had opened the gray binder expecting the pathetic ledgers of a failing farm. Instead, he was staring at a legally binding municipal contract. His eyes darted across the processing volume reports, his brain struggling to process the math. “The county pays you to take their…

PART 2 My father didn’t look at Jonathan Garrett. He didn’t look at the ninety men who had just laughed at him. He simply walked down the center aisle of the Haskell Brothers Yard, his heavy boots making a dull sound against the concrete. He stopped at the wooden cashier’s table set up near the…

PART 2 The lobby went completely quiet. I looked at the woman bowing in front of me. I didn’t recognize her. I said the only honest thing I could think of. “I do not know who you are.” She straightened up and, for the first time since she had walked through those doors, she smiled….

PART 2 I reached into the box and my weathered hands found the worn, cracked leather of my grandfather’s diary. I stood up slowly, the courtroom so quiet I could hear the hum of the overhead lights. The judge, a man who had presided over endless property disputes, looked at me over his glasses. Victor…

PART 2  The veterinary clinic belonged to Dr. Hannah Mercer. She was a tall woman in her fifties with auburn hair streaked with gray and kind green eyes that rarely missed anything. The moment she examined Murphy, her expression grew serious. “He’ll be all right,” she said eventually. Lorraine released a breath I don’t think…