“But that Frankie fellow comes strolling out of that hill, big grin, like he just got off a carousel ride. Even patted me on the back. He had that look, Lett. You know the one. The guys on the line who truly don’t give a shit anymores. The ones who enjoy it too much, who you’d call a psychopath killer back home and lock him up, throw away the key to the straightjacket. But this Frankie, see, he had all the keys and they were golden. He certainly enjoyed doing what he did to the boy. Now, if that prisoner was some Jap war criminal, what have you, maybe I could see it on account of all the Japanese did to his country—”

“He’s Hawaiian,” Lett blurted. He couldn’t help himself. “Hawaiian Filipino. Kanani knows him, from Honolulu. She says to stay clear.”

“Oh. Our Miss Kanani, from camp? Then you got to warn her Lett, you got to. I know it’s top secret and all, but—”

“I did.” They hadn’t seen Frankie yet on The Preserve itself, only on other parts of the island. Lett only hoped it stayed that way. “Though, she can sure take care of herself,” he added.

“True. True. I seen that about her.”

“So, then, Frankie and company never found what they wanted?” Lett said. “Never got it?”

“How do you figure?”

“No trucks came for hauling away items out of that cave?”

“No. I reckon that poor boy led Frankie on a wild goose chase, meaning that boy never knew, or he never was telling. They got a strong honor system.”

Jock fell silent. After a while, his head shot up as if Lett just arrived. “Yours was different, though, wasn’t it?” he said.

“My duty? I’m not supposed to talk about it.”

“I told you about my shift.”

Lett held out hands. “There’s nothing to tell. But, okay. There was an interrogation, too. Locals gave us a little trouble but nothing we couldn’t handle. That’s pretty much it.”

“Well, word is, you did all right.”

“I just did what I know,” Lett said.

Jock didn’t push it. He knew the unspoken rule. A grunt only talks if he needs to.

Lett didn’t tell him that, on his last day in his own remote stretch of steep hills lining the Cagayan Valley, General MacArthur had stridden into the tunnel with Lansdale and staffers and stayed inside there a good hour or more. A meeting inside Lansdale’s tent had lasted another two. After the mighty general sped off, Lett and others were given local rum and San Miguel beers and were told to drink their fill because they were leaving in the morning.

Jock was glaring at Lett. “I don’t like an interrogation like that, Lett. It’s not right.”

“I don’t, either.”

“Don’t tell anyone I told you.”

“Of course not. Fuck ’em all.”