Chapter Two
Colby figured more guys (and more recently, girls) had learned to surf during their time in the armed services than nearly anyone would have expected. Simply put, it was all owing to location. Stationed at Schofield in central Oahu for a time, Colby had spent the majority of any R&R learning how to surf. Being young, a gifted natural athlete and in Hawaii for an extended period of time, that he would take up surfing was a forgone conclusion. That he would become quite proficient in a relatively short period of time was owed to the natural athleticism he had inherited from his late father.
After Schofield, there were brief postings in Europe where he used his R&R time to test the frigid waters of Donegal Bay in Ireland and Estagnots in western France. Then came Afghanistan where, even if time or his commanding officers would have permitted him the opportunity to surf, the country's geography did not. Eventually though he returned stateside and returned to the sport.
At Quantico he would make the long drive down to Virginia Beach whenever he could. It was on those waves in Virginia that he had his first therapy session and tried to let the memories of things he had seen and done in Afghanistan wash off of him. It was on those waves that he would accept the debt he felt he owed to Dwayne Carter for saving his life. It was also on those waves where he reached the decision to report Dwayne and dealt with the guilt that came with that decision. Dr. Bradford might say that it was no coincidence that Colby would later chose a position in the FBI office furthest removed in distance from those waves on Virginia Beach.
On this morning though, several years later, atop the southern California waves, the past was about resurface. A past that could be traced to Quantico, Afghanistan and as far away as China.