Chapter 10 – Welcome to the….. Jungle
Roman still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something nagging him from the dream he had. He was often described as a practical man with no time for superstition but sometimes he had listened to his instincts and acted on those alone and that had saved his life. Yeah, sure there was a difference to focusing on a dream and learning where not to put your foot. He shook his head, grabbed another quick coffee and went back to his reading.
It was ten minutes later when Jacko knocked on his door.
"Enter!" he called quickly, his tone still slightly distracted.
"Sir, are you ready for the Target range?" Jacko asked him.
Roman nodded as he drained the dregs of his coffee. He made sure that the briefing pack was put away securely and he headed out with Jacko. He was saluted by a couple of the junior officers that he would be on the mission with and noted that the idiot who still called him granddad didn't bother.
Jacko grinned at him.
"When are you going to punch the SOB Hardcore?" he asked.
Roman grinned back.
"Probably by the end of today at this rate!" he told him.
They checked out a couple of M4's and a dozen clips and headed over to the target. They set up at two targets next to each over and loaded the guns. Roman pulled the switch from Safe to 1 and set up to take a shot.
He paused and took a deep breath then pulled the trigger. The gun seemed to stutter in his hand and the round went wide.
Jacko sniggered.
"Mate!" Roman protested.
"Perhaps you'd feel more conformable if you were wearing an apron?" Jacko suggested, still smirking.
Roman clicked it back to safe and turned and looked at his friend.
"You think any of this has been easy. I was dragged away from my family Jacko. I was at peace." His voice was raised.
Jacko continued to grin.
"No way I will believe that Hardcore. You forget I've been in touch with Ella." He said, knowing this was another button he needed to press.
"Jacko for the last…" he bit off "… time do not call me by that stupid nickname." Roman uttered through gritted teeth.
"Perhaps you are right Lieutenant Harris, Sir." Jacko said to him. "Perhaps you have gone soft. Pity that someone like Ella had to end up with you. She should have stayed with Gardy." Jacko told him. He saw the look on Roman's face. "Oh you don't know that she dated him before she went with you?" Jacko grinned.
Romans hands tightened on the grip of the gun and he felt a flush of white-hot rage go through him.
"What are you talking about?" he asked the other man through gritted teeth.
"Michael caught them. Said Gardy was all over her. Reckon she wasn't putting up much of a fight." Jacko said.
Roman turned and clicking the gun up to three he pointed and shot at the target. Bursts sprang from the gun until it was empty. Roman disengaged the clip and inserted another one. He shot this, until it too was empty of ammunition.
He eventually turned to Jacko and thrust the gun at him.
"Don't ever talk to me again Sgt." He told him and walked away.
Jacko watched him walk away and then looked at the target. All shots were kill shots. He grinned, so Hardcore was in there somewhere he thought, he turned and put the weapons back before going to find the other man, before he did something stupid and maybe explain about Ella.
"Here comes Granddad." The snot-nosed brat called just as Roman walked past.
Roman stopped and turned.
He pointed to the insignia on his shirt.
"Pay attention to a senior Officer." He barked.
The man stood up a little straighter but sniggered and muttered under his breath that Senior was the right word.
Roman walked up to him and stood close enough to see the pores in the younger man's skin.
"Son, I know that you don't mean to hassle me. I mean you know that I am a trained killer, right." He said to him.
"So what Granddad. We all are!" he sniggered.
"Perhaps you would like that demonstrated so that you give me the proper respect that I'm due." Roman said softly. "I'll even let you throw the first punch"
"And get kicked off this mission?" the younger man laughed.
Roman stepped back and took his shirt off placing it carefully on one side.
"No ranks here." He said, his voice as cold as ice.
The other man looked taken back, but as his mates was now clearly watching he could not back down from the challenge. He peeled off his top and put it to one side too and then stepped up to Roman. He looked into Roman's eyes and felt a flutter of fear.
Roman stood his hands down by his side and waited. He didn't have to wait long before the punch came. He caught the other man's fist before it even connected and saw the flash of surprise in his eyes.
"That the best you can do, son?" Roman asked him. "I taught my prissy daughter to hit better than that!" he taunted.
He let go of the man's hand and took a half step back. His weight was on the balls of his feet, which would enable him to move quicker. He suspected that the other man would throw another punch and was proved correct when the man threw a left hook. He let it hit him, moving only slightly to deflect the full strength of the blow. He needed to judge his opponent.
The younger man threw more punches, grimacing when only few hit their target. Eventually Roman sneered at him.
"Perhaps you should practise your moves in the gym more instead of loving yourself in that mirror!" he said coldly.
The younger man roared and charged him. Roman saw it coming and side stepped watching as the fool went past him. He stuck his foot out as the last minute, almost as an afterthought and the man went flying.
He lay on the hard dusty ground for a matter of moments before he pushed himself up and sent a look of hatred at Roman.
"Son, I haven't even laid a finger on you yet," Roman told him. "What say you forget this nonsense and calm down before you and your friends get hurt." He drawled, having noticed the group of men watching them.
Jacko walked up and heard the last exchange. He walked over to a nearby oil drum and took a seat on it waiting for the next bit. He was glad that it wasn't him that was about to get the brunt of Roman's bad mood. And maybe them young fools would figure out why he was called Hardcore, Jacko thought with a grin.
The youngster turned and looked at his mates, there was no way he could back down in front of them now, not after his bad mouthing of the other man.
He roared in frustration and charged the other man and this time connected. It sent a jolt through him as though he'd run full tilt into a brick wall.
"Don't say I didn't warn you!" Roman snarled and let lose his fists to swing at the other man. They brawled for a solid half an hour, before the younger man was left unconscious on the hard ground.
"Anyone else have a problem?" Roman asked, he was breathing heavily and a trail of blood was trickling down from his spit lip, his only visible injury.
A chorus of 'No Sir' went round the group and Roman collected his shirt from the oil drum near Jacko. He glared at the man for a long moment.
"Com'on!" he ordered.
He walked quickly back to his room and waited for Jacko to come in before he slammed the door shut behind them.
"Talk." He said to him.
"Gardy had the hots for Ella and she turned him down. He didn't like it." Jacko said.
Roman took a deep breath and looked down at his knuckles.
"And?" Roman questioned.
"He cornered her one night and tried to change her mind about going out with you. Michael caught him and taught him not to mess with his sister." Jacko finished.
"Why didn't she tell me?" he thought back to her losing the baby back then, what if it hadn't have been his he was suddenly struck by the idea that Gardy had maybe done more than mess with her.
"She might have done but her brother got hisself murdered and everything was all messed up." Jacko sat down and looked at the other man.
"Murdered?" Roman said. "So you mean him being in the minefield was no accident?"
"Don't reckon so. You knew Mike, he was a good un! No way he would have blundered in a minefield by hisself." Jacko said.
"Did he…" Roman started to ask.
"You're asking the wrong person." Jacko told him. "But I reckon if he did and she ain't told you then that is her business."
Roman put some coffee on to brew and poured out a couple of shots.
He sat on the other chair.
"So Gardy has always hated me." He said. "Is he going after my family?" he asked Jacko.
"Why ask me Roman?" Jacko picked up the glass and drank in an effort to delay answering the question.
"Because you are the only one who will give me straight answers. Am I being kept out of the way so Ella can be used as bait?" he asked.
"I seriously don't know Roman." He told him. "But I can tell you that old friends are keeping a close eye on her. And not just on her account either, Dammit Roman you cut us off and when you needed help you went to Gardy. You really were blind about him weren't you?" Jacko said hitting below the belt.
"I trusted the people I served with and yes, of course, I had doubts about him but he acted like a mate so I let things ride!" Roman explained, struck by the thought that his mates were still pulling for him despite the fact he had barely spoken to them over the years.
Roman stood and poured out the coffee. He noticed that his hand was a bit sore from the earlier fight and he looked down at it, then opened and closed it, flexing it. He handed Jacko his cup and sat back down with his own.
"Men like him only care about themselves Roman." Jacko took a swig of coffee and looked at him. "He's dangerous and he will hurt Ella. If you want to take a swipe at me for telling the truth then you need to hear this. When we finally tracked you down to Summer Bay, we accidentally let it slip to her. We all told her not to go and see you. And then when we heard you were getting married we tried to talk her out of it."
"Nice to know I'm so popular!" Roman grimaced.
"This is our Ella. She doesn't just belong to you. She helped out when Pete lost his job and lent him the money to keep going until he got on his feet. She took care of James when he split from his Mrs and started drinking. When we tried to thank her she just shrugged it off and said it was only what you or Mike would have done." Jacko told him, looking him straight in the eye. "We knew you were in a dark place Roman and we couldn't reach you. We figured that with enough time you'd come around."
Roman looked down at the floor.
"We was worried that maybe Ella marrying you was her way of helping you." Jacko said, watching as the other man's head shot up and he looked like he had just been punched in his solar plexus.
Roman wanted to deny that, say that she loved him as much as he loved her; but the words wouldn't come. Had she been happy in the Bay with him he wondered, she was used to travelling around going wherever her camera took her. Had he held her back?
"Maybe you better have a talk to her when you get home." Jacko suggested draining his coffee and placing the mug on the desk as he stood up.
"Jacko," he said to the other man as he stood about to go out of the door. "For what its worth, I'm sorry and thank you." Roman said.
Jacko shrugged.
"Nothing to apologise for Hardcore, ain't like we haven't all been there." Jacko told him and walked out.
Roman poured himself another coffee and sat for a long time looking at the filled cup before straightening himself up and heading back to the range without taking a drink. He needed to get some sniper practice in with the SR 25.