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By Root 652 0

creases Reynato’s forehead. He orders everyone into the toilet where they strip Racha naked and search him for a new wound. As easy as Howard’s rescue had been, it was still a mission. Ka-Pow’s rules dictate that Racha should have been hurt. That’s how his particular bruho magic works—soaking up the evil that finds its way into every mission and keeping it off everybody else. If Racha’s come through unscathed it means there’s still some evil floating around out there, looking for a place to settle. Reynato questions him while Efrem and Lorenzo probe his unfortunate topography. “You sure you didn’t slip on a rock? Step on an urchin? Stub your toe? How’s your ankle? How’s your instep? Is that blood in your nose? Those look like new shoes, any blisters? Any rashes? Bite your tongue? The path was thorny, any scrapes? Does anything itch?”

But nothing itches. They don’t even find a mosquito bite. “Maybe it was that thing last night?” Racha asks. “Maybe the pepper spray counts?”

You know that’s not how it works, Reynato snaps. He seems discouraged—even angry. They give up searching and he leads them all back to the table. He says that everyone gets lucky sometimes. Then he takes Glock out of his belt and checks it twice to make sure it’s loaded and the safety is off. He shifts in his chair and eyes the exits. He can’t finish eating.

Racha, pitying his boss’s distress, forks himself in the knee.

REYNATO IS ON EDGE the rest of the morning, and though he doesn’t show it, Efrem is too. He gazes out over the bay as they leave the restaurant. Private yachts sway in the wakes of trawlers, but the Coast Guard boats at Sangley Point are still. Back in Manila the police station is quiet. He glances topside and sees Elvis leading Howard into an ancient bunker for shelter from the sun. Howard, filthy as when they plucked him from the shallows, follows in a daze.

Rather than returning topside, Reynato insists they board one of many brightly painted tour trolleys to waste the whole day trundling about ruined barracks and mortar emplacements. They pose listlessly for pictures by a beachside MacArthur statue. They crowd into the Malinta tunnel for historical lectures by animatronic soldiers. They haggle gift shop cashiers to tears. They visit a kitschy outdoor chess set with pieces big as children. Lorenzo challenges Efrem to a game, and cheats, and wins. The tour ends. The sun reddens and dies in the South China Sea. The Coast Guard never comes and Efrem doesn’t get his phone back. He peeks at Howard and sees him running from the bunker, chased by Elvis as a horse, pinned by Elvis as a python, carried back into hiding by Elvis as a colony of tremendous ants. They’re not saving him from anything. They’re saving him for something. Killing time.

Efrem doesn’t speak as they walk back to the topside beach. The moon, low on the horizon, throws long shadows against the ruins. He lags some paces behind the others, and then stops walking altogether. Reynato turns and regards the distance between them without closing it. “Is there a problem?” he asks.

“You’re going to kill him,” Efrem says. “You’re killing Howard Bridgewater.”

Reynato cocks his head and grunts. Duckfooted, he walks over and takes Efrem’s cheeks in his small palms. “Mohammed,” he says. “My friend. What have I done to give you this bad impression of me? You ever see me do a thing like that?” He leans in close. Efrem sees moonlight in his braces. “If I remember right, your tally puts us all to shame.”

Efrem steps back. “Don’t lie to me.”

Reynato steps with him, keeping hold of his cheeks like a bridle. “I lie plenty,” he says, “but never to you. I’ll admit to some dramatizing, but among you bruhos I’m honest to a fault and I’d appreciate you not saying otherwise.” He pauses, looking pained, like a father taken out of his son’s confidence. “And I’ll be honest now, even though a part of me would rather lie. The smarter part of me, I’m guessing. Especially because we both know I could get away with it. But, what the hell?” He smiles. “I’ll keep the streak alive.”

Reynato releases