In 1941 with America on the brink of war, French LaPorte, a career womanizer and naval intelligence officer, learns of a plot to smuggle oil to Japan via the Philippines. In Manila, he meets the young, beautiful Daphne Avelino, who becomes his accomplice. Their primary target is the smuggling ringleader, the notorious Edmundo Villegas.
But something else is driving LaPorte. Known to only a few high in the chain of command he has orders regarding Tip Wheeler, whose tankers supply oil to Japan. Drawn in to this murky affair is Tip’s son who is an officer on an aging destroyer, one of a handful of ships charged with blunting the expected Japanese attacks in the Far East.
On a mission to assassinate Villegas, Daphne saves the badly injured LaPorte. On the heels of a sexual liaison with Daphne, LaPorte is sent to Pearl Harbor to thwart the activities of Japan’s most dangerous spy whom he kills against orders only to find that that he had been set up by the spy to avenge Villegas’s death. His encounter with Daphne and the duel precipitate a flare up between LaPorte and the navy, the latest of many. However, this time his career may be on the line.
Just as his ship is about to go into combat. Sonny Wheeler learns that his father’s people in the Far East have been targeted for assassination by the Japanese secret police. Already reeling from mounting suspicions about his father, Sonny considers leaving the navy.
Soon after the outbreak of war, LaPorte finds out that Daphne is en route to Hawaii. His feelings for her are rekindled and the prospect of renewing their relationship is both frightening and exhilarating.
Profile of Main Characters:
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER PHILLIP (FRENCH) LAPORTE: Career womanizer and naval officer who is repeatedly in trouble with the navy. He is a shrewd intelligence operative, smart, brusque and short on scruples. LaPorte is basically a loner, who has little respect for women, until he meets Daphne Avelino.
THOMAS CHARLES (TIP) WHEELER: Medium height, burly and muscular, Tip speaks with a West Virginia drawl, which he uses to his advantage to disarm potential adversaries. He has earned a reputation as a hard-nosed, combative business man, who built his shipping empire with his wit and good fortune. However, he harbors a secret about his association with Japan that could ruin him. Married Peggy Knowles of a once prominent New England family.
ENSIGN THOMAS CHARLES (SONNY) WHEELER, JR.: Son of Tip and Peggy. In temperament, he follows his mother’s family – more intellectual, thoughtful and less combative than his father. A competitive swimmer and sailor, he graduates from Yale – Phi Beta Kappa, history and English. He has little interest in his father’s business, yet feels guilty about turning away from the business that provided the family wealth. Sonny is shy around women and admires those of his peers who are sexually experienced. In spite of his self doubts, he is witty, compassionate and makes friends easily.
DAPHNE AVELINO: Beautiful, virginal, but adventurous Filipina. Daphne was raised in the protected environment of Manila’s upper class and uses her association with the navy and especially French LaPorte to escape the confines of family and society. She uses her charms to advantage, but assiduously maintains her girlish façade.