CHAPTER SIX

 

 

HOW’D THE DATE go last night?” Sam asked as he and Holden grabbed some seats on the other side of the conference table from Wes. It took a few moments longer for Noah to catch up and join them since the brace around his leg made him move much slower. But other than some obvious stiffness, his knee looked a lot better and almost all the swelling was gone. Noah wouldn’t be out running an obstacle course anytime soon, but he was good enough to at least hobble in for an intel briefing.

Wes and his Teammates had been in this particular room in the Imperial Beach complex since the ops briefing for the Nigerian mission. Wes seriously hoped this one wouldn’t turn out as bad. It shouldn’t since today was supposed to be little more than a threat update. A low-key get together with the guys from SOG and a few senior CIA analysts to hopefully get everyone calmed down and working on the same page again. The most any of them expected out of this was an idea what their next move might be. Wes hoped everyone kept their cool this morning since neither Chasen nor Commander Hunt were there to calm things down if they went off the rails again.

“It was good,” Wes said as Noah finally sat down beside him. “I think.”

If he was being honest, while the date had been beyond amazing, there were a few things that had him concerned.

“Not exactly a ringing endorsement.” Sam exchanged looks with Holden and Noah before turning his attention back to Wes. “Where’d you guys go?”

Wes sat back, smiling a little at the memory of how much Kyla had loved the monkeys and pandas at the zoo. “We went to the zoo and she practically OD’d on all the cuteness, then we had dinner at the restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter Noah recommended. The food was great and we talked the whole time without any of that weird silence that happens a lot on first dates.”

Noah frowned in obvious confusion. “Maybe the issue is that you don’t know a good thing when you see it because it sounds like everything went fine.”

Wes ran his hand through his hair with a sigh. “It did. But then Kyla mentioned that some tech firms have offered her a job.”

Holden snorted. “What, you’re bent she’s going to have a job that makes ten times more money than you do?”

Noah and Sam laughed, but Wes didn’t.

“No, of course not. I’m bent because none of the jobs are in San Diego. Hell, some of them aren’t even in California.”

“And you’re wondering whether it’s a good idea to start a relationship with her?” Noah surmised.

“Yeah.” Wes nodded. “If that isn’t enough, she got a look at the bruises on my back and didn’t like that I couldn’t tell her what happened. I don’t think she’s too thrilled about me being a SEAL.”

His buddies frowned. The dilemma was something they’d all dealt with. Women were more than ready to date a SEAL until they got a full understanding of what their jobs entailed. But after one or two deployments, most sane, rational women ran for the hills.

Maybe Kyla was smart enough to bolt before it even got that far.

“Don’t you think you might be putting the cart before the horse?” Holden asked. “You and Kyla have been out on a grand total of one official date and you’re already worried she might move out of San Diego to take a job somewhere else, or that she isn’t going to want to put up with the stress of being with a SEAL. I mean, hell, how do you even know anything is even going to develop between you and Kyla?”

Wes had this same conversation with himself last night after making out on the couch in Kyla’s dorm room. Let’s say that leaving to go back to his place had been difficult.

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “And I’d agree with you if it wasn’t for the fact that I fell for Kyla long before last night’s date. Finding out it probably can’t work out in the long run doesn’t change that.”

Beside Holden, Sam let out a groan and dug his wallet out of his back pocket, then took out a twenty and handed it to Holden, who looked entirely too pleased with himself.

“I bet Sam you’d be head over heels into Kyla by the end of the week,” Holden said with a grin when Wes gave him a questioning look. “He thought it’d take longer than that.”

Wes didn’t know what the hell to say to that, unsure if he was being dissed, and if so, by whom?

“Don’t pay attention,” Noah said even as he grinned at Holden. “There’s nothing wrong for falling for someone. Kyla’s a great woman. Give it some time and see how things go with the two of you. If it works out, she’ll probably be willing to get a job in San Diego.”

Wes had a hard time believing that. Thanks to the insane amount of work she’d done in college, Kyla was in a position where big companies were plying her with offers of monster paychecks and crazy benefit packages. What the hell could he offer to complete with that?

“Even if it wasn’t for the job thing, there’s still the issue of her not able to handle me being a SEAL,” he muttered. “She absolutely hates that I can’t tell her where I’m going and what I’m doing.”

Noah sighed. “Look, no woman likes the life that comes with being with a SEAL, but some of them find a way to deal with it for the chance to be with the man they love. Kyla might be one of those women.”

Wes opened his mouth to say he hoped so, but Joe, his SOG teammates, and a full entourage of CIA analysts chose that moment to walk into the conference room. Introductions were kept to the bare minimum since it wasn’t like they hadn’t already met half a dozen times already. After that, the lead analyst, some suit with blond hair and glasses named Keith Lucero, quickly got the briefing started, passing out thick folders to everyone at the table.

“Nick Chapman was spotted in Brussels two days ago,” the man said.

Turning on the overhead projector, Lucero pulled up a photo of a very familiar looking man in an expensive suit walking across a street. From the buildings in the background, it looked like he was near the NATO Headquarters, which probably should have been shocking, but wasn’t. Lots of questionable arms deals were negotiated by our allies in NATO. It was all part of the game.

“Based on the people he’s suspected of meeting with while in Belgium, it appears Chapman is looking for new buyers for his drones,” Lucero continued, flipping to a close-up of Chapman’s face as he sat at a table drinking coffee.

Wes couldn’t believe how much the international arms dealer resembled Nash Cantrell, another SEAL in their platoon. A coincidence the CIA had made use of in the past.

“Any idea where he’s looking to sell them?” Holden asked.

“We’re working through the possibilities,” Lucero said as he flipped through multiple shots of Chapman talking to people, looking at his phone, slipping into the backseat of a cab. “Right now, he appears to be in negotiations with at least twenty different terrorist and separatist organizations around the world, including several in Europe, Africa, South East Asia, and possibly North America.”

“Wait a minute,” Wes said, holding up a hand. “Are you saying he might be looking to sell those armed drones here in the U.S.?”

“That’s merely some chatter that we’ve picked up on the dark web,” one of the other analysts said sharply, throwing a glance at Lucero. “But there’s always chatter of one kind or another. It’s the opinion of most of the team that a shipment to North America is unlikely. The U.S. even more so. We’re trying to keep our focus on Africa and South East Asia.”

Lucero quickly moved the briefing toward other subjects, including the explosive device used in the Nigeria bombing as well as the identity of the terrorist involved in that attack. The CIA didn’t seem to want to talk about how the bad guys had pulled off the ambush. Either because they didn’t want to stir up the issue again or because they still had no idea.

Wes didn’t pay much attention to what the analysts had to say about Nigeria. As far as he was concerned, there was little to be gained by rehashing the situation. Instead, he directed most of his attention to the file folder, flipping through photos of the individuals Chapman had met with and wondering if one of the people might lead them to where the drones were being taken.