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MARK DROVE ONTO BASE Wednesday morning, his windshield wipers swooshing back and forth. The dark sky matched his piss-poor mood. Given the bad weather for the next several days, Everly’s photoshoot had been pushed back until Sunday. He’d scrapped his plans to take a couple of hours off today and instead would be training with his teammates. There was no sense in taking leave if she wasn’t going to be in public with the photographers and others around, possibly being watched by her stalker.
Apparently, Everly had gotten settled into Ace’s house. Mark had texted her once to check in, and she’d of course let him know about the delay in her work schedule. Since she’d arrived in town early, she’d essentially been lying low for the past several days. He’d forced himself to keep his distance.
Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe not.
She’d be leaving next week though. He’d see her at Ace’s barbeque on Saturday. And he didn’t need to get tangled up in a relationship with a woman who lived across the country.
Relationship. All he’d done was kiss the woman, but it was like he couldn’t get her out of his head.
Mark scrubbed a hand over his jaw, wondering what the hell to say when he saw Everly in a few days. He felt like an ass for practically blowing her off when he left the other night. They were surrounded by his buddies though, not somewhere alone. And that brief kiss had been interrupted by the string of texts from the man stalking her.
Pulling his large SUV into a parking space, Mark climbed out. He lifted his bag over his head and jogged toward the entrance, the rain pouring down around him. Nothing like getting soaked before he’d even started his day. They’d be drilling on the water though, so he’d deal.
Rob was right behind him, shaking himself off as they entered the building on base. His wet shoes squeaked on the floor, and he glanced back out the window. “Hell, this weather sucks,” Rob muttered. “Think we’re training in the Zodiacs?” he asked.
“No doubt,” Mark said. “The CO has been waiting for a good rainstorm to get us out there for the rescue simulation.”
“You were supposed to be off this afternoon,” Rob commented as they strode down the hall toward the lockers. “I’m assuming that’s a wash—no pun intended.”
Mark shot him a look. “Yep. They’re not having a photoshoot in the rain.” He shook his head. “I still can’t believe Tyler’s sister is into all that.”
“Yeah. She seemed pretty normal,” Rob said with a chuckle. “Maybe she’s a different person on camera.”
Mark frowned. That could be true. He didn’t actually know her very well. He’d kissed her, sure, but they hadn’t spent much time together. Mark had a good instinct about people though. He had to be able to get a read on them given his career. The team dealt with life-or-death situations all the time, and relying on witnesses and locals had saved them more than once. He didn’t think he was wrong about Everly. “I don’t know, man,” he said. “Trigger told me to stay away from her though. More than once I might add.”
Rob’s lips quirked. “Yeah, I saw him talking to you the other night. What’d you do?”
“Nothing. She was there alone at Rachel’s apartment, so I stopped by.”
“And you knew this how?” his buddy pressed.
“Doesn’t matter,” Mark said as he pulled open his locker to grab his gear. “She’s leaving next week. I’ll help with keeping her safe from whoever is sending her those damn texts, but that’s all it is.”
“You sure about that?” Rob asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Shit. No. I’m not sure about anything.”
Both men looked up as the locker room door slammed open and Brian “Blaze” Peterson stormed in. “What’s wrong?” Rob asked, catching the expression on his teammate’s face.
“The CO wants to brief us in the bullpen ASAP. It’s about the American hostages taken in Pakistan last month.”
“Are we moving in?” Rob asked, instantly alert.
“Negative. There’s been a situation. Round up the other guys. Briefing starts in five.”
They watched Brian hustle back out, and Mark muttered a curse. “Damn. This doesn’t sound good. If that State department employee is still alive—which isn’t a given considering she’s diabetic—she can’t be in good shape. And there’s the DOD contractor who was kidnapped as well. He was working security there.”
“What other news could the CO have about them if we’re not moving in? Maybe they were killed,” Rob said, his voice grim.
The men stashed their gear and moved out of the locker room. They’d change for their water training later. Striding into the bullpen, Mark saw Owen “Havoc” O’Donnell already seated at the table with Tyler. Voices came from behind them, and Mark glanced back to see Brian walking in along with Ace and their commanding officer, Commander Slate Hutchinson.
“Good morning, men,” Slate said as the team gathered around the conference table. “As Blaze already told you, there’s been a development with the American hostages in Pakistan. Everyone is aware that Moheed Kalmati’s terror cell kidnapped both a State Department employee and DOD contractor two weeks ago. The contractor was found dead at oh-three-hundred this morning, local time.”
“Shit,” Rob muttered. “He was former military.”
“Affirmative. We believe he was trying to prevent harm to the woman given the other intelligence we’ve garnered. Her health condition would preclude a long captivity. They’d taken both hostages to a secluded location in the mountains, and she had a limited supply of insulin with her. The woman was sold yesterday evening to another extremist group. The DOD contractor was tortured and then killed for trying to prevent it. It’s believed the exchange was made to fund the purchase of more weapons for Kalmati’s terrorist organization.”
“Sold? What the hell?” Havoc burst out. “Who the fuck did they sell her to? Excuse my language, sir, but that’s bullshit.”
“What’s her condition?” Brian asked.
“Unknown at this time. Sat imagery had indicated more movement in the area than usual over the past several days, but a source on the ground confirmed the transaction.”
“Transaction?” Ace protested. “Good God. What kind of weapons did they obtain?”
“RPGs. Semi-automatic rifles. The intelligence community is trying to obtain specifics. The source didn’t provide further information on what group purchased the woman. No doubt a U.S. government employee, and a female at that, was someone they thought would be highly valuable. We have a list of suspected extremist organizations that are being narrowed down, but the intelligence community assesses that whatever group bought her will be making demands soon.”
“Will we be sent in as soon as her location is determined, sir?” Ace asked.
“Affirmative. The Pentagon is unhappy she was moved before a hostage rescue occurred. State is furious. The Brits have offered to send in a team of commandos they have in the area, but we don’t know where she was taken.”
“What’s she do for State anyway?” Mark asked.
“She’s a translator,” Brian answered. “She speaks five different languages and is working toward her doctoral degree.”
Havoc let out a low whistle. “Sounds like you’ve done your homework.”
“I’ll brief the team on any and all new intelligence,” their CO said. “When we move on this, it will be a highly delicate operation given all the stakeholders involved. We’re running the show, but State wants a say in how things are handled.”
“Understood, sir,” Ace said, glancing at the team.
Their CO’s eyes landed on Tyler. “I understand your sister is doing okay after her ordeal this weekend?”
“Yes, sir. She’s had quite an introduction to San Diego, but things have calmed down somewhat for the moment.”
“Ace informed me that she has a stalker,” Slate said, his eyes narrowing.
“Unfortunately, that seems to be true. She’s been receiving text messages since she arrived on the West Coast. Let’s just say they’re not innocuous in the least. I think someone who’d been harassing her back home followed her here.”
“She’s still getting texts from him this week?” Mark asked, his eyes landing on Tyler.
“Yes. They’re always from a new phone number.”
“He’s spoofing numbers,” Ace said. “It makes it hard to block someone when they’re constantly changing their number—or appearing to change it, at any rate. I started looking into the list of people she’d blocked on social media, but hell. It’s quite extensive. It will take a while to narrow down possible suspects.”
“Everly’s popular,” Tyler said. “I don’t get the whole blogger thing, but she’s been extremely successful with it.”
“You didn’t tell me she was still getting texts,” Mark said in a low voice, looking over to Trigger.
“She’s safe at my house,” Ace assured them. “Addison’s been working from home rather than going into the office, so Everly’s not alone. I’ve got a security system. Most houses on my street have cameras. Plus, we were careful when we left Trigger’s apartment. We weren’t followed. She’ll be safe, and then Mark can play bodyguard for the photoshoot if needed.”
Tyler raised his eyebrows.
“I told her the other day I’d stop by,” Mark explained.
“Right. When you came over while I was at dinner with Rachel.”
Havoc smirked, and Mark wanted to smack that smug look right off his face. Was it that obvious he was into Tyler’s sister? Hell. He’d seen her last weekend. That was it. And the first time, he’d been pulling her out of the damn ocean. It’s not like he’d taken her out and then back to his place for a wild night. What kind of ass did Trigger think he was?
“I’ll be there Sunday, unless we find out who’s harassing her before then,” Mark confirmed.
“Doesn’t seem likely,” Ace said. “Not unless we get lucky and catch him following her around. I’ve still got a ways to go trying to narrow down that list of names.”
Tyler muttered a curse, and Mark knew exactly how he felt. On one hand, he’d love to grab the guy who’d been harassing her and making disgusting comments about her body. But knowing that catching him in action meant he’d be near Everly burned. He didn’t want that asshole even looking at her, much less breathing the same air.
“I’ll be there, too,” Tyler said. “The more eyes we have looking for this creep, the better.”
Their CO eyed them, clearly ready to wrap up the meeting. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to assist.” He glanced around the table. “I’ll update you when we get new intelligence on the American hostage.” After dismissing the men, Slate strode out of the room, off to another briefing. Mark rose from the table, rolling his shoulders. He didn’t miss the look Tyler had flashed him. His buddy was pissed he planned to see Everly again. It wasn’t a date though. He’d be protecting her.
“I suppose you’ll be at the barbeque Saturday?” Tyler asked.
“Yep. Are you and Rachel coming?”
“I’ll be there. Thanks for asking,” Havoc said with a smirk as he rounded the table and looked on with amusement.
“Everyone’s coming,” Ace said. “I wish we were having a barbeque under better circumstances, but hell. You wanted your sister to meet us all. She’s already getting to be friends with Addison. She’ll know the entire team and their women better than you thought.”
Rob cleared his throat. “Is Cassie coming?”
Ace grinned. “Yep. Both of Addison’s friends will be there. Be nice to Olivia,” he said pointedly to Havoc.
“I’m always nice.”
Mark shook his head. Whereas Rob was dancing around his obvious interest in Cassie, Havoc had Olivia bantered like it was their job.
“What time’s the water drill?” Brian asked as he shoved his chair back under the table. He’d seemed agitated during the entire briefing, clearly still upset about the woman being held hostage. Mark didn’t like it either, but they needed additional intel before they could move in. Getting pissed about the situation wouldn’t do them any good.
“Oh nine hundred,” Ace said. “Gear up. We’ll be out on the water for several hours in bad weather.”
“Just another day in paradise,” Havoc joked.
The men filed out of the bullpen, talking amongst themselves. Havoc was stirring up shit, but Mark ignored the conversation. He was feeling slightly off-kilter, worried about Everly. He wanted to shoot her a quick text but decided against it. She wasn’t his. He swore he could still smell her faint floral scent though and feel her soft skin beneath his fingertips. He needed to get his damn head on straight and focus on today’s training. He didn’t have time to worry about a woman, even one as tempting as her.
