The men all responded affirmatively.
No one liked dealing with villages like this—there were too many unknowns. The insurgents’ camps at least let them know who they were up against. No one felt guilty about putting a bullet between the eyes of a terrorist, but this?
They protected the innocent, and having women and children used as human shields was unconscionable.
“Get into position,” Blake ordered.
The rest of their SEAL team jumped out of the second Humvee, the drivers ready to move forward along with the men as they searched the village. Blake spoke briefly with the Army platoon officer, readying to move in at the same time.
The villagers of course knew they were here, but it’s not like they’d run in with their weapons blazing. Not when there were innocent bystanders everywhere.
Grayson gripped his rifle, already beginning to sweat under his body armor and helmet. It was hotter than hell here, even in the early morning.
“Let’s move in groups of three. Ghost and Everglades are with me.”
“And I’ll take point with our group,” Troy said.
“The Rangers are in position and ready,” the officer said over the headsets.
“Roger that,” Blake said. He looked over to his team and signaled them. “On my count. Three. Two. One. Move!”
The men began rushing forward, the platoon in the middle of the streets standing guard as the SEALs went door to door. Grayson pounded on the first door, ready to breach it before an elderly woman opened it.
Cursing under his breath, he brushed past her as the men moved inside. Two children were huddled on a bed, and a pregnant woman sat off to the side, watching them. Blake stood guard in the doorway, but as Grayson moved through, he realized there were no men inside the home. “Clear,” he said into his mic.
It might be a coincidence, but given that some villagers were waiting outside, it appeared they had warning.
The second house was no better—a mom with two kids, and a set of elderly grandparents. The team quickly searched the home, but it appeared the able-bodied men and teenage boys had disappeared.
“Second home is negative for our tango. SITREP?” Blake said.
“Moving in to our third house,” Troy said over the headsets. “We’ve only encountered elderly men, women, and children so far.”
“They fucking deserted their families?” Grayson asked in disbelief.
“Maybe they didn’t have a choice,” Ethan said as they exchanged a glance.
Grayson nodded. It could be that Sayed had forced them to take up the fight of the insurgents. They could’ve been the men in the camp that had quickly moved out yesterday. Leaving an entire village of women, children, and elderly seemed risky too though. Someone else could easily come in and harm them.
They moved out of the next house, Ethan’s voice coming over the headsets. “Fourth house is clear.”
“Our team has spotted something,” the Army officer said into the headsets.
“Roger that. Go ahead,” Blake said harshly.
“They’re breaching the door now. It doesn’t look good—there’s an awful smell emanating from the house. Shit. Five bodies.”
“Men, women, or children?” Blake asked in a clipped tone.
“Five men. They appear to be teenagers or possibly in their early twenties. Looks like they were all shot at close range.”
“Fuck,” Grayson said. “Sayed had them killed?”
No one answered, but that’s what they all suspected. Nothing about this mission was making sense. Someone had to be feeding the enemy their moves. Normally they snuck in, completed their op, and snuck back out without any notice. This time they’d arrived on a large military base unannounced, yet the enemy seemed to be a step ahead of them at every moment.
“They knew we were coming,” Blake said with a frown. “Any sign of Sayed?”
“Negative,” came the multiple replies.
Troy spoke for the other half of their team. “We’ve searched six houses on this side of the road. There hasn’t been a man in sight.”
“God damn it!” Blake yelled. “We’re on a fucking wild goose chase.”
“Should my men continue searching?” the Army officer asked over the headsets.
“Yes, finish your section. We’ll continue on while I report back to the general. It sounds like this op is FUBAR.”
Blake stormed off to the next house, Ethan and Grayson following behind. The men eyed each other, ready to move in on Blake’s word. “You think it’s someone in the general’s office leaking intel?” Ethan asked.
“It would have to be. These missions are highly classified,” Blake ground out. “Most people had no idea who we were or why we were here.”
“Hailey guessed we were Special Forces,” Grayson commented.
“Yeah, well, I imagine she sees all sorts from her position. Every team that meets with the general moves through there. She wouldn’t have access to our missions though,” Blake said.
“Agreed. I wasn’t implying it was her or that she was in any way involved. But she does see a lot. I wonder if she’d have an idea as to who the traitor is—if she noticed anyone suspicious in the office.”
“We’ll share our concerns with the general before we check in with her.”
“Absolutely. She’s in the base hospital anyway. She just had more insight than I expected. I shouldn’t have been surprised—she seems intelligent and quite aware of her surroundings.”
“You two take point while I update the general,” Blake said, nodding at the door of the house where they were standing. Ethan pounded on the front door with a fist, but a young mom opened it before they needed to break it down, a baby in her arms.
“Fucking hell,” Grayson said, looking around at the scene inside. There were kids sitting there and another young mom, but it was the same as all of the other houses. Women, kids, and elderly grandparents. But not a man or teenage boy anywhere in sight.
Chapter 5
“I’M SORRY, WE STILL haven’t been able to locate a Ms. Kimberly Turner,” the nurse said, walking over to change the saline bag hooked up to the IV in Hailey’s arm.
“What?” Hailey asked, her heartrate monitor spiking as she tried to sit up in bed. “She’s missing?”
The nurse helped her get settled again. “No, she’s unaccounted for. We had a lot of patients rushed in last night, and some were already medevac’d out. It’ll take some time to get everything sorted. I’m sorry, because I know that you’re worried, but most of the injured will be fine.”
“Most,” Hailey muttered. “We don’t know if she’s injured. She’s missing.” Her head was still pounding, and now she was growing more and more worried about her friend. If Kim was okay, she’d be looking for Hailey, too. The fact that she hadn’t heard from Kim and couldn’t find out anything about her was nerve-wracking. Something was very wrong.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, but it’s possible a few people were missed as far as updates. We had to set up a triage area on-site and rush people over to the hospital. So many people were helping, bringing the injured here themselves without waiting for the medics—it was complete chaos. The residents were all relocated to other buildings, so even if she wasn’t hurt, it’s going to be tough to track her down until everything gets updated.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Hailey asked, holding her hand to her stomach. At the moment, she felt like she was going to vomit. Kim was one of her closest friends from back home. She’d thought it would be amazing to have her here during some of her last few weeks in Bagram. The military was huge, spread out all over the world. What were the chances that one of her best friends would get to be temporarily stationed where she was? And now she was gone. Missing.
Hailey looked over at the nurse. “Were there any casualties?”
The nurse pressed her lips together, and Hailey began to feel dizzy. “She could’ve been killed!”
“I’ll try again to see w
hat I can find out. I took the liberty of ordering you some breakfast since you were asleep earlier. You need to get some food into you. The flight will be leaving within the hour, and you’re stable enough to be transferred to Landstuhl. The emergency patients were already transferred yesterday.”
Hailey gasped.
“What’s wrong?” the nurse asked.
“What if Kim was horribly injured and is already in Germany?”
“You don’t know that,” the nurse said soothingly. “She could be in another building on base looking for you right now. As much as we tried to be organized, things were chaotic last night. Everyone is still being accounted for.”
“But if she was okay, she would’ve already been looking for me,” Hailey said. Goodness, hadn’t Grayson, a man she barely knew, come rushing to her rescue? Of course her friend would’ve looked for her if she wasn’t injured herself. She would’ve come to the hospital. Hailey had been cognizant enough to provide her name.
She knew Kim had to be hurt somewhere.
“Can I have a piece of paper?” she asked. “I need to leave a note for someone.”
The nurse nodded, handing her a pencil and small slip of paper. Hastily, Hailey scribbled a note to Grayson. She needed to thank him, of course, but she also needed a favor. He’d know how to track down Kim. He’d do it, too, because he was a decent guy, and he wouldn’t want her to worry. She had no idea how much longer Grayson and his friends would even be at Bagram, but she didn’t doubt he’d have the connections to find out what had happened to her friend.
Folding the note in half, she wrote his name on the top. She didn’t even know his last name, she realized. Nor did he know hers. He could probably check with someone in her office if need be. Clearly, he was someone important if he’d been meeting with the general. It sounded like she’d be gone by the time Grayson came by today, but hopefully they could give him her note.
Blowing out a sigh, she handed it to the nurse, giving her brief directions. She felt like a kid in school, passing a note to the boy she liked. A boy who was actually an alpha military man.
He never had answered when she asked if he was Special Forces, but she wasn’t an idiot. Grayson and his friends had come into her office to meet directly with the general. She knew he was supposed to go on his mission or whatnot this morning, and she hoped like hell that he was okay. If the incidents yesterday had shown anything, it was how dangerous the enemy was. No one was truly safe here. And it sounded like Grayson and his team would purposefully be going right into harm’s way.
She wished she had a phone number or email address for him. If he came by later and never got her note, would she ever hear from him again?
She hoped like hell he’d track her down, but she was being flown out of the country. He’d finish whatever job he was here for and go back to the States. Although she wanted to see him again, she didn’t hold out a lot of hope. He’d probably come to check on her at some point, but she’d already be gone.
Two hours later, Hailey was being pushed out of the hospital in a wheelchair. Her ribs hurt like hell, her head still ached, and she had absolutely none of her belongings with her. She knew she was lucky to be alive though.
“Here we are,” the nurse said. “These guys will drive you over to the plane. Some of the other critical patients are going by ambulance, but you’ll be okay to sit like this, even though you may be uncomfortable.”
“Okay.”
“Do you need help, ma’am?” the young soldier asked her.
“I can stand,” she said. She struggled to get up out of the wheelchair and then collapsed back down, pain shooting through her side.
“I’ll lift you into the truck,” he assured her.
Other patients were being moved out as well. Some were on stretchers, being taken by ambulance over to the waiting plane. The less injured like her were in wheelchairs or on crutches. She’d never seen such a mass exodus from base before. People flew in and out all the time, of course, but this was unbelievable. She recognized a couple of women, but her eyes watered as she realized there was still no sign of her friend.
“I promise to make this quick and hopefully painless,” the soldier said.
She nodded and then felt him lift her into his arms. She held herself stiffly, wincing slightly in pain. It was nothing like when Grayson had held her—then she’d felt safe and protected. This was just...clinical. A soldier doing his job.
And now that the adrenaline from yesterday had worn off and she was fully aware of what was happening, her ribs hurt like crazy.
He got her settled in the passenger seat and then turned to help the other woman he was driving from the hospital to the plane on the other side of base.
“Good luck, Hailey,” the nurse said.
“And you’ll give my note to Grayson?” she asked anxiously.
“I’ll make sure he gets it,” the nurse assured her. “And if I hear anything about your friend Kim, I’ll get word to my colleagues in Landstuhl so they can update you.”
Hailey nodded, tears smarting her eyes. Another passenger was carefully placed into the back seat, and then the man was climbing back inside and starting the engine. A minute later, they were driving away, riding toward the airstrip in a small military truck.
Hailey could still smell smoke in the air from the fire, and the base was more somber than usual, despite all the activity around the hospital. Men and women were hurriedly walking around, conducting their business, but the world just felt darker than it had yesterday. She never imagined she’d leave her assignment because of an injury—that she’d be medevac’d out of the country where she’d spent nearly an entire year of her life. And she never expected to fly back home with none of her belongings—with most of her things destroyed in a fire.
She looked out the window as they drove her to the plane, a lump in her throat. This was probably the last she’d ever see of Bagram. She wasn’t in the military. She’d taken the year-long assignment for the experience of it all, and for the way it would look on her resume. She’d likely get a promotion quicker now, but at the moment, she just felt damn sad. Someday she’d settle down and have kids. Start a family. She wouldn’t be taking hazardous positions again or even be applying for jobs all over the world.
And after this harrowing experience? Even if she never met Mr. Right or had the family she dreamed of, she’d be content to work in the U.S. from now on.
“GOD DAMN,” GRAYSON muttered as their convoy of vehicles rolled back into base. Armored trucks, Humvees, and other military vehicles were all pulling up to the heavily fortified gates, the soldiers guarding it waving them through. He and his SEAL team were used to running ops alone most of the time, and this was quite an imposing convoy.
There were temporary barricades in place and extra patrols on the perimeter.
This entire mission had been fucked up before they even began—the abandonment of the terrorists’ camp, the bombings on base, the fact that all the strong and able-bodied men were all gone from the village. Gone or killed, he thought, remembering the bodies of the teenagers that had been found.
“What’s the plan, Raptor?” Jackson asked over the headsets.
“We’ll debrief with the general, but I have a feeling they’ll be sending us back to Coronado. If we don’t have intel on Sayed’s whereabouts, they won’t need us sticking around.”
“Shit. You think they’ll send the fucking Army platoons after him?” Troy asked.
“I don’t know,” Blake said. “It depends where he ends up. Our mission was to infiltrate the terrorists’ camp and grab him. He’s been one step ahead of us the entire way. Unless we have intel indicating where he is, our commander won’t want us sitting on a fucking base in Afghanistan twiddling our thumbs.”
Grayson clenched his jaw. Although his mind had been on the op, he’d been thinking of Hailey all morning. He wished he’d gone back over to the hospital last night to check on her. They’d had to meet with the general though and then gra
b some food and go over their plans for the failed operation this morning. And since they were up at the ass crack of dawn for their mission, it’s not like he could’ve checked on her first thing.
Blake looked over at him, seeming to know exactly what was on his mind. “I heard some of the injured were being medevac’d to Landstuhl this morning.”
“Shit,” Grayson muttered. “I hope I get to check in with her before she goes.”
“So much for your dinner, Ghost,” Logan said. “No worries. We can hit the bars back in San Diego and find you a beautiful woman.”
Grayson muttered a curse. “That’s the damn problem—she was different than all those women usually hanging around base. I don’t want any of them—I want her.”
“I hear ya,” Blake said. “Clarissa is as different as those women as night and day. But I thank fucking God I found here down in Colombia.”
Ethan crossed his arm, chuckling, as he looked back and forth between his teammates. “You two are whipped.”
Grayson shook his head, smirking. “I don’t even know Hailey’s last name. How the hell do you figure I’m whipped?”
Ethan laughed. “I can see it in your eyes, man. The same expression Blake had on his face when he met Clarissa.”
“Yeah, well, they spent hours together trekking through the jungle. I don’t even know Hailey. That was the whole point of asking her to dinner—to get to know the woman.”
Blake rolled his shoulders, watching the buildings pass by as their convoy finally slowed to a stop. “We’re not meeting with the general for an hour. Go check on her, Ghost. Make sure she’s okay.”
Grayson nodded, worry coursing through him. Of course she was okay. She was in good hands in the hospital. That didn’t mean he wasn’t itching to see her though. He had no right to feel the way he did, but at the moment, he wanted to collect her in his arms and hold her and make sure she really was okay.
SEAL's Embrace Page 5
