SEAL's Embrace

by Makenna Jameison

  He strode from the room, continuing on to another briefing, and Grayson glanced at his teammates. “Go get your girl,” Blake said, “We’ll update you on the training exercises. If you need backup, call one of us ASAP. We’ll be there no matter what.”

  Grayson nodded, looking at his teammates. He may have been the only one authorized to miss the training to go and get Hailey, but he knew his friends would drop what they were doing in a heartbeat if he needed them. Besides, it was only a training exercise. It’s not like they’d be abandoning their mission and going AWOL to help if he needed it.

  “I’ll let you know when we’re back at my apartment,” Grayson said. “I plan on calling to get an update from the police as well.”

  “This asshole was probably there in Bagram when we were,” Troy said. “We met with the general. It was a busy office, but damn. They were right there under our noses selling out their country.”

  “We’ll nab him,” Logan said. “It’s only a matter of time. But I agree with Raptor—get the hell out of here and get your woman.”

  Grayson almost cracked a smile, but the gravity of the situation was weighing down on him. The texts had been bad enough, but to know someone was out here looking for Hailey? What if someone else was involved and they were searching for her right now?

  Fuck this.

  He needed to get to her as soon as possible. Not let her out of his sight. He had a bad feeling about all of it, and he knew he wouldn’t rest until she was safe at his side.

  Chapter 18

  HAILEY SAT BACK IN the chair, her hand moving to her ribcage. She’d been sitting here for a few hours going over the processes they used in her new office, and she was stiff and sore. She had to admit she was looking forward to a few days off. Unfortunately, moving into her new apartment had been delayed because of a scheduling error with the movers, but that just meant she and Grayson could relax and spend the weekend at the beach unwinding.

  “So, do you have any questions?” the middle-aged woman asked. “I’ve got to meet with HR since this is my last day here. I’ll leave my phone number in case you need to reach me for some reason.”

  “That would be great,” Hailey said. “I’m sure I’ll have questions I haven’t thought of yet after you go. And good luck to you in your new position.”

  “Thank you. I hope you’re fully healed soon. I’m so sorry about what happened to you overseas.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it,” Hailey said. The woman got up and walked away while Hailey sorted through the papers outlining procedures that the woman had left for her. She heard her cell phone buzzing on her own desk across the open office space but ignored it, trying to wrap up what she was working on.

  “Hi there,” the security officer said, walking over to her. “Everything is set for your official start date next week, but we need to head over to base to finalize a few things.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said, standing. “Are you sure we can’t do it right here? I thought everything was basically online. I already have my DOD badge from my previous position.”

  “Yes, we just need to continue the processing. I understand you’re without a vehicle, is that correct?”

  “Um, yeah, actually. Is there a shuttle we can take?”

  “Why don’t I give you a lift? It’ll be faster than waiting around. I know you’re still recovering from your injuries.” His gaze slid to her forehead. Everyone in her new office of course knew about the explosion at Bagram and that she’d been injured. People had been considerate toward her, helping her out, and her new manager had been grateful she’d come in a few days this week just to learn the ropes.

  “Sure, that’d be great,” she said.

  “The car ride will be smoother than the shuttle anyway,” he told her.

  “Good point. I’m mostly healed, my scar notwithstanding.”

  She went over to her desk, grabbing her cell and tucking it into her purse. She saw she had a new text message but figured she’d check it in a little while. Grayson was busy in meetings and training today, and she’d touch base with him later about a ride home.

  She walked with the security officer out of their building and into the warm California sunshine. Even from blocks and blocks away, she swore the air smelled salty like the ocean. “After you,” he said, opening the door to his dark sedan.

  It looked similar to half of the other cars on the road—unobtrusive and most likely reliable. She needed to figure out what type of car she wanted to buy. Grayson loved his pickup truck, but she’d be getting a small SUV or sedan for herself.

  “It’s just a quick ride over there,” he said, shutting the driver side door and starting the engine. He pulled out of the lot, driving in the opposite direction of where she knew base to be.

  “Shouldn’t we head west?” she asked, looking around in confusion.

  “Traffic,” he said easily, and he turned on his signal and went left at the light. She waited for him to make another left turn, heading in the direction of the base, but he continued on. Growing uneasy, she reached into her purse for her cell phone. She wanted to text Grayson and let him know she’d had to run out for the afternoon. If something was indeed wrong, she’d feel better if he knew who she was with.

  “Give me the phone!” the security officer said in a harsh voice, reaching over and snatching it from her.

  Shocked, Hailey froze as she realized he had a gun. “Don’t make a fucking move, or I’ll shoot you right here,” he growled.

  “What? Why? What are you doing?”

  “Something that should’ve been done earlier,” he snapped. He held the gun in his right hand, pointing it toward her as he continued driving. She trembled in her seat, wondering what she should do. If she grabbed the gun, he’d probably just shoot her. Or it would go off and harm one of them anyway. And there was no way she could overpower him. He had at least half a foot on her and outweighed her. She could unlock the door at a stoplight and try to escape, but what would stop him from shooting her then?

  Taking a deep breath, she felt the muscles in her ribcage pull. She was still healing, but she’d do whatever it took to escape from this maniac. His job was to keep up-to-date on all the personnel working in the office—ensuring their clearances and background checks were current, making sure certain protocols were followed, that sort of thing. He wasn’t a police officer, military or otherwise, so she had no idea why he’d be carrying a gun.

  “Don’t tell me you don’t know what the fuck this is about,” he muttered. “You worked with the damn IT staff in Bagram. You saw Dave there late at night.”

  “Dave Walters?” she asked, dumbfounded. He was one of the IT guys on staff, but he was there late every night. He was a DOD employee like her, not military, and she’d gone back into the office several times late in the evening to make sure reports got out. She hadn’t thought anything of his being there, too. If she had to work late, why wouldn’t others?

  “He’s a fucking idiot,” the security officer muttered, catching the expression on her face. “You didn’t suspect a damn thing. Well, it’s too late now. He’s gotten too many people involved in this little operation.”

  Hailey looked over at him, baffled. Dave from her old office had been relatively quiet, always working on his computers, but she hadn’t suspected he was involved in anything nefarious. Her gut clenched as she thought back to the bombing. Was he somehow involved in all of that? Did he know about her missing friend?

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked, hating how her voice shook.

  The security officer unrolled his window as they pulled onto the on-ramp for the highway, and he tossed her phone outside the window as she gasped. “Just for a little drive,” he said.

  “This is crazy,” she said, taking a deep breath. “People saw you leave with me. They’re going to figure out what happened and come looking for us.”

  He chuckled. “I’ve worked there a hell of a lot longer than you. You were injured and confused. Scared. I didn’t expec
t you to take your own life, but I couldn’t stop you.”

  She froze, staring at him in shock. He was going to kill her over this? Her hand slid toward the doorknob, ready to open it as soon as they hit traffic. She’d get hurt throwing herself out of a moving vehicle, but she wasn’t about to let this guy kill her.

  “Fucking bitch!” he yelled, smacking her in the face with the gun as he realized what she was doing. She cried out in shock, the pain of it reverberating right through her. Blood began to drip down her forehead, and she realize he’d reopened her wound.

  She turned toward him, opening her mouth to say something, but he struck her once again, and everything went black.

  GRAYSON’S HANDS GRIPPED the wheel as he raced toward Hailey’s office. She wasn’t answering her phone or replying to his texts. He knew she could very well be in meetings or training and be perfectly fine, but his gut churned with worry.

  Something wasn’t right.

  Ever since Ethan had told him about this morning’s incident, he’d been on edge. Someone had fucking come looking for her. Would they harm her? Kill her? Did they just want to talk to her about what they thought she knew?

  None of it mattered at the moment, because he instinctively knew something was wrong. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up, and he couldn’t get to her quickly enough. Grayson jumped out his car in the parking lot, flashing his military ID to get into the building. He was wearing his camo working uniform, which wasn’t unusual around this town. Trying to remember what Hailey had told him about her new job, he hit the elevator button for the fifth floor. Someone would have to buzz him into her office, but he assumed there’d be someone at the front desk on her floor.

  Grayson strode down the hallway, nodding at several people he passed. When he finally got to her office, he asked the secretary at the front desk if she knew where Hailey was.

  “You just missed her,” the woman said with a smile. “She had to head over with our security officer to base.”

  Grayson raised his eyebrows. It seemed unlikely she’d need to go there since this was her office building and she wasn’t in the military. “Are you sure?” he asked urgently.

  “Yes, I’m quite sure. Black Howell is our security officer, and he said he needed to take Ms. Fletcher there for something.”

  “All right, thank you,” Grayson said brusquely. He was already turning and jogging back the way that he’d come, pulling his phone from his pocket. His teammates were set to begin their training exercise soon, but he’d see if they could check around base to see if Hailey was actually there.

  “This is Raptor,” Blake said as he answered the phone.

  “It’s Ghost. Supposedly Hailey went over to base with someone named Black Howell—he’s a security officer with DOD. Something doesn’t sit right with me though.”

  “I’m on it,” Blake said. “Yo! Hurricane!”

  Grayson heard Blake quickly updating his teammates in the background as Grayson walked out to the parking lot. He looked around, looking for what, he wasn’t sure. Hailey was long gone. He didn’t know what this Black Howell guy’s car looked like anyway.

  “Hurricane and T-Rex are heading to the front gate. They’ll know if Hailey and Black arrived. I’m going to speak with the commander.”

  “Okay. Are Ethan and Jackson with you?”

  “They’ll head your way,” Blake assured him. “You three can start searching the area for her. They couldn’t have gotten too far.”

  Grayson clenched his jaw. Blake didn’t know that. They could’ve gotten in the car and headed to Mexico for all that he knew. “I’m going to try Hailey’s cell phone again. Call me when you get any updates.”

  “Roger that,” Blake said, before disconnecting the call. Grayson climbed into his pickup truck, wondering what he should do first. Hailey’s phone rang and rang but went to voicemail. “Hailey, sweetheart, call me as soon as you get this.”

  Cursing, he called another friend of his on base, Everett “Ace” Walker. He was part of a younger SEAL team but was a total computer whiz. The other guys had joked he was their “ace in the hole” because most people expected SEALs to have brute-force strength, not necessarily have the computer skills to hack into much-needed information.

  “This is Ace,” his buddy said, and Grayson quickly explained what was happening.

  “No worries, Ghost, I’ll ping her cell phone. If she has it with her, we’ll know in minutes where she is.”

  “Shit, is that even legal?” Grayson asked. Not that he wanted to stop his friend. Hell, he’d take the blame himself if necessary. Nothing was more important than finding Hailey.

  “Legal? Ehhh, I’ll plead the fifth on that one. Text me her number, and I’ll get back to you ASAP.”

  Muttering a curse, Grayson hung up and did just that. He’d help out another SEAL, no questions asked, if their woman was in danger. He looked up to see Ethan and Jackson already pulling into the parking lot. They’d ridden together in Jackson’s large black SUV, and they hurriedly crossed toward him.

  Ethan lifted his phone to his ear as they moved toward him. “Fuck. Roger that. We’ll start canvassing the area.”

  Grayson’s eyes were on him the entire time. “That was Hurricane. They never showed up on base.”

  “God damn it!” Grayson yelled. “Where the hell are they? Hailey’s not answering her phone. I’ve got Ace trying to ping it for me, but shit.”

  “We’ll find her,” Jackson said, his dark eyes blazing.

  Ethan looked around the lot. “They just left, right? Let’s see if we can get a description of the guy’s car. We’ll start searching around here, and the other guys can look near base.”

  Grayson nodded, happy that they were formulating a plan. It didn’t mean much, but anything was better than standing around doing nothing. He talked quietly with Jackson while Ethan went back upstairs to see what they could learn about Black’s vehicle.

  His phone buzzed, and he saw Raptor’s name on the screen. “I just spoke with the CO. Apparently they finally began checking into the IT staff in Bagram. One of the men on the team had been reprimanded before for not following all security protocols.”

  “And they just let him keep working there?” Grayson asked in disbelief.

  “It seems that way. They’re investigating it further. It seems fucked up they didn’t start with the guys who had access to virtually everything, but they’re reviewing things now. It sounds like they may finally be on their way to finding the traitor.”

  “Shit. So he’s someone Hailey knew.”

  “I’m willing to bet on it. I don’t have a name, but it stands to reason he might know the guy Hailey’s with now.”

  “Jesus. Too bad they couldn’t look into this sooner. Now Hailey is fucking gone,” he spat out.

  “We’ll find her,” Blake said. “It hasn’t been that long. I know it’s hell when your woman is in trouble, but I swear to you we’ll find her.”

  Ethan came back down to the parking lot, and the men split up, ready to begin searching the surrounding area for a dark sedan. They’d be a dime a dozen around here, but Grayson needed to do something other than stand around a parking lot.

  Jackson went back to his SUV alone, and Ethan climbed into Grayson’s pickup with him. “Let’s head east,” Ethan said, nodding. “The rest of the team will be searching closer to base.”

  “This is nuts,” Grayson said. “We’re not in a little small town where we can easily find them. They could’ve gotten on the highway and headed anywhere. They could be in Mexico by now.”

  He pulled to a stop at a red light, cursing under his breath. Hailey was still recovering. She was probably scared out of her mind if this asshole had kidnapped her. Was he going to hurt her? Kill her? The thought of another man touching what was his made his blood boil.

  He’d never even gotten a chance to tell Hailey the extent of his feelings for her. Yes, everything had happened quickly, but he’d known as soon as he saw her that she was
his. He was falling in love with her—her infectious laugh, her intelligence, her playful bantering. And physically? Damn. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to run his hands over her soft curves, to feel her body against his. They’d made out on his sofa a few times, but he hadn’t slept with her yet. He’d wanted to respect her and take things slowly.

  Her response every time they’d kissed let him know they were on the same page. Yes, they were progressing slowly, but once they were together? He had a feeling they’d combust. The chemistry between them was crazy. He wanted to kiss her everywhere—to see if her nipples were the same dusty pink shade as her lips, to taste her sweetness as he went down on her. And God—to make her explode in his arms, crying out his name, was a privilege he’d kill for.

  His knuckles were practically white as he gripped the steering wheel tighter and pulled forward. Ethan was beside him, texting the rest of the team.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Grayson muttered, his gaze sweeping the city streets.

  “We need to find out more on this asshole Black Howell to get an idea of where he might take her,” Ethan said.

  “Agreed.”

  “Blake’s still on base and going to look into it.”

  Grayson nodded, too angry to say anything else. His phone buzzed, and he didn’t even glance at the screen. “Ghost,” he said as he answered.

  “I found her cell,” Ace said. “I’m texting you the coordinates right now.”

  Grayson’s heart pounded in his chest. “Where?” he got out, his voice harsh.

  “Near the highway—”

  He didn’t finish speaking. Grayson was already handing his phone to Ethan and turning around. Ethan barked out the coordinates as Grayson sped up. They’d found her. They’d fucking found her.

  Chapter 19

  HAILEY BLINKED IN CONFUSION as she woke up. Her head throbbed, although not quite as intensely as when she’d been injured in Bagram. She groaned as she shifted, then gasped in horror as she realized she was tied to a bed.