SEAL Heroes

by Katie Knight

  “What happened?”

  Jake told him about the botched changeover, and Jefferson let out a series of expletives.

  “How could they have known about us switching details—even down to knowing my name and Darren’s?” Jefferson said. “We’ve been communicating over secure networks.”

  “I don’t think our networks were the problem.” Jake said. “The only breach I can think of was the bedroom. I cleared the perimeter and the cabin before calling for the security detail. But they could have left a bug in the bedroom. The window was also left opened. If the guy that tried to take Hanna the first time around had someone waiting outside, I guess he could have heard just enough of my phone call to pose as Darren.” Just talking about the breach was pissing Jake off. How could he have been so stupid? He didn’t have time to dwell on it, though. “But we can confirm that later. Right now, I need to know where they’re taking Hanna.”

  “Well we’ve had some success accessing the decrypted files on that flash drive. So far, it’s been all photographs, though. Of artwork mostly, but there are always people framed in strange ways within each photo. It’s as if someone was trying to take their picture covertly.”

  “What’s the significance of that?” Jake asked.

  “We’re not sure. We’re guessing it’s photos of the people involved, but we don’t have enough intel to determine which side they’re on. Whether they’re part of the organization or they’re targets.”

  “What else did you find?” Jake was getting frustrated. None of this was helpful. At least not regarding Hanna’s whereabouts.

  “Well there’s still one folder on the drive that we haven’t been able to access,” Jefferson said. “It’s password protected. Any idea what the password might be?”

  “How should I know?”

  “Well, maybe you can figure it out based on what Hanna has told you about Gordon. Did he have any hobbies? Any favorite pastimes?”

  Jake tried to remember what Hanna had shared about her client. He was an art dealer… He was still broken up about his divorce… He’d been with his wife for twenty years and their first date had been at that diner… Then he realized that was it.

  “The diner!” Jake said. “It meant enough to Gordon for him to leave the flash drive there. It probably has to do with the password, too.”

  “Good, good. Do you remember the name of the diner?”

  “No, it wouldn’t be that simple.” Jake tried to picture the booth where they had found the drive. “Try ‘elephant,’” he said. He heard a few clicks on the other end of the phone.

  “That’s a no-go.”

  Jake still had a feeling that elephant painting had something to do with it. That painting had clearly meant a lot to Gordon. Then he remembered Hanna had liked it, too. She’d said she loved elephants for their…what was it? Their motherly instincts and… He closed his eyes and tried to go back to that morning. What was it about elephants?

  “Their memories!” he said. “Elephants have amazing memories. Try… ‘never forget.’”

  Clack, clack, clack.

  “We’re in!” Jefferson said.

  “What’s in the folder?”

  Jake heard a couple of clicks. “It looks like… blueprints of some sort.”

  “Blueprints?”

  “Yup,” Jefferson said. “Definitely blueprints. To a warehouse just outside of San Diego. There’s a document here with coordinates, too. Must be the location.”

  “Perfect,” Jake said. “Send me the coordinates.”

  “We don’t know what we’re dealing with here. You can’t go there without any backup.”

  “I don’t have a choice,” Jake insisted. “For all we know, Hanna’s already…” A lump caught in his throat at the thought, and he couldn’t finish the sentence.

  “Fine,” Jefferson said. “I’ll send you the coordinates, and I’ll meet you there. Law enforcement will be on their way, too.”

  “Have you confirmed the police aren’t involved?” Jake hadn’t wanted to tell Hanna of his suspicion that the police might’ve had something to do with Gordon’s death. He didn’t want her feeling any more guilty than she already did.

  “Based on what we’ve gathered, we’re almost certain the police didn’t kill Gordon. The organization killed him for going to the police.”

  “Okay. Well, I’m still going.”

  “I know.”

  “Send me the coordinates as soon as we hang up.”

  “I will. And hey, be safe,” Jefferson said. “And if you can’t be safe, be deadly.”

  Jake hung up, checked the cabin once more for anything he didn’t want to leave behind—no matter what happened at the warehouse, he was certain he wouldn’t be returning again—and left.

  By the time he got to the car, Jefferson had sent the coordinates. Jake plugged them into the GPS and peeled down the dirt road. It was situations like these that called for Ruby, but he was stuck in the vehicle the contacts had provided. He pressed the pedal down to the floor and thought of nothing but Hanna and their baby as he raced to the warehouse.

  If he made it to them on time, he vowed to never let his guard down again.

  He only prayed that it wasn’t too late.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Hanna had no idea where her captor was taking her. She’d thought they’d head back toward the city, but they had been driving for about an hour and there were still no buildings or beaches in sight. When they finally slowed down, she saw they were approaching a massive warehouse. The trees lining one side of the road gave way to an ugly metal fence, which surrounded the entire structure. Hanna had no idea whether it was to keep people in or out. As she pondered the thought, a blue SUV raced past them and then stopped short in front of them.

  Swearing, Hanna’s captor slammed on the brakes—apparently, he’d learned his lesson about stopping short because he was wearing his seat belt this time—and they skidded to a standstill with no more than a foot to spare between their vehicle and the SUV. Hanna’s heart was thumping in her chest, but when she realized who was driving the SUV, relief washed over her. It was Jake! Of course he had found them. She couldn’t believe she had ever doubted him.

  Before she could revel in the rescue, though, the man reached into the backseat, grabbed a rifle, and got out of the vehicle.

  “Jake, watch out!” Hanna screamed as the imposter guardian raised the gun and started shooting at the driver’s side of the SUV. Jake ducked immediately, and a second later, the passenger’s side door opened. She realized he was hiding behind the car now, and it was only a matter of time before one of the rounds made contact. She had to do something—and fast.

  Hanna looked around frantically. What appeared to be an entire arsenal was stashed in the backseat. She couldn’t believe they had been driving around with all those guns right behind her and she hadn’t even realized it. She scanned the firearms, trying to pick out one that she felt comfortable using, and that’s when she saw a coil of rope. She grabbed it and slid out the driver’s side door, which the man had left open.

  He was still shooting at the SUV—all the windows had been blown out by this point—and she could only assume Jake was still hiding behind it. For all she knew, he had already been struck. Either way, he needed her, and that was enough to give her the courage to act. She darted behind the man, undetected in the firestorm of bullets and broken glass, and tossed the rope around his neck.

  She pulled it as tight as she could, and the shooting ceased immediately. Jake came out from behind the vehicle a second later, as if he and Hanna had orchestrated the attack in advance, and knocked the rifle out of the man’s hands and threw it off to the side where neither of them could reach it. Now that he was disarmed, the man turned and lunged at Hanna. She fell to the ground, and he tossed the rope aside before turning on Jake.

  Jake was ready for him, though, and threw a swift series of punches, one after the other. The man tried to block the first few but his resolve appeared to lessen
with every strike. One final jab knocked him clear on the ground, but Hanna knew he wouldn’t be out for long. She grabbed the coil of rope that had been tossed aside and ran over to Jake.

  “Here,” she said, holding it out. “To tie him up.”

  He stared at her in awe. He was clearly just as impressed at their teamwork as she was.

  “Thanks,” he said, rolling the man onto his stomach before taking the rope from her. They kneeled down on either side of him, and Hanna held the man’s hands behind his back while Jake tied them together. When they had finished, they stopped and just stared at each other. It was like time stopped, just for a moment. Neither had been sure if they would see the other ever again. Immense relief was evident in Jake’s face, and Hanna was certain it was etched across her own, as well. She gazed into his green eyes, never wanting to look away. Never wanting to feel again what she had felt in the ride to the warehouse. Never wanting to go another moment without the assurance that he would always be there for her.

  Sirens wailed in the distance, breaking their trance. They both stood and wiped their hands on their pants, as if it was all just another day’s work. Seconds later, the police vehicles started rushing past them. The first three went straight to the warehouse, but the fourth pulled over just past where the man lay bound on the ground.

  The officer got out but remained on the side of the road, with his vehicle between himself and them. Hanna couldn’t blame him. The scene looked incriminating and he had no backup.

  “What’s going on here?” he asked, nodding toward the man on the ground.

  “He’s one of them,” Jake said, pointing to the warehouse. And then he pointed to the rifle that was on the ground several feet away. “And that’s his. He abducted Hanna and started firing at me when I intercepted them to get her back.”

  Keeping one hand on the firearm at his hip, the officer walked around his vehicle and strode over to them. “And you are?”

  Jake pointed to Hanna. “I’m her security detail. They’ve been tailing her for weeks.”

  The cop looked down at the man, as if to confirm that he wasn’t going anywhere, and then turned back to Jake and Hanna.

  “Well, if you’re on our side, I’m sure you won’t mind if I pat you down.”

  “Not at all,” Jake said. He lifted his arms, and Hanna followed suit. The officer patted them both down, asking Jake to remove his pistol in the process. Once it was clear they were fully disarmed, the cop pulled out his cuffs and kneeled down to restrain the man on the ground in a more official capacity.

  “I’m gonna need to see some identification,” he said as he cuffed the man. Hanna’s captor grunted, but his eyes remained closed.

  “No problem, officer.” Jake turned and headed toward the vehicle he had driven there.

  Hanna was wary of local law enforcement—she still worried that going to the police had led to Gordon’s death—but since Jake seemed to trust the officer, she did, too.

  “Do you want my ID, too?” she asked.

  “Yes, please,” he said as he stood up.

  “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

  She was digging through her suitcase in the trunk of the imposter’s vehicle when Jake joined her.

  “Need any help?” he asked.

  “Just looking for my purse.” She finally found it, and as she was pulling out her license, another vehicle pulled up and parked right behind them.

  “Who’s that?” Hanna asked. The black SUV wasn’t marked, but it sure looked official.

  “That might be one of my contacts,” Jake said. The windows were too tinted to see the driver, but he didn’t seem alarmed. And when the man got out, Jake nodded. “Yeah, that’s Jefferson.” He waved him over.

  “Here,” Jake handed Hanna his ID. “Give this to the cop so he can run it, and then I’ll introduce you.”

  Hanna walked over to the officer and gave him their IDs.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said. He returned to his cruiser, and Hanna rejoined Jake and Jefferson.

  “This is Jefferson,” Jake said. “He’s been helping us the past few days.”

  Hanna held out her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you,” she said. “And thank you for everything you did. We’re truly grateful.”

  “I was happy to do it,” Jefferson said. “I know Jake would have done the same for me.”

  Jake nodded. “Of course.”

  “So what’s the story?” Hanna asked. “Is this whole thing over?”

  “For the most part,” Jefferson said. “As far as we can tell, these guys have been smuggling weapons. Your client, Gordon, was an innocent witness who stumbled upon their operation inadvertently. They had used the guise of importing and exporting valuable artwork, among other things, to hide their shipments. It’s a lot easier to get through customs with millions of dollars in weapons when you can claim millions in sculptures or paintings instead.”

  “And you can prove all that?” Hanna asked.

  “There’s certainly enough evidence to press charges,” Jefferson said. “And a little more digging should yield plenty of proof to convict them.”

  “Then the police aren’t mixed up in this?”

  Jefferson shook his head. “No.”

  Relief washed over Hanna, but she still felt sadness for Gordon, who had done nothing wrong—who had, in fact, died because he was trying to do the right thing.

  “They killed him for going to the police, then?” she asked.

  “Yes, but they would have killed him anyway,” Jake said. “With an operation of this size, you can be sure they’ve already killed dozens of witnesses, most of whom never said a peep.”

  Hanna knew that was supposed to make her feel better, but it didn’t. Her client was still dead.

  She also felt frustrated. The whole ordeal had certainly been stressful, but it had also provided a bit of an escape. She and Jake had been so focused on staying alive that they hadn’t actually had time to sit down and decide what to do about their relationship.

  Or their baby.

  Sighing, she realized the distraction was over. She was relieved that the danger had passed and that she wouldn’t have to live out of a suitcase anymore, but now she had to face everything else that was going on.

  Starting with how she and Jake had left things back at the cabin.

  After Jefferson left to go talk to the officer, Jake turned to her.

  “I’m glad you’re safe,” he said. “I couldn’t live with myself if anything had happened to you.” While the sentiment was nice, he didn’t hold out his arms for a hug or anything. In fact, his body language made it look like standing there with her was the last place in the world he wanted to be.

  “Well, I’m glad you came,” she said. And she really was.

  “Do you think the baby’s okay, too?” Jake asked.

  Hanna touched her stomach. She had certainly taken a few tumbles over the past few days, but she had been careful to cradle her stomach every time. “I think so,” she said. “But I guess I should go to the doctor as soon as possible just in case.”

  “That’s a good idea. Let me know how it goes.”

  Hanna’s heart sank. Then she realized it was silly to feel sad. Of course he wasn’t going to attend doctor’s appointments with her.

  He was still Jake. The sports car enthusiast, bachelor, Navy SEAL Jake.

  And she was still Hanna. The woman who was quickly running out of time to find her ideal husband.

  Now that the dust had settled, she realized things could never truly work between them. He couldn’t give her the stability that she needed, and she could never forgive herself if he resented her for tying him down.

  “I’ll keep you posted,” she said. “So I guess things can go back to normal now?”

  “Normal?”

  “You know. Like how they were before I left for Tokyo.” She hadn’t forgotten how he’d rejected her the morning after their “date.” How he’d said they should keep their distance because it was for t
he best. That was before her life was in jeopardy. And before he knew about the baby.

  Which meant that was how he actually felt when there was nothing else complicating matters.

  It was simple, really. When there were no extenuating circumstances, Jake didn’t want to be a part of her life.

  Hanna sighed, rubbing her belly absentmindedly. It was just her and the baby now. And that would have to be enough.

  “Is that what you want?” Jake asked. “To go back to how it was before your trip to Tokyo?”

  “I don’t see any other way.” She scanned his face for any sign of emotion. She thought she saw a flicker of sadness, but it may have been a trick of the moonlight. Because a moment later, he was standing before her as stoic as ever. “I mean, you’re just going to leave at some point, aren’t you? Isn’t that how this works?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “All men leave, right? Which is fine because clearly things could never work between us anyway. You’re still a SEAL. And I still need stability. Now more than ever with this baby on the way.”

  Jake nodded. “I’m still a SEAL,” he said. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but it looked like his jaw was clenched. Like he was trying to stop himself from elaborating, from saying something he might regret.

  “Exactly,” Hanna said. “And as long as you’re a SEAL, you will be coming and going. In constant chaos and constant danger.”

  She felt like she was trying to convince herself of the words as they were coming out of her mouth. Jake certainly wasn’t engaged in the conversation and yet she couldn’t stop talking. She couldn’t stop rationalizing why they would never work.

  She realized she was hoping against hope that he would challenge something—anything—she said.

  But he just stood there, hands by his sides and his jaw still clenched.

  Hanna realized this was it. She wasn’t going to get anything else out of him that night.

  And that was probably for the best.

  Jake pointed at her suitcase, still in the trunk of the captor’s vehicle. “Is this all your stuff?” he asked.

  Hanna nodded. “I just need to get my ID back from the officer.”