SEALs of Honor: Cooper

by Dale Mayer

  Her footsteps slowed as she studied the faces of the team. She recognized a few faces. But only a few.

  She gasped when she saw Markus in front of them. She slipped her arm free and ran to him.

  Cooper could only watch as she threw herself in Markus’s waiting arms. He swung her around before placing her back down on her feet again.

  She laughed in delight. “Looks like you ended up all right after all,” she teased.

  “Hey, I was never the one in trouble,” Markus protested. “It was you who caused us the grief all the time.”

  “And you who kept scaring those poor people,” she cried out, a big smile on her face. “What did they do to you?”

  “Ha, they wouldn’t show us where you’d gotten too fast enough,” he growled but there was no heat in his voice.

  Good thing or Cooper would have to step in but instead he watched her easy camaraderie as she went to the others she greeted one by one and gave each a big hug and a thank you. When she reached Swede she shook her head and held up her arms waiting like a two-year-old. He chuckled and picked her up so she could reach around his neck.

  Markus murmured at his side, “If you are letting her walk through your fingers…”

  “Hell, no I’m not,” he snapped.

  Markus held up his hands in surrender and added, “Just saying…”

  “Just saying what?” Cooper dared him to continue.

  And he did, but it wasn’t quite the angle Cooper expected.

  “I guess I’m saying that I’m feeling a whole lot better about my future after all.”

  “Meaning…” Cooper wasn’t going to let this drop until he knew exactly how Markus felt. Especially in regards to Sasha.

  “That I think I’m ready to look around for someone again.”

  Cooper was silent for a long moment as he watched Sasha greet Mason.

  “And no,” Markus said. “I won’t trespass. But if you and she don’t work out…”

  “There is no her and me,” Cooper snapped but his voice was low, tinged with regret. “At least not yet.”

  “Bullshit. It’s there. You just don’t believe she’d want someone like you.”

  Cooper frowned. He hadn’t considered that as a reason. He wasn’t lacking self-confidence and his ego was extremely healthy. Did he think he wasn’t worthy of her? No, it was more a case of him putting her so high up that there was almost a bit of star power there. Something he’d never have thought to see as a problem before. She wasn’t a celebrity. But she was highly regarded in her profession and well-loved everywhere. Look at the easy way she’d just worked into the guys’ hearts. He knew what they were all thinking.

  The guys stared at him, speculation in their gazes as Sasha went to Chase and Brett and introduced herself. He didn’t think she knew them but that wouldn’t stop her from reaching out. She checked to see if she’d missed anyone and walked to Hawk.

  Cooper didn’t know what she said to him, but he was grinning like a fool.

  Then in a surprise move she reached up and kissed big silent Shadow on the cheek and whispered something in his ear. He smiled down at her so gently Cooper knew he wasn’t the only who wanted to know what she said.

  She threw out her arms and turned in a big circle. “I am so damn glad to be home.”

  They smiled at her, but the air had changed to a sense of waitingness. Cooper knew she’d picked it up.

  He waited for her to turn that steady gaze his way.

  She studied the men one at a time then narrowed her gaze and looked at him. “Cooper – what don’t I know?”

  He didn’t want to tell her. But she needed to know.

  “David went overseas again.”

  She nodded. “We knew that. He’d planned to turn around as soon as he was allowed.”

  “And he’s gone missing – again.”

  Chapter 19

  Her cheeks tight, her shoulders tense, she said in a curt voice, “Why?”

  “Why didn’t I tell you before we got here?” he asked in a calm voice, not pretending to misunderstand the question. “Because I wasn’t allowed to tell you.”

  She studied him for a long moment and realized he was going to do what he needed to do regardless, and she really wouldn’t want it any other way.

  “Are you going after him?”

  There was a group hesitation then Cooper shook his head. “No. We won’t be.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “Of course not.” She looked to be ready to cry then shoved back her shoulders. “And Theresa, is her disappearance related?”

  Mason answered, “There’s no evidence to say they are connected, but it’s hard to imagine how they can’t be.”

  “Theresa was terrified of going back. She was desperate to not have to complete her contract.”

  “There was a justified reason to walk away. No contracts will force her to finish if they can’t protect her.”

  “And some of the people are diehards and say that they have to finish because the people need the help.” She rubbed her temple. “David was a diehard. That’s why he couldn’t wait to go back. As for Teresa, well I suggested a colleague to help her deal with the trauma of the kidnapping.”

  “And did she contact your colleague? Do you know?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I can call and see.” As several of the men nodded, she pulled out her phone. “Simone? Hey…” Sasha smiled as her friend babbled in joy at her voice. “I’m fine. Yes, I know it was pretty rough for a while, but I’m doing better. That’s actually why I’m calling. I referred a coworker to you. She’d been kidnapped with me. Theresa Guild.”

  Simone said, “Yes, I’ve spoken with her.”

  “Oh good,” Sasha said. “She was supposed to meet me at a restaurant yesterday and never showed. I’ve been trying to contact her but no luck. When did you see her last?”

  “Two days ago. We had a normal session and she booked another appointment for next week.”

  “You haven’t spoken to her since? Did she give you any indication she might be leaving? Going away for a few days? Something?”

  “No, I’m sorry but she didn’t.” There was a fraught silence as the other woman considered the issue. “Honestly it was mostly the trauma she’d been through and her broken marriage.”

  “Damn it.” Sasha rubbed her temple. “I’m really worried about her.” And she explained what had happened to her.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that,” Simone said. “I’ll let you know if I hear from her.”

  Sasha rang off, explaining to the men who’d been listening in.

  “Broken marriage?” Cooper said. “Hmmm. Now why did I think she’d been happily married?”

  “How many happily married women do you know that spend a full year in a refugee camp without their husbands?” Swede asked.

  “None,” Evan answered.

  There was an awkward silence as the men looked at each other. Sasha stared at them suspiciously. “What are you thinking?”

  “Just wondering if she went over alone or with a partner, and if she went with a partner who he was.”

  “Do you think it makes a difference?”

  “Information,” Mason said in that strong quiet voice she always associated with him, “is always helpful. We can’t make decisions when we don’t have the information we need.”

  “But even if she was married, what would that have to do with her disappearance now?”

  No one answered.

  Her breath gushed out in a whoosh. “I don’t remember her ever mentioning a husband. Neither did I see her with anyone else but our team…” She frowned as she dredged through the memories in her mind.

  “Sasha…?” Cooper studied her face. “What are you thinking?”

  “It’s just she spent a lot of time with David. They were about ten years apart and spent a fair bit of time together. But we all did, so I can’t see why that would be anything different.”

  “It might not be.” Markus studied her. “But yo
u seem to notice it as if it was something different.”

  “I don’t know what it is though,” she continued. “Honestly I worked all the time so haven’t a clue what was going on around me. I was healing from my own divorce and deliberately didn’t want to see what others were doing,” she added the last note defiantly. “If others were involved in a relationship, I didn’t see it.”

  “So let’s reverse that then. Do you know who David hung around with?”

  She hated prying into personal lives. This dissection of others. Because in its deepest form it was a dissection of herself. Why hadn’t she noticed more? Because she didn’t want to see. She didn’t want to see everyone else happy and moving on – when she was still hurting. No, maybe not hurting…but not ready to venture out into that dating world again. It hurt to be out there. Such a meat market sound to it. She wasn’t like that. She was shy inside. Reserved. She worked. That’s what she did. She didn’t party, go to the bars or hang out with many friends. She had her husband and they had their friends. She’d been content. Content as in seriously happy, wallowing in her own muddy pigsty.

  Only it hadn’t been the same for Greg.

  As she’d found out too late.

  It hurt even now but not from the lack of love or the loss of her life partner but the betrayal – why hadn’t he said something to her?

  “Sasha?”

  She threw her head back. “I hate meddling into other people’s lives.”

  “And how do you feel about kidnapping?”

  She glared at Evan who smiled at her as if that would take the sting out of his words.

  “David never seemed to be short of friends.” She took a deep breath. “He’s a lovable character with a great personality, and if he wanted a partner for the night then he’d have had no shortage of offers from the staff or anyone around for that matter.”

  She could sense the curiosity in their gazes and was determined to forestall the next question. “No, not me. I never got involved with anyone there. I don’t do hookups,” she said coolly. “And because I don’t, I don’t follow what other people do.”

  “And yet you know more than you thought,” Cooper said.

  “Maybe.” She thought about the gentle interaction she’d seen. The tiny touches that happened between lovers and realized she did know. “He was likely having a relationship with her, yes.”

  “And do you know how her husband would have reacted?”

  “No.” She stared at him, shadows in her heart. “But if she was married, I can only imagine.”

  *

  Cooper heard the pain in her voice. Understood what was behind it. There was nothing he could do but hope she wasn’t still in love with the guy. Because Cooper knew he was half in love with her himself. Always had been. She was…well he had no words to describe her. He admired her energy and compassion. He already knew she was dedicated and hardworking and caring. He’d thought she was a sexy bomb back when she was doing surgery on him. They’d connected – he knew they had but she’d been married. Which explained that although there’d been a connection between them, she’d always been proper. There’d been no other option. Not for her or for him.

  And he admired her all the more for that.

  She’d never made him question her motives or integrity and always made him stop and wonder at the person she was. Especially when she’d done that C-section at the refugee camp. He’d watched from the doorway. She hadn’t hesitated. He’d seen the disbelief on Markus’s face when she’d held up the scalpel – and her giving him that moment to turn away before she took that first incision.

  Just as he knew his abilities and his strengths, so too did she.

  He was damn proud of her.

  And he was such an idiot.

  “Cooper?”

  He turned to look at Markus and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “Thoughts?”

  He shrugged. “I’m just wondering what lengths Theresa’s husband would go to to punish his wife and her lover.”

  Sasha grasped softly as he reached out to her. “Not saying that it’s related in any way, or that you’d be involved somehow, but we’ve all seen how love brings out the best and the worst in people.”

  A rather grim heaviness settled in the air.

  “What nationality is he? And would he have any connections to pull off that original kidnapping or only possibly this second one?”

  “She mentioned something about having connections, if she was married that could explain it,” Sasha said. “But she was always vague and refused to give details.” She frowned at Mason. “She was moody and often depressed, so I didn’t get into too many discussions with her.”

  “Not to mention if she was having an affair that might have contributed to her depression. Sounds like we should be putting these questions to David.”

  “Sure,” she said candidly. “It would affect anyone. And if her husband was there or came and went it would add to the stress. Maybe he found out about it or maybe he broke it off, and she just pretended to still be married.” She shrugged as if she’d seen too many strange circumstances for it to be anything of interest. And given her profession he could imagine. “That’s Simone’s department. Give me broken bones and sliced tissue any day over broken hearts and shattered egos.”

  The others laughed. “Good enough.”

  Shadow said without lifting his head from his cellphone, “He’s Turkish. They were married eight years ago in Turkey. Now to find out where he’s been these last couple of days.” He frowned, clicking away. “He works for the Turkish military.”

  “That doesn’t explain how I’d be taken at the same time. It’s not as if my kidnapping was random,” she exclaimed.

  “No, there will be a reason. We haven’t found it yet, that’s all.”

  “Neither does it have anything to do with the break-in at my house,” she cried. “Why would it? It wasn’t Theresa staying there with me.” And she gasped, the color fading from her skin.

  “What?” Cooper asked.

  “We had to give our contact information when we returned,” Sasha said. “So we gave our cell numbers and in my case my house. I gave her my address if she ever needed a place. She’d planned to stay at a hotel but wasn’t looking forward to it.”

  “But she could have just as easily given a hotel and a room number.”

  Sasha shook her head. “They wanted next of kin, permanent address, and family member contact information. Things like that.”

  “It will be easy to find,” Cooper said. “All that information will be on file.”

  “It is,” Swede announced holding up his cellphone. “She gave 430 Cypress Lane.”

  Sasha cried out, “That’s my address.”

  Chapter 20

  Sasha shook her head. “Is it that simple?” No, it couldn’t be. “That doesn’t make sense. What about the picture of me and Greg cut in half? The intruder would know that image had nothing to do with her.”

  “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that’s exactly what it was all about. The fact remains that your house was given as a permanent address for someone else, and that person has gone missing. Your house was broken into and vandalized. They have to be connected.”

  “And David?” she asked in a small voice. “He’s a good man.”

  “He’s a good doctor,” Mason corrected. “You don’t know the man himself.”

  She blinked. “Maybe I don’t, but I can tell a lot about people by working with them. David was a dedicated vagabond. He loved women and he loved life and for him they didn’t go together. His mistress was his work. The rest were and always would be playthings. And while he was there with a woman it would be a hell of a ride. Only Ferris Wheels are a treat and the view is special when you get to the top but like all these kinds of relationships, the wheel always comes down.”

  “Wow.”

  She smiled at Hawk who studied her intently like he hadn’t quite seen her species before.

  “It’s not that
difficult. You work with someone for a long time and you get to know who and what they are. Look at you guys. Although there are going to be some in this group you are closer to than others, you wouldn’t have a problem turning your back on any of them because they’d guard it for you, not stab into it. It’s the same in the trenches of an overcrowded refugee camp. He had my back and I never doubted that he’d be there when I needed him. The same in reverse.” She took a deep breath and added in a lower tone, “I didn’t have that same feeling with Theresa.”

  “What was she like?”

  “Besides despondent, depressed, and then switching to deliriously happy? It’s as if she were two people. Very high energy then dragging her ass. No one knew which way she’d be on any given day. She worked hard and put in a solid day, but we all know the type that watch the clock to leave the minute the work day is done. But at the camp, the day was never done.”

  “So how did she de-stress in order to go from deep depression to deliriously happy?”

  She stared at him. “Likely in bursts with David.”

  Silence.

  That was something they could all understand. There was nothing like an affair to remove the drudgery of the day and give you something special to look forward to.

  “Where is her husband now?” She studied their faces. “Can’t you find out?”

  “According to his commanding officers he’s taken a week’s leave.”

  She shook her head then said, “So he could be behind all this?”

  “In theory, but that still doesn’t connect him to you or to Ron. Neither does it connect to the driver.”

  “Maybe someone should be asking that weasel those questions.”

  Cooper glanced at his watch. “We’ll have to contact the Turkish military. We don’t know if they’re holding the driver in custody.”

  “I can’t say I’d want to go back and face him, but I would if need be.”

  “Face who? The driver?” Cooper asked. “He’s a nobody. Just a scam artist looking to make a living off the blood and sweat and tears of others.”

  “The husband.”