Protecting Dakota (Sleeper SEALs Book 1)

by Susan Stoker

  It came to him then. It was as clear as if Dakota had screamed the word at him. “Coronado. Tornado was probably the closest spelling she could get to Coronado without finger-spelling it out. The fucker’s right fucking here.”

  “It makes sense,” Wolf said slowly. “Zach worked at the base. He’s probably given himself access to the super-computers there. If he’s as good at tech shit as Tex thinks he is, he probably hacked right into the mainframe. He could bounce the signal around to almost anywhere.”

  “There are quite a few houses on the beaches over there. Especially on the south side,” Abe observed.

  “I’ll be in touch,” Slade told Kiera, Coop, and Hurt, and didn’t even feel the slightest bit bad when he hung up in the middle of whatever the commander was saying. He immediately dialed again and got Greg Lambert.

  “Lambert here.”

  “He fucking worked beside the team when I took my leave of absence,” Slade said in lieu of a greeting.

  “What? Who?” Greg asked.

  “Zach Johnson. The guy you had work in my place. We just watched a video of Zach, otherwise known as Aziz Fourati, forcing my woman to marry him. She used sign language to talk to us. She spelled his name. Zach is fucking Aziz!”

  “Fuck me,” Greg said softly. Then louder said, “His name was at the top of the list of trustworthy employees when I checked for your replacement. I didn’t even question it. He was already there at the base, it seemed to be an easy decision.”

  “Fuck, we bought right into his ‘I don’t understand computers’ act,” Abe bit out.

  “Something wasn’t right when I was trying to help him this morning,” Slade commented. “I couldn’t put my finger on it at the time, but now it makes sense. It was as if he was trying too hard to look like an idiot when it came to the computer. Clicking on stupid shit anyone who has been alive in the last twenty fucking years would know not to click on.”

  “So he’s actually a techie…how’d he get one step ahead of us? How’d he track Dakota down?” Dude asked.

  “He didn’t seem to be a real threat to her until Lambert asked me to take on the case,” Slade said.

  “So you’re the key,” Wolf surmised. “How?”

  “My computer?” Slade asked.

  Wolf shook his head. “Our computers are secure.”

  “He could’ve hacked into it once he had access,” Dude said.

  “Possible, but there’s no way he would’ve found out some of the information about Dakota from there. My computer was clean. I don’t use it to email anything remotely personal,” Slade informed the group.

  “What about the phones?” Abe asked.

  Slade shook his head. “The only time I used the office phone was when Lambert called that first time…before Zach or Aziz or whatever the fuck we’re calling him, took over my job.”

  “How about your cell?” Lambert asked.

  Everyone was silent for a second.

  “It’s Navy issued,” Slade said slowly.

  “That phone is supposed to be secure,” Cookie told the group something they all knew.

  “Fuck me. Yeah well, Cookie, I’m guessing it isn’t as secure as we thought,” Slade said, shaking his head. “I’ve been using it the whole time. Updating Tex on my progress. Telling him where I was, where I was going. He talked about sending Dakota trackers like the ones the other women had. Hell, Wolf even gave me his security code when we were on the way to his house. Fourati most likely listened to every fucking one of those conversations. Could be listening right now. All he had to do was follow along. I delivered Dakota to him on a silver fucking platter.”

  “I’ll get as much information as I can on Zachary Johnson,” Greg told the now extremely pissed-off group of men. “I’ll get all known addresses for him and anyone remotely connected to him. Parents, siblings, a fucking UPS man who happened to deliver a package. I’ll get them all. I never meant for this to happen,” Greg told Slade. “When I asked you to take this mission, I never expected this.”

  “I never expected Dakota either,” Slade said softly. “And this isn’t your fault. None of it. Just get us the info, like fucking yesterday.”

  “I’ll be in touch,” Greg said, then hung up.

  Slade clicked off the connection and motioned to Wolf for his phone, dropping his own on the table as if it were poison. He glanced at the window and noticed how fast time seemed to be passing. Fuck, they were taking too long. He needed information and he needed it now.

  With a grimace, Wolf understood and threw it to him.

  “Don’t have a choice, I’m takin’ a chance that your phone is clean,” Slade said, before punching in a number.

  “You got Tex.”

  “Tex, it’s Cutter. I need houses on the beach on Coronado. Someplace that has a basement, or something similar that’s underground. That could be a long shot though.”

  “Fuck me, how’d you get that intel? Did Dakota say all that in her speech?” Tex asked even as he was clicking keys on his computer.

  “I’ll tell you later,” Slade reassured his friend.

  Wolf and the other men were already on the move, headed for the door. Slade followed along behind them, the adrenaline coursing through his body. He was more than ready to get this shit done. It had been way too long since that video had played. Who knew what Fourati was doing to Dakota.

  “Okay, I pulled up the MLS listings of all the houses on Coronado. Um…right, okay it looks like there are thirty-three houses with basements near a beach.”

  “Is there unusual electricity usage for any of them? What about cars in driveways or parked nearby? Any boat docks? Any with an eight in the address?”

  Tex’s fingers were moving nonstop, and Slade could hear his friend muttering under his breath as he did the searches.

  “Nothing stands out, Cutter.”

  “Fuck, Tex. There has to be something. Fourati is Zach. The guy who replaced me.”

  “What? I thought that guy was a fuckup.”

  “Obviously he wasn’t as much of a fuckup as everyone thought,” Slade said dryly. He got into the backseat of Cookie’s SUV and held on to the oh-shit handle as the man backed out of Wolf’s driveway as if the hounds of hell were after him. Slade approved. As long as they didn’t catch the attention of a ticket-happy cop, he didn’t care what it took, they needed to get to Coronado. “My phone was compromised. I’m using Wolf’s. Bastard listened to every one of my conversations. Followed me right to Rachel and back to San Diego. He knows everything about Wolf’s team…and me. I led him right to Dakota. We need this info, buddy.”

  “Fuck,” Tex swore. “Okay, hang on. That puts a completely different spin on this then. If that fucker hacked into your phone, he had to have left a trail. No one is that good. The Navy doesn’t—oh yeah, there you are, you asshole…”

  Slade listened impatiently as Tex did what Tex did best, use his computer knowledge to track terrorists…and find missing women.

  “Got him. There’s a house with a beach view owned by Dolores and Richard Johnson. You’ll never guess what their son’s name is.”

  “Address, Tex,” Slade said impatiently. He’d worry about Zach’s parents later.

  “Right, after you go over the bridge, take a left on Orange Avenue. There’s a housing development at the end of the street. The houses are centered around a park. Address is 418 Ocean Boulevard.”

  “You’re sure?” Slade asked.

  “Fucking positive. Fucker’s not as smart as he thinks he is,” Tex said.

  “There’s an eight in the address,” Wolf commented, but Slade tuned him out. He didn’t care what Dakota was trying to tell him. Address, license plate, eighty-eight fucking bad guys. He’d kill them fucking all if they did anything to hurt her.

  “Thanks, Tex. We’re already on the move,” Slade said.

  “I’m shutting his website down. He won’t be able to post anything else.”

  “Good.”

  “And I’ll be talking with the ad
miral out there at the base and letting him know there was a breach, and that he’d better fucking get on that or there’ll be hell to pay,” Tex swore.

  Slade didn’t give a fuck about that. His only concern at the moment was for Dakota.

  “Call me when your woman’s safe,” Tex ordered.

  “Will do,” Slade told him, and clicked off the phone. He gave it back to Wolf and tried to concentrate on the upcoming rescue. All his focus was on retrieving Dakota and Caroline and putting an end to Zach—and anyone else who got in his way.

  “What’s the plan?” he asked the other men in the vehicle as they flew toward Coronado, racing the setting sun.

  Chapter 15

  Dakota huddled on the floor with Caroline. The two women had their arms around each other as they spoke quietly.

  “Are you okay?” Dakota asked.

  “Yeah. I’m good.”

  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t—”

  “This isn’t your fault,” Caroline said fiercely. “He did this, not you.”

  “But he hurt you,” Dakota said sadly.

  “Yeah. But you stopped him before he did something awful. Besides, I’ve been hurt worse.”

  “Are you still bleeding?” Dakota reached out and put her hand over Caroline’s breastbone. At the other woman’s inhalation, she realized what she’d done.

  “Jesus, I’m sorry,” Dakota told her, yanking her hand back. “I didn’t mean to…I mean, we don’t even really know each other, I shouldn’t be touching you like that, and—”

  Caroline reached out and grabbed Dakota’s hand. She placed it back between her breasts and held it there. The two women sat like that for a long moment, drawing strength from each other, connecting in a personal and empathetic way.

  “I’m okay,” Caroline reassured Dakota. Her lips quirked up in a semblance of a grin as she said, “It’s only a scratch, and thanks to you, he didn’t hurt me worse. We need to figure something out before he comes back though.” Caroline dropped her hand to her lap and Dakota grabbed it and held on tightly.

  “I swear I’ll do whatever he wants so he won’t hurt you again,” Dakota vowed. “I could probably hold out if he hurt me, but I can’t stand to see him do anything to you.”

  “I’d like to tell you that it doesn’t matter, but I can’t,” Caroline said in a soft voice. “One of us needs to get out of here. Get help.”

  Dakota motioned to her knee, which was swelling enough that an unusual bump could be seen even though she was wearing silk pants. “I can barely walk, much less run. That asshole really did a number on my knee. It’s going to have to be you. It’s probably better anyway; if you’re out of here, Aziz can’t hurt you to make me compliant.”

  Thinking about the terrorist she’d just married, Dakota shivered in revulsion. As soon as she’d finished the speech she’d been forced to make earlier, Aziz had motioned for two of the men in the room to cut the zip-ties holding her ankles to the chair. He’d hauled her up, putting his arm around her waist so she wouldn’t fall to the ground when she put weight on her injured knee. “You did wonderful, my bride. Unfortunately, the consummation of our wedding will be delayed. Our marriage is big news and I have recruits I need to talk to. If you promise to be good, I’ll let you stay with your friend.”

  He’d looked at her expectantly then, and Dakota had nodded and said softly, “I’ll be good.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, Anoushka. I’d hate to have to hurt your friend. I do so hate the sight of blood.”

  Dakota had resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and stayed silent as she was helped into another small room with Caroline. This one had a dirty mattress on the floor and a wooden chair in the corner. There was no other furniture.

  “Here you are, my bride.”

  “It’s not exactly comfortable,” Dakota said dryly.

  “The more you show me that you can obey your wedding vows, the better your accommodations will be,” Aziz said smugly. “Since I don’t trust you yet though, no matter what you swore to God in our wedding ceremony, we will consummate our marriage here. Your friend Caroline will be in that chair over there,” he pointed to it with his chin, “and will be accompanied by two of my most trusted followers. If you refuse me in any way, she will pay the price. Understand?”

  Dakota had nodded immediately, horrified by what the evening would bring.

  “Good. Get comfortable. I’ll be back once I’ve secured the major funding I’ve been working toward.” He kissed her gently on the forehead, as if he really was a loving new husband. “Our wedding was the one thing my backer was waiting on. Now that he knows I have done my duty, he will pay. And we’ll be that much closer to our ultimate goal.”

  “Of?” Dakota asked, afraid to hear the answer.

  “To make the LAX bombing look like small potatoes,” Aziz answered readily. “Take a nap, relax.” He leaned into her, grabbing her chin with a cruel grip and forced her face up to his. “I will be back. I will fuck you into submission, and when I’m done, I might just let my loyal followers take a turn as well. To reward them, you know. I honestly don’t give a shit who gets you pregnant. It doesn’t matter. In fact, it’d probably be better if the brat had dark hair anyway.”

  Then he ground his mouth down onto hers. Dakota had refused to open her mouth, but he bit her bottom lip until she gasped at the pain and his tongue swept inside her mouth.

  After a moment, he pulled back but didn’t let go of her. “You’ll have to do better than that, my bride, if you want your friend to remain unmolested.” Then he laughed. “On second thought, don’t. I’d love to take a shot at her as well.” And with that, Aziz had left them alone in the room.

  Dakota shook her head, trying to remove the memories. “I’m not sure we’ll even get a chance to make a break for it,” she told Caroline in despair. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do.”

  “Bullshit,” the other woman said, determination clear in her tone. “You sent the message like we talked about, right?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t know if Slade will understand it. I don’t know much about him at all, other than he’s got a Harley and is sexy as hell.”

  Caroline shook her head and squeezed Dakota’s hand almost to the point of pain. “One of the guys will understand.”

  “Does Wolf or any of his teammates know sign language?”

  “They’re in the process of trying to learn it, but I don’t know how fluent they are yet. But they have their own nonverbal signals they use all the time. Because of what I did when I was captured, they’re going to know to look for a message of some sort,” Caroline reassured her. “I know it.”

  “I hope so. It’s been a while since I’ve signed, I hope I didn’t screw it up.”

  “I know my husband and the others are on their way, but we can’t sit around waiting on them. We need to help ourselves.” Caroline pushed herself to her feet, swaying slightly before locking her knees and walking around the room.

  Caroline explored their prison, even though there wasn’t much to see. The window was nailed shut and wouldn’t budge so they couldn’t get out that way. The chair was impossible for them to break apart to make a weapon. There wasn’t anything on either of their outfits that would pass for a weapon, and the barrettes in Dakota’s hair were useless as a defensive tool.

  Even with the odds against them, neither woman was willing to give up. Caroline sat back down on the mattress next to Dakota and they plotted and planned. With Dakota’s bum knee and Caroline’s robe—which was slit up the middle, exposing her if she wasn’t holding it closed—they were somewhat handicapped, not to mention outnumbered, but both made a vow not to give up, especially after Caroline told Dakota her entire story. How she’d literally been on the edge of death in the ocean when Cookie had shown up with lifesaving oxygen.

  “Don’t ever give up,” Caroline said. “Even when you think all is lost, hang on for one more second.”

  Dakota nodded. “You too.”

  “We can get
through this. Our men will come for us,” Caroline said firmly.

  Dakota could see the absolute certainty in the other woman’s eyes. She had no doubt whatsoever that her husband was on his way. “How long do you think it’s been?”

  “I have no idea. It’s getting dark though, so several hours,” Caroline said.

  Dakota closed her eyes and leaned against the wall behind her. She and Caroline once more had their arms around each other as they waited for whatever was going to happen to happen.

  I can do this, Dakota told herself. Slade is coming. I know it. We might have just met, but he’s coming. The last week flashed through her memories. Slade sitting in the passenger seat of her car, watching her sleep. Slade holding her in the trailer of the motel in Rachel. Riding on the back of his bike as she held on tightly to him. Looking up at the stars before they’d gone into the hotel room in Goldfield. He’d taken her in his arms and they’d silently gazed upwards before Slade had kissed the top of her head and led her inside. Slade smiling at her as they ate pizza in Goldfield. And how good his hands felt on her body.

  Yeah, Slade was coming for her. Her only job was to hold on until he got there.

  The five men silently exited the SUV a block away from where they believed Zach was holed up with the women. The darkening sky aiding in their cover. They weren’t sure how many followers he had with him, but assumed it was anywhere up to a dozen. Twelve against five didn’t seem like great odds, but not only were the men silently stalking toward the house on the beach highly trained killers, the mission was personal.

  “I contacted Hurt,” Wolf told the others quietly. “He called in that new SEAL team under his command to back us up and watch over the coastline. I wouldn’t put it past this asshole to be ready for anything.”

  “Are you talking about Gumby, Rocco, and their team?” Cookie asked. “The guys who helped us over in Turkey?”

  “That’s them,” Wolf affirmed.

  “Fuck yeah,” Abe whispered.

  Slade didn’t give a shit who was covering what. All his focus was on the house and finding Dakota before it was too late.