SEAL in a Storm

by KaLyn Cooper

  “He’s going to kill me anyway, Daddy.” Callie’s words, and her innocent realization evident in those pretty blue eyes, shot daggers into Rayne’s heart.

  “I’m not worth it.” With every crack in her small voice, another fissure split Rayne’s heart. She didn’t bother to wipe away the tears that rivered down her face and dripped off her jaw. She wanted to take Callie into her arms and do everything within her power to show that child how wonderful a person she was to the depths of her soul.

  “I’ll be with Mom in heaven.”

  Yes. Callie’s soul would certainly go to heaven, but Rayne wasn’t going to let that happen. Not now. That little girl had an entire lifetime ahead of her.

  Bette’s funeral, and the first time Rayne ever held and comforted Callie, flashed through her mind. There had been legitimate death threats against the Speaker of the House. It was going to be a very big, public funeral. As a representative from Virginia, thousands of constituents were close enough to drive to their hometown of Lynchburg.

  During the final viewing, which was the hour before the funeral, Callie had disappeared. Fearing someone had kidnapped her, Rayne had dispersed her team. She was the one to find the ten-year-old leaning on the backside of a huge old oak tree. After notifying the rest of her team and ordering them back to primary security, Rayne had simply sat on the ground beside the girl.

  “Too much for you?” Rayne asked.

  Without looking at her, Callie said, “The flowers stink.”

  Rayne had to admit, “They are overpowering, aren’t they?”

  “Those people didn’t know my mom.” Callie sniffed back a tear. “They just say nice things to my dad, so he’ll vote the way they want him to.”

  Jaded and barely a decade old. Already despising lobbyists.

  “That’s true of many, but there are several people here who knew and loved your mom. Congressman and Mrs. Thompson just went through the line. They asked about you.” That was the moment of panic when the Secret Service realized Callie was gone.

  “There was a woman who was your mom’s roommate in college. By hiding out here you missed those stories. Another lady lived next door to your mom when she was your age. Several men and women who knew your mother told about the wonderful things your Mom did for them. By sitting out here, you’re missing all of that.” Rayne hoped she was getting through to the little girl.

  “But I miss my mom.” Callie broke into tears.

  Rayne pulled the small-framed child into her lap and held her as she cried, reassuring as much as she could. About fifteen minutes later, Brian’s voice came through her earpiece—Congressman Sedgwick was concerned and wanted Callie with him.

  The young girl had made it through the day. But that night, she cried in Rayne’s arms once again. Several times over the next few months, she and Callie would spend quiet, private time together. She had become somewhere between a mother figure, older sister, and adult friend—a place Rayne had never been before.

  Jaja’s final words on the video brought her back to the present.

  With tears still running down her cheeks, Rayne vowed, “I’m going to kill the fucker.”

  “You’ll have to stand in line,” Dex stated through clenched teeth.

  Mart sobbed uncontrollably in her husband’s arms. “That’s the Gunderson’s home.” She sniffed and wiped away tears. Stomping to the map laid out on the table, she jabbed a perfectly manicured fingernail toward a house.

  “I have to make sure you’re absolutely positive, Mart,” Dex pressed

  “I’d recognize that disgusting red and gold brocade couch anywhere.” The real estate agent cringed, then pulled her tablet out of her beach bag-sized purse. She had the interior shots of the home pulled up within seconds. Mart took over the controls on Dex’s laptop, rewinding to the opening shot of Jaja holding Callie at gunpoint in the middle of the living room.

  Laying the two devices side-by-side, everyone gathered around to compare. It was a match.

  “I didn’t even see the couch,” Dex confessed. “And this place was already on our list.”

  “I’m sorry, we hadn’t gotten to that one yet,” Alex apologized.

  “No problem,” Dex reassured. “I called you back here for a reason.”

  “Do you want my team to go there first?” Alex offered.

  “No. This was sent to Congressman Sedgwick less than ten minutes ago so it’s highly likely they’re still there.” His gaze swept the room. “I’d appreciate your backup, though.”

  “You’ve got it.” Alex nodded.

  “Breaching gear. Meet at the SUVs in five minutes,” Dex ordered.

  Rayne was one of the first through the door, headed toward her villa. A warm hand touched her back and sent awareness through her body.

  Dex.

  “You don’t have to do this. You can stay in the war room and coordinate,” Dex offered in a warm and concerned voice.

  Still striding toward her room, she glared at him over her shoulder. “Like fuck I’ll stay here. And I swear to God, if I get the chance, he’s dead. He’s got Callie.”

  “He also has Angelique,” Dex reminded her.

  “That traitorous fucking bitch can die as far as I’m concerned. I will personally see to it that she is tried for treason when we get back to Virginia.” Rayne was a tank on the roll. She intended to crush anything, and everyone, who got in her way.

  “You. Are. Mad,” Dex noted. “I haven’t heard you swear this much since we left the office in Nigeria that night we took down Jaja’s upper echelon.”

  “I wasn’t anywhere near this angry back then. This time, that fucker is going down.” That was a promise as far as Rayne was concerned.

  Her phone rang. Checking the ID, she saw it was Brian. “Talk to me,” she ordered her second-in-command. “I just saw the video. How is Robert taking it?”

  “Congressman Sedgwick was devastated. For a moment there, we thought he was having a heart attack. Thankfully, some of the senior members of the FBI kidnap team were at the house. One of those guys was a paramedic. It took us three full minutes to get the congressman calmed down so we could prepare strategy for Jaja’s call.”

  “What did he tell Jaja?” Rayne turned left as the path split but Dex followed her.

  “Once we get inside, put it on speaker,” Dex demanded.

  Throwing open the door, Rayne strode straight to her bedroom. She clicked on the speaker and laid her phone on the nightstand. “Brian, I have you on speaker and mission commander Dex Carson is with me. Thanks to the video, we believe we know their location.”

  “Excellent.” Brian acknowledged. “We had Silas Branson on the line advising us before Jaja called. On his advice, the congressman gave Jaja the wrong date. He obviously has a second source. He indicated that if Congressman Sedgwick had lied to him, he was going to kill one of the hostages in six hours.”

  Six hours? Rayne whipped her gaze to Dex. He hadn’t said anything in the briefing about a time limit. Her glare was answered by a single nod.

  “We’ll get him before then,” Dex reassured. “Homeland has identified his son, who was working under a different name at the Chad Embassy. They’ve agreed to turn him over to our custody. They should be picking him up any minute. The noose is tightening on Jaja. We’re going to get him this time.”

  “Rayne,” Brian sounded hesitant. “We’re heading your way.”

  Rayne picked up her bulletproof vest and paused. “Exactly what do you mean, you’re heading my way?”

  “Congressman Sedgwick has insisted on coming down there. Nothing is going to keep him from his daughter.” Brian huffed. “At this moment, he wants to personally kill his wife. He’s already called his attorney to start divorce proceedings and the Attorney General to draw up treason charges. I have never seen the man this angry or determined. He’s charted a private jet to take us to St. Thomas.”

  “Don’t you dare let him come to St. John,” Rayne threatened. “I don’t want him anywhere near Jaja o
r his followers. Does Robert understand that we’re facing a hurricane?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Brian sounded like he was walking outdoors. “He doesn’t care. He wants to be there when you hand him his daughter. By the way, we’re boarding the plane now.” The wind noise was gone.

  In the background, she heard Robert Sedgwick’s familiar voice. “Give me that phone.”

  “Senior Special Agent Yoshida, as soon as you rescue my daughter, I want you to arrest my wife. I want that bitch in handcuffs. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, sir.” Rayne didn’t bother telling him that was already her plan. She’d allow him to feel vindicated.

  Dex tapped his watch.

  “Congressman, I’ll take care of it.”

  With the sun halfway through the morning sky, a covert approach was going to be difficult. Thankfully, the next storm band hit and it was overcast and raining so hard no one could see anything beyond three feet. Hurricane Victor had just been upgraded to a category four and was headed straight for the Eastern Caribbean Islands. Landfall was expected on Montserrat within the next few hours, but this hurricane was so wide the thick outer bands were already whipping the Virgin Islands.

  Alex’s team surrounded the house perched on a very steep slope. Rayne was thrilled that Will had parked their SUV less than quarter of a mile away, hidden from view by the large house next door. The plan called for them to drive Callie down to the baseball fields. Dex and Alex would transport Angelique, under armed guard.

  To everyone’s surprise, there was only one exterior sentry. Remi Steele quickly interrogated the man and discovered his only form of communication with Jaja was by cell phone. The man readily confirmed that Callie and Angelique were in the house. In order to avoid more persuasion, he even drew a picture of where they were being held inside the house.

  Rayne stood with her back against the stucco exterior, rifle in hand, her head tilted forward so the water poured off her hat. Once again, she was relegated to the second wave entering the house.. They were going in through the front door, thirty seconds behind Dex and Devon.

  “On three,” Dex called through their communications systems. “One.”

  Rayne took a deep breath and cleared her mind.

  “Two.”

  “Holy, fuck. The door is unlocked.” Ethan announced. “I repeat, the basement door is unlocked.”

  “Holding the count.” Dex ordered, “Check all your doors and report.”

  Not a single door was locked. The exterior guard had admitted that he was supposed to booby-trap the doors as soon as he set up perimeter alarms.

  “Changing the plan,” Dex said. “We’re going in quiet. On three.”

  “One. Two. Three.” Cracking the door open two feet, Dex and Devin slid through the small opening.

  Rayne started her count. At the nod from Will, she opened the door again and slid through, stepping to her left as planned. Even though all the curtains were closed, enough light came through the huge windows that she could see Devin making his way down the hall toward the bedrooms. Dex was slowly inching his way through the kitchen which opened on the far side of the living room.

  Crouching down, Rayne quietly made her way through the short wide hall to the living room archway.

  “Mr. Jaja, I’m sure that date is correct. My husband doesn’t lie.” Angelique sounded confident from her perch on the arm at the far end of the couch. “I’ve heard that date before, I just didn’t want to tell your son the wrong information. I was going to double check it, but I couldn’t figure out a way to bring it up with Robert. He’s on so many important committees, you know.”

  If Angelique looked up, she might, possibly, be able to see Rayne. Fortunately, her concentration was on Jaja, who was sitting in the chair adjacent to the couch, with his back to Rayne.

  “The only thing I know for a fact, woman, is that I’m tired of hearing you blabber.” Jaja raised his gun and shot Angelique in the middle of the forehead.

  Callie screamed.

  Rayne’s attention darted to the small ball on the couch, which she had initially thought was a pile of pillows.

  Jaja jumped out of his chair and grabbed Callie. “Shut up, you worthless girl. If you don’t want to end up just like her, you’d better do as you’re told.”

  “Let go of her, Jaja,” Dex ordered as he stood in the kitchen, his gun pointed at Jaja. “And drop your gun.”

  The terrorist instantly pulled the girl in front of him as a human shield and put his gun to her head. “No. You drop your gun.”

  Alex seemed to appear twelve feet from Dex, his gun also aimed at Jaja who twisted to keep them both in sight.

  The man Rayne had hunted for years was less than ten feet away.

  She had a clear shot.

  Without hesitating, she pulled the trigger.

  As though in slow motion, Aahil Mohammed Jaja’s head bounced to one side before his entire body collapsed on the floor.

  Callie put her hands over her ears and screamed.

  Rayne sprinted into the room, grabbed Callie, and pressed the girl’s face to her chest. “I’ve got you, sweet girl. You’re safe.”

  Ignoring everything else around her, she started moving toward the front door.

  “I’ll bring the car.” Will’s voice filled her ear.

  Rubbing her hand up and down the small-framed girl’s back, she kept repeating, “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

  Dex was right beside her, reaching for Callie. “Let me carry her.”

  Callie screamed and tried to bury herself deeper in Rayne’s arms.

  As calmly as possible, she shook her head, understanding he was only trying to help. “You’re a man.”

  He threw his arm around her and leaned in close, whispering in her ear. “A man who’s concerned about you.” He kissed her temple then stepped away. “I’ll see you in St. Thomas.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Dex stood in the wide hallway, his back to the front door, and videoed with his cell phone the living room as Rayne would have seen it. He gave a running commentary of her movements, knowing that she was going to be questioned. It was absolutely a legitimate and necessary shooting that had been sanctioned by Homeland Security. And a damn good shot. The more evidence he could provide, the faster she could resume her normal duties.

  Jaja’s body still lay where he fell. So did Angelique’s.

  To clarify everyone’s position within the room, Alex stood where he was during the shooting, and Remi was positioned where Dex had been, proving she had a clear killing field.

  Turning off the movie function on his phone, Dex announced, “That’s it.”

  “So, this is the son of a bitch who entered my island illegally and kidnapped fourteen hostages.” Assistant Police Chief John Winslow carefully walked around the living room. He slid a glance at the couch. “Mart was right. That’s one fucking ugly piece of furniture.”

  The deep chuckles of agreement eased the tension in the room.

  “Dex, I want to thank you for stopping this piece of shit.” John slapped Dex on the shoulder.

  “I didn’t shoot him. Rayne did.” Dex didn’t try to hide the pride in his voice. She had made one hell of a shot and without hesitation. “John, this doesn’t need to be treated as a crime scene. There will be no trial. Do you have a crime scene cleanup team?”

  “Yes, we have people who can handle this,” John reassured. Before Dex could ask, the head of local police confirmed, “And you can trust them not to say a word. I saw the notification of news blackout.”

  Relieved, Dex said, “You can forward their bill to Silas Branson at Homeland Security.”

  “What do you want to do with the bodies?” John asked.

  “I’m sure the congressman will want his wife’s body returned to Virginia.” Dex glanced at the woman who lay in a heap at the far side of the couch, a bullet hole in her forehead. “If you can get it bagged up and over to St. Thomas, he has a plane there. Hopefully, he can take it back with him.”
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  “We don’t have many murders here in the Virgin Islands, but I brought a few body bags left from the hurricanes last year. I’ll make sure Mrs. Sedgwick is placed in one of them.” John looked at Jaja’s body. “What about him?”

  “I wouldn’t bother trying to find next of kin. Throw him out with the trash for all I care.” Dex was just happy that man was finally dead.

  John laughed. “Good idea. We have some heavy-duty trash bags left from the hurricane cleanup. We’ll use those for Jaja and his men.”

  “Sounds appropriate to me,” Alex agreed. “Dex, it looks like the rain is letting up and it looks like you’re finished here. Let’s make a dash for St. Thomas. I really want to get my team out of here before hurricane Victor makes his appearance. I sent Jake and Zeb back to the resort to collect everything we left there. They’re waiting for us at the baseball field.”

  “Thanks. Much appreciated.” Dex turned and held out his hand to John. “I can’t thank you and Mart enough for everything you did in helping us find the hostages. I hate to leave you with this mess, but we need to get out of here. Is there anything else we can do for you before we leave?”

  Two of John’s men lifted Angelique Sedgwick into a black plastic body bag and zipped it up.

  “Take her with you.” John jerked his thumb in Angelique’s direction. “It could be days before we can get her off the island on a boat and we won’t have any refrigeration when the electricity goes off.”

  Nolan and Blake appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the body bag handles.

  “We’ve got this.” Alex followed the two men out the door.

  “Stay safe,” Dex told John, then he walked out of the house of horrors and away from the putrid smell of death. He thought he was done with scenes like this when he retired. With one last glance at Jaja’s body, satisfaction flowed through him. His personal change in status, though, didn’t change the evil in the world. Terrible men like the terrorist on the floor would always be out there. So would innocents.

  Dex had seen a lot of bad shit in his life, rescued dozens of hostages, but this one was going to haunt him for years. Twice he had seen Jaja hold a gun to a young girl’s head. It was bad enough in the video, but standing fifteen feet away, unable to help her, seeing the terror in her eyes, smelling her fear, rocked him to his very soul.