Beautiful Surrender (Pride and Honor Book 4)

by Ember-Raine Winters

  “These kids are important to you?” Ace asked Griff.

  “Yeah, they mean the world to us,” I replied and saw Gabe’s almost imperceptible flinch. I made a mental note to keep an eye on that guy. Something about him I didn’t trust. I might have just been on edge or I might have been channeling Twitch. Either way, I had a bad feeling something was about to go wrong.

  “We’ll get ‘em back. SEAL team six doesn’t know the meaning of the word fail.” Ace pounded his chest over his heart. I think it was a show of solidarity but we got the picture. He was behind us, no matter what. That made me feel a little better. He was the leader of the crew and military men followed orders. Period. It was one of the best things I found when running GTT for Griff while he was finishing out his time in the Army. When you hired mostly vets, you almost never had to fire anyone for insubordination. They did what they were told and didn’t ask questions. Too bad my feelings about working there were drastically changing. As much as it would kill me to leave, I was losing the ability to keep shouldering the constant disappointment and hurt I was feeling. And protecting Kenzie, while I knew it wasn’t something she wanted, it was something I also knew she needed and probably coveted.

  It was a long flight but finally about midmorning we were flying over an abandoned field outside Jamaame. The view of the Indian Ocean from the plane was breathtaking, and I could see finding the pirates camp in the large port city was going to be a challenge.

  I was bouncing my leg in excitement waiting for the pilot to tell us we were good to go when Hawk walked over to me with an oxygen mask.

  “Damn, I was hoping you forgot about that,” I chuckled.

  “Sorry bro, but it might just save your life while you’re falling thirty thousand feet.”

  “Yeah, yeah let’s just get it over with.” I huffed, hating the fact that I stood out from the rest.

  “Aww, come on,” He nudged me, “it’s still gonna be a blast.”

  Nodding once, I allowed Hawk to strap the oxygen to my back, fixing the mask to my face so that it wouldn’t come off halfway down. He was giving me instructions on how and when to open my chute, basically telling me to just wait until the first guy pulled, since I wouldn’t know how far we were from the ground on my first try.

  “Usually first timers go tandem, but since we don’t have the equipment for that out in the field you’re just gonna have to be quick on your feet and learn by doing. You’re a SEAL now. You can do anything.” He clapped me on the back and grinned. “Welcome to the club, brother.”

  “Thanks,” I said a little choked up. It was stupid and I cleared my throat before they could hear the emotion clogging it. The only thing I had ever wanted was to be in the military, but my past medical history forced me to find a new dream. For Hawk and Ace to accept me into their tightknit group, even when my own brother still treated me as an outsider, made it all worth it. I could do this. I was going to jump out of the damn plane, hit my chute, and help save those kids that I was starting to love more than my own life. I was gonna get my girl and lock her away for her own damn good, as well. A smile slid across my face as I thought about the fact that this was almost over.

  I walked over to the open door and nodded to Hawk when he shot me a thumbs up. I realized too late that stepping between him and Ace was a bad idea because a second later I was plummeting to the ground thousands of miles below. Assholes pushed me!

  When I was finally able to straighten myself out it wasn’t so bad. I could still see the ocean and I noticed one of the guys right next to me giving me a thumbs up. I looked and realized it was Ace, and I flipped him the bird. He had the nerve to grin at me just before reaching over and pulling the cord on my chute and then his own. The force that it yanked me back, nearly took my breath away but I did okay. It felt like minutes when in reality it was only seconds. Score! I landed just like Hawk had instructed and removed the mask from my face and whooped. “That was fucking amazing.”

  “Okay, calm down we don’t want to attract more attention than we already have,” Hawk said clapping me on the shoulder. “Let’s find the rest of the guys and get outta here.”

  A twig snapped where the jungle met the edge of the large field we had all landed scattered throughout. The sound had me automatically reaching for the gun behind my back. Something cold and circular nudged my head from behind before I heard Gabe say, “Not so fast. Put your hands up where I can see them.”

  Reaching up slowly, I looked around and my brother along with Hawk and Ace also had guns pointed at them. Over half the SEALs went rogue Looks like I was right not to trust them.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Griffin roared.

  “Just following orders, Captain.” Gabe sneered and I did a double take. Six Somali’s with automatic rifles were coming from the tree line.

  “Stand down, Gabe. You looking to get court martialed?” Ace ordered.

  “I’ll get pardoned as soon as Barnes gets into office,” Gabe admitted. “All I gotta do is get rid of some loose ends first.”

  “So what? You all just turned into mercenaries?” Hawk growled.

  “Shut up and move,” Gabe yelled and jabbed his gun into my head roughly.

  “Hey, watch it. I wasn’t the one talking,” I grumbled as I started to move with the group.

  We walked towards the Somali men with the automatic weapons, and I kept thinking the whole way how much we needed to get out of there.

  Where is Kenzie when I need her? She would do something crazy like she did the last time Barnes and his men got us. I knew she was on her way there and I was expecting a big fat I told you so when she saved our asses… again. I saw something shiny and metallic glinting in the distance and I knew if we didn’t get out of this right now, we were going to be trapped. Eyeing Griffin he gave me an almost imperceptible shake of his head. I guess it didn’t matter how we got into the pirates’ camp, as long as we got in.

  When we reached the tree line where they were standing, I realized what they were holding and I groaned. “Karma’s a bitch,” I mumbled to myself then got a stab in the back with the butt of Gabe’s rifle.

  “Shut up.”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” I growled and I heard Griffin shuffling around, cursing at Gabe, then watched in horror as one of the rogue SEALs who was guarding him smacked him in the back of the head with his gun, and he crumbled to the ground. I lunged without thinking and heard the audible clicks as every gun was trained on me.

  “What the fuck, Dave? You weren’t supposed to knock him out. How are we gonna get him back, now?” Gabe yelled.

  “You said shut up and he didn’t, so I smacked him. It was supposed to be a warning, wasn’t expecting the dude to crumple.” He shrugged as if my brother laying on the ground wasn’t a big deal. If anyone had the right to knock my brother senseless, it was me, not some traitor SEAL.

  “Hey. You wanna end up like your brother?” Gabe asked angrily jabbing the gun into my temple again. “I’ll put a bullet in you if you so much as try something like that again.”

  I eyed him. This guy was going to get his when I didn’t have ten guns pointed at me. A Somali man came up behind me and grabbed my hands behind my back before clamping handcuffs around one wrist and then the other. Shit. We’re so screwed. Looking over towards Hawk, I noticed they were struggling to get the cuffs on him. He was fighting. “Relax, brother. We’ll get out of this. Don’t fight them.”

  “You keep telling yourself that, Trey.” Gabe grinned sadistically. “The only way you’re getting out of this is in a body bag.”

  I nodded acting scared, but I still knew something they didn’t. Kenzie may have been pissed at me, but she wouldn’t let anything happen to us. I smiled over at Hawk and Ace but they looked at me like I had grown a second head, I’m sure wondering why in the hell I was smiling. I was hoping to get my message across that I had something, or rather someone, up my sleeve, but they didn’t know me well enough to know, and with Griffin p
assed out, I probably looked as crazy as everyone always accused her of being.

  It didn’t take long once we reached the jeeps to get to the camp, which wasn’t nearly what I had been expecting. Good ole Dave ended up carrying Griff because he was the one who knocked him out. I guess I thought we would end up in some dilapidated shacks with sand on the ground. This was more of a warehouse structure. But, I guess after ripping off commercial boats, they needed somewhere to store what they stole, which apparently included any hostages they may have taken, maybe even the kids. They pushed us through a set of wide double doors and across a large open space filled with boxes, then over to another door off to the side. Unlocking it, I heard a small whimper from inside and nearly lunged forward when I recognized Leanne’s soft cries and Johnny’s whispered words of comfort, but I had to stop myself before I got shot.

  “You’re helping a monster who kidnaps kids?” Ace spit at Gabe. “Are you fucking kidding me? You are the worst excuse of a human I have ever met.”

  It was hard not to hear the venom in Ace’s voice, the unimaginable loss of trust from a soldier you had been in battle with, one who you thought had your back.

  “I help whoever pays the most.” He laughed. “And, Barnes? He pays really good, bro.”

  “I’ll double whatever he’s paying you,” I said in one last ditch effort to get the kids out safely. “I can pay the pirates double what they are getting for the kids. Just let us walk out of here right now and I will give you whatever you want.”

  “It’s too late for that, Trey. If I don’t deliver he’ll come after me next. And that shit ain’t flying.”

  Gabe had the decency to look a little more weary than he had a few minutes before when he had been jabbing the barrel of his rifle into my back.

  “He’s not going to be in power much longer to come after you,” I growled. “As soon as we get out of this, we’re taking him and his entire operation down.”

  “Get out of this?” Dave chuckled. “You’re never getting out of this.”

  He pushed us roughly into the darkened room, dumped Griffin’s limp form in the corner, and then slammed the door shut behind us. All sounds from the kids stopped as we stood there watching the three little bodies huddled close together.

  “Hey guys.” I immediately rushed over to them, hunching down on the ground with them. “It’s gonna be okay. Uncle Trey will figure something out.”

  “Tey?” Little Lance sniffled, standing behind his sister.

  “Yeah, it’s me buddy. Were you being brave?” A second later, I was tackled by a tiny four-year-old body. Wrapping my arms around him, I held him close while he cried. “Hey, hey, little dude. Griffin’s here too, but, he’s sleeping right now. We’re gonna get you guys out of here, okay?”

  “Trey? That’s really you?” Leanne asked quietly, probably thinking it couldn’t possible they were finally getting rescued. And after weeks of being gone, the poor kid had every reason to think that.

  “Yeah pumpkin,” I said and got tackled by another bigger body.

  “Oh my god, Trey. I was so scared.”

  I heard Griffin groan from the spot where they dumped his unconscious body. Leanne jumped and looked over at him scared.

  “Lee?” Griffin asked in a gravelly voice and she flew at him.

  “Griffin!” she shouted. “Where’s mom? Is she okay? They separated us and I don’t know where they took her.” She sobbed in his arms.

  “Shhh, it’s okay, princess. Your mom is fine. She’s waiting for us back in the States.” He rubbed soothing circles on her back. Lance untangled his little limbs from my body and waddled over to his sister and Griffin.

  Johnny was standing over me, looking down. “Where’s my mom? And, Mac didn’t come, huh?” The disappointment in his voice with what he thought as his father letting him down was heartbreaking. And as much as I was pissed at Mac, I’d never betray him like that and allow his son to think he didn’t care. Standing up to face him, I noticed the guys were watching us all with something akin to pity in their eyes.

  “If I’m right, she and Kenzie are on their way right now to come rescue us. You know your mom.” I winked reassuringly. “As for your dad, never think for a second he didn’t want to be here. In fact, he is so out of his mind worried about you that he’s been acting like a madman. Quite frankly,” I said, as I moved a little closer to the boy, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “and don’t go telling your parents I cursed, cuz, I’ll deny it—your dad’s being a shithead, he’s so freaked about you being gone.”

  “I won’t tell.” He grinned at me, obviously enjoying the fact he was holding one over on me. “I thought that was why you were here, ya’ know to rescue us and all.” I couldn’t help the big booming laugh that escaped me. Ace and Hawk chuckled and nodded but Johnny was looking at me like I’d lost my mind.

  “Yeah kid, that’s why we’re here but we screwed up and trusted the wrong people,” I said bumping his shoulder with my own. “It will be fine. Your mom and Kenzie should be here soon… I hope.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  KENZIE

  Buck, Bubba, and Country knew what they were doing. All jokes and flirting aside they were good at their jobs. They also knew just about everyone. Country had been right about respecting people and their customs. I had misjudged him because of his slow drawl and easy going personality, but the man knew his shit and got us into a building with the perfect view of the warehouse that the pirates used as their home base. I had a pair of night vision goggles and I was watching the front door when I noticed a man dressed in fatigues step out into the darkness.

  “Shit,” I said loudly and everyone turned to look at me warily.

  “What is it?” Marcy asked with dread.

  “I’m pretty sure a navy SEAL just walked out the front door and lit up a cigarette,” I said, pissed.

  “A SEAL?” Country sidled up next to me and took the goggles from me. It was only a second before he started cursing too.

  “Didn’t you say that SEAL team six were supposed to be helping your friends get the kids back?” Buck asked and I nodded gravely, realizing that Griffin and Trey were probably in way over their heads.

  “Wait, so that means…” Marcy trailed off and hung her head.

  “Trey and Griffin are in trouble,” I sighed. “The SEALs—or at least that one—betrayed them. There’s no way he’s standing outside the warehouse just taking a leisurely smoke.”

  “Shit, Fuck, Shit,” Bubba cursed loudly. “SEAL team six is the pride of the fucking Navy. What the fuck are we gonna do now?”

  “We might need a diversion.” I grinned.

  “Oh no, I know that look. My kid and Griffin and Kaylee’s kids are in there,” Marcy said horrified.

  “I just need to find out where they keep their prisoners,” I mumbled to myself.

  “My contact said the kids are being kept on the left side of the building in a small office. I would advise against blowing shit up, though, we have no idea what they are storing in that warehouse and we could end up blowing up everything within a mile of this place.” Buck said, crashing reality down on me like a bucket of ice water.

  “Well, shit. There goes that plan.”

  “Do we know the fastest ways in and out of that building and how many guards are stationed where? And are we sure it’s the whole team? How many do you see hanging out there?” Marcy shot off questions like bullets to no one in particular.

  Buck replied first. “All I know is the woman who cooks for them gave me some intel on where the kids are being kept. On everything else… we’re going in blind.”

  “I say we walk right through the front door and start blasting,” I said looking at everyone seriously.

  “Did you not just hear what we said? That could be the worst plan I have ever heard.” I started to protest but he cut me off and waited a few beats, thinking. “But, it may be the only plan we have.”

  “Anybody
know anything about the guys from SEAL team six?” Marcy piped up again.

  “I know two of the guys in that unit, and if they were chosen to go on this mission, there’s no chance in hell they’d have disobeyed orders.” Country’s voice echoed his feelings. The man had faith in at least two of the SEALs. That left another four in question.

  “You’re right,” Bubba agreed, “and Ace is in charge of that whole outfit. He would have definitely come if it meant saving a bunch of kids.”

  “Well, if Ace is here then so is Hawk, and if they were taken alive our odds of success just got a whole helluva lot better.” Country grinned. “Get some sleep. I’ll keep watch on the warehouse until we are ready to go in tomorrow.”

  “Wait, why aren’t we going in tonight?” Marcy demanded.

  “Because they ramp up security at night. They will be expecting us to use the cover of darkness to attack. The element of surprise is on our side if we go in broad daylight,” Bubba replied smiling.

  It was like watching tennis with the conversation going back and forth. It was crazy, but I was starting to feel a little better about what lay ahead. One phrase kept running through my mind as I tried to get some sleep. If they were taken alive. As I lay there the only thing I could do was pray that we would get there before it was too late.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  TREY

  In that dark humid room to the side of the warehouse, I lost all sense of time and I promised myself I would never take light for granted ever again.

  “Have you kids looked around the room at all to see if there is something you can use to escape?” I asked Johnny who was sitting next to me still.

  “Yeah, but it’s just an old office or something. I didn’t find anything useful,” he answered and a slow grin spread across my face.

  “Are you sure about that, bud? Did you find any paperclips?”