Heart of a SEAL

by Dixie Lee Brown

  Travis strode toward him, and Luke tensed. “Your head’s all fucked up, Luke. What’s the first rule? Huh? Those dickheads are out for your skin. Why else would that traitorous scum be here? If you’d rushed in there, you’d be dead now.”

  Shaking with fury and despair, Luke closed the space between them until they were nose to nose. “Do you think I give a rat’s ass? I’d gladly give my life if there was one fucking chance she could have walked out of this.” He dropped back and turned to survey the cabins, now quiet and, for all appearances, deserted.

  “That’s why I stopped you. You weren’t thinking straight. She would have died anyway, the minute they got their hands on you. They didn’t need her for anything but drawing you into the trap. She said it herself. She made the choice to warn you. Don’t you think she could guess what would happen when they caught up with her?” Travis pointed toward the meadow where Sally had fallen.

  He was right about one thing. This whole damn clusterfuck was Luke’s fault. “You and Coop head back to town.”

  Coop and Travis exchanged a glance.

  “We’re not going anywhere,” Coop said, issuing a disbelieving laugh.

  Travis folded his arms in front of his broad chest, making it clear he wasn’t moving either.

  “Yeah, you are. There’s been enough collateral damage.”

  Coop’s chest expanded and he took a step toward Luke. “Since when are your brothers considered collateral damage? Those dirty motherfuckers attack one of us, they attack us all. Or have you forgotten?”

  Coop’s words jarred Luke. Maybe he’d feel the same if he was in their place, but he wasn’t, and all he cared about was finding MacGyver and Daniel, hopefully alive, then taking out as many of the murdering terrorists as he could…before they killed him.

  “MacGyver is a SEAL. You know damn well he’ll stay alive, and he’ll make sure Daniel stays in one piece too, because he’s Ian’s brother and a damn good friend.” Travis closed on Luke again, stopping in front of him. “You made it out of that pigsty they called a prison. That’s no small feat. Coop and I are stayin’ to guarantee you make it out of this little shindig too.”

  Luke glanced away from Travis’s determined face to see the same look on Coop’s. Damn it. He was wasting time and he was dangerously close to losing it.

  He dropped his gaze to the ground a few feet in front of him. “I made it out of that prison because of Sally. I—” Luke couldn’t continue, grinding his teeth together in agony.

  “She’s not dead.” Coop’s voice was so low, Luke wasn’t sure he’d really spoken.

  Anger and pain surged through him. “Damn you. Don’t lie to me.” Luke took long strides toward Coop, who leaned one hip against the front of the Jeep. As Luke reached him, Travis pushed between them and shoved Luke back a step.

  “You want to hurt somebody—hurt them.” Travis’s words were superquiet but laced with steel.

  The man had earned Luke’s respect a hundred times over in training, in firefights and on impossible missions. He’d also been a friend when Luke needed one most. Coop too. Shit. Luke was acting like an ass, but he was so messed up, he ranged between simply not caring and needing to physically pummel someone. Too bad his friends were the only ones around. He inhaled a long, deep breath and lifted his eyes to study Coop. “Why’d you say that?”

  A slow smile materialized on Coop’s rough features. “It’s true, man. While you were down for the count, I watched them haul her to the barn.”

  Luke’s breath stopped for a heartbeat. “They didn’t…”

  “Hell no. She’s all in one piece. Through the binocs, I could see they cut her on the inside of her arm. They carried her with her arms and legs above her heart. She was bleeding pretty good—not bad enough that they got the artery—but it was running down her arm and soaking her shirt.”

  Luke had a hard time grasping Coop’s meaning. He’d gotten stuck at cut her on the inside of her arm. Ahmed’s men had cut her arm. The posturing they’d done with the blade must have been for Luke’s benefit—making him believe they’d killed her in the most gruesome way—because Ahmed knew it would demoralize him. It had almost worked…but there was more in Coop’s smug smile, now being shared by Travis.

  Sally is bleeding. The dead didn’t bleed—not uphill anyway. As soon as the heart stopped pumping, the blood stopped flowing unless the wound was at the lowest point in the body. She was alive, for the time being. His relief was so great, he grasped Coop’s shoulder to keep from collapsing again.

  He should’ve seen that. Instead of falling apart like a cheap pair of boots, he should’ve been paying attention to details. The theatrics with the long knife had obviously been orchestrated by Ahmed, and Luke had fallen for it like a wet-behind-the-ears sailor.

  He glanced sheepishly between his friends, finding only understanding and determination in their eyes. “Guess I’m a little too close to the situation on this one.”

  Travis barked a laugh. “Ya think?” He slapped Luke on the shoulder while working his bruised jaw back and forth. “You’ve still got the best right hook in the unit…and you’re still the man I’d want by my side if my woman was in a bad place.”

  “Damn straight,” Coop said.

  It was humbling, and a little awe-inspiring, to feel the strength of the bond between the three of them, but Luke didn’t have time to fully appreciate it now. “What do you say we have a look around and make a plan? It’ll be dark in a few hours. We need to be ready to move.”

  Sally was alive—he refused to believe MacGyver and Daniel weren’t too. Any plan they devised needed to get him into that barn without being seen, take out Ahmed’s men, who were no doubt digging in and lying in wait, and reach the target before the surprise wore off.

  Easy.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Sally moaned and attempted to sit up, but even that small movement sent shards of pain rocketing to her nerve endings. She went still and held her breath, hoping the worst would subside. It didn’t, and eventually she had to breathe anyway.

  Her arm throbbed. Turning her head to see what was wrong, she wished she hadn’t. There was blood everywhere. She couldn’t tell how big or deep the wound was…and it didn’t matter anyway because her hands were still bound behind her back and she couldn’t do anything about…anything.

  Tossed in a corner of the barn beside two straw bales, Sally pushed herself up to lean against them. The action left her winded, and her harsh breathing was loud in the empty barn. Okay, so she’d apparently lost a fair amount of blood. Her new blue tank top was toast. At least the blond-haired freak wasn’t there. Where was everybody anyway? How much time had passed while she was out of it? The last she remembered, the position of the sun made it about midafternoon. Now it was that period between dusk and nightfall, with a good bit of moonlight coming through the open doorway. Why had they left her alone?

  Her gaze darted to the post where Matt and Daniel had been tied. It was empty. Her heart soared at the possibility they’d gotten away. If only she knew for sure that Luke and the others had escaped as well. It was a good bet she wouldn’t still be alive if the terrorists had taken Luke. However, a nagging voice in her mind suggested he would never leave her…not in the hands of the enemy who’d killed Ian and tormented Luke. No, he was out there somewhere, in the fading light beyond the open barn door. Hadn’t he said he’d stick with her?

  A scuffing noise brought her attention back to the barn door. A man’s figure slipped inside, hugging the wall as he peered out. Then, apparently satisfied with what he’d seen, he straightened and hurried toward her. His huge frame had given him away at first sight, but she’d never been so glad to see anyone’s smiling face in her life.

  Matt dropped to one knee beside her. “How ya doin’, angel lady?” he whispered, already examining the cut on her arm.

  “Not that great actually.” She winced in
pain as she leaned back against one of the bales. “Where’s Daniel?”

  “He took off toward the river after we cut ourselves loose. Said he kept a hunting rifle and a few knives in his boat.” Matt shrugged. “Everything else he owned is gone.”

  Yeah. Sally had firsthand knowledge of how that felt, and her heart ached for Daniel and Ellen’s loss.

  Matt pulled a familiar-looking knife from his back pocket. “Lean forward.”

  Sally did as he said, and sweet relief poured into her limbs as he sliced through the zip tie binding her wrists. Her hands were numb—dead weight when she dragged them onto her lap. Dangerously close to dissolving into self-pity, she bit the inside of her lip in an effort to focus.

  As Matt rubbed life back into her hands, she spotted a slash on his wrist that bled with his movements. He must have noticed her inspecting the cut and smiled ruefully. “Daniel’s a civilian. He accidentally nicked me when he cut my ropes.” Nodding toward the knife at his feet, he grinned. “Way to think on your feet. Getting that knife to us was genius.”

  For the first time, Sally’s smile wasn’t forced. “Glad I could help. I warned Luke too. At least I think he heard me.”

  Matt chuckled. “Everyone within a mile heard you.”

  “They got away, then?” She learned forward, intent on his answer.

  “Last I checked, they’d moved the Jeep and Travis’s car out of sight, but I wouldn’t count on him bein’ gone. That’s not how SEALs operate. We don’t give up and we don’t leave fallen comrades behind. It’s our way.”

  Sally sighed. “I know—but you can’t blame a girl for hoping.” She smiled slightly. At least Jen, Bridgett and Ellen would be safe. Luke had made sure of that. “Where’s the blond guy and his horde?”

  “One of them wasn’t paying close attention out front when I came in. He’s going to miss the end of the show. I hid his body the best I could on short notice. The others are having a discussion in the cabin next to where Daniel’s was.”

  “What do we do now?”

  Matt stood. “We’re going to get you out the back.” He strode toward the large front door and stopped to peer around the edge. Immediately, he whirled and jogged back. “I think they discovered my handiwork. Time to go.”

  He cradled her shoulders, and Sally leaned into his arm as he steadied her…just in time to double over and hurl the contents of her stomach at their feet. Her entire body went weak and sweaty. Her legs wouldn’t hold her any longer. Saliva pooling in the back of her throat faster than she could swallow and her stomach roiling, Sally stumbled to the closest straw bale.

  Matt dropped down beside her. “It’s okay. You’re doin’ fine. This is common when regaining consciousness after a physical or emotional trauma. Does your noggin hurt?”

  She shook her head, and the movement made her throw up again. Damn it. The voices of blondie’s henchmen reached her ears. “Go. You have to go, Matt.” Pushing on his massive chest was useless.

  “No way am I leaving you, so you’re coming with me.” Matt stood and scooped her up.

  “I’ll only slow you down.” She clenched her jaw tightly and focused on not throwing up on him.

  “Naw. Stick with me, angel.” He moved quicker and quieter than Sally thought possible toward the back of the barn, where a stall door had been left open about twelve inches. Matt put his shoulder against it, sliding it open enough for them both to fit through.

  Across the paddock, Sally could see the doorway that led out into the night. There was some moonlight mixed with the shadows that stretched across the hard-packed ground. She glanced over Matt’s shoulder. Why hadn’t blondie and his crew entered the barn yet?

  Suddenly, their escape route was blocked by several dark figures. The one who pushed to the front had blond hair and a smug smile. “There you are. I’m afraid I can’t let you leave. I’ve got plans for sweet little Sally and they don’t involve you.” He stepped closer and leveled his gun at Matt’s head. “Put her down.”

  For a moment, it seemed as though Matt would ignore the command, but finally he set her gently on her feet.

  Blondie grabbed her wrist and jerked her toward the door. He barked some orders to his men as he pulled her between them and stepped outside.

  “Wait.” Sally’s fear for Matt was so great, she didn’t care what he would do to her for speaking when not spoken to.

  Surprisingly, he halted, sporting an arrogant smirk as he nodded at one of his men, who raised a gun to Matt’s temple. “Say good-bye to your friend, sweetheart.”

  “No!” Sally’s cry was shrill in the eerie silence. She tried to break away, but Ahmed held her in a tight grip. What made it worse was, Matt refused to meet her gaze, staring, instead, at Ahmed.

  Ahmed resumed walking again, dragging her along behind. “Come, Sally. I’m going to make you forget all about your friend…and Luke.”

  She had no control over the tears that trickled down her face. Nor did she care any longer. Maybe she wasn’t so unlike her father after all. Given half a chance, she’d kill this piece of filth and not lose a moment’s sleep.

  They were almost to the cabin that stood next to the ruins of Daniel’s home when a single gunshot broke the silence of the night.

  * * * *

  Luke, Coop and Travis disappeared beneath the water of the river filled with glacial runoff from nearby mountains. This would be a cold swim and a quick one if they hoped to avoid hypothermia. Luckily, under cover of darkness, they’d been able to sneak closer on foot than they’d originally planned. Now, they only had to swim three hundred yards or so, upstream, underwater, while holding their weapons above water, without a wet suit, and come out at the spot closest to the barn, all without being seen. Piece of cake.

  Two and a half minutes later, they hauled themselves from the freezing-ass river and ducked into the tall grass along the bank. Luke wasn’t fazed by the cold water or the soaking-wet clothes that’d resulted from his swim. His hatred for Ahmed fueled a fire within him that kept him plenty warm. Without a word passing between them, they moved out, performing the next segment of their plan. Travis and Coop angled toward the long side of the barn, where several horse paddocks offered access. Luke’s job was to go in the front and find the hostages.

  Hostages. That was the way he had to think of Sally. As though this were any other mission he’d ever been on. Otherwise he’d go stark raving mad.

  As soon as he entered the barn, he heard voices and followed them to their place of origin. MacGyver towered a head taller than all four of Ahmed’s cronies, who stood around him inside one of the stalls. They appeared to be taunting him and none too happy that MacGyver wasn’t taking the bait. One of the men stepped up and slammed the butt of his handgun into MacGyver’s head, knocking him down. Oh hell. That is going to be one pissed-off Navy SEAL when he gets up.

  Nervous laughter went through the onlookers. The man who’d hit him pressed his gun to MacGyver’s forehead.

  “Fuck this,” MacGyver growled.

  Luke rushed forward and braced his handgun on the half wall of the stall. “Down on the ground!” His Arabic was limited, but at least he’d gotten their attention. “Drop your weapons!” Then again, maybe his grasp of the language was worse than he thought—no one moved. The four black-robed men simply stared

  MacGyver let out a roar, bent his knee and brought it toward his chest, then slammed his foot into the leg of the man who’d knocked him down. A sickening crunch made Luke grimace as the poor guy let out a shriek and fell to the ground, clasping his shattered knee with both hands. MacGyver ripped his gun from slack fingers and quieted his screams with a punch to the jaw that nearly broke the guy’s neck. Yep—pissed-off SEAL.

  The other three raised their weapons and tried to back out into the paddock. They evidently didn’t know their escape route was already blocked. Coop and Travis appeared, one from each side of
the doorway, and their KA-BARs flashed briefly in the moonlight. The standard-issue knives wielded by his friends permanently silenced the two targets closest to the door. The third man started talking excitedly, his voice rising steadily. Finally, he lunged toward the door, and Travis jabbed with his knife. The man staggered back but drew his long knife as he righted himself and started forward again.

  Luke pulled the trigger. A SEAL’s every shot was a kill shot, and Luke watched him fall with no emotion whatsoever…because he had to. Because this time it was for Sally. He’d learned to compartmentalize death for the sake of the battle. No fucking wonder he had nightmares every time he closed his eyes. That shit had to come out somehow. But he’d use what the Navy had taught him one more time…until the woman he loved was safe and everyone who threatened her was dead. If that made him a monster, so be it.

  “MacGyver, you okay?” Luke lowered his gun and pushed through the slider into the stall.

  “Right as rain,” MacGyver said. “Thanks for showing up when you did.”

  Luke glanced around at the four dead or wounded men. “There were five men and Ahmed. We’re one short.”

  “No, we’re not. The other one got in my way earlier. He won’t be bothering us.”

  Luke extended a hand and helped the big man up. “Daniel?”

  “He’s around here someplace. Tell you the truth, I kinda lost track of him, but I bet he’s not far from the blond-haired bastard who killed his brother.”

  “Sally?”

  “He took her out of here minutes before you arrived.”