by Gunn, Autumn
JAX
A Navy Seal Romantic Suspense
Autumn Gunn
Copyright © Autumn Gunn
All rights reserved.
Although I served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four amazing years and I surely draw on those experiences whether subconsciously or consciously when I pen these stories, I must say the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended.
My books do not come with any digital rights management. You are welcome to read them, download them, and store them on any devices you might have. I want you to enjoy them on your terms. With that said I hope that you will keep these books just for you. If someone you know, or even don’t know, is interested in my work please direct them to Amazon.com.
In the Marines I was surrounded by men. It’s a diverse and fun place, but as you can imagine there’s a lot of testosterone there. It’s OK. I loved it. I’ve been told plenty of times I think a lot like a man. It’s probably why it’s more comfortable for me to write in first person from a man’s point of view.
Without further ado I give you Jax: A Navy Seal Romantic Suspense. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for your support.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the American soldier. When their country calls, they go. Willingly.
They take our place on the battlefield. Everything at risk.
Stay safe.
Thank you.
We love you.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 1
“Jerry’s been kidnapped!”
Where are you?
“Two blocks south of my house. The pay phone outside the liquor store”
“Kate, I know this a mother’s worst nightmare, but we’re going to get Jerry back. Right now we have to stay calm.”
“It’s my child, Jax! How can I stay calm?”
“Listen to me. There’s a Target store directly across the street. Hang up the phone. Walk to the crosswalk and cross at a normal pace. Enter the Target and go to the women’s accessories at the front of the store and to your left just as you walk in. There’s a security guard there on duty. Stay within his field of view. Try on hats and sunglasses. Pretend like you’re shopping, but keep your face covered. Try, and I know this is a huge ask, but try and stay calm. I’ll be there in four minutes. I love you.”
“Please hurry.”
I ended the call, switched to the left lane, and U-turned so hard at the light I could feel both tires on the left side lose contact with road. I told her four minutes. I was going to be there in three and half.
Pick up, Cole. Pick up. “Hey Jax, what’s —”
“Cole, go time. How quickly can you get to Northwest Elementary?”
“12 minutes tops.”
“I need you to go immediately and pull Jasmine out of class. Don’t let her out of your sight.”
“On it.”
“Jerry’s been taken. They might target Jasmine next. It’s unlikely, but no way am I taking that chance.”
“Don’t worry. I got her.”
I heard tires squeal and the call dropped. I knew I could trust Cole, it was Kate I still had doubts about. Was she setting me up? What was she not telling me? Am I overreacting? Maybe that shrink the Navy had sent me to was right. Maybe I did have trust issues with women, or maybe I was about to get burned…again.
Chapter 2
Six days earlier
“What happened to your knee, sweetheart?”
“It’s OK, dad. It’s just a little scratch.”
“That doesn’t look like a little scratch. Fess up.”
“I was playing baseball after school. I had to cover second on a double play. One boy made a hard slide to break up the play.”
“And that hard slide was right into a 12 year old girl?”
Jasmine smiled. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Doesn’t seem very necessary to me.”
“Me either, but it’s all OK now.”
“What do you mean, now?”
“Well, it did hurt a little, but it was more the shock that he did it. Anyways, after the play Jerry ran over from third base and asked that boy what he was doing. Why was he sliding into me like that?”
“Exactly what I would have been thinking.” Jasmine didn’t continue. “And?”
“Dad, everything’s OK now.”
“Jasmine, what happened?”
Jasmine paused. “The boy told Jerry to mind his own business. Jerry said we were teammates and it is his business. The boy asked him what he’s going do about it. Jerry looked him square in the eye and said, this. Then he did a spinning kick so hard in the boy’s stomach I bet he’s not going to eat for two days.”
“Jerry did that?”
“Yeah, Jerry.”
“Jerry Harper. The little guy from Cole’s martial arts classes.”
“Yep.”
“Wow! That little guy’s got some guts. And he’s a gentleman too.”
“Dad, you should have seen that other guy. He was at least eight inches taller than Jerry. And for sure 50 pounds heavier. No one knew who he was. I think he was just there to cause trouble.”
“But it doesn’t sound like he’s going to be doing any more of that.”
“Nope. It seems more like trouble found him.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You sure are right. I’m going to have to give Jerry’s mom a call.”
“Please, dad. Don’t. Let’s just let it go.”
“A boy stands up for my daughter when I’m not around. I’m not going to just let that go. I want to shake that young man’s hand. I bet Cole has his home number. It’s on his parental consent form for the martial arts class.”
“OK, dad, but please let’s not make a big deal out of it. I can take care of myself.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
Jasmine headed to her room. Probably to check her social media profiles. She was growing up so fast. And the boys were growing up too. She was a tough cookie, but it’s still nice to know there are good young men out there. I was going to let this one young man in particular know that I thought so. I grabbed my phone.
“Jax, what’s up?”
“Cole. Good, man. Hey, favor to ask.”
“Shoot.”
“The kid that goes to your gym. Jerry Harper. Do you have his home number?”
Cole laughed. “Get in line, champ. Everybody is after his mom. You are a smooth dog, but I think she’s not looking for a guy right now.”
“Man, I’m not calling about his mom. Jerry helped out Jasmine today after school. Handled a kid that was being a bully. Want to take him out for an ice cream or something. Thank him face-to-face.”
“Really, he took down a bully? Do you know what move he used?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at Cole’s excitement. “Jasmine mentioned something about a spinning kick.”
“Boom! I just taught him that. He’s a little guy so he needs to generate all the power h
e can and the hips and kicks are where it’s at. So it worked? He executed it?”
“Did he ever. Jasmine said he got him in the stomach. She thought he wasn’t going to feel like eating for the next couple days.”
“See that?”
“See what?”
“That’s the patented Cole Callahan kick paying dividends immediately. Worth the price of admission.”
“Paying dividends for Jasmine and I.”
“Dividends are dividends.”
“OK, Cole. You did good, buddy. How about that phone number?”
“Let me ring her first just to make sure. Even though we’re SEAL brothers I want to respect her privacy.”
“Fair enough.”
“Call you right back.” The call dropped.
Two minutes later Cole’s name lit up on my display.
“All good. I just texted you her number.”
“Just came through now. Thanks.”
“My pleasure. She’s expecting your call. Good luck.”
“Good luck? With what?”
“I told you. She’s the talk of the town now that I took Carissa off the market. She’s a single mom. You’re a single dad. It’s the perfect set up.”
“So since we’re both single parents we’re meant for each other? Is that what you no-kid-having people think?”
“Kind of.”
“We’re people too, man. Just because you’re a single parent doesn’t mean you belong in some box in somebody’s mind. Doesn’t mean you’re not unique. Come on, dude. Get with it.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I never really thought about it. Man, what was I thinking?”
“It’s OK. Your intentions are good. I knew what you meant.”
“Thanks.”
“No worries.”
“Now go get her!”
“Bye, Chuck Wollery.”
I hung up the phone and started to laugh. Now that Cole had the love of his life he wanted nothing more than for me to find the same. Guys are funny. One minute they’re acting like tough guys swearing they’re going to be single forever. The next minute they’re head-over-heels in love little puppy dogs trying to encourage their friends to find women. Guys make no sense sometimes.
I pulled up Cole’s SMS and tapped on Kate’s number. We had some of the most advanced technology in the world on our SEAL Teams, but for some reason I was always impressed by what you could do with smart phones these days. I had resisted for years. Swearing by my Nokia brick. This new smartphone showed me I had been living in the dark ages.
“Kate Koval.”
“Hi, Kate. Jax Justice.”
“Hi, Jax. Cole told me you might be calling.”
“Yes. I wanted to call and thank you, and Jerry for what he did today.”
“Um, ok? Thank you, but just what did Jerry do?” I could hear Kate’s light laughter through the other line. The kind of laughter a parent understands when they’re about to hear something their child conveniently forgot to tell them.
“Without going into too many details, he was a real gentleman. He stood up for my daughter, Jasmine, this afternoon against a bigger boy. I appreciate his chivalry and thoughtfulness.”
“Wow. Thank you, Jax. It’s nice to hear this. Jerry didn’t mention it at all. I am proud of his actions.”
“As are we.” I realized then I had nothing else to really say. It had been less than 30 seconds, but Kate was really nice to speak with on the phone. She exuded a calm friendliness. I felt like we could just as easily have been sitting on the porch of a beach house with our shoes off, feet up, and sand in between our toes enjoying sunset margaritas. I wasn’t expecting that.
“Jasmine and I go out for ice cream a couple times a week when the weather is hot like this. If you’re free later this week, maybe you and Jerry would like to join us?” What was I doing? I told myself no dating. No more women in my life. Just Jasmine. My heart and soul.
“Sure, sounds great. If you can just give me a call before we can probably meet you there. Let me guess…Frosty’s Freezer?”
“You know Frosty’s Freezer?”
“Who doesn’t? When it’s hot it’s the place to be.”
“That’s for sure, and this summer sure is a hot one.”
“Yeah, this Frosty sure doesn’t seem to be bothered by the heat. He’s making a nice living off it.”
We both laughed.
“OK, deal. I’ll give you a call.”
“Sounds great.”
“Good night, Kate. And thanks again. To Jerry.”
“I’m sure it’s his pleasure. Good night.”
Chapter 3
It hit 97 degrees on Thursday. As crazy as it sounds, I wasn’t that hot to me anymore. After so many ops in the Sandbox 97 degrees felt like the new normal. 130 on the tarmac…that’s when things start to get interesting. It may not have been that hot, but any excuse I can get for a triple scoop ice cream in a waffle cone is good enough for me. I grabbed my phone.
“Ice cream time?” She didn’t even greet me with proper hello. It was the way an old friend greets you. One you speak with every day. I like this kind of familiarity. As formal as the Navy can be and even with how much I enjoyed that professionalism, there’s nothing quite like the feel of the familiar and the informality that goes with it.
“Are you reading my mind?”
“I was thinking the same thing. Jerry was just talking about you. Have your ear to the ground?”
“Been awhile since I’ve done that. I must say, surprisingly it can work wonders though.”
“Never tried it. But sometimes my knees tell me when it’s about to rain.”
“Natural indicators are the best indicators.”
“And my natural indicators are indicating that you, and I, both really need a visit to Frosty’s right now.”
“So it’s not just your knees that can sense dropping temperatures.”
“Not at all. My tongue is telling me a stracciatella gelato cold front is coming through real soon.”
“My radar must be slightly off then. I’m also sensing a cold front, but more of the Amarena cherry variety.”
“Well there’s only one way to make sure.”
“See you there at the top of the hour.”
“Deal.”
I told Jasmine to get ready for a surprise and jumped in the shower for a quick cool down. And to make sure I looked my best when I met Kate and Jerry.
We pulled up to Frosty’s 10 minutes early. Frosty’s had an obstacle course type playground as you entered on the left side. I saw Jerry over there knocking out pull-ups. I was impressed and surprised at the same time. It was still well over 90 degrees and here he was doing hard exercise, in public no less. This kid was really devoted and didn’t seem to care what other people thought. Those traits were going to take him far.
Jasmine and I came up from behind. Kate was counting Jerry’s reps. She smiled and gave me the one second index finger motion.
“17…18…no kipping!....18 and a half…19….19 and a quarter….19 and a half…come on Jerry!...20!
“Very impressive, buddy.”
“Thanks, Mr. Justice. Hi, Jasmine.”
“Hi, Jerry.”
“Guys, ready for some ice cream?”
“It’s gelato dad.”
“They have ice cream too!”
The kids ran for the order window. Kate and I laughed.
I turned and looked at Kate. I had seen her briefly in the back of Cole’s gym under dim lighting, but had never formally met her in person before. She had beautiful brown eyes. Eyes that rounded up when she smiled. A true smile. It was an optimistic smile. I had seen it before. On the Teams you meet a lot of people who have experienced conflict first hand. After such life changing events a lot of people choose to take an optimistic approach. You can really sense it in the way they look at you.
