The team, their families and his relatives had taken over an entire pool at the resort. The kids lived in the water, and would only get out for lunch and dinner.
“Thane, it’s time for Adam to come out of the water,” Kayla said.
Thane floated on his back with Adam on his chest. He loved using his dad as a canoe and he laughed and splashed at the water. “He loves it, sweetheart. He’s a natural born SEAL”
“Bite your tongue, Admiral. I need to put more sunblock on him.”
“Already did.”
Kayla flipped the sunblock in the air and it landed with a plop on the ground. She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I bother. The man has figured out how to think two steps ahead of me all the time.”
“He’s got you cased,” Nina laughed, stretching out on the lounger while Mace rubbed sunscreen on her back.
“This was a great idea coming to this all-inclusive, Nina,” Marg said, checking that Cobbs had Kelsey, and then rolling onto her back. “We should definitely do this every year.”
“Agreed,” Tony said.
Tony lay back with his arms behind his head, shades on and his head swiveling like an owl to catch every pretty girl that walked by. Sometimes he even managed to stop one or two with a full-out smile. Tinman had gotten over his brief pause with women. They’d been in Mexico for five nights and he never went to bed alone.
Tony’s cell rang. “This better not be a call to duty, because I’m reporting MIA.” His head jerked back when he reviewed the number before answering. “It’s the base. Petty Officer Bale.” Tony reached for his shades and pulled them off, his expression confused. “Sure, put them through.”
Nina propped herself on her elbows and Mace put his attention on Tony as well.
“Lumin?” He sat straight up in his chair. “What’s going on?” Tony waved away a waiter when he approached him to take a drink order. “I’m here, sweetheart, what kind of trouble?” he asked, his voice hardening. “Is it Pedro? Did he find out you helped us?”
Pedro’s name drew everyone’s eyes and talking ceased from the squad.
“In Mexico. Nina and Mace just got married. Are you in Las Vegas?” Tony jumped to his feet. “Don’t hang up,” Tony commanded. “You can tell me, sweetheart. I can hear you’re scared, but don’t be. Whatever it is you’re not alone, okay.” Tony held the phone tight to his ear, and then his eyes shot to Mace. “The Bubonic Plague?”
*The End*
About the Author
Natasza Waters is an officer, author, and reviewer with InD’Tale Magazine. She debuted her first romance novel, “Too Grand For Words” in 2011. Issued in E-pub and paperback, the novel found its way to book clubs where women enjoy a cup of romance with a twist of steam.
After majoring in English in her early years, Natasza’s life altered course. A lifelong working relationship with the marine industry began when she became an officer with the Coast Guard. Crafting stories with pieces snipped from real life and the sea—particularly the West Coast and those who respect it as much as they love it, find their way into plots puddled in action and suspense, with unsung heroes and heroines aplenty.
A twenty-four hour day finds Natasza drafting her next novel, blogging, working, and reviewing other author’s voices. Sleep you say? Not so much! Visit her websites at http://nataszawaters.com/ or http://voicebetweenthelines.com/ or drop a review or a word at http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6086142.Natasza_Waters
Other Books by Natasza
Code Name: Ghost
Code Name : Kayla’s Fire
A Warrior’s Challenge Book Four
Code Name: Luminous
Excerpt
Lumin paced across the hotel room; stopping at the window, she gazed at the mountains skirting Las Vegas. The sun breached the peaks, spearing her eyes. The pre-recorded message on her phone droned on. Fear chilled her to the core. She laid her palm against the glass, feeling the heat of the July morning penetrating its thickness.
The voice on the phone directed the caller to press the appropriate number for different departments. None sounded right. She waited, her fingertips descending the glass. She didn’t want to turn around, but she did. The bed sheet she held to her body drew taut as she twisted. Swallowing hard, her gaze swept over his body. Yeah, he was still dead.
“Press zero for an operator,” the voice instructed. Why did they always leave that to the end?
“Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, how may I direct your call?” the woman on the other end asked.
“Please.” She cleared her throat. “I need to find someone who works on your base.”
“What department does he work in, ma’am?” the phone operator enquired with boredom.
“His name is Tony Bale, he’s a SEAL, uh, Team One, Alpha Squad. Can you please find him for me?”
“One moment, please.”
Lumin squeezed the cotton sheet between her fingers and breathed out slowly. Her heart banged in her chest and refused to obey her mind. How could she have gotten herself into this? She knew better. She was smart. Educated. She’d grown up in Las Vegas watching, listening, but never falling into the darkness that was an unseen counter-balance to the bright lights and tourists who lost their restraint for three days in an adult playground indulgent of misdemeanors if not sin.
“Ma’am.”
The operator coming back on the line made her jump. “Yes?”
“He is not on the base.”
“Could you find him, please? This is very important.”
“Ma’am, we do not give out personal information.”
It sounded like the switchboard operator was going to hang up. There was no one else she could share the information with. She’d met Tony Bale last December. He’d asked for her help because his friends had lost their daughter. Pedro Quadero, the head of a large cartel operating in Las Vegas, had taken the little girl hostage. She’d taken Tony and his friends, Mace and Nina, to Steven Porter, a powerful man in Las Vegas who helped them find Pedro. Steven Porter and his wife Moira were like Lumin’s adoptive parents, but they couldn’t help her now. If she involved them they might all end up dead. Tony was a Navy SEAL; maybe he would know what to do.
“Ma’am.” Pleading wouldn’t work. She altered her voice, professional, calm, the farthest from what she was feeling. “This is extremely important. Mr. Bale told me to call him if I had information of a—” She paused. “A sensitive nature. You don’t have to give me his number, but can you patch me through to him?”
A deep sigh penetrated the phone line. “One moment.”
Lumin stepped to the room control panel and checked the air temperature. She was freezing, and switched off the AC.
“Tony Bale.” His voice enveloped her like a warm blanket. The first bit of warmth she’d felt since she opened her eyes this morning.
“Tony,” she whispered, holding back tears of relief. “It’s—”
“Lumin?” He sounded surprised.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t know who else to call.”
“What’s going on?”
Lumin heard loud music in the background and water splashing. The laughter of small children and adults filled the airwaves between them. She bit her lip with doubt. They’d only spent a short time together. She pictured him in her mind and his image was clear. A lean body with roping muscles and a chest any woman wanted to be held against dangled in her thoughts. Their meeting, although brief, seemed unfinished when he’d left her on the steps of Steven and Moira’s place.
While every man in Vegas looked at her and saw a tall blonde whose legs they wanted to lay between, Tony had looked deeper. His eyes broke through her exterior and saw more, making her nervous and excited at the same time. Tony’s actions, the way he talked about the little girl they were trying to find, and the way he carried himself proved to her he was brave, noble, but when trustworthy popped into her head she knew she’d hit on the right word and said, “I think I’m in big trouble. You need to tell me what
to do.” The signal cut out, and her heart leaped in her throat. “Are you still there?”
“I’m here, sweetheart, what kind of trouble?” he asked, his voice hardening. “Is it Pedro? Did he find out you helped us?”
The adult voices in the background ceased.
“No, it’s not Pedro. Where are you?”
“In Mexico. Nina and Mace just got married. Are you in Las Vegas?”
Lumin ran her fingers through her blonde hair and she hooked them in the strands, tugging to replace her rampaging fear with pain. She hesitated.
“Don’t hang up,” Tony commanded as if he sensed her misgivings. “You can tell me, sweetheart. I can hear you’re scared, but don’t be. Whatever it is you’re not alone, okay.”
“Do you know what Yersinia Pestis is?” she blurted.
Tony sucked in a deep breath. “The Bubonic Plague?”
“Yes. In the middle ages it was passed through contact, but imagine if it were turned into an airborne virus and mutated every thirty-six hours. It would be the deadliest virus ever created. It would kill millions.” She licked her dry lips. “I think they’ve made one.”
“Who is they, Lumin?”
“I—don’t know who they are, but they know who I am.” Her voice quivered. “You must have contact with people who can look into this. I heard a name, Dr. Clifford Bjornson. That might lead you somewhere. I have to go.”
“Wait! How do these people know you?”
Lumin dropped the sheet and reached for her dress. She pulled it over her head. Squeezing the phone between her ear and shoulder as she did up the buttons she said, “Because Dr. Bjornson’s partner is lying dead in my bed.”
“Okay, listen—I want you to get on a plane and fly to San Diego. I’ll meet you.”
“You’re in Mexico.”
“I’m leaving now. Wait for me. Stay in the airport until I get there.”
“I can’t.” Lumin twirled looking for her flats. The tip of her shoe poked out from under the couch. She bent to retrieve it, and dug her hand underneath to grasp the other. “If they’re trying to find me, I’m not going to draw their attention to you. I just wanted someone to know. You’re the only Navy SEAL I’ve met.” Her voice choked off in fear as her gaze slid over the carpet and came to rest on the dead scientist. “I don’t know what killed him. He doesn’t look sick, but he might be infected and maybe I am too.” Fear squeezed a tear from her eye and rolled down her cheek. “I can’t take the chance of infecting others if I am.”
“Listen…to…me. I told you I owed you one. If he isn’t showing signs of the plague than he died some other way. Get on a plane and wait for me in San Diego. I’m coming.” Tony’s voice softened. “Don’t make me track you down, because I will. We’ll lose time and it sounds like time is running out.”
A bang on the door made her heart jump out of her chest. She waited to hear the words “Housekeeping” but they didn’t come, only another hard knock. “Too late. They’re here,” she whispered, backing away. There was nowhere to go. She was on the thirtieth floor of the Grand Palms Hotel with no way out.
“Lumin,” Tony’s normally calm, low voice strained. “Listen to me, sweetheart, do exactly what I say and do it quick.”
Message from Natasza
Thank you for spending time with Alpha Squad, and standby for Code Name: Luminous Book Four in “A Warrior’s Challenge” series. Tony (Tinman) Bale rides into Lumin’s life like a knight in shining armor. Alpha Squad only has a couple weeks off before their next deployment. He doesn’t think twice about answering the beautiful performers call for help or the fact that she might be infected with a deadly airborne virus. She needs him. The warrior inside Tony stands ready to protect her, but his heart has another plan.
I enjoy and learn from all your reviews. Please continue to leave them at Goodreads, Amazon or wherever you have purchased the book. Join me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Natasza-Waters/311286078885026 Visit my blog http://nataszawaters.com/ or drop me a line at [email protected].
Please continue to help Paws and Stripes. A nonprofit organization providing service dogs for wounded military veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. Please visit their site to learn more. http://www.pawsandstripes.org/ and Operation Gratitude who annually send 100,000+ care packages filled with snacks, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation addressed to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed in hostile regions, to their children left behind and to veterans, first responders, wounded warriors and their care givers. http://www.operationgratitude.com/
88’s
Natasza
Secret Cravings Publishing
www.secretcravingspublishing.com
Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge) Page 31
