by Paige Tyler
It was the type of mission Chasen, Dalton, Nash, Logan, and the other members of SEAL Team 5 had done so many times they could sleepwalk their way through it. Of course, this mission was slightly different than most of their others. It wouldn’t take place in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, or any other craphole foreign country they’d visited many times in the last few years.
This particular mission would take place at the training complex in La Posta, California. This time the goal wasn’t to complete the mission and get everyone home alive, but to impress a boatload of high-ranking officers from the Special Operations Command—SOCOM—and a few congressional representatives from the Senate Armed Services Committee. The entire thing was a frigging test and everything his team did—or didn’t do—would be critiqued seven ways to Sunday by a bunch of people who never would have attempted the job themselves.
He and the guys had gone through the mission briefing, drawn their basic load of live ammo and explosives, and been rolling down the runway at NAS North Island before a Navy captain had slipped down to their end of the aircraft and informed them this was to be a live-fire training and evaluation exercise.
That had elicited a few groans from Chasen and the other guys. Nobody liked doing no-notice evaluated training events, especially for high-ranking wankers who didn’t know a damn thing about field operations and how they were supposed to be done.
But what the hell? He and the guys got paid the same whether people were actually trying to kill them or not.
He wasn’t exactly thrilled to be heading out for anything at the moment, though. He would much rather have hung around and kept an eye on Hayley. He didn’t feel good about leaving her on her own right then. Not only was he concerned about this PTSD stuff she was dealing with, but he was also worried about the crap she was getting into with Nesbitt. Both situations had the potential to turn ugly if she weren’t careful. And as he already knew for a fact, Hayley was never careful.
Then there was the whole other thing going on in his head that had him spinning, too. It was that minor issue of him falling in love with Hayley like a frozen turkey from space. Which was scary if he thought about how fast it was happening. But when he’d mentioned taking leave and spending it at a B&B with her in San Francisco, it had felt right.
He only hoped this exercise would be over quickly. It could end as early as tomorrow morning or it could last for days. Either way, the thought of taking off on leave with Hayley, doing nothing more than hanging out in bed and enjoying San Francisco with her had him grinning like an idiot.
Chasen cursed silently. Get a grip, dude. This might be a training exercise, but they’d be using live ammo and live explosives. Well-trained sailors—even SEALs—had messed up and gotten themselves killed by not focusing on what the hell they were doing. On top of that, there was the whole High Attitude Low Opening technique they’d be employing for this jump. Chasen had done HALO jumps more times than he cared to count, but whenever you hopped out of a plane in the black of night at thirty thousand feet and waited until you were a mere few thousand feet above the ground to pop your chute, you were taking a risk. Getting disoriented was damn easy in the dark and even easier at attitudes requiring you to carry your own oxygen in order to survive.
Yet, as dangerous as the training was, five minutes after berating himself, his mind drifted back to Hayley and how beautiful she’d looked lying in his arms this morning. Then he remembered how good her mouth had felt on him when he’d first gotten back from the last training exercise, and how she’d told him he was in for more of the same when he got back from this mission. That thought got his cock as hard as a crowbar in seconds.
Then a klaxon alarm rang, signaling their approach to the target and his hard-on immediately disappeared. The physiology technicians on board switched Chasen and the other SEALs over from aircraft oxygen to their suit’s internal supply then bailed for the front of the aircraft. A moment later, the jumpmaster came down the center aisle and herded them toward the rear ramp, checking chutes, gear, and packs as they went. The ramp dropped then, filling the aircraft with screaming turbulence that made thinking nearly impossible.
But as Chasen and his guys grabbed hold of each other and charged out the back door of the plane and into the dark, cold air, he found himself wondering about what Hayley was doing at that exact moment and whether if she was thinking about him as much as he was thinking about her.
* * * * *
“You did what?”
Hayley cringed at Jillian’s question. “I was simply rattling Nesbitt’s cage a little trying to get him to slip up and say something.”
“By walking right up to his face and telling him you know he was involved in a man’s death?” Jillian demanded.
Okay. When Jillian put it that way, maybe it hadn’t been so smart. In fact, telling a man who was willing to kill someone for convenience sake you were trying to send him to prison for life was pretty stupid. But in her defense, she rarely made smart moves when it came to her own safety. That’s what she had people like Brad, Jillian, and Chasen for.
Hayley had felt twitchy and tense ever since Chasen left on Saturday, especially in her apartment, so after three days, she’d gone over to Jillian’s for an impromptu girl’s night complete with chocolate, wine coolers, and a stack of Chris Hemsworth movies.
“What did Nesbitt say when you confronted him?” Jillian asked, glancing up from polishing her toenails.
Hayley shrugged and nibbled on a piece of dark chocolate. It didn’t taste nearly as good as it had a few minutes ago. “At first he acted like he had no idea what I was talking about. But when I started getting specific about what I thought had happened to Kyla’s dad, he got in my face and told me I need to be careful listening to those Internet nerds. They were going to get me in more trouble than I could handle.”
Jillian froze, the nail polish brush poised above her big toe. “He actually threatened you?”
Hayley sighed. “It was a threat, but nothing the police would see that way. Nesbitt is too smart for that.”
“What was Brad doing during all this?”
“He wasn’t there.”
“Where was he?” Jillian asked.
“He took a few days off,” Hayley said. “I was worried when he didn’t come to work on Monday, but when I called, he told me everything was fine and he was taking care of some personal stuff.”
Jillian went back to painting her toenails. “I think Brad is seeing someone you don’t know about.”
Hayley frowned. “Why do you say that?”
Her friend shrugged. “It was the way he was acting the other night when we all went out together. He was nice and all, but I could tell he wasn’t that into me. It was like he thought he was cheating on someone else by being with me, you know? The fact he’s never told you about whoever it is makes me think it might be a guy.”
“And you think he figured I wouldn’t approve?” Hayley asked. “That’s crazy! He’s one of my best friends in the world.”
Popping the half-eaten piece of chocolate in her mouth, she grabbed her cell phone and scrolled through her contacts.
“Who are you calling?” Jillian asked.
“Brad. I’m going to ask if he has a girlfriend—or boyfriend—I don’t know about.”
“Don’t.” Jillian reached across the couch to catch her hand. “Just give him some time. He’ll tell you about this stuff when he’s ready. That might be the personal situation he’s dealing with right now, trying to figure out how to come out. You need to let him have some space.”
Hayley put the phone back on the table with a sigh. “You’re right.”
Jillian tightened the top on the nail polish bottle then sat back on the couch. “What’s the status with Chasen? You two a serious item yet or are you merely in it for the sex?”
Hayley laughed. Jillian always knew how to get her to lighten up. “Oh, the sex is definitely a highlight. I’d have to be a zombie not to admit that. But on the relationship side, it
’s getting serious. He’s going to take some leave so we can go up to San Francisco and spend time together away from everything.”
“Wow…that does sound serious. And romantic as heck. I had no idea things were moving so fast with you guys.”
Hayley smiled and sipped her wine cooler. “It caught me a little by surprise, too. But I can’t deny when we’re together, I’m happier than I’ve ever been. That’s what has me worried. I’ve never tried a relationship with a guy who has a job that requires him to run off to the far side of the world at the drop of a hat. That’s always been my deal. It’s a strange feeling.”
“But you can put up with it, right?” Jillian asked. “For a guy as great as Chasen, you’ll try?”
“I’m going to give it everything I’ve got,” Hayley said. “I’m not crazy. I know what kind of catch he is.”
Jillian smiled. “Good. But if you ever plan on changing your mind, let me know so I can make a move on him. I don’t want all those muscles and sex appeal to go to waste.”
Hayley laughed. “Wouldn’t want that.”
She ended up hanging out at Jillian’s later than she intended watching movies, talking about work, Brad, Chasen, and guys in general. Jillian wanted her to stay, but Hayley had to get to the paper beaucoup early and if she stayed she’d wake up her friend with her morning bathroom ritual. Besides, she couldn’t stay with Jillian every time Chasen had night training or went on a mission.
Since it was well after midnight when Hayley left, the parking garage was totally deserted and she immediately felt the familiar tingle along her back, like she was being watched. She forced herself to ignore it and kept walking.
As she reached her car, she heard the distinct sound of footsteps. She turning to see if there was someone behind her—and whether they might be a threat—but before she could a man rushed her, slamming her against the side of her car and shoving something hard into the small of her back. Was it a gun?
Hayley froze, her heart pounding, her gaze locked on the reflection of the man in the side window of her car. He was wearing a ski mask, so there was no way she’d be able to identify him.
“Stop poking your nose into other people’s business or someone might put a bullet in that pretty head of yours,” the man warned in heavily accented English.
Nestor Stavros.
Every instinct she had told her to call his bluff, to tell him she knew who he was. But self-preservation—as well as Chasen’s and Brad’s warnings—finally won out and she kept her mouth shut.
But instead of leaving, Stavros kept her pressed against the car. Real panic set in and she was suddenly back that damn room in Nigeria waiting for those terrorists to come in and do anything to her they wanted.
One second, she was gasping for air, the next she elbowed the man in the gut then spun around and punched him with everything she had. She wasn’t going to let him put her back in that room, wasn’t going to let him do whatever he wanted to her.
Stavros backpedaled as if shocked by the frenzy of her attack, but then he lifted the gun he was holding and pointed it at her.
Hayley stared at the barrel, immobilized by fear. Oh God. He was going to kill her. All she could think about was how devastated Chasen was going to be when he came home and found out she was dead.
But then she heard the squeal of fast-moving tires on concrete and the roar of a big engine.
Stavros cursed and turned to dart between two parked cars, disappearing from sight as a bright blue Mustang raced through the garage and kept right on going.
Hayley didn’t waste time, getting into her car and cranking it up as fast as her shaking hands would allow. She backed out of her space fast then punched it, her tires squealing like the Mustang’s had a few seconds earlier.
She didn’t slow down until she was halfway to her apartment. Her heart was still racing a mile a minute and she was breathing so fast it almost made her dizzy. She’d escaped death for the second time in a month.
She shuddered. Something told her she wouldn’t be so lucky the next time.
Chapter Eleven
“IF THEY HAVE us run anywhere else, I’m seriously going to shoot someone,” Logan growled as they jogged into the main compound of the La Posta Mountain Warfare Training Facility.
Chasen was more than ready to put a bullet into the next person who sent them on a wild goose chase to the far side of the training center too—just so they could turn around and run back to this side of the damn place. They’d run so far since this mission had started the heels of his boots were about to fall off.
The training exercise had taken a hell of lot longer to get through than any of them had thought it would. Chasen and the guys had been dropped into the La Posta Mountain Warfare Training Facility at midnight on Saturday and they were still going over forty-eight hours later. Chasen was beyond frigging exhausted.
The HALO drop had gone fine, and he and the other guys had all hit the landing zone within a couple of hundred feet of each other. Then they’d humped through the mountainous terrain of the training center for a couple of miles until they’d arrived at the “foreign village” where the surface-to-air missiles were supposedly being stored.
The raid on the village had gone off without a hitch as well, with Chasen leading the four-man team that went in to photograph and then destroy the missiles while Kurt’s team grabbed up the arms dealer and headed to the extraction point.
Then things had gotten stupid when the helicopter supposed to be waiting for them had suffered “mechanical” issues and had to turn back without them. That meant moving to an alternate pickup location on foot while “bad guys” chased them the whole time trying to get the arms dealer back. When they finally got to the location after a ten-mile grind through the mountains with heavy packs, they discovered the extraction aircraft couldn’t reach them there either. Some crap about “too much ground fire” putting the aircraft at risk. Their only option was to hump fifteen more miles in a different direction so some “friendly locals” could get them out by truck.
That’s when Chasen realized the exercise had nothing to do with evaluating their technical or tactical abilities. The people in charge of this op only wanted to see how far the SEAL team could push themselves physically by running them nonstop.
When they ran through the gate of the main compound, he and the other guys saw the captain from SOCOM who’d briefed them on the plane. In a few short, choppy sentences, the man informed them they’d completed the evaluation exercise and there would be a van to drive them back to San Diego in an hour. A support team from the group would also be coming by shortly to collect up their gear and weapons.
Chasen wasn’t sure what he appreciated more—that the exercise was over, that there would be a van to get them back home, or that someone else would take care of their gear. While he was glad this goat-rope operation was over, he ultimately decided the last part was the best. If they had to clean up and inspect all the gear they’d been humping around for the last couple of days, he wouldn’t get off base for another four hours. He wasn’t sure his eyelids would be able to stay open that much longer.
After unloading his weapons and dumping his pack along with everyone else, Chasen dug out his cell phone and powered it back on. He glanced at his watch while he waited for it to boot up. It was almost noon, so Hayley was probably at work.
She answered the phone on the second ring, saying his name in such an excited rush he couldn’t help but smile.
“Are you coming back already?” she asked before he could get a word out.
He chuckled, the sound of her voice making him forget how exhausted he was. “Yeah, I’ll be home in a couple of hours. You at work?”
“No. I’ve been doing a lot on the Nesbitt story and thought I’d take a day to relax. I’m just hanging around the house.”
“You haven’t been doing anything dangerous, have you?”
When she didn’t answer, his radar immediately went nuts.
“What did y
ou do?” he asked.
More silence. Then, “I went to see Nesbitt and accused him of murdering Kyla’s father to see how he’d react. As you can imagine, he didn’t appreciate that.”
Chasen cursed silently. “What did that bastard do? Did he threaten you?”
She hesitated again. “He made a few veiled threats, but he didn’t actually do anything.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” Chasen demanded.
Hayley sighed. “I was over at Jillian’s place last night and as I was going back to my car, some guy in a ski mask shoved a gun in my back and threatened to kill me if I didn’t stop poking my nose into other people’s business. I think it was Stavros.”
Chasen’s heart beat faster than it had during all the running he’d been doing the last two nights. If Nesbitt were here right now, he’d beat the shit out of him.
“Did you call the police?”
“Yes,” Hayley said.
That was good, he supposed. But he was still pissed off at Hayley for being so foolish. And at Nesbitt for daring to go after her. Chasen had no doubt the man in the ski mask had been Stavros. The man was a fucking killer, and Nesbitt had sent him as a way of intimidating her into backing off.
“Promise me you’ll stay at your place until I get there,” he said. “And don’t open the door for anyone but me.”
Hayley promised she would. Then again, she’d promised to be careful before he’d left and look how that turned out.
“I’ll be home soon,” he told her. “I’m glad you’re okay…and I miss the hell out of you.”
Thumbing the red button to end the call, Chasen tossed his phone back in his bag with a curse.
