by Elle James
Hot SEAL, Hawaiian Nights
Brotherhood Protectors
Elle James
Twisted Page Inc
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
Soldier’s Duty
Chapter 1
About the Author
Also by Elle James
Hot SEAL, Hawaiian Nights
SEALs in Paradise
and
Brotherhood Protectors
New York Times & USA Today
Bestselling Author
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ELLE JAMES
Copyright © 2019 by Elle James
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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EBOOK ISBN: 978-1-62695-247-8
PRINT ISBN: 978-1-62695-248-5
Dedicated to the beauty of Hawaii and the people who call it home. Aloha!
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Elle James
Author’s Note
Enjoy other military books by Elle James
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Brotherhood Protectors Series
Montana SEAL (#1)
Bride Protector SEAL (#2)
Montana D-Force (#3)
Cowboy D-Force (#4)
Montana Ranger (#5)
Montana Dog Soldier (#6)
Montana SEAL Daddy (#7)
Montana Ranger’s Wedding Vow (#8)
Montana SEAL Undercover Daddy (#9)
Cape Cod SEAL Rescue (#10)
Montana SEAL Friendly Fire (#11)
Montana SEAL’s Mail-Order Bride (#12)
Montana Rescue
Hot SEAL, Salty Dog
Hot SEAL, Hawaiian Nights
Visit ellejames.com for more titles and release dates
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Chapter 1
“Hawk, you old son of a bitch. I can’t believe you’re jumping ship on us.” Nitro clapped Hawk on the back and shook him hard. “The team won’t be the same without you.”
Jace Hawkins, or Hawk to his friends, stood in the lounge of a small municipal airport southeast of San Diego. He glanced around at the members of his team who’d come to see him off, nostalgia kicking in. Damn. And he hadn’t even left yet. Still, the thought wasn’t lost on him. This would be the last time he’d be with SEAL Team 3, his friends and brothers in arms.
“Seriously,” Dutch said. “Who’s going to cover my six when we’re out on the town? I can’t depend on Zach and T-Bone.” He elbowed T-Bone in the gut. “They’ll ditch me for any girl shortsighted enough to go after them.”
“You’re a grown-ass man, Dutch, you know how to call for a ride back to your apartment.” Jace glanced down at his watch. In exactly five minutes he’d be on a chartered jet to Bozeman, Montana to meet up with his old friend and new boss Hank Patterson, owner of the Brotherhood Protectors security agency.
God, it would be good to be back home. San Diego had great weather year-round, but Hawk liked his home in Eagle Rock with its wide-open spaces and snow-covered mountains.
Being a Navy SEAL had been his dream for as long as he could remember. After thirteen years of constant deployment, never being able to put down roots or find someone who could put up with his absences, he couldn’t wait to settle into a real house on a ranch. He looked forward to working with cattle and horses and riding for long stretches without another soul in sight.
He could already smell the pine trees. How nice would it be not to fight California traffic and inhale smog every day? Or to actually see the stars at night instead of all the light pollution caused by streetlights, parking lot floodlights and security lights hung on every front porch? Montana was as close to paradise as a man could get. And if ranching wasn’t enough to keep him busy, his new occupation should be a lot less dangerous than being a Navy SEAL, fighting the good fight all over the world.
Home sweet home.
He sighed.
“You know, after you’ve given civilian life a shot, you’re gonna get bored.” Dutch crossed his arms over his chest. “I bet the Navy would take you back.”
Hawk shook his head. “Have you ever been to Montana?”
Justus raised his right hand. “I have. I stopped at one of the insanely few truck stops on my way through from Minneapolis to Seattle. Montana was a long, straight stretch of absolutely nothing.” He snorted. “Until I hit the mountains. They don’t call it the Big Sky state for nothing. On the plains, that’s all there is, flat land and blue skies. Not a single tree for hundreds of miles. The only saving grace is the mountains in the far western part of the state. That’s where it got interesting.”
Hawk grinned. Justus’s description sounded like pure heaven. “And that’s where I’m headed. The Crazy Mountains and the little town of Eagle Rock.” Hawk inhaled deeply. “Can’t wait to get there. Just a few more hours and I’m there.”
Zach shook his head. “I don’t like that you and Compass are breaking up the team.”
“All good things come to an end,” Compass said. “Savannah has been on my mind for so long, it’s time to go.”
“Nothing will be the same,” Justus grumbled. “We’ll have to train some new guy. It took me years to train you two.”
Hawk laughed at the youngest man on the team. “The fuck, you did. We trained you. It’s your turn to initiate some poor, dumb bastard into the team.”
Justus frowned. “Is that all I was to you when I came on board? Some poor, dumb bastard?”
“Damn straight, you were.” Hawk punched the guy in the shoulder. “All our training—”
“—hazing,” Justus corrected.
“—came in handy,” Hawk continued. “You saved my ass on more than one occasion.”
“And mine,” Zach Browne added.
“Mine, too,” Dutch contributed. “But it goes both ways.”
Justus rubbed his shoulder. “Yeah, well at least it’ll be nice to have someone else to pick on.” He nodded toward the plane taxiing toward them. “That your ride?”
Butterflies swarmed in Hawk’s gut as he stared out at the shiny white plane stopping in front of the building. The hatch dropped down, and a man dressed in a pilot’s uniform stepped out.
Zach whistled. “Patterson must be making a mint with his security agency to afford a plane like that.”
Hawk frowned. He’d expected a much smaller, single prop plane to pick him up. “Might not be my plane.”
Hawk’s teammates stood beside him as the pilot entered the building, carrying a leather portfolio. His gaze swept the faces of the men in front of him. “One of you Jace Hawkins?”
Hawk’s pulse leapt. “That’s me.” He stepped forward.
“Hank Patterson sent this for you.” He handed the leather folder to Hawk, bent to collect Hawk’s suitcases and started for the sliding door out to the tarmac. “Follow me, please,” he said over his shoulder.
Hawk stared down at the black folder and up at the pilot passing through the door. “Well, guys, I guess this is it.”
“Damned impressive, if you ask me,” Zach said. “When you see Patterson, put in a good word for the rest of us. Might not be a bad gig when we’
re done with the Navy.” He wrapped his arms around Hawk in a tight hug then stepped back. “See ya around.”
Justus was next. “Don’t fall off any cliffs in those mountains of yours.”
“Ride ’em hard and put ’em up wet,” Nitro said, hugged him and then gave him a fist bump.
T-Bone held out a hand. Hawk took it and was pulled into a bone-crunching hug. “Laissez les bon temps rouler,” T-Bone said in Cajun French. “Let the good times roll. You will be missed.”
Once he’d said his goodbyes, Hawk slung his backpack over his shoulder, waved and followed the pilot out the door and up the steps to the waiting jet being fueled by a tanker truck.
Hawk was amazed at the luxury of the interior. “Are you sure you’re here for me?” he asked the pilot who’d handed him the folder.
The man retracted the steps into the plane and sealed the door. “Patterson said everything you need to know is in that folder. And he wants you to call him before we take off. That gives you about five minutes until we’re done refueling and get clearance. Sit anywhere you like. The flight will be about five and a half hours.” He stepped into the cockpit next to another pilot.
“It takes that long to fly to Bozeman?”
The pilot frowned. “Bozeman?”
Hawk felt like a character in the Twilight Zone. “Yeah, Bozeman. As in Montana.”
The man was shaking his head before Hawk finished talking. “I don’t know anything about Bozeman, Montana. We’re flying from here to Kona, Hawaii. As I said, everything you need to know should be in that brief. If you have any questions, save them for Hank Patterson.”
Hawk glanced at the now sealed hatch. Was it too late to get off the plane? Kona, Hawaii? What the hell was going on? He had his heart set on going home. And home sure as hell wasn’t on the Big Island of Hawaii.
In a state of shock, Hawk sat in one of the white leather seats and pulled out his cell phone. Patterson’s number was at the top of his favorites list. He punched the number and waited for the man to answer, opening the briefing materials at the same time.
“Hawk, you should be boarding the jet about now. Am I right?” Hank Patterson’s voice sounded in his ear.
“What the hell’s going on?”
“Didn’t the pilot give you the brief?” Patterson asked.
“I’m opening it now. But give me the bottom-line up front. Why am I headed to Hawaii? I thought I’d be working in Montana.”
Patterson laughed. “You will. But I had an emergency assignment come up, and everyone else is assigned. Sorry I couldn’t be there to welcome you to the Brotherhood Protectors in person, but I’m on babysitting duty with my little girl, while my wife is on the set of her latest movie shoot.”
“But…Hawaii?” Hawk said, hoping to bring Patterson back to the point.
“Right. I actually got a call from one of your buddies on SEAL Team 3. His girlfriend’s family friend from back in Hawaii is in a tight spot. Someone attempted to kidnap the daughter two days ago. They failed, but her father is afraid they’ll try again.”
“And why am I the right man for the job?” Hawk shook his head. “I know nothing about Hawaii, other than it has palm trees and hula dancers.”
“You know more than you think.” Patterson chuckled. “The Big Island has a massive cattle ranch smack-dab in the middle of it. The family owns the ranch, all one hundred and thirty thousand acres.”
Hawk blew out a stream of air. “You’re kidding me.”
“I kid you not.” Patterson continued, “We think whoever tried to kidnap the daughter wants to use her for ransom. The family is loaded. Her father chartered the plane. He’s pretty desperate.”
“I’d say.” Hawk stared around at his luxurious transportation. “So, all I have to do is play bodyguard to the man’s daughter?”
“Yes…and no.”
“You’re not making sense.” Hawk stared down at the first sheet in front of him with a description of Parkman Ranch. “Either I’m a bodyguard, or I’m not.”
“You’ll be the daughter’s bodyguard, but you can’t let her know you’re a bodyguard. Her father says she’s a bit of a free spirit and has slipped free of every bodyguard he’s hired. He wants you to come on board as a ranch hand, working with the horses. She’s not to know you’re her bodyguard.”
Hawk frowned. “She sounds like a spoiled brat. What doesn’t he just spank her and make her behave?”
Patterson laughed out loud. “You’ll have to ask him. I take it he’s not into disciplining his daughter.” A baby cooed in the background on Patterson’s end of the communication. “Having a baby daughter of my own, I can understand his hesitation to discipline. Isn’t that right, Emma?”
A tiny giggle sounded in Hawk’s ear. Was Patterson the same badass SEAL he’d known back in BUD/S training?
“Has the plane taken off yet?” Patterson asked.
“Not yet. They’re fueling up.”
“You have the opportunity now to change your mind, if you don’t think you can do the job. But you’re the only man I have available at this time, and Parkman’s desperate to protect his daughter…” Patterson paused, giving Hawk time to reconsider.
Hawk blew out a breath. “No, I’ve got this. Hell, it’s a free trip to Hawaii. Who’d be stupid enough to turn that down?” Someone who’d prefer to be in Montana. Given that this would be Hawk’s first assignment as a Brotherhood Protector, he couldn’t turn down work. He had to prove he was ready, able and, most of all, willing to do whatever it took.
“I know how much you wanted to get back to Montana,” Patterson said. “I wanted to get back home when I left the Navy. I could juggle my guys and switch one of them off a current assignment if you’d like.”
“No. I’m on the plane, it wouldn’t make sense to disrupt anyone else on your team,” Hawk squared his shoulders. “You can count on me.”
“Thanks, Hawk. You’ve got my number. If you need anything, call, and enjoy Hawaii as a civilian.” Patterson ended the call before Hawk had a chance to change his mind.
For better or worse, he’d just accepted his first assignment. In Hawaii. Not Montana.
Hawk sat back against the plush leather, buckled his seatbelt and prepared himself for the long flight over the water to the Big Island.
He tamped down his disappointment and looked down at the information Patterson had provided. In it was a map of the Big Island and a plat map of Parkman Ranch. So, it wasn’t Montana. Lots of people would love to fly in a private jet to Hawaii. Also included was the Parkman family tree, dating all the way back to the mid-1800’s. The last person on the tree was John Parkman III’s daughter Kalea. From the dates on the tree, Kalea’s mother had passed several years earlier. Which explained why John Parkman struggled with disciplining his only daughter. If Hawk had only one living relative, he’d probably feel the same.
He sighed. Hell, he was usually pretty good with the kids of his teammates. How hard could it be to protect little Kalea Parkman from kidnappers?
Chapter 2
Kalea raced across the pasture, hunkering low in her saddle. She was supposed to have been back at the ranch house by five o’clock for her weekly hula lesson. Her father would be livid. She’d promised to be there after missing her lesson the previous week altogether. She’d tried telling her father that she had no interest in learning the native dance of her mother’s ancestors. It was boring, and she’d been doing the dance since she was small child. Why did she have to practice? So, she was a little rusty. She could improvise as she always had for the annual Parkman Ranch celebration.
With the huge barn in sight, she leaned over Pupule’s neck, urging the gelding to run faster.
When she arrived in the barnyard, she barely waited for the horse to slide to a halt before she leaped out of the saddle to the ground.
“Where have you been, ali’i?” Maleko Hakekia reached up to grab her horse’s bridle. “Your father is looking for you.”
“Is he mad?” Kalea asked,
leading Pupule toward the barn.
“He’s not happy,” Maleko responded. “I’ll take your horse. Your father’s expecting you at the house.”
“I always take care of my own horse,” she argued. Now that she was back to the barn and knew her father was looking for her, Kalea was in no hurry to get to the house.
She knew her father loved her, but sometimes, he was too controlling, always wanting to know where she was, demanding she be at certain places according to his schedule. All she wanted was to help with the ranching duties, not the social responsibilities of being a Parkman of Parkman Ranch. He was so much better at that side of the business than she was. And now that he’d hired Clarise Sanders as his marketing expert, he didn’t need Kalea to be there for every function. She was prettier and more poised. And she actually liked wearing dresses and high heels.
Just the thought of wearing heels and a dress gave Kalea the hives. She preferred her cowboy boots, jeans and a T-shirt any day.
“Ali’i, you need to go to your father,” Maleko insisted. “He is expecting you.”
Kalea sighed. “I suppose.” She frowned. “And Maleko?”
“Yes, ali’i?”
“Don’t call me princess. I don’t like it. Never have. I work as hard as any man on this ranch. Calling me princess is demeaning.”
Maleko nodded. “As you wish.”
Kalea left Pupule with Maleko, not feeling at all good about having asked Maleko to stop calling her ali’i, the Hawaiian word for princess. He’d called her that all her life, as a term of endearment. He meant no harm, and he loved her as his own. She sighed. She shouldn’t take her bad mood out on Maleko. He was as dear to her as her own father. Determined to make it up to him when she came back down to the stables that evening, she hurried up to the house and the chewing out she expected and deserved.
