Was that a smile of reassurance on his friend’s face?
Christ, these men fell in love and they all changed. Maybe he should talk to his commander about doing a fitness for duty report each time a team member got engaged or married. A picture of Riya flashed before his eyes. He scowled and focused harder on the silence in his earpiece.
“We got ‘em. We’re on our way.” Aiden said in a normal voice.
Halleluiah.
* * *
“He’s a geek at heart,” Aiden murmured as he sidled up next to Gray.
“Nope, he was born and bred to be a SEAL,” Gray disagreed.
“But he has a unholy relationship with his computer, you have to admit that. Where most of us would sleep with our knife, he probably sleeps with his comp.”
“I can hear you, you know. And, O’Malley, I sleep with my wife.” Dex didn’t look up from his computer.
“See, he’s got the supersonic hearing of a geek,” Aiden said quietly.
“SEAL’s have the highly-developed hearing of a SEAL, thank you very much. Just because you and Gray are so old you don’t understand technology, don’t take it out on me.”
Gray heard Griff and Dalton smother their laughter, which is just what Aiden had been aiming for. Tension had been high as they had slowly headed North toward the King Abdulaziz Seaport for a good part of the day, only to find out they were headed in the wrong direction. Thank God Dex had been able to ferret out where the Golden Tulip was actually docked.
“I still can’t believe they’ve named the place Dana Beach on Half Moon Bay. Do they like California much?” Griff asked.
“Who gives a shit what they call it, as long as we’re finally here,” Hunter said. Gray could tell his patience was shot. But then he heard Hunter take a deep breath. Good man.
Gray watched as Hunter’s lip ticked up. “You know, I just took Aliana to a jazz concert at Dana Point about three weeks ago.” He waved his hand to gesture across at the gated four-star resort that looked like a dilapidated Holiday Inn in the middle of the Mojave Desert. “Even she would burst out laughing if she were to compare the two places.”
“So how good is the intel?” Dalton asked Dex.
“That’s definitely the Golden Tulip,” Dex pointed to a yacht that was out past the harbor. It wasn’t in sniper range. “It belongs to Prince Khalid bin Al Halabi’s brother-in-law.”
“How are they related?”
“His wife’s brother,” Dex answered Dalton.
“That takes balls.” Hunter shook his head. “This guy really arranged to hold his mistress hostage on his wife’s brother’s yacht?”
“From what our friend Kane told me, Faizon, the brother-in-law, is one twisted fuck. Not only would he be happy that his sister’s rival is being hurt on his turf, he’d also like to be in on it.”
“You called McNamara?” Gray asked. He was surprised that Dex would have reached out to the communications expert on the Night Storm SEAL team, since they’d only worked together once before.
“Nope, Wyatt did,” Dex answered with a shit-eating grin. “Wyatt got Kane doing a lot of the deep background research for him ever since I pinpointed the yacht,” Dex’s voice full of admiration. “My little boy is growing up. He figured out a way to get someone else to do his work for him.” Dex pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.
“Can the shit,” Gray grimaced. “We get it, Wyatt did good.”
“Damn right he did,” Dex said. “Kane is fucking connected, he sure knows how to forage for gossip.”
“I don’t know, I still think you’re the biggest gossip in the fifth fleet,” Dalton drawled.
Dex shot him the bird.
Gray snorted, Dalton was right. It was like the pot calling the kettle black. If the situation weren’t so hellish, it would be fun to see Dex so jazzed. He had schematics, gossip and was ready to grip a knife in his teeth and swim out in the harbor and rescue the two women.
Gray took a moment to look around at the rest of his men. Griff was the perfect SEAL, he was anything Gray needed him to be. There wasn’t a damn area he didn’t excel in, but water was his home. He’d definitely be going out to the yacht.
Hunter was trying to keep it low-key, but his need for retribution was second only to Aiden. The man was off-the-charts protective. Gray shifted his attention to his second-in-command. He’d been damn near mute since finding the evidence of torture in the bathroom. Gray thought back to when Aiden’s wife Evie had been captured in Turkey. It had been through sheer force of will that he’d kept it together and saved his woman, but he’d done it. Yep, Aiden had managed a miracle and tonight wouldn’t be any different. His whole team were going to work miracles for these two women.
“Gather round children, I have a plan,” Gray smiled.
* * *
Gray had driven the truck a mile south of the Dana Beach Resort and hid their truck behind an abandoned house. Dex had somehow scoped out a dock that they were going to eventually bring the women back to. This was where the plan got a little…flexible.
Kane had tracked down the former captain of the Golden Tulip. The man had only lasted seven weeks after Faizon bought the yacht, but it was enough time for the older Saudi to have intel regarding the security setup. He was also the one who gave Kane the scoop on just what a sick and paranoid fuck Faizon was.
“Here’s where they’re weak,” Dex pointed to the stern of the yacht. “Four open decks for people to get skin cancer, and for us climb aboard. According to the captain, they only ever had guards on the lower and main decks, never on the upper deck. Doubt it’s changed.”
“What kind of artillery are the men using?” Aiden asked.
“Kane said that from the description they were submachine guns. More than likely MP5K’s. The captain said that Faizon always travels with a security detail of twelve. They’re all former military, tough sons of bitches.”
“So the captain saw them in action?”
“Yep. They took down two boats of Somali pirates. That wasn’t the problem. It was when there was a party on board, and the Cap realized that some of the female guests weren’t allowed to leave. A girl jumped overboard in the Mediterranean Sea. One of the guards gunned her down. The captain hid. He didn’t want anyone to realize that he had witnessed the killing.” Everyone stared at Dex in silence.
“I know, harsh shit, isn’t it?” Dex said quietly.
“What about the other girls?” Hunter finally asked.
Dex’s shoulders hunched, then he looked up and stared his friend Hunter in the eye. “He never saw them again. At the next port, the captain got off the ship for supplies and never came back.”
“How’d Kane track him down?” Gray asked.
“Fuck if I know, he’s as good as Clint Archer,” Dex said. Hell, that was high praise. Clint Archer was the communications and intelligence guru from Midnight Delta. Dex had worked with him for years.
“Where’s Clint?” Hunter asked.
“The Midnight Delta team is in Nigeria.”
“Shit,” Griff breathed.
They all nodded.
“Fucking Boko Haram. Nigeria is the worst. You’re stuck fighting against women and children who’ve been kidnapped and brainwashed. It’s heartbreaking,” Aiden said bitterly.
Gray looked at his men. “Okay, enough of their shit, we’ve got our own to worry about. We need to get to those two women before they’re thrown into the Persian Gulf.” He nodded at Dex who was kneeling in front of his comp. “You’re staying here and coordinating everything. We’ll let you know as we dispatch the bad guys. Did your know-it-all new best friend have any idea how many people besides the guards are on the yacht?”
“Faizon and his family. That would be his grown son, and two teenage daughters.”
“He took his family? Two young daughters?” Gray felt his stomach turn over.
“I just pray to God he’s keeping his daughters far away from what’s going on with his prisoners,” Aiden said. Gray remember
ed one of the human trafficking missions Aiden had worked on with the Midnight Delta team. The people involved had been evil.
“Okay, we want to hit the yacht at two a.m. We want off the boat at two-thirty, and no more than an hour after that, I want our asses back on the truck with the women, headed for Bahrain.” All of his men nodded.
“Aiden, did you take what you needed for triage?” Gray asked. Aiden was one of the best medics he knew.
“I’ll do what I can on the yacht,” Aiden assured him. “Dalton, you know the drill.”
Dalton nodded. As the leanest man on the team, he would be giving up his wetsuit to one of the women. Dex’s wetsuit would be carried by Griff because extra weight wouldn’t slow him down.
“Do a communications check,” Dex demanded.
They all checked their mics and receivers, then dropped into the water off the dock. Gray was the last to go in. If anything happened to one of his men, he’d be there to take care of them and haul their ass back to shore. But with these Navy SEAL’s, seeing the sun at midnight would be more likely. Still, it was his job to have their six.
7
The only sound that could be heard was the lapping water of Half Moon Bay. Gray watched as Griff silently undid the chain at the bottom of the staircase that lead from the water up to the main deck of the Golden Tulip. Then he started climbing the stairs.
God, could they make it any easier?
Gray, Griff and Dalton had all spotted the guard at the top of the stairs as they swam toward the starboard side of the yacht. He was peering into one of the windows of the boat, instead of watching over the rail or toward the stair.
Dalton was next up the stairs after Griff. He stayed low, so that only one member of Black Dawn could be seen above the main deck if the asshole guard actually turned around…which he didn’t. Griff took his knife out and silently killed the man, then Dalton rushed up to help Griff prop the body up against the side of the wall so it would look like the dead man was sleeping.
Aiden and Hunter were at the stern. Their job was to take out the two guards on the lower deck, then climb up to the main deck and take out those two as well. They still hadn’t reported in. When Gray had laid out his plan, Hunter and Aiden had both said, ‘piece of cake’, at the exact same time. They better not have jinxed themselves.
Gray climbed the stairs where Dalton and Griff were waiting for him.
“Lower deck clear,” Aiden’s voice came through clearly in Gray’s earpiece.
“Climbing up to the main deck,” Hunter whispered his report.
“One guard dispatched on port side of main deck,” Griff said into his mic. “I’m heading to port via the bow, I’ll monitor the interior through the windows and doors as I go. Don’t shoot me.”
“Roger that.” Gray heard Hunter’s grin through the receiver.
“Dalton and I will repeat the procedure clockwise.” Gray gave a hand signal for Dalton to follow while he took point toward the stern. Gray quickly peered through each window, but when he got to the door, he went down to his stomach and peeked around.
Damn, there was a guard who was actually alert. He was looking up high, though, so he missed Gray. He needed to take him out quietly. He did a sweep of the room, it was an open area with a circular staircase in the middle.
He turned his head and looked at Dalton, raising one finger.
“Get his attention, so the guard comes out to the deck. I’ll dispatch him as soon as he opens the door,” Gray whispered into his mic.
Dalton nodded. He padded over to the rail, close to the door, but still out of the guard’s line of sight. He took his fin and slapped it against the steel rail. The rapping of the rubber against the metal made a distinctive thwapping sound that had the guard turning to the door, his sub-machine gun at the ready. He spoke into a microphone attached to his shoulder, similar to what police officers wore, then he moved slowly toward the door.
“Dalton, enough,” Gray muttered into his mic. “Team, my bogey just called out to his team that he heard something. Your targets might be on the move to the main deck interior staircase.”
“Gray, we’re on the upper deck, immediately above you. All outside guards are dead, but you’re about to have company, two more guards are coming down the stairs. Hunter’s staying with the two Saudi girls, I’m going up to the owner’s deck,” Aiden said.
Gray looked over his shoulder and saw Dalton nod.
“Give me the fatality numbers,” Dex demanded from shore.
“Two,” Hunter said.
“Two,” Aiden said.
“Two,” Griff answered.
“Zero,” Gray and Dalton answered at the same time.
“But we’ll have three in just a second,” Gray whispered as the door slowly opened. Gray grabbed the Saudi’s ankle and yanked, and in a graceful coordination, Dalton ripped the submachine out of his hands before he could do anything with it. The man hit the deck with a thud. Gray immediately covered the man’s mouth, then shoved his knife into the back of the man’s neck and twisted. Dalton and Gray dragged him out of the line of sight of the door a millisecond before they heard booted footsteps descending the stairs.
Gray gave a chin tilt to Dalton, who put his back to the wall and started to turn with his MP7, when Gray heard a short blast of gunfire in his receiver and overhead at the same instant.
“Two more down, Dex,” Aiden said calmly.
Dalton finished turning and let loose with a hail of bullets. The two Saudi guards were laid out before they could even get a shot off.
“Three,” Dalton said into his mic.
“Which means there is one still on the loose,” Gray said to his men. “Time to spread out. I want those women found.” Gray looked at his watch. “You have fourteen minutes to get off this boat.”
“I have the two daughters with me.” Hunter said. “They’re in good shape,” he said before Gray could ask the question.
“I want them secured, and you to help search,” Gray commanded. “I’ll take the lower and tank decks. Dalton, you take the main deck. Hunter and Aiden, I want your asses up to the bridge, now. We’re going to have some nervous crew members up there. I want them secured, and or taken out. That’s going to be your call, you’ll know their status. That doesn’t just go for the crew on the bridge, you got that?”
Gray heard all of his men agree. They knew their jobs.
They’d already been on the lower deck, so Gray headed straight for the tank deck. He just had a feeling. He’d been around a lot of years, and he’d learned not to discount feelings. Gray yanked open the door and went inside, his rubber-soled boot ensured that he didn’t slip in the blood as he ran by one of the dead guards. He triple-timed it down the stairs, until he hit the lower deck, then he ran back toward the stern of the yacht. Gray shook his head in wonder. They’d fancified the door to the engine room in fine grain maple, but as soon as he opened the fancy-assed door he was looking into the same old guts of a boat. Bright lights, steel and the smell of grease and motor oil. It was hot and noisy, too. Kind of felt like home.
He slowed the door down so that it shut softly, and then he crouched down beside the left stair rail. He was out in the open, so he tried to make himself a small target in case there were more guards than anticipated, or if the engineer or one of the mechanics had guns. Then there was Faizon or his son. Gray was positive that this was where they were holding the women. He didn’t have anything to go by except for instinct. Damn, now he was sounding like Zed.
Oh for God’s sake, it’s away from the women and soundproof. This is logic, Tyler. Not whoo whoo psychic shit.
Gray crept down the stairs, then shot across the floor two meters so he could hide behind the ship’s main oil tank. Damn, how the hell could he smell body odor while he was butt up against three hundred gallons of grease? A man had to be close. Gray waited and listened, and took a deep breath in. Gray’s eyes watered.
Yep, real close.
A light footstep. Just the one. He
heard the sound of metal touching metal. Gray recognized it, a wrench turning a bolt. He peered just enough around the corner so he could confirm that there was a man in a sweat-soaked dingy white tank t-shirt working on a hydrophore pump.
Gray didn’t see anyone else. He rushed him, hitting the mechanic on the back of the head with the butt of his gun. The man was out for the count. Gray still took a moment to search him for any weapons. There was nothing.
There had to be at least an engineer and another mechanic for a boat this size. He remained in a crouch. He was surrounded by tanks and pumps, he needed to get over to the boiler and piston rod. How often had he seen the chief engineer bitching about that equipment? By the sounds of things, he needed to move even farther to the back of the boat. Gray continued to use the large tanks as cover.
He hit pay dirt when he heard two men speaking in Arabic. They were not happy. As Gray got closer he could hear them talking about the woman who was being held in the engine store room. They were debating whether they should give her some water.
Gray stepped out from behind the water cooling tank, his submachine gun pointed at them. The fat man’s arms flew in to the air, the second guy stood stock still.
“Hands up,” Gray said in Arabic. When the second man still didn’t comply, Gray took three menacing steps forward and repeated his command in a lower voice. The man finally held up his hands.
“Turn around, hands on the wall, legs spread.” Once again the second man was slow to respond. As soon as he turned around, Gray slashed down with the butt of his weapon between the man’s neck and head. He fell to the floor like a bag of wet cement.
He patted down the other man and didn’t find any weapons.
“Take off your shirt and your friend’s shirt.”
The older man stared at him blankly. Gray said it again, slower. The man complied. He handed the grungy cloth to Gray. He really didn’t want to touch it. He threw one of the shirts on the floor, then ripped the other one into strips and swiftly gagged and hogtied the unconscious man.
Her Captivated Hero: A Black Dawn Novel Book 6 Page 8
