Hacking the SEAL (Saving the SEALs Series Book 2) (11 page)

Jaw clenched, he stared at her for several seconds before finally exhaling and tossing her a set of keys. “Fine. Take that one there. I’ll radio in for more officers for you.”

Hayley started toward it only to be stopped by the sound of Detective Murphy’s voice behind her. “You still need to come into headquarters for questioning, Agent Stevens.”

“I will. Promise.” She turned to face him and backed toward the nearest squad car. “And Detective, can you take the widow into custody at the hospital? Once I get this situation under control, I’ll meet you there later. Thanks. I owe you one.”

“Yes, you do.” Detective Murphy shook his head.

Hayley stopped to grab an abandoned gun and extra clip of ammo lying on the ground, mostly likely from one of the wounded agents, then climbed behind the wheel of the car and took off, lights and sirens blazing.

I’m coming, Scotty. Just hang on. I’m coming.

“Line them up,” Michelle ordered.

Scotty squinted up into the afternoon sunshine, the smell of algae and fish tickling his nose. The place was quiet, as expected on a weekday afternoon, and small waves lapped the side of the wooden dock beneath his knees. They’d arrived maybe five minutes prior and trundled out of the van, which sat parked and running near the shore.

The agent who’d been guarding him the whole time moved in and placed his gun against Scotty’s temple once more. The cuffs around his wrists were cutting into his skin and the minute Kyle gave them the signal, he planned to beat the shit out of this pompous dickhead.

He glanced over at Gage and Spence, one on either side of him. Both wore identical expressions of contained fury. Yeah. Taking a rogue SEAL team hostage wasn’t the most brilliant idea ever. Especially now that both he and Gage had someone special to fight to get back to.

If he closed his eyes, Scotty could still picture Hayley lying there on the ground, so pale and helpless. His heart ached with the guilt of leaving her there, but at least she was alive, as was Nick’s widow. He just hoped Hayley wasn’t planning to do something stupid to try and rescue him. He and his team could get out of this themselves. Hell, they’d done it more time than he could count already. But Hayley… If anything happened to her, he didn’t know what he’d do.

“Right, let’s do this.” Michelle’s voice held a hint of hesitation and Kyle seemed to pick up on it too, because he scooched forward on his knees—as much as his position and the restraining agent behind him would allow anyway.

“So, that’s it, Agent Harper?” he said. “You’re going to shoot us in the skull then what, throw us in the river? Not a very effective way to hide the bodies.”

“Maybe not, but who’s going to question a bunch of washed up ex-military has-been’s who commit suicide together.” Michelle pulled a note out of her pocket and held it in front of his face, her hand visibly shaking. “Happens all the time. The stress of war, the guilt. The lack of control over your life, your circumstances, what happens to your loved ones.”

Kyle’s gaze darted to Scotty then back to Agent Harper. He was stalling, trying to get her to pour out her real reasons for doing this, because they all knew it wasn’t to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States. “Are you sure you’re talking about us, Agent Harper? Or yourself?”

“Shut up.” She folded the note and stuffed it into the front pocket of Kyle’s camo green T-shirt. “You have no idea what I’m dealing with.”

“Tell me.”

“Like hell.” She backed up a step and raised her chin. “Weapons locked and loaded, agents.”

The sinister snick of a trigger being cocked whispered in Scotty’s ear. The agent behind him placed his hand on Scotty’s shoulder and forced him to hold still. The others did the same.

A small muscle ticked near Kyle’s clenched jaw. “If I’m going to die today, Agent Harper, I think I deserve to know why, don’t you?”

“You don’t deserve a damned thing.” She scowled. “Neither do I.”

“Why not?” Kyle persisted. “Why are you doing this, Michelle?”

Scotty lowered his head to hide his grin. Kyle was good, very good. Switching to the enemies first name to build rapport. Nice.

She shook her head and stared out over the small bay, past the lazy rock of the boats tethered near them. “Look, I don’t want to do this, okay? I don’t have a choice.”

“We always have a choice, Michelle.” Kyle had moved forward slightly once more, making his cuffed hands visible. He extended two fingers this time—get set for imminent attack. Scotty’s muscles tensed in anticipation. About fucking time. “Who’s forcing you to do this?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“We can protect you, Agent Harper, if you tell us the truth. Is it Michael Becks? The same group who took out Corwin Williams’ publishing house last week? I only want justice for my brother’s death. That’s all. You help us, we’ll help you.”

“You can’t help me.” She inhaled and turned away, arms crossed. “No one can.”

Scotty eyed the agents around him. They’d gone from looking confident, to wary and fidgeting. Good. Maybe they weren’t so down with their boss’s agenda after all.

“That’s not true. I know people, have connections in high places. Tell my why you’re doing this and I swear I’ll do everything I can to help you find a better solution to the problem.”

Michelle snorted and faced Kyle once more, her face a mask of rage and sorrow. “You got a fucking cure for cancer, huh? Or a million dollars for the treatment? Because that’s the only way you can fucking help me and my son now.”

The team members exchanged a look and the pieces clicked into place in Scotty’s mind. The mother-child bond was one of the strongest in the universe. Strong enough to make her risk her career, her freedom, her life to save her child. Whoever was bribing her to do this understood that bond and wasn’t afraid to manipulate it to their advantage—meaning they were both cruel and extremely dangerous.

“What kind of cancer does your son have, Michelle?” Kyle asked, his voice gentler.

“Neuroblastoma.” Her words caught. “He needs brain surgery. To remove a life-threatening tumor. You think I have that kind of money? My insurance capped out months ago.” She gave a sad, little laugh. “And then, guess what? I get a word they’re going to disband my team and I’m out of a job. Just fucking perfect.”

“I’m sorry, Michelle.”

In the distance, Scotty heard the low roar of traffic from the interstate and the twitter of birds in the surrounding trees and…something else. Quite, distinct, grumbling. A car engine, hidden in the tree line just off shore, he’d guess. His heartrate kicked into overdrive, but he schooled his features. Looked up and checked the faces of the agents around him, but none showed any signs of having heard the noise.

A soft thump echoed, followed by the snapping of a twig. Oh, yeah. Someone else was definitely here. Given their time of travel to this marina and the low tingle of awareness in his gut—the same one he’d had that very first night in the widow’s abandoned house—he knew exactly who it was.

Hayley.

“I’m sorry too, Matthews.” Michelle exhaled. “See you in hell.”

She raised her chin and each of her agents moved the barrel of their gun from their victim’s temple to the base of their skull once more.

Scotty kept his gaze trained on Kyle’s hands, waiting for the signal.

Waiting, waiting…Go!

*

Hayley parked near the tree line then crept closer to the dock area of the small marina.

She would’ve preferred to charge in, guns drawn, but considering she was on her own here, covert was better. With luck, she’d be able to use the element of surprise to her advantage.

From what she could see, Michelle had lost quite a few of her team at the row house. She only had enough agents with her now to guard the guys. Which meant maybe Hayley wasn’t too outnumbered after all. She ducked behind a nearby boat and double-checked her weapon—ammo clip full, safety off. She hadn’t actually fired one of these things since the Academy, but she’d been a pretty good shot back then. She’d never actually fired at another human being either, but there was a first time for everything.

Hayley inched up to peer over the hull of the small fishing boat. Scotty knelt directly across from her, a department-issued Glock with a silencer attached aimed directly for his brain stem. Her chest squeezed tight. They’d just found each other. She couldn’t lose him. Not yet.

Kyle seemed to have Michelle talking, which was both unusual and a nod to his negotiation skills. They always joked around the office about getting criminals to ‘monologue’ at the crime scenes. Half the time they’d just pour their guts out and incriminate themselves, no coercion or interrogation necessary.

Except Hayley still had a hard time believing her boss was actually doing this. Awoman she’d admired and tried to emulate, career-wise. And Michelle’s son was not a healthy kid, given all her phone calls
.
They were all struggling with morale thanks to the budget and benefits cuts, but from everything Hayley knew about her boss, it seemed like her response would be to play it safe, toe the line, keep her job, keep the health insurance her son clearly needed—not go off the deep end.

What would drive Michelle to do something like this?

Hayley looked at Scotty kneeling there, a gun pressed to the back of his head and the answer burst into her mind.
Love.
Love would be enough. Considering her own actions over the past few days, yeah, love made people do strange things.

“I’m sorry too, Matthews.” Michelle’s words cut through the air like a scalpel and Hayley’s pulse skittered. “See you in hell.”

Shit.

Hayley cocked her trigger and sidled down the length of the boat.

Hayley came around the end ready to fire. Except when she looked over at the dock where Michelle had been standing, she almost dropped to her knees. Bodies writhed on the dock, the air filled with the sounds of fighting—the hard thuds of fists smacking flesh, pained cries, bones breaking, blood spraying. The frantic need to find Scotty sent adrenaline exploding through her veins at the same exact moment she realized every single man twisting on the ground was wearing a black suit. Somehow, the SEALs had managed to sweep the feet right out from beneath the standing agents and knock them to the ground. Michelle was nowhere in sight.

Where was Scotty?
The stomp of boots slammed through the air with bruising force and soon, all of the agents around the SEALs were out cold. Hayley rushed forward into the melee, hoping against hope she wasn’t too late, that he was okay, that they would get out of this.

“Scotty!” she yelled.

“Red? What are you doing here?” he shouted, standing over the unconscious body of one of the agents. “See if you can find the key to these damned handcuffs will you?”

She searched the pockets of the agent near her feet and found a set.

Rushing forward, Hayley quickly unlocked Scotty’s cuffs. The first thing he did when his hands were free was cup her face and give her a quick, hard kiss. Then he snatched the key from her and dashed over to his buddies to unlock them as well.

“What about Agent Harper?” Scotty called over to Kyle.

“Let her go for now,” Kyle said. “We need to concentrate on Natalie and Becks.”

Hayley headed back to shore, then halted as the sound of a gun being cocked issued behind her. From where she stood, her position was hidden from the view of the others by a larger boat tied to the dock. Slowly, Hayley turned, her hands up in surrender, already knowing who’d she’d see.

“Figured you’d show up sooner or later, Agent Stevens,” Michelle said, dripping wet. She’d obviously dived into the river when the fighting started. “Drop your weapon.”

Hayley did she’d asked. “How does it feel to have your whole career flash before your eyes, boss?”

“You tell me, Stevens.” Michelle titled her head to the side and smiled, stooping to exchange her wet weapon for Hayley’s dry one. “Too bad. No way you’ll get that promotion now.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I wouldn’t plan on it, if I were you.” Michelle moved closer and kicked the other weapon into the bay. “Law enforcement on the way?”

“Always.”

“Right.” Michelle stared at her a moment.

“What are you going to do now?” Hayley called as her boss backed toward the idling black van behind her. “You won’t be able to go back to the Bureau.”

“I’ll figure something out.” She kept her gun trained on Hayley as she climbed into the passenger side seat then slammed the door behind her. “See you around, Agent Stevens.”

“Yes, you will.”

The van took off down the gravel road leading into the nearby woods just as sirens wailed in the distance, tires squealing and engine revving.

“You okay, Red?” Scotty asked, coming up beside her. He traced his finger down her cheek and her pulse tripped.

“Yeah. ” Even bruised and bloody and covered in dirt and sweat, he was the most gorgeous thing she’d ever seen. Unable to resist touching him again, she reached up and ruffled his hopelessly scruffy blond hair. “How about you?”

“Better now that you’re here.”

They shared a private smile as the others rushed over to join them.

“Reinforcements are almost here,” Spence said. “Are we bailing or what?”

“Yeah,” Gage said. “Probably not the best idea to be hanging out when they arrive, Kyle. Considering what we just went through with Anna.”

“Let’s go. We’ll regroup at the condo.” Kyle glanced at Hayley and nodded. “Thanks for the help.”

Before she could respond, he’d stalked away. Warmth filled her chest anyway. The fact these brave, tough, talented guys were thanking her for her help made Hayley feel both insanely proud and patriotic. These were SEALs, the most kick-ass guys the U.S. military had to offer. For them to think she’d done a good job? Well, that meant something.

They headed for the nearby forest just as a fleet of squad cars pulled up and law enforcement swarmed the area. As they ran through the underbrush and foliage, Hayley couldn’t help but laugh. From the way Spence and Gage were cursing a blue streak up ahead, they were less than happy about this route of escape. Kyle, of course, ignored them and just kept trudging ahead, in true military fashion.