SEAL of Approval (11 page)

“This is nothing,” said Ernie as Ali grabbed James off the dining room table, tucked him under one arm and searched for Ryan.

“All things considered, she's not doing too bad,” added Rick. “I mean, they haven't started throwing poop yet.”

Mike pointed at one of the screens. “What the hell is Ryan doing?”

The preschooler was sitting on the counter with his back to the camera and was concentrating on something in front of him. Suddenly, a flame shot into the air above his head and he dropped a lit cooking blowtorch onto the floor.

Mike jumped from his chair. “Are you shitting me? I'm going back in there.”

“Ernie, I think your dog's on fire.”

Mike turned back to the screen and watched in horror as the Collie’s coat ignited.

Suddenly, Ali appeared and extinguished the dog with a wet dishcloth. She recovered the burning torch, turned it off, and grabbed Ryan off the counter, in the space of a few seconds.

“She's fast, but not fast enough.”

On another screen, James had climbed back onto the dining room table and was sliding through the remnants of dinner.

Ernie laughed. “Maria is so looking forward to them being big enough to help around the house. Something tells me this is not what she had in mind.”

“Guys, seriously. This isn't funny. One of the boys could get badly injured.”

“You kidding me? They’re indestructible,
essé
. They'll burn the house down before they get hurt.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

“Ali’s got it in hand, bud,” said Rick. “See, she’s got the boys under control… sort of.”

She had the two boys outside now and they were running around on the lawn chasing the dog with a hose.

“Mike’s right, Ernie. Maria’s gonna kill you.”

“Like hell. She said this was a good idea. I quote, ‘I don’t want Mike dating anymore of those vacuous, narcissistic, princess bitches.” He imitated Maria’s high-pitched voice perfectly.

“She said that, she actually said that?” asked Mike.

“Hey, you can’t argue, it’s true, buddy. That Stacey chick was hot as hell but damn, she was a selfish bitch,” said Rick.

“Rick’s right,
essé
. You’ve picked some
loco
women.”

“Thanks guys, we’ve been over this, remember.”

“The good news is this one’s a bit of a kid whisperer.” Rick pointed up at the screen where Ali had the boys sitting on the grass. She’d found a book and was reading them a story.

“That’s impossible,” said Ernie. “I jacked them up on so much candy they should be bouncing off the walls. Now they’re eating out of her hand. Mike, don’t let this one go. She is a goddess.”

He managed a smile. “It would seem so. Well, I guess she passes this phase. Only one to go.”

Rick shook his head. “TJ isn’t gonna believe this.”

“You know, if we head back now we might be able to clean the place up before Maria gets home,” said Mike.

Ernie jumped out of his chair. “Good idea, you know what they say. ‘A Happy wife, a happy life’.”

Rick stuffed another fistful of popcorn in to his mouth. “Nah, ‘no wife, happy life’. You cats have fun, I’ll see you at the beachfront tomorrow for training.”

“You’re such a dick, Rick.”

“That’s what she said.”

Mike slammed the door of the van. “What are we going to tell Ali?”

“Same old story. False alarm,” answered Ernie.

Chapter Sixteen

“I have to admit, Mike, that girl of yours is impressive,” said TJ as he led the squad on a run along Coronado beach.

“That’s what I’ve been telling you the whole time,” said Mike as he avoided a patch of seaweed.

“Hey, let’s not pin the trident just yet boys,” said Rick. “There’s still one more gateway.”

Mike sighed. “What’s that Rick, some kind of idiotic opportunity to cause her even more discomfort? You going to test her ability to carry five tons of shopping over an obstacle course?”

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea. But no, this phase is all about pleasure. I call it the honey Rick.”

Mike scowled. “The honey Rick?”

“Yeah, it’s like a honeydick except…” He held his arms wide and pointed to his chest as he pranced through the sand.

“What the fuck is a honeydick?” asked TJ.

Mike shook his head. “The opposite of a honeypot.”

Ernie grunted from the back of the squad. “You know, how an attractive woman uses her sexuality to seduce a man and gain information. Well a honeydick is the male version.”

“I know what a honeypot is, dipshit. Mike, Rick seems to think he’s a goddamn lady slayer. So tonight he’ll try to charm Ali.”

“What!” Mike stumbled and almost fell. “And I’m supposed to agree to that?”

Rick turned and ran backward, facing the rest of the squad. He stripped off his tank top. “You afraid I might succeed? You afraid she might succumb to the body of Adonis?”

“I’d be more scared of Axe stealing her.”

Rick flexed his arms. “Good thing she’s a vet, because I’m going to be bringing out these sick puppies.”

“Sweet beard of Zeus, that’s bad.” TJ gave the Rick a shove, sending him tumbling backward into the sand. “Mike, I think your girl’s pretty safe. Let’s get this last phase wrapped up so we can start planning the bachelor party.”

***

As
the squad trained Ali was finishing up a rehabilitation session with Axe. The dog now walked normally and showed no sign of his previous behavioral issues. She was immensely proud of what she had achieved in such a short period of time.

“Is that the stud’s beast?”

Grinning, she glanced back at her sister who handed her a coffee. “Yes, it is. This is Axe.”

Leonie sat on the grass. “He’s a handsome fella, just like his dad.”

“Yeah, we’re almost ready to take him to the next level.”

“You talking about Axe or Mike?”

She joined her sister on the patio as Axe stretched out at their feet. “Mike’s in the dog house.”

“Really?”

She shook her head. “No, not really. But, last night’s dinner did prove interesting.”

“How so?”

“Everyone got called away to an emergency and I was left looking after two hyped-up preschoolers.”

“Worse than my two?”

Ali rolled her eyes. “The girls are angels compared to these two. Leonie, they set fire to the dog.”

Her sister’s coffee splashed, almost spilling on Axe. “Holy shit, that’s serious. I tell you what girl, from the amount of drama that comes with this boy he better be hung like a rogue bull.”

“Tell me about it. I feel like the first five dates have been some kind of test. Every time we’re together I come up against some kind of obstacle or problem that I have to solve.”

“Babe, that’s just life. It likes to throw you a shitload of curve balls. You like this guy and he likes you. Go with the flow. It’ll all work out in the long run.”

“I’m just wondering what else life’s going to throw at me.”

“When’s your next date?”

“Tomorrow night, we’re going to a show in town.”

“Well, that sounds pretty straightforward. I’m sure it will be fine.”

“Yeah, we’ll see. What are your plans for the day?”

“I was going to do some shopping then pick up the girls from preschool, excitement plus. What about you?”

“I’ve got a full day here, then I might have an early one.”

“Shall we do lunch on Thursday?” asked Leonie as she rose.

“Yes, let’s.”

She kissed Ali on the top of her head and said, “You can tell me all about your date.”

When her sister was gone. Ali leant down and scratched Axe between the ears. “Well, handsome man, how about we get you inside for some breakfast?”

Once in the clinic she poured him a bowl of dried food and checked on two other canine patients. As she finished filling their water, the phone in her office rang.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Is this Ali?”

The voice was familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

“It’s Ernie's wife, Maria.”

“Oh, of course, I’m so sorry. I didn’t recognize your voice.”

“I’m sorry if this seems out of the blue. Ernie’s mother had your number and I wanted to ring and apologize again for the other night.”

Ali smiled, Maria was such a sweetie. “That’s no problem at all. I’m just glad that we got everything cleaned up.”

“You did an amazing job with the boys. They can be a real handful.”

“They’re actually very sweet.”

“Yes, well you more than passed the test.”

Ali frowned. “Test?”

Maria chuckled. “Yes, it was the boy’s idea. You see Mike keeps dating the most inappropriate women. They thought it would be a good idea to see if you were family material. I stupidly agreed to their silly plan. Poor Mike didn’t even know.”

“I see.”

“After meeting you last night. I know that he’s in fantastic hands. You’re divine, my dear.”

“Thanks, Maria. And thanks again for a wonderful meal. I look forward to seeing you and the boys, soon.”

“You too Ali, have a great day.”

As she hung up a tsunami of anger crashed over her. Now everything made sense. The mountain hike, the sickness, and, most recently, the chaos with Maria’s boys. They were running some kind of test to see if she was worthy of a SEAL. The sheer arrogance of it made her cringe.

What if she’d failed one of the tests? Would Mike have discarded her despite what they had? Hell, she hadn’t dropped him when it turned out that he had financial problems. She shook her head in disbelief. How stupid was she? Mike probably wasn’t broke at all. More likely, they had staged it all as part of their stupid selection process.

Reaching for her phone, she started to message him, then stopped. No, that was letting him off lightly. She tossed the phone on her desk and folded her arms. Failing the next test would be a suitable gauge of Mike’s commitment. If he was willing to let a stupid test destroy what they had then it wasn’t worth keeping.

***

The
border guard took the stack of passports from Ramirez and checked them individually before handing them to a colleague. “You’re all from Castle Insurance?”

“Yes, that’s correct. We’re all here for the big event in San Diego. We’re pretty excited to be attending the fifteenth Annual Home Insurance Conference.” He handed the officer actual tickets to a conference that was being held in the city that week.

The officer checked the documents and handed them back. Then he peered in through the windows at the freshly-shaved men inside. All of them were dressed in dull business suits and wore bored expressions.

“The next one yours as well?” He pointed to the matching grey minivan behind them.

“Yes sir, there are twelve of us. We’re the best in the company at what we do, that’s why–”

“Sir, I don’t give a shit how good you are at selling insurance. You just need to answer my questions. Then I can get you on your way.”

“Yes, very good.”

The guard walked to the second vehicle and inspected the men inside, along with their luggage, as the passports were processed. Once that was complete he handed them back to Ramirez. “Have a good time.”

It was a short drive from the border crossing point to a quarry located a dozen miles from the outskirts of the city. Situated in an isolated valley the site was accessible by a single dirt track.

They parked the vans in front of a cluster of buildings that included the quarry’s offices and equipment sheds. Ramirez stepped out into the dry hot desert air and surveyed the location through mirrored sunglasses. The metallic smell of crushed ore hung in the air.

The quarry made for a good ambush location. The access road entered the valley and crossed a large cleared area dominated by steep sides. Around the clearing were piles of gravel. There was a single front-end loader parked alongside a conveyor-fed crusher.

“Mr. Cortez.” The voice came from the buildings.

His man in San Diego, Eduardo, was an unremarkable looking Latino who blended easily in a crowd. For that reason he was Ramirez’s number one fixer.

“Eduardo.” Ramirez shook his hand. “I trust everything is in order.”

“Of course. It’s all inside.” His eyes narrowed as he watched the men alight from the two vans. “You brought a lot of guys this time.”

He placed his hand on Eduardo’s shoulder. “We’re killing Navy SEALs, not gang bangers.”

“Understood. I was able to find everything you wanted.”

“Show me.” He followed the man into the quarry’s office. A smile formed on his lips as he surveyed his agent’s work.

A map was stuck to the walls with locations marked by red pins. Around it were photos of a woman, a veterinary clinic and a quaint house with a picket fence. He pointed at the home. “Is this where she lives?”

“Yes. It’s the best location, a long way from any police stations or military bases.”

“Good. Show me the equipment.”

“In the workshop.” He directed Ramirez through a side door and into a large shed. Laid out on floor was an arsenal of weapons and equipment, which included assault rifles, combat vests, two sniper rifles and half a dozen single-shot rocket launchers.

“What about the camera?”

“It’s in the office. There is an internet connection and a laptop. All the gear is new and will be destroyed once we are done.”

“And the bodies?”

“We have barrels of acid.”

“You’ve done well, Eduardo. Show the men where they’re staying. Then we’ll conduct a reconnaissance with the kidnap team. I also want men providing continuous security.”

“Yes, boss.”

As his fixer went about his tasks, Ramirez returned to the office and studied the photo of the woman. The girl was pretty. He traced his finger across the photo. It would be satisfying to watch her die in front of him.