Strong Silent SEAL (SEALs of Coronado Book 2) (11 page)

Chapter Ten

I
THINK I remember this rock,” Nash muttered as he moved alongside Logan through the mountainous terrain in complete darkness.

Several yards away, Dalton laughed. “I doubt it. We’re miles away from where were the last time. We’ve just spent so much damn time over here, it’s starting to feel like home.”

“Yeah, well, I vote we wrap up this mission and get the hell back to San Diego before I forget what our real home looks like,” Nash grumbled.

That worked for Logan The only thing that sucked worse than being back over here again so soon was being over here to do the job they should have finished two weeks ago,

He, Nash, and Dalton, along with Chasen and the CIA SOG team were once again in northern Syria, this time ten miles east of Aleppo, hoping to meet up with the local Kurdish fighters and make the exchange for the damn Russian pilot.

They’d been lucky this time, though. For one thing, the only foreign fighters they had with them were two Kurds to lead them to the place where the exchange would happen. For another, there was a major battle going on to the south of Aleppo as Syrian rebels and fighters from the al-Nusra Front mounted a major offensive against Assad’s government forces there. That meant this particular part of the country was almost peaceful. The best you could hope for around here was that the people trying to kill each other did it far away from you. If he and his Team were lucky, they’d be able to pick up the pilot and get out of here without anyone ever firing a shot at them.

When they reached the coordinates for the exchange point a few miles later, they spread out and settled in to wait. They didn’t know exactly when the exchange was going to go down, but something told Logan this could take a while.

“You’ve been kind of quiet since we got here,” Chasen said softly from beside Logan as they leaned back against a huge rock formation.

Logan glanced around, taking in his surroundings through his NVGs. Nash and Dalton had moved ahead with the Kurdish guides, and Joe and his SOG team were spread out all around them. He and Chasen were relatively alone.

“Just got a lot on my mind, that’s all,” he said softly.

“Is it about Felicia?”

Logan’s first instinct was to deny it. This wasn’t the time or the place to be talking about this kind of stuff. No doubt that’s why Chasen brought it up. He didn’t want Logan distracted out here.

“I’m a little worried Felicia might not be able to handle the job,” he admitted quietly. “Hell, I’m not sure she’s going to be there when we get back.”

“Did you guys have a fight before we left?” Chasen asked.

“No. She actually seemed okay with me taking off. Which concerns me even more than if we’d fought.”

It was still early in their relationship—crap, he was even using that word now—but he liked her a lot more than any other woman he’d ever been with. The idea Felicia might not be there when he got back gave him a weird feeling in his chest. He hadn’t felt anything like it before, and he didn’t like it.

“Look,” Chasen said. “It’s not like I have an ass-load of experience with this kind of thing, but if you expect Felicia to be there when you get back, you need to have an honest conversation with her about how you feel.”

Logan cringed “That’s going to be damn hard since I’m not sure how I feel.”

Chasen grunted. “You’d better figure it out because she’s not going to be able to read your mind. If you don’t give her a reason to stay, she won’t.”

The sound of approaching boots in the darkness silenced them.

“Sit tight and keep an eye on things back here.” Chasen got to his feet. “I’m not sure how much I trust Joe’s people and I don’t want anyone slipping up behind us during the exchange.”

Chasen disappeared into the darkness, leaving Logan alone to worry about their six—and think about what he’d say to Felicia when he got back.

* * * * *

The exchange went better than Logan expected. Probably because Joe walked up with a big bag full of Turkish lira and tossed it on the ground in front of the Kurdish fighters. That had effectively ended the negotiations.

The pilot was younger than Logan expected, maybe twenty-eight or twenty-nine. He looked like he’d had a rough few weeks, too. His short dark hair stuck up in places, his dark eyes were bloodshot from too little sleep, and his flight suit was scuffed and torn. When he saw Logan and his Team, his whole demeanor changed. A spark that hadn’t been in his eyes before flared up now.

“He’s your responsibility until we get him out of the country,” Chasen said to Logan as the Kurds took their money and hightailed it out of there. “Stick to him like glue.”

Joe and Chasen turned and led the way west toward the helicopters waiting for them across the border in Turkey. From there, they’d fly straight to Incirlik Air Base then hop a C5 for home. If they didn’t run into any problems, they’d be back in the US in a day or so.

Logan and Nikolay stayed in the middle of the group, with Nash and Dalton taking the flanks while the SOG agents brought up the rear. Logan had been a little worried the pilot might hold them back since he was clearly exhausted, but he moved across the broken terrain as fast as Logan did. Apparently, he wanted to get out of this place as much as the rest of them.

They’d barely gone two miles when someone ambushed them. Logan jumped on Nikolay and drove him to the ground, shoving him behind a rocky outcropping and protecting him with his body as round after round of small arms fire slammed into the ground around them.

From the disciplined, controlled way the bad guys shot at them, Logan immediately knew they weren’t dealing with a ragtag collection of terrorists or Syrian military. The people shooting at them knew exactly what they were doing.

“It’s a Spetsnaz team,” Chasen said as he peppered the south ridgeline with slow, careful shots intended to make the bad guys duck and cover. “I don’t know how, but they must have known we’d be coming this way.”

“Fucking Kurds played both sides against the middle,” Joe muttered. “They took our money and probably the Russian’s, too, then told them know which way we went after the exchange.”

“What’s the plan?” Dalton shouted as he aimed the mini 40mm grenade launcher mounted on his M4 then popped a high explosive grenade toward the top of the north ridgeline.

“Get the pilot out of here alive,” Joe ordered.

* * * * *

Felicia was starting to think Hayley might be a saint when the journalist showed up at her apartment door Tuesday night with pizza and a movie, asking if she needed some company.

“Being alone when you’re stressed out is a bad idea,” Hayley told her as she set the pizza box on the island in the kitchen.

Felicia couldn’t argue with that. “I was about to call my sister and ask if she wanted to hang out. Do you mind if I invite her to join us?”

She felt horrible admitting it, but she’d been so caught up in her own crap, she hadn’t even realized she hadn’t talked to Stef since they had dinner together last week. She’d tried to call Stef a few times over the weekend, but had ended up having to leave messages on her voicemail.

“Of course not.” Hayley smiled. “I’d love to meet her.”

But, like all the other times she’d called, Stef still didn’t answer.

Felicia stared pensively at the pizza box, her mind going to all kinds of places it shouldn’t. She tried to tell herself she was being an alarmist, but the nagging feeling in her stomach wouldn’t go away. Something was wrong with Stef. She could feel it.

“Hey,” Hayley said. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m worried about Stef. After the kidnapping, she acted like it wasn’t a big deal, but since then… I don’t know, she seems…off. I’ve been trying to get hold of her since last week, and she’s not picking up her phone.” Felicia sighed. “Would you mind if I take a rain check on dinner? I want to take a run over to her dorm.”

“Of course not. Want me to go with you?”

Felicia started to say no but then changed her mind. “Actually, yeah. I could use the company.”

Giving Chewy a treat, Felicia stuck the pizza in the fridge then grabbed her purse. When they got to the Earl Warren dorm, Felicia led the way to Stef’s room and knocked on the door. Stef’s roommate, Kelly Doyle, a girl with red hair a freckles opened it.

“Is Stef here?” Felicia asked.

Kelly frowned. “She moved out a couple of months ago to live with her boyfriend off campus.”

Felicia did a double take. “What?”

“Yeah. Since seniors can never get space in the dorms, Craig lives in this cool place in Downtown La Jolla. He asked Stef to live with him, and of course she said yes.” Kelly folded her arms. “Heck, I’d live with them if I could. Do you know the washer and dryer in this dorm hasn’t worked in a year?”

Felicia knew her sister had a pretty steady thing going with Craig, but she had no idea she’d moved in with him.

Felicia shook her head. She could care less about hogging dorm space. She had more important things to worry about. “Do you know where Craig lives?”

Kelly shook her head. “Sorry. I just know it’s downtown.”

“Do you know Craig’s last name?” Hayley asked Felicia as they left the dorm.

“Yeah, but what good is it going to do?” Felicia said. “It’s not like we can look him up in a phone book.”

If those things even still existed.

When they got in Hayley’s car, she pulled out her phone and dialed someone. “Without getting into a whole lot of messy details,” she said to Felicia, “Kyla is a world class hacker. She’ll be able to find where this guy lives.”

Felicia sat there wide-eyed as Hayley chatted with the shy, quiet girl. Kyla was a hacker? How had that not come up during their conversation at lunch yesterday? And how could this girl possibly find a guy’s house with nothing more than a name?

Apparently, Kyla had because fifteen minutes later, Hayley pulled up in front of a duplex in a part of town Felicia had a hard time believing any student could afford. She knew Craig was pre-med, but did he sell drugs on the side?

Craig answered Felicia’s knock, smiling when he saw her. “Hey, Felicia.”

“Is my sister here?” she asked sharply.

“Um, yeah. I’ll go get her. Come in.”

The inside of the house was as nice as the outside, and from the feminine touches around, it looked like her sister had made herself right at home.

Stef came down the steps into the foyer. Craig, thankfully, was nowhere to be seen.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’d moved out of the dorms?” Felicia demanded.

The question came out harsher than she’d intended. But hell, she’d been terrified, and Stef owed her an explanation.

Stef folded her arms. “Because I figured you’d lose your mind. Apparently, I was right.”

Felicia face her face heat. “I’m not mad you moved. I’m mad you didn’t tell me. What if there had been an emergency?”

“You would have called me.”

“I have been calling you—multiple times!” Felicia said, frustrated her sister didn’t even seem to care she was upset. “You never returned my calls.”

Stef at least had the dignity to look slightly ashamed. “I’m sorry. I’ve been really busy lately and I didn’t have the energy to deal with you.”

Felicia felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. “The energy to deal with me? What does that mean? When did I stop being your sister and start being a burden?”

Emotions flitted across Stef’s face. Anger first then embarrassment, and finally acceptance.

“You’ve always been my sister, and you always will be, but you’ve always made it clear you see the world drastically different than I do.” Stef took a deep breath. “Craig and I are engaged, Felicia. We’re getting married after he graduates.”

If Felicia thought she’d been floored before, it was nothing compared to what she felt now. “Married? You’re not serious?”

“Yes, I am serious. Craig and I have been dating for over a year, and we’ve been engaged for four months.”

Felicia blinked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Stef ran her hand through her long hair. “I tried half a dozen times. But you never want to hear me, so I stopped bothering. I knew you’d freak out. Exactly like you’re doing now.”

“I’m freaking out because you’re too young to be making decisions like this. You need to slow down and make sure you’re doing the right thing. Like Mom and Dad taught us.”

“No, that’s what they taught you.” Stef lifted her chin. “If what happened in the warehouse taught me anything it’s that we don’t know how long we have to spend with the people who matter. You can’t waste a second of it.”

“So you’re going to jump into marriage with a man you barely know?” Felicia asked incredulously.

“No, I’m jumping into marriage with the man I love, and who loves me. It’s about how much we love each other, not how much we’ve analyzed our relationship.”

Felicia wanted to scream. “Planning for a life together isn’t a bad thing. It’s what gets you over the rough patches. If you’d thought this through, you’d see what I’m talking about. You’re going to get married right before Craig goes med school? While you’re still in college? How is that possibly going to work? You’re never going to see each other. Hell, you won’t even be able to pay the bills.”

“That’s not your problem, it’s ours.” Stef gave her an icy glare. “Maybe you should go.”

Felicia silently fumed. She wasn’t leaving until she’d talked some sense into her sister. She dug her cell phone out of her purse, poking the screen viciously as she pulled up Google.

“What are you doing?” Stef asked in exasperation.

“I’m showing you the statistics on divorce rates for people who marry under the age of twenty-five,” Felicia said.

“I don’t care,” Stef said. “Stats are your thing, not mine.”

“Look at this!” Felicia said, shoving the phone in Stef’s face.

Her sister slapped the phone away, making Felicia lose her grip on it. It fell with a clatter, bouncing on the wood floor. Felicia didn’t even look at it. The phone was probably broken, but not as broken as her heart. Her sister had dismissed everything Felicia had tried to teach her, as if it meant nothing to her.