SEALs of Honor: Hawk (6 page)

“Turn up ahead at the fallen tree.”

She didn’t turn back. She stared at the largest deadfall tree she’d ever seen.

Turning toward it, she felt her feet shoot out from under her. She managed to muffle her shriek but couldn’t stay upright. She fell on her butt and did a fast downward slide.

At least she got to sit down. At the bottom she picked herself up and hid behind a tree. Then took a moment to clean off her clothes.

“Ready?” Hawk was already at her side, showing no signs of having fallen or needing a rest. He’d made it down that cliff without any visible stress. She, on the other hand, looked like she’d been pulled through the mud.

He waited until she straightened then said, with exaggerated calm, “If you’re ready.”

She admired his calm attitude and cool control. Whereas she was ready to scream and rampage at this point. She moved ahead of him and led the way. They shouldn’t be far from the main road. If they could get onto that…they could get help.

But he said he had a Jeep. If that was available, they could get the hell away from here and contact the authorities. And her dad could get to the hospital. Not that he’d like her decision. He hated the damn places. She couldn’t really blame him. God help the nurses when he woke up.

She came to a stop. Where was the Jeep? She spun round to glare at Hawk. But he pointed in the same direction as they’d been travelling. She kept up the brutal pace. Her body was saying it needed rest. And water. She’d used up one bottle of water spelunking and had left the rest in her truck. Too bad. She could really use some. This was hot work.

Looking back at him, still carrying her father, he walked on the forest floor, but he appeared to do so soundlessly. She understood the silence part but not the depth of his silence. It was fascinating. How could he walk on the dry underbrush and not make a sound?

“Take a left.” His low deep voice startled her out of her reverie. Instinctively she followed his orders. She made her way around a bend, through a dip, then back up again.

“Left again.”

Cutting a hard left, she came around a thick stand of brush and stopped. His black Jeep was parked in front of her. She started to shake with relief. Stupid really, they were a long way away from being safe.

She ran forward and tried to open the passenger door and realized of course it was locked. She raced back to Hawk, but he was already around the corner. He shifted her father’s weight and dug the keys out of his pocket. He pushed the unlock button and she heard the locks disengage. She opened the door and hovered as he lowered her father to the back seat. He struggled with the straps for a long moment then had him buckled in. She saw what he’d done and raced to the other side to repeat it. Coming back around, she hopped into the front seat.

Hawk took his place behind the wheel and with a quick glance around, fired up the engine. Her panic rose as she heard the roar of the engine. They were going to be seen. Caught.

They had to hurry, but Hawk was moving slowly, carefully as he backed out of the hiding spot. Then he was down the driveway and turning onto the main road. He stopped.

“Go, go,” she cried. “We’re almost safe.”

A big badass looking truck roared toward them. And came to a braking stop beside them. With windows rolled down, she realized it was a friend of Hawks. And good Lord what a friend. Huge, filling the cab and making the truck look just the perfect size for him. His face was hard. Lean. And damn cold.

A second man, smaller, leaner, sat in the shadows on the far side. She couldn’t make out his features.

The conversation was curt and short. Then Hawk raced forward. She spun to see if his friend was following. But he turned into the driveway and hopped out.

“Didn’t you warn them?”

Hawk looked at her in surprise. “About what?”

“The gunmen? The weapons’ cache. That they hurt my father. Tried to kidnap me.” She couldn’t help herself. Her voice rose to a yell at the end.

“Oh that. They know.”

Silence.

“So why are they getting out. We need to get help.”

“Honey,” he drawled, a smile on his face confusing her all the more. “They are the best damn help you’ll ever get. They are part of my team.”

She sat back. “They are SEALs?”

He nodded.

She swallowed. “But…”

“They know what they are heading into. I’ll be going back as soon as I get your father to safety and you to the police.”

Her mouth snapped shut. “I’m staying at the hospital. The sheriff can go there.”

She felt his glance but stared mutely outside.

“You don’t like the sheriff?”

“I don’t know him,” she said stiffly. “But it’s not like they have anything to do with us.”

“Maybe they haven’t been around because there hasn’t been any reason to be around.”

“True.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing specific. I just don’t like him.”

He nodded and stayed quiet. Good. She really didn’t want to explain the entire town’s vantage point of the local law enforcement. He was right in that there was no need to have the law any closer and in fact, she was damn glad there wasn’t as then she’d have to see them more often. She had no idea where the grudge came from. Well, maybe she did at that. Her father. Because he sold guns. That was likely to have set him against the authorities a long time ago, and that road had just never straightened up. He really didn’t like the current sheriff. Called him a pompous ass. So yeah, she likely had been influenced by her father.

She twisted in her seat and glanced back to check on him. His breathing was shallow. Hoarse. He didn’t look very good. Stretching out a hand, she reached out and stroked his arm. His skin was cool. She bit her lip, tears coming to her eyes. He’d been through so damn much lately. It was hard not to wonder if he’d hit the final hurdle.

The hospital was a good half hour away. They could have called the ambulance, but she knew it was often slower than driving straight through on their own.

“Swede has called the hospital. They are expected us.” He pulled into the turning lane at the traffic light.

“Swede?”

“The one driving the truck back there.”

“Oh. Is he Swedish?”

“No. He’s actually Norwegian.”

“That makes no sense.”

He laughed. “His nickname comes from a completely different source than his heritage.”

She wanted to ask what that was but the hospital was just ahead. He pulled up outside the emergency doors. They opened and two men with a gurney raced out. Before she’d had a chance to explain, her father was loaded up and wheeled inside.

“You must have pull to make them jump like that,” she muttered.

“It’s all about knowing what to say,” he said comfortably. “Go deal with the paperwork. I’m heading back.”

“Back?”

He nodded, his face set in grim lines. “Back to your father’s house. We need to capture those bastards before they can do any more damage.”

And just like that he was gone.

*

T
HERE WAS NO
sign of Swede’s truck when he pulled into Gordon’s driveway. Then Hawk didn’t really expect there to be any. His friend was too damn smart for that. Not to mention he loved that truck. There was no way he’d put it in harms way if he could avoid it.

Now Shadow, his passenger, well he couldn’t be seen at the best of times. Hawk parked the Jeep where he’d parked it before and got out. Within seconds there was a loud Hawk’s call overhead. He responded with a low key one of his own. The men converged on him.

“No sign of the truck. We’ve called it in.”

“It was missing a plate when I saw it,” Hawk mentioned.

“If they are smart they will have put one on by now. The license plate off Gordon’s truck is missing. The authorities are watching for it.”

“Anything left behind?”

Swede shook his head. “Nothing in the house. Nothing in the shed. Any idea where the bombs were cached?”

“No. In a cave. Somewhere. And this place is riddled with them. The area is popular with spelunkers from all over the world.”

“Then they could be anywhere,” Shadow said in a low voice. “This area is mapped. We’ll need to grab a copy and look for the most likely option.”

Hawk’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Mia. He answered the call. “How’s your father?”

“Alive, thanks to you,” she answered quietly. “Thank you. Are your friends okay?”

Hawk’s gaze slipped across Swede and Shadow’s faces. “Both of them are standing in front of me. The truck was gone when they arrived, so the gunmen snuck out while we were going cross country.”

“Damn.”

“We’ll find them. The authorities have been notified.”

“I know. Look. It’s probably nothing, but I was caving this morning and thought I saw something. At the time it didn’t occur to me it was important, and I was with a group of six of us so didn’t think about it much until I heard the gunmen talking about the missing cache.”

“That makes sense but what does that have to do with the cave and whatever you saw?”

“I saw a bullet casing,” she said. “I even picked it up. Just never said anything because we were leaving right away.”

“What kind of bullet?” he asked, his voice hard.

“I’m not sure,” she said apologetically. “I think it was from a rifle.”

“That’s a military gun.” Hawk’s gaze locked on Swede. Both his friends had frozen as he listened to Mia’s voice. “Do they know you found it?”

“I don’t think so. Unless they were watching me.” Her voice rose. “They couldn’t have been in the cave watching me, could they?”

“I doubt it. Chances are they’d have shot you if they had.”

“But there were six of us,” she reminded him. “If one person went missing that was one thing. Six is quite a different story.”

He pondered that. “Did they ask you about guns while you were captive?”

“Not really. He did search me, but not very thoroughly. I had the bullet in my jeans pocket with my cellphone and he didn’t take that either.”

“That’s odd.” It’s one of the first things he’d have removed.

“That’s how Eva heard the conversation. Remember.”

“Yeah, I do. We’re going to see if we can find that bomb cache the men were talking about. Especially if today is delivery day.”

“Let me come.”

“No,” he said instantly. “There’s no way. You stay with your father.”

“I know the cave system. If there is anything to find, I can help you find it. I was training for search and rescue missions for the spelunkers here. The place is a maze.”

“Still not happening,” he said. “You were in trouble, now you’re safe.”

“But you’re not going to be if you go in alone.”

Humor tinged his voice as he replied, “I’m pretty sure we can find our way.”

Frustrated silence filled the line. “And if I have to come and rescue you?”

He laughed. “That’s not going to happen.”

“But I can show you where I found the bullet. That will save time so you’ll know where to start.”

He frowned. “You can tell me where you found it.”

“Hardly.”

“You could.”

“Okay.” And she proceeded to rattle off the sting of caves she’d gone through and where she’d found the bullet. At least approximately. “There, does that help?”

He frowned thinking about it. “You could mark it on the map.”

“I could, but then you’d have to come here and then go back down there.”

“I’m sure you can scan it in and email it,” he said.

“Damn it, why won’t you let me go?”

“It’s too dangerous.” Hawk held the phone away from his ear as she let out a yell of frustration.

“If it’s dangerous for me, how is it not dangerous for you?”

“It might be dangerous for us, but we’re used to it.”

Silence. “Do you really think doing search and rescue work is
not
dangerous?”

“You’re not up against guns on a regular basis and we are.”

“I’ve handled guns since I was old enough to carry one.”

“But you still got yourself captured,” he reminded her. “We can’t afford to look after you.”

That earned him a cursing. He grinned, she was too much fun to piss off but he had to go. “Send me a map of the cave system and give us an idea where to start.”

And he clicked the phone off.

“Who is that?” Shadow asked.

“Mia. She’s Eva’s best friend and Gordon’s daughter.”

“Little Mia,” Swede asked in astonishment. “Did I hear she’s doing search and rescue work?”

Hawk nodded. “And she’s not so little now.”

“What was that about a bullet?”

He explained to the men. “We need a map of the system then we can get going and take a look.” Swede looked up at the sky. “And the sooner the better. The weather is turning. We need to gear up if we’re going un-derground.”

“From where?”

Hawk opened his phone. “Mia, we need gear.”

“And?”

“Does your father have any in his house? I don’t want to just help myself without asking you,” he said awkwardly.

“You saved his life, I don’t think he’d mind if you borrowed stuff from the house or the shop to go save the world,” she said and hung up.

He couldn’t place the sounds he’d heard in the background while she’d been talking on the phone. He filled the others in and started toward the shed. “Let’s check in here first.”

“We already have. There’s not much but overstock from the store.”

“Any guns or ammo left?”

They shook their heads. “Not sure what all was here to begin with, but it’s been pretty well emptied out.”

Hawk took a quick glance around. Nodded and turned to the house. “We can go through the store if we need more.”

“Let’s hope he has the headlamps. A trip into town to buy equipment is going to slow us down.”

Going through Gordon’s house yielded very little. A few water bottles but that was all.

“He wasn’t into caves apparently.”

“He was a hunting nut.”

Shadow nodded. “We need to check the store.”

A screeching sound of brakes slamming hard had them all running for cover.

An old dilapidated truck pulled into the driveway and drove up to the house. Mia hopped out. “Thanks Cory.” She motioned to her truck. “I’ll be fine now.”