The Navy's Ghost (Bad Boys of Beta Squad) (20 page)

“You’re welcome, Christiana. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” Jim buried his nose in her hair.

Except, it didn’t feel like hair. The material pressing against his face resembled cold, smooth cotton rather than silky, sweet-scented hair.

Jim opened his eyes to find himself wrapped around one of his large pillows and a sticky cooling stain on his bedsheets.
Silence filled his bedroom, punctuated only by his own heavy breathing. The scents of cum and wet cotton swirled in the quiet air.

Fuck.
It was all a dream?
He hadn’t had a wet dream so intense since high school.

He rolled onto his b
ack and scrubbed his face. It’d been a hell of a dream and one he hoped he’d remember in the morning. Too bad he couldn’t record it and play it back over and over.

His father’s voice came out of the darkness of his mind, filled with derision and contempt.
Yeah, your depraved ass would love to watch yourself fucking that poor girl with another man, wouldn’t you, pervert?

Jim groaned and held his hands over his ears, but it didn’t block the voice in his head.

You can’t hide from it, boy. It’s sick and you know it. No man should share his woman. It makes him weak. You weak, boy? I thought you were Navy. You gonna let some other man fuck your woman?

But she wasn’t his. She’d married Magic earlier in the evening.
Fuck.

That’s right.
You need to find another woman to fuck. Don’t give into your perversions, boy.

“There’s no one like her, Dad. Leave me the hell alone!”

The sound of his own voice in the silent room startled him and his father’s rant faded away. Jim lay there drenched in sweat and cum and panted from despair and frustration. How could he have given into his dark needs? He’d managed to resist them for years. What the hell was wrong with him?

Jim rolled to his feet and st
omped for the shower, hoping to clean the scent of sex off his body, and wash away the sweet, seductive memories of sharing Chris with Todd. Somehow, he had to let them both go.

****

There. All the infidels had been accounted for and all the targets had been chosen. Let them celebrate their paltry triumphs. The honored members of the Blade of Holy Light had been given their marching orders, ready for when the time came to set the plan in action. Retribution would be theirs.

P
ART 3:
’Til Death Do Us Part

Chapter Fourteen

“So how’s married life treating you, Magic?”
Rimshot asked as Todd dropped into a chair beside the Chief in the squad room.

They’d just returned from a short training op and he looked forward to seeing Chris. He had plenty of ideas how to celebrate his quick return.

Magic fingered his wedding ring with the tip of his thumb, grinning. “It fuels my soul, man. Dream come true.”

“Getting married is a dream come true?”
Stanton raised a dubious eyebrow.

“Getting married to
Chris is a dream come true.”

And it was, but his heart
still ached for his best friend. Neither he nor Chris had seen the big SEAL much since the wedding three months earlier and they both felt his absence.

“She’s
a kick-ass teammate, but I dunno about marrying her. Too tough for me,” Rimshot said with a smirk. “I prefer more girlie-girls.”

“Yeah, ye
ah, we know. Big tits and full hips,” Retro remarked as he came through the office door with Bam-Bam.

“That’s it. Who wear tight shirts and short shorts, and makeup—”

“So you like the packaging, not the meat, huh?” Jim shook his head. “When are you gonna figure out those girls are just fluff?”

“That’s rich coming from the bad boy who gets them all.”
Stanton smirked.

Jim grunted. “Then I should know, shouldn’t I?”

Todd searched Jim’s face for a hint to his state of mind, but the bigger SEAL kept his expression impassive.

“
You could share every now and then.” Stanton shot a mock-petulant look at Jim.

Retro shook his head, his lips tightening with tension.

Todd shuffled through his gear, noting one of the straps on his pack had worn completely through.
Have to put in for a new one.
“How you doin’, Retro?”

Jim wouldn’t meet Todd’s
eyes. “I’m not dead, so it must be good.” He strode to the table in the middle of the room and sat in one of the chairs, sorting through envelopes in his hands. “Hey, there’s a letter here for you, Hunter.”

Todd raised his eyebrows, reaching for the plain business envelope addressed to
Chief Warrant Officer Hunter. His gut clenched. Something about the set off warning bells. A chill ran up his spine as he tore it open and scanned the contents. A crude calendar of the month had been drawn with the dates crossed off leading to the current day. Todd flipped the paper over and read the message written in the same crude handwriting

“Fuck!” He jerked out his phone and called
Chris’s cell. The endless ringing drilled fear into his soul.
Pick up, dammit.

The squad room around him faded into the background as his stomach tightened. She’d never ignore his call. Every ring ramped up his dread and his body went cold.

“What is it?” Retro demanded, snatching the paper out of Todd’s hands.

“The
tangos say they have Chris.”

“What?”

“The motherfuckers who damn near killed Ghost have her.”

He met Retro’s gaze and a great gaping maw of fury and despair swallowed him whole. How did they find her? How
could they know?

“Sonuvabitch!” Retro pulled out two
more envelopes in the same handwriting. One was addressed to Senior Chief Petty Officer Andrews and the other to Chief Petty Officer Killian.

“Greg…” Magic shoved the envelope to Bam-Bam, his gut churning.

How the fuck did they know where to find us?

Greg’s usually ruddy complexion blanched white when he pulled out the same letter Magic had received.
The room settled into deadly silence.

“Jesus. They got MaryAnn
, too.” Bam-Bam lurched to his feet. “How the hell do they know who we are?”

“I don’t know.” Todd
stomach lurched as fury rippled across Retro’s face. “Page the lieutenant commander.”

Greg furiously texted on his phone.

“We have to get her back, Magic.” Retro’s voice was calm, but rage simmered in the low tones.

“Damn right we do.” Todd carefully laid the paper on the table before he crumpled any evidence, but anger made him want to hit something with his fists. “Finally ready to fight for what you
want, huh, Waters? Not gonna run and hide this time?”

Jim’s eyes widened in amazement. “
I don’t run from anything.”

“Is that why Chris and I haven’t seen you since the wedding
? That you ‘not runnin’?”

“Fuck you,
Hunter!”

“
Enough, gentlemen!” Lt. Commander Whittleton barked from the doorway, drawing them both up. “Solve your issues on your own time when we don’t have a situation.”

Magic wanted to roar and pummel all the men in the room,
especially Whittleton for his icy calm, but he forced his fury down deep and focused on the now.

“Report on what we know, Lt.
Waters. Now.”

“Three letters arrived in base mai
l today, sir.” Retro gestured to the handwritten envelopes still on the table. “One to Chief Hunter, one to Chief Killian, and one to Senior Chief Andrews, sir.”

Bronco’s
gaze sharpened. “There’s one for me?” He reached for the mail, but Whittleton clamped a hand over his wrist.

“Gloves.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bronco disappeared into the equipment room.

“What else, Waters?”

“When
Hunter opened his letter, he found this.” Jim poked at the offending paper with a pen. “Crude calendar with all the days crossed off until today’s date and ‘the end is nigh’ written on the top. Then this on the back.” He flipped the paper over.

“‘For yor insolents, we have taken wat meens most to you. Yor wife will be offered the grateness of Allah, to be a servant in His house. She will pay for yor crimes against the True God and His Holy Mission.’”

“English is not their first language,” Deli said, anger glittering in his eyes.

“Not yours, either,” Bam-Bam
snapped.

“Ease up, Killian. You got one of these, too?” Whittleton asked.

“Yes, sir. They took MaryAnn. I can’t raise her anywhere, but the neighbors say her car isn’t in the driveway.” Killian’s jaw clenched.

Bronco returned and snatched up his letter, but the
commander handed him a knife. “Slit it open carefully.”

Bronco
’s hands held remarkably steady as he went to work on the envelope, then pulled out the letter, unfolding it carefully. He scanned the words on the back.

“The letter is photocopied. It reads the same.”

“Are you certain they have your wife?”

Bronco nodded. “I can’t raise her on her cell, either calling or texting. I called her sister. They were supposed to meet for lunch today, but
Lindsey didn’t show and didn’t answer her phone. I suspect the threat’s real.”

How the hell could he be so calm? Todd’s fury vibrated through his body and
he bit back the urge to explode at the smallest provocation. Someone had taken his wife, endangering her. He’d tear them apart when he found them.

“There has to be a leak somewhere, sir,” Jim growled. “There
has been surveillance on us since Hunter’s wedding to Brickman, but I never saw who it was.”

“Why didn’t you report it, Waters?” The
lieutenant commander leveled a frown at Jim.

“No proof. Like I said, I never saw anyone.” He shrugged. “But my shoulder blades itched.”

“Brickman caught it a few times, too, Commander.” Todd wished he’d paid closer attention. “And after the wedding, she and I had a shadow for a short time, but they must have been professionals. We never saw anyone.”

“We got a someone now, gentlemen.” Whittleton pointed to the letters. “Andrews, get those together and have
Intel look them over. See if they can find something we can’t see right now.” Bronco’s jaw bunched, but he grabbed the papers and headed out of the room.

“
Rubenovich, I want to know everything there is about the Blade of Holy Light. Find out where they’re from, what their master plan is, how they take their eggs, and what kinds of pets they keep. Get with Intel. Are they the same guys we took down in Nicaragua? I also want to know if there are any known cells of them here on the west coast and where their suspected hideouts are. ”

“Yes, sir.” Deli threw a salute and
headed after Bronco.

Whittleton’s gaze swung to Bam-Bam. “Killian, I want intel on each woman and where she was or was supposed to be. Get cell phone records and GPS locations on where those phones have been. That will give us a trail to follow.
Inform NCIS to take a shot at the civilian side of it.”

Bam-Bam picked up his phone and headed out the door.

Todd’s belly cramped. “NCIS will take too long. They’ll be investigating a homicide.”

“I know, Hunter. That’s why we’re starting
now. We’ll take the other beachhead when it’s time.”

“Yes, sir.”

“All right, I’ll put a call into the SecNav’s office and we’ll go from there,” the Whittleton said, turning toward the door. “Hunter, Waters. Come with me.”

Todd’s hands fisted, but he dialed back his rage and fear over
Chris’s welfare and followed the lieutenant commander into the hallway. He tried to let the beige walls calm the turbulent thoughts battering his skull, but this time the Navy’s tried and true color scheme didn’t soothe anything.

Whittleton
held the door to his office open and ushered both Todd and Jim inside, before letting it close behind them. He stood at his desk and crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing both of them.

“What’s the problem,
Chief?” He rested his gaze on Magic.

“Other than my wife being kidnapped? Nothing, sir.”

“Don’t hand me that, Hunter. I’m not buying.” He switched his gaze to Retro. “What about you, Waters? You got anything you’d like to add?”

“No, sir. No problems here.”

“That’s a relief, gentlemen.” The commander’s voice crackled with dryness. “Because it seemed to me the two of you were fighting when we need to be focused. This “nothing” gonna be a problem for you to work together?”

“No, sir.” The
y both answered in one voice.

“Good, because if I find either of you battling it out for
any reason other than to secure the women, you’ll be enjoying quite a bit of desk time and paperwork R&R. Is that clear?”

“
Yes, sir.”

“I said, is that clear?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good. Now, get the hell out of my office and go find a trail to follow.”

Both Magic and Retro saluted smartly, turned on their heels, and retreated under their commander’s disgusted gaze.

Once outside, Jim rounded on
Todd and shoved him up against the wall. Surprise and shock mixed to re-ignite Todd’s anger as Jim’s fists tightened in Todd’s uniform.

“Get the fuck offa me!”

“What the fuck’s your problem, Hunter?”

“I don’t have a problem, Waters. I didn’t cut my friends outta my life just because they got married.”
Todd threw Jim off and straightened his clothes, his motions sharp. He turned on his heel and headed back toward the squad room.

“What the hell, Hunter. I was giving you time to be together.”

“Time together? That’s your goddamn excuse?” Todd shook his head with a snarl. “You were fuckin’ runnin’. I might’ve let it go if you just ignored me. But you cut Chris out entirely and ran like a pussy. You still mad I asked her first?”

Some part of Todd’s mind remarked on the unfairness of his accusations, but his fury overrode his common sense. Chris had lost some of her sparkle when Jim stopped visiting and now she’d been tak
en. She was alone, without her team, without her squad, and her sorrow tightened Todd’s gut.

“Hell no, I’m not mad you asked her first. You’re the better man for her.”

“Damn straight, I am. At least I’m willing to stick with her.”

“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?” Jim grabbed Todd’s arm to swing him around, but Todd shoved him off and put him into the wall
, the impact hard enough to make Jim grunt.

Todd snarled at h
im, nose to nose. “Figure it out, asshole. I never gave up on her and I never let my fear get in the way of anything. Man up or ring out, Waters. Your teammate needs you, and not just for a rescue. She needs her goddamn friend back. Got me?”

Todd released the
dark-haired SEAL and stomped away before they had a drag-out, knock-down fight in the middle of the base. He wanted to beat the shit out of Retro, but he’d save his energy for hunting town the motherfuckers who’d taken his wife and those of his squadmates. He’d deal with Jim when he had more time to worry about the stubborn jackass.