by Desiree Holt
SEAL Undercover
By
Desiree Holt
USA Today and Amazon Bestselling author
and
Suspense Sisters
Silver SEALs Series
SEAL Undercover
Copyright 2019 by Desiree Holt
Published by Desiree Holt
Cover Art by Becky McGraw
Beta Reader: Margie Hager
Editor: Kate Richards
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
To
former SEAL Jack Carr
An incredible individual
Thank you for all your help and invaluable information
This book could not have been written without you
You are the embodiment of what this country stands for
And the heroes we all hold in high esteem.
And to all SEALs everywhere, past, current and future
Thank you for your service.
Acknowledgments
This book, as always, is the result of the effort so many people. First and foremost, Margie Hager, my wonderful beta reader who has been with me forever. Kate Richards, editor par excellent, who whips my manuscripts into shape with expertise. My Virtual Assistant, Maria Connor, without whom nothing would happen. Joe Trainor, prior military and current law enforcement resource who answers endless questions and is an incredible source of information. Last but far from least my son Steven Horwitz who handles all the business and marketing details so incredibly well.
Thank you, all of you, for your excellent help.
Dear Readers,
Writing a book is a labor of love for me. My characters take over my life, and I work to make them come alive for all of you. But I could not do it without the help of key people in my life. First and foremost, my wonderful beta reader, Margie Hager, who has a super critical eye and finds all my mistakes. Kate Richards, my formatting angel. Then there is my incredible son, Steven Horwitz, who despite running a successful business of his own, manages the financial side of mine and is also a marketing guru. And last but way far from least my wonderful Virtual Assistant, Maria Connor, who takes care of everything so I can devote myself to writing. I am truly blessed.
And finally, there is you, my readers, without whom there would be no Desiree Holt. You enrich my life and inspire me.
You can always reach me at [email protected], and I invite you to join my reader group, where there is always something happening. https://www.facebook.com/groups/DesireeHoltReaderGroup/?epa=SEARCH_BOX
Looking forward to “seeing” you there.
Desiree
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Max DiSalvo gave his entire life to the SEALs. He would have married—he certainly enjoyed women—but he never could find one who understood his dedication to the Teams, even though many of his team members married happily. It takes a certain caliber of woman to be a SEAL wife, and Max just never found one who fit with him. Now, at forty-eight, he is out of the SEALs, running his own commercial fishing company in Maine where he grew up, and waiting for his assignments from DHS.
Regan Shaw, a SEAL widow, is an Intelligence Operations Specialist with DHS, and a woman who Max is drawn to from first sight. Part of her job is analyzing information to assess threats, and she’s discovered a doozy—there is a secret group of very wealthy people who, in partnership with a powerful cartel, are using the border with Mexico to smuggle terrorists from the Middle East into the country. Word has leaked that the cabal is planning a terrorist attack to take over the country on a national holiday, and a high-level member of the government is clearing the way with them for everything.
The group is about to have one of its executive meetings at an exclusive resort in Texas and that’s where Bone Frog Command is sending Max and Regan as husband and wife. Credentials have been arranged, and a story has been set, and there is backup for him should he need it, but the orders are: get in, get the information, and get out.
It doesn’t take long for them to realize how dangerous this group is and that it must be stopped. Now. When someone betrays them, and Regan is kidnapped, Max goes into war mode because, in Regan Shaw, he’s found the woman he’s waited for all his life, and he doesn’t intend to lose her now. But he will need every bit of the skills he learned as a SEAL to rescue her and bring down this very dirty conspiracy.
Prologue
“This is just fucking bullshit.” Gavin Emery leaned forward in his chair, his face set in angry lines. His hoarse growl caught everyone’s attention. “How do we know this is even real?”
Jed Whitlow looked at the hologram in front of him. “Because I say so, and there’s no fucking way I’d lie to you or anyone else in this group. We’ve been together too long, and the plan is too critical, especially at this point. We are almost at the target date.”
Jed was the one who had called the meeting, so suddenly that the only option was to hold it holographically. They all lived too far away from each other to hold it live. At least this way they’d all be able to see each other. The eight people gathered for this represented a major portion of the wealth in North America and wielded significant behind-the-scenes power, globally as well as nationally. In two weeks, they would gather at the Whitlows’ hunting lodge—although the luxury of the place made it too extravagant to call a lodge. The subject of the meeting was the critical last step in a complex plan they had been working on for three years. They were much too far into it to pull the plug, so this news made them all tense and on edge.
“Okay then, Jed. You’re up,” Gavin told him. “You’re the one who got the call and went to see Bernardo. Are we in a bunch of shit here?”
“I don’t think so.” Jed cleared his throat. “First of all, let me remind you that Bernardo and I have known each other since college. Even though he lives in Colorado. We’ve kept in touch over the years, and I knew this was something he’d buy into percent. He’s been a valuable asset from Day One, as has his wife, Jeanne Her skill at plucking information out of thin air has helped Ferren Arms and Munitions Manufacturing to grow to the size it is now.”
“But your message told us the situation has changed,” Emery pointed out.
“It has.” Jed paused. “As you all know, three days ago, at ten fifteen in the morning, Bernardo suffered a major heart attack. Luckily, he was home. His wife called EMS, and he was rushed to the hospital, where he’s still in the cardiac care unit. I flew up to see him at once, and it seems his recovery won’t be happening anytime soon. He may even need open-heart surgery.” He paused. “Questions so far?”
“Where do we stand now?” Emery persisted. “You say he’s out, which could be a fucking disaster. He’s the one pro
viding all the supplies we need for this as well as the means to deliver them.”
Lorena Alvaro leaned forward in her chair. Jed noticed that even at this early hour she was perfectly put together, as if attending the meeting in person. Her vanity and obsession with not showing her age were legendary, and she hadn’t yet figured out that none of them gave a flying fuck what she looked like as long as she did her part.
“Yes. How can we be sure this isn’t being faked? Maybe he just got cold feet now that we’re down to the wire and at the last minute wanted out. Leaving us in a terrible position, I might add. Are we even sure this is a real episode? I’ve had a doubt or two about him of late.”
Jed ground his teeth. This woman got on his nerves and things like that could throw a monkey wrench into their plans.
“He’s done absolutely nothing to make you feel that way.” He might have said the words with a little more force than necessary. “As I said earlier, I’ve known him for years, and that’s just not in his wheelhouse. That’s why I felt confident reaching out to him at the start. You don’t flourish in the arms business if it is. He’s more upset about this than we are. His doctors are having to increase his medication because of that to make sure he doesn’t have another attack.”
“You’re sure?” Lorena persisted.
Why couldn’t she just take his word for it so they could get on with the business at hand? If it weren’t for the fact she and her contacts were such a critical piece of this operation he’d uninvite her.
“You don’t have open-heart surgery scheduled just to miss a meeting, Lorena. I spoke at length to both his doctor and his wife when I was there and, I can assure you, this is real.”
“Just remember,” Lorena pointed out, “that this plan came about because of Elias and myself. We were the ones originally being paid to let the cartel use our land to get their drugs into this country.”
“And collected even more when they told you they wanted to up the ante and smuggle high-value terrorists in along with those drugs,” Kurt Cavanaugh pointed out.
“They were already getting paid a king’s ransom to do it, so there was plenty to share,” Gavin added. “But few of their ‘clients’ had any idea of what they would do next except to wage small attacks on multiple areas of this country. Kill a lot of people. Those people have no idea how much ‘a lot’ really is.”
“Yes, well, without that we’d never be able to put this plan in place,” Lorena pointed out, “so pardon me if I’m a little edgy about this change in the situation. You would all do well to remember that. Now, tell me.” Lorena crossed her legs. “How is Jeanne taking it? I always saw her as a weak link. Maybe we need to handle her until this is over.”
Jed wanted to smash something. Why did Lorena always have to be such a bitch? Her “handling” of things always resulted in bloodshed.
“She’s upset, as you can imagine,” he answered, “but holding it together. And she’s not a weak link, as you put it, Lorena. She knows what’s at stake here, just as everyone does. But obviously, if he’s not coming to the meeting, neither is she.”
“Of course,” Lorena snapped.
They had all met originally and formed their little group as couples. Although each marriage had a dominant partner, they had all been equals at the table, each an integral part of the group. Each of them brought a vital contribution to the organization, and was as committed to The Plan as their spouse. Now the unspoken question that hovered in the air was who would replace the Ferrens and make sure their contribution didn’t disappear?
Jeanne Ferren was a specialist at analyzing data, something she’d learned working for a defense contractor long before she and Bernardo had married and with great care built their place at the top level of society. She’d had no problem at all turning that knowledge to helping them with their overall long-term project. Bernardo, a manufacturer and world-wide distributor of arms and munitions, knew exactly what to use and where and when to use it. He would also supply all the weapons for the schedule of “events” in the timeline.
“There can’t be any places at the table vacant now,” Gavin pointed out. “The last two pieces of the puzzle will be arriving this week. This meeting coming up is to put the finishing touches on the plans and be ready to move forward.” He shook his head. “This is a terrible time for him to have a heart attack.”
“I’ll be sure to pass that along to him.” Jed’s voice was edged with sarcasm.
“So, tell us. Just who is going to replace them? We can’t recruit strangers at this point. And what about the arms he’s providing? That’s a fucking lot of firearms and munitions to try and get somewhere at the last minute, even if we could find someone to trust.” Kurt glared at the holographic images, his stare biting into those viewing the meeting. “We have spent months—no, years—planning and we are too far into this to call it off. We will never have another chance like this. Everyone—and I mean everyone—is ready to move forward once these next players arrive. We can’t drop just anyone into this. If it weren’t for the arms and munitions that are at the heart of this, I’d say just move forward,”
Jed personally thought it was a stroke of luck Bernardo had a good solution for them, but he wasn’t sure if everyone else would think so. Max Ferren, Bernardo’s brother, was his partner in the company and knew exactly what was going on. Was he as plugged in to the operation as Bernardo was? The man had assured him that was the case.
What about his wife, though? Did she have the same skills as her sister-in-law? He wished he’d been able to meet them when he was there, but they were just at that moment returning from a trip out of state. Fuck it all to hell, anyway. This group had planned so carefully and worked so hard to kick off their plan with a bang—literally— choosing the target date for maximum impact. They could not afford a screwup now.
He cleared his throat.
“Bernardo has an answer to the problem,” Jed told them. “I wanted to double check everything before I brought it to you, but this is as perfect as it can get. Bernardo’s brother, Max, will take his place. Max is Bernardo’s partner in Ferren Arms Manufacturing and has been involved in a number of activities they’ve ‘sponsored.’ You know the two men are very close ideologically and share many of the same contacts, or Bernardo would never have been able to commit to this plan. To be a part of it. He promises we can trust his brother as we do him, and I believe him.”
“Bring a stranger in?” Kurt snapped. “I don’t care who he is. I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable with that.”
“Well, we can’t leave those seats vacant,” Jed snapped. “Max is hardly a stranger, and we need the weapons. Did you want to buy them on the open market?”
There was a long moment of silence.
“I’ve met Max, and I trust him,” Jed added in a slow voice. “He and Bernardo are tight as brothers as well as partners. He wouldn’t recommend the man, brother or not, unless he was confident he could step right in. We knew from the beginning that Bernardo shared everything with him. A damn good thing, too, since he’s now fully briefed and ready to assume a seat at the table. The last thing Bernardo would do, especially at this point, is send in someone who could fuck everything up and put us all at great risk.” He paused. “Including himself, I might add. Anyway, I met Max a couple of times over the years, and I can assure you he’s got his shit together every bit as much as Bernardo does.”
“I guess we’ll just have to take your word for it, Jed.” Lorena glared at him through the hologram. “Besides, we’re past the stopping point, and we need the Ferren supplies. We’ll just have to put Max Ferren—and his wife, don’t forget—under a magnifying glass. Do we have pictures of them?”
Jed nodded. “I’ll be sending them along as soon as I hang up. I’ll also forward every bit of information on them. I started a search just before this phone call.”
“And Bernardo? How does he feel about being left out of the action?” Gavin Emery glared at the other images.
“He�
�s upset, naturally. He’s funded revolutions in other countries for financial gain, and he badly wanted an active part in this one.” Jed sighed. “Truthfully, however, I think having to deal with all this may have been one cause of the heart attack. His health hasn’t been all that good. I think he’s been hanging on until everything was in place and we could assume control. Of everything.”
“How well protected is he in the hospital?” Lorena asked. “No media or anyone can get to him?”
Jed nodded. “He’s hired top-level security. No one will get through those men.”
Everyone was silent for a long moment.
Finally Gavin cleared his throat. “I’m not happy with this, but we don’t have a choice. We’re too far into this to call it off now. And we all agreed July 4th was ideal for this, symbolic as it is.”
Everyone nodded their agreement.
“When do we meet this perfect substitute?” Lorena asked, a nasty edge to her voice.
“He and his wife will be here next week. They’ll be staying at my hotel in town for a couple of days so I can meet with them and vet them, just to be sure. They shouldn’t be anywhere near the lodge until I’m satisfied he’s not a plant.”
“A plant?” Lorena’s words had a sharp edge. “Who would plant someone in our group? How would they even find out about us? We’ve gone overboard with the secrecy on this.” She paused. “Right? Everyone agree to that?”
Each of them murmured their agreement.
“So how do we think something like that can happen? If anyone in this group has been flapping their lips, I will shoot you myself.”
“Lorena, no one’s been talking out of school,” Jed soothed. “We all have too much at stake to do that.