SEALs of Honor: Hawk

by Dale Mayer

  And she dove into the tight channel. By the time she made it through, dirt falling down on her face and neck and coughing out as much dust as she could, she struggled to her feet in the last cavern – the one where she’d found the bullet – and reached for her water bottle. She was still drinking when the others crawled out behind her.

  Swede was covered. In fact, as she watched him come out, she realized he must have ploughed the tunnel wider with those damn shoulders of his. Shadow came behind him and made the journey look easy. And it probably was.

  “So Swede, did you make it big enough I can walk through on the way back?”

  The big man, now dusty with sand, spat and gave a chuckle. “You should have let me lead. I’d have made it easier for you this time too.”

  She laughed and motioned to the far side. “It’s in this cave that I found the bullet.”

  “Where?” Hawk was all business. Since standing up, his gaze had been steadily clocking the distance, the walls, the type of dirt on the walls, the height of the ceiling, etc. Such awareness she hadn’t seen before.

  Amazing.

  She gave herself a good shake and walked to where she’d seen the small object. It was on the far side. She bent and pointed where it had lain.

  Hawk studied the ground, then kicked the area with his boot. There was a small metallic sound. He bent down and ran his fingers through the loose dirt. And pulled up two more casings. He straightened, rolled them through his fingers. And nodded. “Likely the same gun that killed Gerry.”

  “I’m surprised they shot him at the store,” she said. “Why not down here?”

  “Why down here?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. So no one would find him.”

  “How many times have you been here in the last few days?”

  She frowned. “Twice.”

  “And other people you know, how many were likely here?”

  She winced. “Point taken. There’s possibly been a dozen or more.”

  “So hardly out of the way. If they knew this area was mapped, they knew they’d likely be found and way earlier than they’d want to be.”

  “I suppose.”

  “Besides, this way it points to your father being guilty.”

  She gasped. “I never thought of that.” She glanced around. “So why the casings here? Target practice?”

  “Anything is possible.” Swede looked at the far wall and pointed. “Look.”

  Sure enough on the far side were a series of circles chalked on the cave wall.

  “Over here.”

  The others turned to where Shadow stood about twenty feet away. He pointed to the ground.

  Walking over to stand beside the others, she glanced at the ground and realized she was staring at another set of casings. “Rifle?”

  “Automatic.”

  “Now that we know we’re in the right place, spread out and see what else you can find.”

  “This isn’t where the cache was found,” she protested.

  “No, it might not be but the men were here.”

  “Then they didn’t come the same way we did.” She was positive about that.

  The men stopped and looked at her. “Why?”

  “Because you’re not going to haul any of the weapons or bomb making equipment all through here. And there’s no easy access for hauling it out.”

  Hawk’s eyebrows shot up. “Right. Suggestions.”

  “Yes. I think the next cavern over has a double entrance with a slightly different access point. There was a lot of talk about it on my last trip. There used to be a long hike to get to it, but from what I understand, there are now truck tracks to the entrance.”

  “Can we get there from here?”

  “And if so, why didn’t we go that way this time?”

  “Because I don’t know how to find it from the outside,” she said in exasperation. “This place is riddled with different tunnels.”

  “But you know how to get from here to there?” Swede asked her in surprise. “How does that work?”

  “I don’t know for sure, I know the general route, but that looks likely.” She moved around Shadow and pointed to the floor in front of a small tunnel. “It’s also seen recent traffic. I don’t remember seeing these tracks earlier today.”

  “So you think someone came through from the other side today?”

  “It’s possible. It’s also possible I missed it. I was thinking more of getting home than checking out footsteps.” She crouched in front of the tunnel. “It’s partly hidden, and we stopped before entering this one this morning as time was running out.”

  “So if you’d had enough time, would you have gone further?” Swede asked.

  “Oh definitely.” She stood up.

  “It’s a popular through fare? Do you file your trips?”

  She nodded. “I go with several of the local club. We always file a trip plan.”

  He nodded. “Good. Let’s go.” He nodded to the tunnel. “Do you want to lead?”

  She grinned. “Absolutely.” Then stepped back. “But Swede makes it much easier if I go behind him.”

  Shadow laughed. “She’s got your number.”

  With a roll of his eyes, the big man dropped to his knees and crawled inside the tunnel. It was big enough for him to squeeze through with difficulty. She fell into step behind him.

  This tunnel was longer than the others she’d been in.

  When Swede stopped, she halted in place. But they were still inside the tunnel. She waited but he didn’t move. She reached over and grabbed his foot and gave it a shake. He reached a hand back in warning.

  And she understood. Someone was up in front. Someone like the gunmen. She settled down to wait.

  And wait. The temperature in the tunnel was surprisingly hot. It had been cool at the start, but full as it was now with large male bodies generating a tremendous amount of heat, it was getting overheated.

  Her body ached from being on her knees hunched over. She shifted slightly and then froze. Sounds carried like a shot through the tunnel.

  She could hear voices. Were they approaching? Shit. The other men hadn’t made a move. Only her. What an idiot she was.

  She took several deep open mouthed breaths. Trying to still the sense of panic.

  The thought of being caught in here forever…well that was enough to make anyone panic. Why the men couldn’t go forward and catch these bastards, she didn’t know. Just when she’d given up trying to stay quiet and needing to move, Swede scrambled ahead and was suddenly gone.

  Hawk was behind her. He gave her a hard shove and she scrambled to get out of the way. At the entrance she slipped to the left while her eyes adjusted to the different light.

  The other two men bolted through the entrance and raced after Swede. She didn’t even understand where he’d gone, but he wasn’t in front of her. Her gaze searched the gloom. Was he?

  And if he wasn’t, where was he? And the others? Had they raced into unknown territory like that? Were they nuts? They might be SEALs but they weren’t completely infallible. Surely.

  She used the wall to stand up while she tried to adjust her gaze to the off lighting. And gasped. The whole room was empty. She ran to the far side where the next tunnel opened. There was no one as far as she could see there either. But it was the only route out so they’d had to have gone down there. Shit. She wanted to click her headlight on so she could see but didn’t want to bring any unwanted attention her way.

  The safest thing she could do was keep herself snugged up against the wall where she was out of sight and out of the way.

  Except…how long was she supposed to stand here in the dark.

  “Well, well well, what do we have here?”

  She spun around and a hand clapped over her head, a cloth came over her mouth. She struggled, but her head swam and clouds filled her mind. Her body crumpled but never hit the ground.

  *

  “Mia?”

  Hawk circled the large room. He’d left
her in the tunnel. Where the hell was she now? Swede and Shadow were following the trail of goods to the exit. He’d doubled back for her. Where the hell was she?

  “Mia?” he called out louder. But there was no answer. He made it back to the opening of the tunnel and froze. He lifted his nose and sniffed the air harder. Chloroform.

  Shit.

  He turned his light on bright and glanced at the ground. Footsteps where she’d been standing, her weight strong, her back leaned against the wall, her heels dug into the dirt. Then scuff marks as she struggled.

  Her heels dragged along the tunnel as she was pulled backwards. For how long? He raced behind the tracks. She couldn’t have been taken far. There hadn’t been time. Less than ten minutes.

  He ran easily, tracking the trail.

  And came to the large cavern. He slid out into the cavern and against the closest wall. Nothing rustled in the darkness. Nothing moved. And there were no shadows that hadn’t been there earlier. No sign of her.

  He raced to the small tunnel. It would be much harder to take her all the way back. But there was the evidence that just that was in progress. She was being dragged. Likely her arms over her head and dragged. A hard way to go. They’d have to be strong. Then again, Mia was slim. Long and lean but light.

  Anyone used to making such physical effort wouldn’t have had a problem carrying her.

  He dove into the tunnel and scrambled through to the other side. Still no sign of her. In the background was an odd scraping sound. He moved faster. The closer he got, the louder the sound of someone being dragged became. He’d found her. He had to save her before she was dragged all he way out. If they got her into a vehicle, it would be that much harder to rescue her.

  And that wasn’t going to happen.

  She was too sweet. Too attractive. And damn if he wasn’t interested.

  As in damn interested.

  But he had to save her first.

  The drag noises stopped.

  He froze. Voices up ahead. Shit.

  Chapter 9

  Her head ached, and her blood pounded so loudly she could hear nothing but the pulse that flooded her veins. She groaned. Then heard voices in the dimness of her mind.

  “Why the hell is she awake?” growled one male. “I gave her enough to knock out a damn horse.”

  “Whaaat?”

  “Shut the fuck up.”

  A strange sound whispered through her consciousness. What was that? It was a low level hum dragging across her skin. The sound aching deep inside as it grated inside her ears. It was like a rubbing sound. And it wouldn’t stop.

  What the heck was it? She tried to roll over. But couldn’t. She tried again. And the drag sounds were worse. Her head responded with a heavy ache. Why couldn’t she figure out the noise in her head? And what was it going to take to make it stop. She moved her arms. And cried out.

  “Shit.”

  Someone was talking to her? “Who’s there?” she turned to ask, yet only a broken whimper made it past her lips.

  And of course there was no answer.

  She tried to move her arms again. Pain ripped through her – again. Groaning, she rolled over and immediately dust filled her mouth starting her coughing. She spat and struggled to sit up. Her arms were yanked hard.

  She cried out as her body was pulled backward.

  And she realized she was being dragged. She was hearing her body scraping along the ground.

  She tried to pull back.

  “Like hell you’re getting away.” He jerked hard and she went flying forward. “Stop struggling, you’re not going anywhere.”

  “And she’s not going with you,” a strange voice snapped.

  A male jumped over her and suddenly her arms were free. She groaned as they fell to her side. The pain was excruciating. She struggled to pull them free of the ropes. Groggy, she stood up and watched Hawk in an all out fight against a stranger in front of her. With a hand on the wall, she managed to stand up. She was so damn shaky it was hard to stay on her feet once she was vertical.

  She gasped, trying to regain her senses. And suddenly Hawk was at her side. She tried to see behind him, but he blocked her view. “Don’t move. I don’t know what happened, but I think you were given something to knock you out.”

  Outraged, she tried to take a step but listed to the side. He snagged a hold of her and held her close. “Take it easy.”

  “I’m trying to. Did you kill him?” She peered over her shoulder but couldn’t see the man.

  “No, I just knocked him out.” His breath was warm against her forehead.

  “I don’t think you did a very good job then, he’s gone.”

  Hawk spun around. And she had a clear view confirming the man’s escape.

  “Shit.” Hawk glared into the darkness where the man disappeared.

  She tried to push him away. “Go after him. I’ll be fine.”

  His snort was anything but pleasant. “I left you alone last time and look what good that did.”

  “It wasn’t your fault. I was hiding in the dark. I should have been safe.”

  “But you weren’t. We were following the group ahead of us but missed someone hiding in the shadows. Shadow will be pissed when he realizes that.”

  “Why?”

  “He prides himself on those.”

  “Shadows or men hiding in the shadows?”

  “Both.”

  She tried to step back and stand on her own two feet but couldn’t quite make it. She slumped against him again, loving the strength that held her so easily. He was a man’s man. And of course that made him a ladies’ man.

  “You’re not quite ready to throw this off just yet.”

  A weird echoing birdcall whistled through the cavern.

  “Good, that’s Swede,” he said.

  “Sending a bird call, isn’t that a little melodramatic.”

  “Efficient. We send different messages back and forth using the calls. Each one means something different.”

  “Cool.” She straightened up and managed to look around. “Does that mean your friends are coming back now?”

  “Yes.”

  Sure enough the men burst through the cavern.

  “Mia, are you all right?” Swede asked, striding over to her.

  She nodded. “I am now, thanks to Hawk.”

  Hawk explained.

  “Do you think he’s on the run or waiting for us up ahead?” Mia asked in a low voice as the men scattered, leaving the two of them behind with Swede.

  “He’s running. They are late for a rendezvous. We lost them on the other tunnel but heard where they are going. And apparently it’s not a US monument that they are after but a bridge instead. The Golden Gate Bridge.”

  A moment of silence filled the air as they each contemplated the concept of the bridge being bombed.

  “Jesus,” she whispered quietly, sagging heavier against Hawk. “We have to go after them.”

  “Shadow is on it. We are going back to the vehicle and will follow.”

  She shook her head. “We’re going to lose them. Let’s go.” And she tried to walk forward but sagged to her knees.

  Swede gave a muffled exclamation and snatched her up into his arms. “Shadow is going to try and hitch a ride up ahead.”

  Hawk led the way back to the vehicle.

  “You should have left me behind,” Mia said. “You could have caught him.”

  They reached the entrance to the cave in time to hear a vehicle driving closer.

  “Damn it, he’s getting away,” Mia cried.

  Only the vehicle was approaching them, not driving away.

  “Or his partners are coming to pick him up.”

  Hawk melted into the bushes. Swede stepped in the shrubbery, keeping her out of harm’s way and watched. She struggled to stand up, but Swede wouldn’t let her. Realizing arguing was fruitless, she relaxed back.

  Shots crackled through the air. The car engine revved then changed as if the vehicle was backing up. And g
unned it. It disappeared in the distance, the sounds quickly fading.

  Swede stepped back onto the road and strode quickly forward. They turned around the bend up ahead and she gasped.

  Hawk was squatting beside the body lying on the road.

  He straightened as they approached. “It’s the man who attacked Mia.”

  Swede lowered her to the ground and with Hawk’s help, she walked closer and stood over the man. Now that she was in the natural sunlight, she could see his features. “He was at Dad’s.”

  “Yes, he was.”

  “He’s the one who wanted to keep me. The other guy called him Stan.”

  Both men stared at her. She frowned at them. “I told you, didn’t I? Or maybe you heard it.” She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. “The one wanted to take me with him to keep him warm at night, but the other man said he had no tolerance for rape. And this guy,” she motioned to the dead man, “said he’d make me willing.”

  The matching frowns deepened.

  “You didn’t share that part.”

  “Oh.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now.”

  “But it does as it explains why you didn’t get a bullet when he saw you.”

  She brightened. “Right.”

  “Let’s go,” Hawk said, motioning in the direction of the vehicles. “You need to be checked over and we need to move it.”

  “You’re going after the men?”

  They just turned those flat gazes her way. Of course they were going after them.

  *

  Hawk walked to Gordon’s bed. And found the old man awake. Good.

  “Damn it’s good to see you. And good timing,” Gordon managed to get out. “I owe you my life.”

  “You owe me nothing but I could sure use details. What the hell’s going on?”

  Shifting uneasily, Gordon said, “I don’t know the whole story but have an idea.” He raised a shamed gaze to Hawk. “My brother is involved.”