SEAL INVESTIGATIONS: A 5-Books SEAL Romance Series

by Lola Silverman

She caught Bones by surprise too. He made a grab for her, but she was already halfway to the door. He hissed an oath. “Stop! You have to wait or you’ll give us all away!”

  “Fuck that!” There was a note of hysteria in the woman’s voice.

  Marina watched her slip through the door before disappearing into the gloom of the warehouse storage room. Marina couldn’t blame the girl. It had been much the same for her. After all, she could have saved the others, and she hadn’t.

  BONES WANTED TO go after the idiotic woman, but didn’t dare. They were now on a clock. There was no doubt in his mind that the half-naked and filthy woman running through the building would garner the wrong kind of attention, and fast.

  “Let’s do the others,” Bones said hastily. “No time to lose, sweetheart.”

  He wasn’t entirely certain about Marina’s state of mind. She was far too quiet, and almost lethargic. It seemed as if she were buried deep in a dream state, though he could not blame her for that. Likely it was her mind’s way of coping with the incredible stress.

  He took her hand and tugged her toward the next cage. Pointing to the lock, he was glad when she immediately went to work. It took her less time. The occupant of this cage was not moving. Bones stepped inside once the door was open and checked her pulse. The woman was dead. Grinding his teeth to fight back the horror, he rolled the woman onto her back and took a picture of her face with his phone. He quickly sent it to Sparks for identification and then hurriedly moved on to the next cage.

  Marina busted the next one open even faster. Bones found another dead woman inside. He took another picture and hoped that this wasn’t going to continue. Marina wasn’t speaking. He didn’t know whether this was good or bad.

  “Next one,” Bones muttered.

  Marina was already on it. This time he could see the woman inside twitching as she lay curled in the fetal position on the floor. As soon as the cage was open, Bones gestured to Marina. “Go do the next one. I’ll grab this woman.”

  “Okay.”

  It was a word. He would consider that progress and leave it at that. Now he squatted down and reached out to gently touch the woman’s foot. She came to full consciousness with an exaggerated startle. Bones could see it coming and lunged just as the woman opened her mouth to scream.

  “No.” He intentionally let his voice be harsh. She needed to shut up, or they were all going to die. “I’m going to get you out of here, but you have to be quiet. Do you understand?”

  She bobbed her head up and down, but Bones wasn’t taking chances like he had with the crazy woman who had bolted. He swept this one off the floor and deposited her over his shoulder. Ducking his way back out of the cage, he was at least careful not to knock the woman on the overhead crossbars.

  Marina already had the last cage open. The occupant was half crouching beside her. Marina’s eyes were huge in her face. Her dark skin was pale, and she looked as though she was about to be ill.

  MARINA TRIED TO breathe, but felt as if she could not catch her breath at all. She slipped her lock picks back into her hip pocket and felt their reassuring weight there. When had she started carrying them everywhere with her? Had it been ever since she was held prisoner? Perhaps it was her unconscious way of making certain that nobody would ever be able to hold her again.

  “We have to go,” she managed to whisper at Bones. Her voice was hoarse. Her throat felt raw, and she knew she was going to lose it if they didn’t leave soon.

  He gave her a hard nod. “Let’s go.”

  Marina grabbed the hand of the woman cowering at her side and began dragging the recalcitrant prisoner toward the exit. She knew that the woman was probably suffering from her own case of PTSD and a whole slew of other trauma-related disorders. Marina didn’t care. None of that mattered right now, and if this person was too weak in the mind to recognize a chance to escape, Marina was going to force her to get a clue.

  “Quietly,” Bones murmured.

  Marina didn’t have to be told that they were working against a clock. There was no telling what had happened to the woman who had left without them. Marina might be hoping that the poor lady would escape and find help. Maybe she would be like Marina and stumble into the hospital emergency room. But good luck like that rarely happened in Marina’s life. She had a bad feeling that they still hadn’t seen the last bit of trouble from this horrible place.

  Bones led the way. His boots were whisper-soft on the concrete. He slipped through the door and moved behind a stack of pallets. Turning around, he gestured for Marina to close the door behind her. Marina quickly complied. She held her breath until the muted snick of the door told her it was shut.

  They seemed to wait forever. Marina could hear nothing but the ragged breaths of the prisoner who held her hand, and the sound of her blood rushing in her ears. Her heart was hammering a staccato beat against her ribs. She hadn’t been this scared since the last time she’d escaped this place. She should have felt better. Bones was with her. She wasn’t alone. Yet she could not shake the sensation that they were not out of the woods yet.

  Bones signaled her with his hand and made for the next stack of pallets. They darted their way through the warehouse storage, Marina dragging her companion along behind them. Yet when they were in sight of the loading docks, Marina realized that there was a lump in the middle of the floor.

  Bones came to an abrupt halt in front of her as he no doubt spotted it too. Marina swallowed back the bile that wanted to rise in her throat. There was no doubt that the shapeless lump was the first woman they had freed. She was on the floor in a pool of blood with her throat slit open.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The coppery stench of blood filled Bones’s nostrils, and he fought the urge to flee that rippled down his spine. Yes. He could have probably gotten away quite easily, but Marina was still dragging one more captive behind her and Bones had one thrown over his shoulder. They weren’t getting anywhere quickly. Not now.

  “Marlon Jackson.” A voice dripping sarcasm drifted out of the shadows. “I wish I could say that I’m surprised to see you, but that would be a lie. You and your idiot team have been making a regular nuisance of yourself for the last few weeks.”

  Bones knew that voice. Lieutenant Will Whiteside sauntered into view with a disgustingly confident grin on his face. The man was actually swaggering, as though he had something to brag about. The notion blew Bones’s mind. Here was this total sleazebag who had been assisting a group of international thugs in the business of kidnapping and selling American citizens, and he acted as if he were proud of himself.

  Bones couldn’t keep his mouth closed any longer. “You know what completely baffles me, Whiteside?”

  “What? Believe me, I’m all atwitter wondering.” Whiteside’s body language reeked of arrogance.

  “You’ve broken so many laws that I bet you can’t even name them all. And yet you’re standing there acting as if you haven’t done anything. I mean”—Bones gave a derisive snort—“we knew you were stupid. But this just beggars belief!”

  “You think I’m stupid?” Whiteside growled.

  Bones braced himself. The woman hanging over his shoulder whimpered. She was clutching his shirt and obviously attempting to pretend to be senseless. He hoped she would just stay that way and not try to make a break for it.

  Whiteside roughly poked Bones in the chest. “You and your stupid SEAL team think you’re so special! That idiot Trapp made a mess with his asinine decision to send that soldier home for punishment, and he didn’t even bother to clean up his mess! I had to do that. I did! You fucking SEALs are a bunch of overpaid, over-celebrated losers!”

  “Jealousy,” Bones snorted. “You sold out for sheer fucking jealousy? That’s pathetic.”

  “No!” Whiteside shouted. “I sold out for money! Do you have any idea how much money I’ve made on these deals? And you’ve got no idea how far up the ladder this goes! Hasim and Jabar aren’t idiots. They know which palms to grease. They know how to make
people happy.” A smile of satisfaction stretched across Whiteside’s face. “And they know how to clip off the loose ends, too.”

  SOMETHING ABOUT THIS man’s voice was ripping into Marina’s mind. She knew it. The other girl beside her was whimpering and trying to hide behind Marina. She didn’t care. Her brain was completely occupied trying to place this guy’s voice.

  Her eyes fluttered closed, and she was immediately transported back to the rocking gloom of the cargo ship. She saw the containers and felt the cold metal beneath her bare feet. The scent of dirt and decay filled her nostrils. Then she heard this man’s voice.

  “You!” Marina breathed. “It was you on the ship!”

  Whiteside glowered at her, leaning around Bones’s bulk to get a better look at her. Then he glanced back at Bones. “Where the fuck did you pick up this bitch? She’s crazy.”

  “I’m not crazy,” Marina retorted. She pointed at Whiteside. “You were the man on the ship that decided who had to go and who had to stay. You separated the goods and sent the women on to their buyers. You supervised the pictures they took.” The more Marina spoke, the more her mind fed her images of exactly what Whiteside had done. “And you raped them. I was there. I saw you.”

  Whiteside wasn’t looking smug anymore. He looked pissed. Marina realized that she had just identified herself as a very big threat. She and Bones not only knew too much, they had broken into the Hansen warehouse and were holding hard evidence in their hands.

  Then Whiteside seemed to shake off his unease. He put his hands on his hips and shrugged. “You can’t do anything about it. You may think you know something, but you’re just some drugged-out junkie who got lost for a few months.”

  “Is that what you tell people when they come looking for you?” Marina snarled. “You feed the cops that line and hide behind your military status? You’re a pathetic coward.”

  Marina knew she needed to stop, but she was so angry! This man had been the one to bundle up her friends in their containers and send them away. This guy had sent her to be held in a cage without any hope of escape. He would have let her die in there. He had to be held accountable.

  Then Whiteside pulled a gun. He pointed it at Bones. “Normally I wouldn’t even bother. I’d just shoot you and be done with it. But the bosses want to know how much you and your little pals know about our operation. That means they’d like to have a little chat.” Whiteside gestured to Marina. “I’m sure you’ll be willing to cooperate, since your little friend gets to watch.”

  “You touch her and I will rip your arms out of their sockets and beat you to death with them,” Bones growled.

  Whiteside smirked. Then he pointed the gun at Marina. “You know, I think you might actually make good on that threat if I gave you the chance. Guess that means I’d better not give you a chance, hmm?”

  BONES REALIZED THAT Marina had just put a very significant piece of the puzzle together. Unfortunately, that also meant there was no way Whiteside was going to let them get out of here alive. Not without a fight, anyway.

  “Come on.” Whiteside waved his weapon back in the direction that they’d just come. “Time to get back to the nice little holding area.”

  Now both of the captives that Bones and Marina had freed where squirming and whimpering. Marina had to really grab onto the woman’s hand as she tried to bolt.

  “Shut them up, or I’ll shoot them!” Whiteside snarled. “They were on the list for disposal anyway.”

  Bones wondered whether the man would be stupid enough to give away any more secrets. “Yeah. I saw you already managed to dispose of two of your prisoners back in the room.”

  “I didn’t do a damn thing to them.” He actually sounded affronted. “I can’t help it if they’re too weak to handle a little captivity. They had food and water, just like the others. Go figure.” Whiteside sounded completely unconcerned. “No loss as far as I’m concerned.”

  “You just leave the bodies in there to rot?” Bones prodded.

  With Marina just behind and to his left, Bones headed slowly back toward the holding room. Whiteside was walking on his right. Bones wanted to keep that asshole as far away from Marina as possible. She was the one who was really in danger here.

  Whiteside seemed distracted for a moment. “They don’t rot. That’s not how it works.” The he sneered. “But you knew that, didn’t you? What are you trying to do? I’m not going to do a classic villain info dump, you asshole. So think again.”

  “You info dump all the time, you big-mouthed bastard,” Bones grunted. “Do you listen to yourself? You’ve been like this ever since I’ve known you. It’s always come up on your evaluations. Remember?” Bones affected a snarky tone of voice. “‘Good soldier but unable to keep his mouth shut when necessary’.”

  The wide sweep of Whiteside’s weapon did not come as a surprise. Bones carefully balanced the body on his shoulder and then whipped his head backward to avoid Whiteside’s attempt at a pistol whip. Unfortunately the woman on his shoulder chose that moment to try to bolt.

  She squirmed out of Bones’s grip and hit the ground with a thud. Her low cry of pain lasted only a few seconds. Gathering her legs beneath her, she attempted to run away, but she was weak and slow. Bones made a move to grab her, but Whiteside beat him to it.

  The rogue soldier snatched up the woman’s arm, pressed the muzzle of his handgun to her forehead, and blew her brains out. The warm spray coated Bones’s legs. This was not the first time he had gotten blood on his boots, but this was the first time he felt so incredibly wrong about it.

  “Good riddance,” Whiteside huffed. “That bitch was the biggest whiner we’ve had in there yet. I swear, I’m so fucking sick of listening to them bitch and moan!” He began waving his gun in the air. “You would think they could just appreciate the fact that they’re alive!”

  MARINA FELT A shiver of fear go through the last remaining captive. The woman was now plastered to Marina’s side as though she intended to stay there permanently. Marina squeezed her hand and was glad to at least get a return squeeze. If Marina lived to be a hundred she would never forget what she had just seen. The bullet had blown out the back of the prisoner’s head. The woman’s skull was just a crater lying on the floor in a pool of sticky red blood. There was nothing else to be done for her.

  Marina could have felt horror, but the only thing remaining for her was sheer, unadulterated hatred of Whiteside. This man was responsible for countless murders, and he was so flippant about it! She would not stand for that. She couldn’t. She felt as if every single woman who had passed through this place was counting on her.

  Her senses were on high alert. She felt the cold air of the warehouse on her skin and smelled the horrible odor emanating from the holding room with its nasty cages. The stench of fresh blood mingled with that of death, and Marina wondered how nobody else in this place saw what was going on. Were they all truly that oblivious, or were they just afraid?

  “Please come in and make yourselves at home,” Whiteside joked. “I believe I’ll just put Marlon here in his own lodgings. You two bitches can share accommodations. After all, none of you are going to be here very long.”

  Marina forced herself to speak. “What are you planning to do?”

  “Well, I need to go take care of those bodies I left lying around.” He leered at Marina. “Then I’m going to make some more bodies in here and incinerate the lot of you.”

  Of course! An operation like this would have an incinerator somewhere in the building to get rid of chemical waste or to dispose of other commercial and industrial byproducts.

  Bones gave Whiteside a lazy, indolent look. “It’s so pathetic that those bastard princes still have you working as their maid. You cleaned up after them when we were still overseas. And now you’re cleaning up their messes here in the US. It’s all pretty pathetic, don’t you think?”

  Marina sucked in a deep breath as Whiteside took another swipe at Bones. Once again the SEAL simply ducked out of the way. Whiteside
wrinkled up his face and snarled, but he wasn’t fast enough. He only had the gun, and he apparently wasn’t ready to murder Bones just yet.

  “I’ll get you soon enough,” Whiteside said loftily. He clicked the lock shut on Bones’s cage before shoving Marina and her companion into the one right beside the big SEAL. “Until then, you guys can say your goodbyes.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Bones waited for the door to slam shut and the lock to click before he swung around to face Marina. He had thought he would have to press her, but she was way ahead of him.

  “I’ll get the lock,” she whispered. “Just give me a sec. It’s a little trickier from this side.”

  She stretched her nimble arms through the bars and twisted until she could get her pins inside the lock. He could not help but admire her strength. Not just in a physical sense. The woman was emotionally tough as nails. He knew this had to be killing her. Being locked back in one of these cages was tantamount to pressing all of her PTSD buttons at once. Yet she had managed to hold it together and was now busting them out.

  Bones shifted uncomfortably in his little cell. It wasn’t actually tall enough for him to stand straight up. He had to hunch over, which was very uncomfortable. These units had obviously been specifically designed for women.

  There was the sound of a key in the lock. Bones reached up and grabbed the bars overhead. “Marina,” he hissed.

  She was already pulling her arms back into her cell. He saw her quickly palm her tools. “Got it! The cell is undone. Hopefully he won’t notice.”

  Bones grimaced. That would not be good. If Marina angered Whiteside, he was liable to simply shoot her in the head. The door slammed open before Bones could contemplate it further.

  Whiteside swaggered in with two bulky guards dressed all in black and a wheelbarrow. Whiteside gestured to the cages with the two dead bodies that Bones and Marina had checked earlier. “The locks are open. Just grab the bodies and let’s go chuck them first.” Whiteside leered at Marina. “Then we’ll be back for this one and her new friend.”