Lucky couldn't stop himself. He sat next to Sydney, and pulled her into his arms. "Oh, Syd, I'm sorry," he said.
But she pushed him away, curling into herself, turning into a small ball in the corner of the couch, completely inconsolable.
Lucky looked at Lana helplessly.
"Syd," she said loudly. "I'm going to clap my hands twice, and you're going to fall asleep. You'll wake up in one minute, feeling completely refreshed. You won't remember any of this."
Lana clapped her hands, and just like that, Syd's body relaxed. The room was suddenly very silent.
Lucky sat back, resting his head against the back of the couch. He drew in a deep breath and let it out with a whoosh. "I had no idea," he said. Syd was always so strong, so in control.... He remembered that message he'd found on his answering machine last night when he'd gotten home. The way she hadn't quite managed to hide the fear in her voice when she'd called him for help, thinking she was being followed by a stranger. You scared me to death, she'd told him, but he hadn't really believed it until he'd heard that phone message.
What else was she hiding?
"She clearly considers her stake in this to be personal," Lana said quietly. She stood up. "I think it would be better if you were in the waiting room when she wakes up."
Chapter 6
“Where are we going?" Syd asked, following Luke down toward the beach.
"I want to show you something," he said.
He'd been quiet ever since they'd left Lana Quinn's office—not just quiet, but subdued. Introspective. Brooding.
It made her nervous. What exactly had she said and done while under the hypnotist's spell to make the ever-smiling Navy Ken brood?
Syd had come out of the session feeling a little disoriented. At first she'd thought the hypnosis hadn't worked, but then she'd realized that about half an hour had passed from the time she'd first sat down. A half hour of which she remembered nothing.
To Syd's disappointment, Lana told her she hadn't got a clear look at the rapist's unmasked face as he'd come down the stairs. They weren't any closer to identifying the man.
Luke O'Donlon hadn't said a word to her. Not in Lana's office, not in his truck as they'd headed back here to the base. He'd parked by the beach and gotten out, saying only, “Come on."
They stood now at the edge of the sand, watching the activity. And there was a great deal of activity on this beach, although there was nary a beach ball, a bikini-clad girl, a picnic basket or a colorful umbrella in sight.
There were men on the beach, lots of men, dressed in long pants and combat boots despite the heat. One group ran down by the water at a pounding pace. The other group was split into smaller teams of six or seven, each of which wrestled a huge, heavy-looking, ungainly rubber raft toward the water, carrying it high above their heads while men with bullhorns shouted at them.
''This is part of BUD/S," Luke told her. "SEAL training. These men are SEAL candidates. If they make it through all the phases of this training, they'll go on to join one of the teams."
Syd nodded. "I've read about this," she said. "There's a drop-out rate of something incredible, like fifty percent, right?"
"Sometimes more." He pointed down the beach toward the group of men that were running through the surf. "Those guys are in phase two, which is mostly diving instruction, along with additional PT. That particular class started with a hundred men and today they're down to twenty-two. Most guys ring out in the first few days of phase one, which consists mostly of intense PT—that's physical training."
"I'd kind of figured that out."
"Navyspeak contains a lot of shorthand," he told her, "Let me know if you need anything explained."
Why was he being so nice? He could have managed to sound patronizing, but he just sounded...nice. "Thanks," Syd managed.
"Anyway, this class," he pointed again to the beach, "is down to only twenty-two because they had a string of bad luck—some kind of stomach flu hit during the start of Hell Week, and a record number of men were evac-ed out." He smiled, as if in fond memory. "If it was just a matter of barf and keep going, most of 'em probably would've stayed in, but this flu came with a dangerously high fever. Medical wouldn't let them stay. Those guys were rolled back to the next class—most of them are going through the first weeks of phase one again right now. To top that off, this particular class also just lost six men in the fallout from that diving accident. So their number's low."
Syd watched the men who were running through the water—the candidates Luke had said were in the second phase of BUD/S training. "Somehow I was under the impression that the physical training ended after Hell Week."
Luke laughed. "Are you kidding? PT never ends. Being a SEAL is kind of like being a continuous work in progress. You always keep running—every day. You've got to be able to do consistent seven-and-a-half-minute miles tomorrow and next month—and next year. If you let it slip, your whole team suffers. See, a SEAL team can only move as fast as its slowest man when it's moving as a unit."
He gestured toward the men still carrying the black rubber boats above their heads. "That's what these guys are starting to learn. Teamwork. Identify an individual's strengths and weaknesses and use that information to keep your team operating at its highest potential."
A red-haired girl on a bicycle rode into the parking lot. She skidded to a stop in the soft sand a few yards away from Luke and Syd, and sat down, watching the men on the beach.
"Yo, Tash!" Luke called to her.
She barely even glanced up, barely waved, so intent was she on watching the men on the beach. It was the girl Syd had met yesterday, the one who'd been at the base with Lieutenant Commander Francisco's wife. She was looking for someone, searching the beach, shading her eyes with her hand.
"Frisco's not out here right now," Luke called to her.
"I know," she said and went right on looking.
Luke shrugged and turned back to Syd. "Check out this group here." He pointed at the men with the boats. "See this team with the short guy? He's not pulling his weight, right? He's not carrying much of the IBS—the inflatable boat—because he can hardly reach the damn thing. The taller men have to compensate for him. But you better believe that the vertically challenged dude will make up for it somewhere down the road. He's light, probably fast. Maybe he's good at climbing. Or he can fit into tight places—places the bigger men can't. Shorty may not help too much when it comes to carrying something like an IBS, but, guaranteed, he'll do more than his share in the long run."
He was quiet then, just watching the SEAL candidates, The group of runners—the candidates in the second phase of BUD/S training—collapsed on the sand.
"Five minutes," Syd heard distantly but distinctly through a bullhorn. "And then, ladies, we do it all over again."
The instructor with the bullhorn was Bobby Taylor, his long dark hair pulled back into a braid.
As Syd watched, one of the candidates approached Bobby, pointing up toward the edge of the beach, toward them. Bobby seemed to shrug, and the candidate took off, running toward them through the soft sand.
He was young and black, and the short, nearly shaved hairstyle that all the candidates sported served to emphasize the sharp angles of his face. He had a few scars, one disrupting the line of his right eyebrow, the other on his cheek, and they added to his aura of danger.
Syd thought he was coming to talk to Luke, but he headed straight for the little girl on the bike.
"Are you crazy?" His less-than-friendly greeting was accompanied by a scowl. "What did I tell you about riding your bike out here alone? And that was before this psycho-on-the-loose crap."
"No one wanted to ride all the way out here with me." Tasha lifted her chin. They were both speaking loudly enough for Syd to easily overhear. "Besides, I'm fast. If I see any weirdos, I can get away, no problem."
Sweat was literally pouring off the young man's face as he bent over to catch his breath, hands on his knees. "You're fast,
" he repeated skeptically. "Faster than a car?"
She was exasperated. "No."
"No." He glared at her. "Then it's not no problem, is it?"
"I don't see what the big deal—"
The black man exploded. "The big deal is that there's some son-of-a-bitch psycho running around town raping and beating the hell out of women. The big deal is that, as a female, you're a potential target. As a pretty, young female who's riding her bike alone, you're an attractive, easy target. You might as well wear a sign around your neck that says victim."
"I read this guy breaks into women's homes," Tasha countered. "I don't see what that has to do with me riding my bike."
Syd couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer. "Actually," she said, "serial rapists tend to do something called troll for victims. That means they drive around and look for a likely target—someone who's alone and potentially defenseless—and they follow her home. It's possible once they pick a victim, they follow her for several days or even weeks, searching for the time and place she's the most vulnerable. Just because all of the other attacks we know about occurred in the victims' homes doesn't mean he's not going to pull his next victim into the woods."
"Thank you, voice of reason," the young man said. He gave Tasha a hard look. "Hear that, wild thing? Uncle Lucky's girlfriend here sounds like she knows what she's talking about."
Uncle Lucky's girlfriend...? "Oh," Syd said. "No. I'm not his—"
"So, what am I supposed to do?" The girl was exasperated and indignant. "Stay home all day?"
Tasha and her friend were back to their fight, intently squaring off, neither of them paying any attention to Syd's protests.
Luke, however, cleared his throat. Syd didn't dare look at him.
"Yes," the young man answered Tasha's question just as fiercely and without hesitation. "Until this is over, yes. Stay home."
She gave him an incredulous look. "But, Thomas—"
"How many times in the years that we've been friends have I ever asked you for a favor, princess?" Thomas asked, his voice suddenly quiet, but no less intense. "I'm asking for one now."
Tears welled suddenly in Tasha's eyes and she blinked rapidly. "I needed to see you. After hearing about that diving accident..."
The harsh lines of his face softened slightly. "I'm fine, baby."
"I see that," she said. "Now."
Syd turned away, aware that she was watching them, afraid that her curiosity about their relationship was written all over her face. Thomas had to be in his twenties, and Tasha was only in her teens. He'd referred to them as friends, but it didn't take a genius-level IQ to see that the girl's attachment to this man was much stronger. But he was being careful not to touch her, careful to use words like friends, careful to keep his distance.
"How about I call you?" he suggested, kindly. "Three times a week, a few minutes before twenty-one hundred— nine o'clock? Check in and let you know how I'm doing. Would that work?"
Tasha chewed on her lower lip. "Make it five times a week, and you've got a deal."
“I’ll try for four," he countered. "But—"
She shook her head. "Five"
He looked at her crossed arms, at the angle of her tough-kid chin and assumed the same pose. "Four. But I don't get every evening off, you know, so some weeks it might be only three. But if I get weekend liberty, I'll drop by, okay? In return, you've got to promise me you don't go anywhere alone until this bad guy is caught."
She gave in, nodding her acceptance, gazing up at him as if she were memorizing his face.
"Say it," he insisted.
"I promise."
"I promise, too," he said then glanced at his watch. "Damn, I gotta go."
He turned, focusing on Luke and Syd as if for the first time. "Hey, Uncle Lucky. Drive Tasha home."
It was, without a doubt, a direct order. Luke saluted. "Yes, sir, Ensign King, sir."
Thomas's harshly featured face relaxed into a smile that made him look his age. "Sorry, Lieutenant," he said. "I meant, please drive Tasha home, sir. It's not safe right now for a young woman to ride all that distance alone."
Luke nodded. "Consider it done."
"Thank you, sir." The young man pointed his finger at Tasha. "I don't want to see you here again. At least not without Mia or Frisco."
And he was gone, lifting his hand in a farewell as he ran back to the rest of his class.
Luke cleared his throat. "Tash, you mind hanging for a minute? I've got—"
The girl had already moved down the beach, out of ear shot. She sat in the sand, arms around her knees, watching the SEAL candidates. Watching Thomas.
"I've got to finish this really important discussion I was having with my girlfriend," Luke finished, purely for Syd's benefit.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Not funny."
"Damn," he said with a smile. "I was hoping I could get you to squawk again. ‘I’m not his girlfriend,'" he imitated her badly.
"Also not funny."
His smile widened. "Yes, it is."
"No, it's—"
"Let's call it a healthy difference of opinions and let it go at that."
Syd closed her mouth and nodded. Fair enough.
He looked out over the glistening ocean, squinting slightly against the glare. "The reason I wanted you to see this, you know, BUD/S, was to give you a look at the teamwork that takes place in the SEAL units."
"I know you think I'm going to get in your way over the next few days or weeks," Syd started. "But—"
Luke cut her off. "I know you'll get in my way," he countered. "When was the last time you ran a seven-and-a-half minute mile?"
"Never, but—"
"The way I see it, we can make this work by utilizing your strengths and being completely honest about your weaknesses."
"But—" This time Syd cut her own self off. Did he say make this work?
"Here's what I think we should do," Luke said. He was completely serious. "I think we should put you to work doing what you do best. Investigative reporting. Research. I want you to be in charge of finding a pattern, finding something among the facts we know that will bring us closer to the rapist."
"But the police are already doing that."
"We need to do it, too." The breeze off the ocean stirred his already tousled hair. "There's got to be something they've missed, and I'm counting on you to find it. I know you will, because I know how badly you want to catch this guy." He gazed back at the ocean. "You, uh, kind of gave that away in Lana Quinn's office."
"Oh," Syd said. "God." What else had she said or done? She couldn't bring herself to ask.
"We're both on the same page, Syd," Luke said quietly, intensely. "I really want to catch this guy, too. And I'm willing to have you on my team, but only if you're willing to be a team player. That means you contribute by using your strengths—your brain and your ability to research. And you contribute equally by sitting back and letting the rest of us handle the physical stuff. You stay out of danger. We get a lead, you stay back at the base or in the equipment van. No arguments. You haven't trained for combat, you haven't done enough PT to keep up, and I won't have you endanger the rest of the team or yourself."
"I'm not that out of shape," she protested.
"You want to prove it?" he countered. "If you can run four miles in thirty minutes while wearing boots, and complete the BUD/S obstacle course in ten minutes—"
"Okay," she said. "Good point. Not in this lifetime. I'll stay in the van."
"Last but not least," he said, still earnestly, "I'm in command. If you're part of this team, you need to remember that I'm the CO. When I give an order you say 'yes, sir.'"
"Yes, sir."
He smiled. "So are we in agreement?"
"Yes, sir."
"You obviously need to learn the difference between a question and an order."
Syd shook her head. "No," she said, "I don't."
* * *
"Okay," Syd asked, "it's ten against one. Do you
fight or flee?"
"Fight. Definitely fight." Petty Officer Rio Rosetti's Brooklyn accent came and went depending on who he was talking to, and right now it was one hundred percent there. When he was with Syd, he was one hundred percent tough guy.
Lucky stood outside his temporary office, eavesdropping as Lieutenant Michael Lee added his quiet opinion.
"Depends on who the ten are," Lee mused. "And what they're carrying. Ten of Japan's elite commandos—I might choose the old 'live to fight another day' rule and run."
"What I want to know," Ensign Thomas King's rich voice chimed in, "is what I'm doing in a ten-to-one situation without the rest of my SEAL team."
Syd fit right in. For the past two days, she and Lucky and Bobby had been working around the clock, trying to find something that the police might've missed. Syd worked with the information they had on the victims, and Bobby and Lucky went through file after file of personnel records, looking for anything that connected any of the officers and enlisted men currently stationed in Coronado to any hint of a sex crime.
Admiral Stonegate's handpicked trio of SEAL candidates spent their off hours helping. They were a solid group— good, reliable men, despite their connection to Admiral Stonehead.
And after only two days, Syd was best friends with all three of them. And Bobby, too.
She laughed, she smiled, she joked, she fumed at the computers. It was only with Lucky that she was strictly business. All "yes, sir," and "no, sir," and that too-polite, slightly forced smile, even when they were alone and still working at oh-one-hundred....
Lucky had managed to negotiate a truce with her. They had a definite understanding, but he couldn't help but wish he could've gone with the girlfriend alliance scenario. Yes, it would've been messy further down the road, but it would have been much more fun.
Especially since he still hadn't been able to stop thinking about that kiss.
"Here's another 'what if situation for you," Lucky heard Syd say. "You're a woman—"
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