Saved by a SEAL (Hot SEALs Book 2)

by Cat Johnson

  The way things stood now, all he could do was pack up his shit and wait.

  His mind still spinning, Zane stood and followed Jon to the door. He wished he could call Missy’s parents. Reiterate to them the importance of keeping this a secret. Tell them plans were being made. That he’d do anything and everything to bring Missy home alive. But it would be dancing on the edge of compromising operational security by contacting them.

  A family he’d known since birth and he couldn’t call them at what had to be the darkest hour of their lives.

  Sometimes this life Zane lived could be really fucked up. If he made it through this hell and came out the other side, he was going to make some major changes across the board. He faced death too often to have regrets about how he’d lived.

  CHAPTER 16

  The ropes binding Missy’s wrists had long ago made her hands numb. That was probably a blessing since she was pretty sure she’d rubbed her skin raw trying to loosen them.

  The tent she and Diana were being kept in was too dark to see much of anything. All she knew was that she was alive and that the girls were being held elsewhere.

  The girls. She’d failed them. But what could any of them have done when the armed men rushed the school?

  They’d all been herded at gunpoint into the trucks like cattle. The men had driven for some distance before finally stopping.

  All Missy had seen as they were unloaded during a torrential rain was forest and more armed men. She and Diana had been thrown in one tent together. The girls were taken elsewhere. Missy hadn’t seen them since.

  She’d heard them though. Horrible, heartbreaking screams that made her want to scream herself to block out the sound. Diana had said if they were screaming, at least that meant that they were still alive. Missy didn’t want to think about what was being done to them to elicit the bloodcurdling screams.

  Bound and weak from days with no food and barely any water, there was nothing she could do to help anyway. So she listened, and prayed, and once in a while, when Diana was sleeping, she cried. And she vowed if the opportunity arose she’d get out of there, even if she died trying.

  She didn’t even have the knife Zane had chosen for her, never imagining she’d need to be armed for a physics exam. The men hadn’t searched her. If she had the knife on her, in her pants pocket, she could cut her own ropes, free Diana and . . . then what?

  Escape into the forest and look for help?

  How far were they from anyone who wasn’t part of this group who’d kidnapped them? She had no idea. It didn’t matter anyway because she didn’t have the knife. It was back at the school in her room. It had hurt to look at it, a reminder of their one perfect day that had turned out to be not so perfect after all, so she’d stuck it away in a pocket of the bag they’d shopped for together.

  A girl’s scream cut through the night. Missy pulled in her knees and dropped her head between them. She knew it would be the first of many screams that would last for what felt like hours, though time was a concept she was losing her grip of.

  “We’re going to get out of here.”

  At the sound of Diana’s soft whisper, Missy lifted her head, wishing she shared Diana’s confidence. “How?”

  “I don’t know, but we will.”

  The question remained would it be before or after the men turned their attention to her and Diana?

  The screams continued. Missy dropped her head again and braced herself to endure them, embarrassed and ashamed that the sound bothered her when she knew the girl making it was going through unimaginable horrors.

  The screams stopped abruptly, ominously cut off completely. The sudden silence had Missy lifting her head. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know.”

  A burst of machinegun fire had Missy’s heart rate speeding. In the countless days since they’d been taken, this was the first time she’d heard gunfire. “What are they shooting at?”

  “Hopefully, they’re killing each other.”

  Missy understood what Diana meant. Dissent among the ranks might be a good thing. Then again, it could be very bad. Whoever had been in charge hadn’t bothered with Missy and Diana. A shift in power might change that.

  After the initial burst, there were no more sounds of machinegun fire. Missy barely breathed as she waited, straining to listen for anything that might give her a clue as to what was happening outside.

  The tent flap lifted and she stifled a scream as two shadowy figures pushed through, one after another. One broke off to the right, sweeping a large weapon in front of him, as the second broke off to the left, mirroring him exactly.

  The men who’d taken them were loud and sloppy. These men were dressed identically and moved with stealth and precision. Their motions were coordinated and smooth, practiced, and for the first time in days, Missy let herself hope.

  “Clear.” One man hissed the words and turned to guard the doorway.

  The second man came forward and kneeled in front of Missy and Diana. “Melissa Greenwood?”

  The fact he had a distinctly American voice and knew her name had Missy’s throat tightening as tears of relief clouded her eyes. “Yes.”

  He smiled beneath the grease paint smeared on his exposed skin. “Ms. Greenwood, my name is Jon and I know someone who’s going to be very happy to see you.”

  In seconds, he’d whipped out a knife like one she’d seen in the case when she’d been shopping with Zane. He cut her hands and feet free, and then turned to do the same for Diana.

  The moment the girl was free, she came to Missy’s side and hugged her. “I told you.”

  “You did.” Missy squeezed her back.

  By the door, the other man spoke low. “Alpha team confirming we have the package plus one. Repeat, we have located the package.”

  His words struck her as odd. The whole night had gotten surreal. “Am I the package?”

  With one hand beneath her arm, he lifted her into a standing position. As he smiled, his teeth glowed white compared to the camouflage paint covering his face. “Yes, ma’am. You are.”

  The tent flap opened again and a third figure pushed through. The man at the door swung his gun toward the man and then moved it to the side. “Good God almighty. Warn me when you’re fixin’ to come busting in.”

  “Sorry, Brody.”

  Missy recognized that voice. “Zane.”

  His gaze shot to where she stood, wobbly, but alive and whole, and that was all that mattered. That and the fact Zane and two men who she instinctively trusted were here to save her.

  Zane strode forward and gripped her by the shoulders. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes.” Her throat so tight with emotion, Missy’s response came out as a choked whisper.

  He stared at her for a few seconds, looking her up and down as if to assure himself she really was fine. “We’ll have the docs check you out when we get to Chad.”

  The man who had cut her free, Jon, was busy turning things over inside the tent, even checking beneath the two blankets they’d been allowed as their only comfort. He turned. “There’s nothing we need to bring back.”

  “We have to get out of here. There are so many men. They all have guns.” Missy did her best to picture the men she’d seen so she could estimate their number and warn Zane and his friends.

  “Don’t worry about that.” Zane dropped his hold on her and turned to the other two men. “The minute Bravo team has the girls loaded into those three trucks we’ve liberated from our hosts, we’re heading out.”

  “Have you found all the girls? There were twenty-four. Are they all right?” Diana asked.

  Zane glanced at Diana. “We found twenty-four.”

  Missy noted he didn’t answer Diana’s second question if they were all right. A cold chill ran down her spine. She wished he would hold her again, even if it was just his hands on her arms and not the hug she needed.

  The man Zane had called Brody touched his hand to his ear and then turned to Zane.


  “They’re ready.” Brody headed out the door first, slowly, carefully. He popped his head back in. “Clear.”

  “Let’s go.” Zane hooked his hand beneath Missy’s arm as Jon did the same to Diana.

  Missy hadn’t moved, or even stood in she didn’t know how long. Her muscles were stiff and weak and she felt lightheaded as Zane half led, half carried her outside. They sped into the dark night toward a caravan of trucks lined up in the center of camp.

  She tried to look around her as Zane dragged her toward the vehicle, his one hand on her, his other on the weapon slung around his shoulders by a strap. She couldn’t believe they could just drive away. That the men who’d held them would allow that.

  “Where are they? All the men?”

  Zane boosted her into the back of the truck. “There weren’t all that many.”

  Again he didn’t answer her question directly. He’d deflected her. She was beginning to see Zane could be a master at avoiding questions he didn’t want to answer. She had to wonder how many times he’d done that to her during their one day together. If her brain wasn’t spinning, she might have a hope of remembering their conversation better.

  No matter what Zane said about the number of men, Missy wasn’t convinced they were going to get away so easily.

  Expecting to see someone come after them in pursuit, she glanced past Zane as he climbed into the back of the truck with her. Even as the trucks pulled out of camp, taking a path through the woods one behind the other as tree branches whipped past them, she waited for a shout or a burst of gunfire.

  None came. Finally, after minutes and miles passed, she stopped watching behind them.

  Of course, danger could lie in front of them as well. She turned her gaze to Zane, standing up and facing forward in the bed of the truck, his gun braced on the roof. He wore strange goggles attached to his helmet that flipped down to cover his eyes, a vest and a backpack. Not to mention a knife strapped to his leg, and a small gun on his hip in addition to the larger one he held.

  Missy wouldn’t have recognized him if she hadn’t heard his voice, and after their initial conversation, he hadn’t spoken a word to her. He was cool to the point of being cold. His motions were disciplined. His attention never wavered as he surveyed the night around them, watching for danger. Protecting them all.

  This man she didn’t know at all. Which was the real Zane? The one she’d thought she knew or this one?

  The man watching what was happening behind the truck while Zane watched what was in front, glanced quickly at her. “You doing a’ight, Miss Greenwood?”

  She couldn’t see him in the dark but she recognized the southern drawl. It was Brody who’d guarded the entrance to the tent while Jon had freed them.

  “Yes.”

  Finally letting herself breathe as she squelched the fear that they’d be attacked, Missy looked around at who else was in the truck with her.

  In the dark, huddled together and silent except for one who was weeping softly, were six of the girls. Diana sat opposite Missy, her arm around one of the students. Missy tried to catch her friend’s eye, wanted to ask her without words if the girls were all right, but in the darkness it was too hard.

  Maybe it was better if she didn’t know. She dreaded seeing the girls in the daylight. Seeing what damage the men had inflicted.

  “How did you find us?” Missy asked, raising her voice so Brody could hear. Talking seemed to help and Brody seemed willing to talk, even if Zane no longer was.

  He angled his head to her even while watching the forest around them. “Leads from the locals. Drone surveillance. A damn good bit of luck.”

  That last part struck her as funny. Missy let out a laugh even as the tears started to flow. She covered her mouth with her hand to hold in the sobs. All that could have happened to her, all that had happened, it seemed to hit her all at once. Now that she might actually be safe, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

  “Missy.” The sound of Zane’s voice brought her head up.

  “I’m sorry.” A sob followed her apology.

  “Christ. Don’t apologize.” He reached down and pulled her by the arm. It would have been impossible to stand in the bouncing truck as it jolted along the rough road if he hadn’t tucked her in between him and the back window of the cab. “Listen to me. I need to do my job to get you out of here safely.”

  “I know.” Just the warmth of his hard body pressed against hers calmed her. She could handle this version of Zane if he continued to hold her like he was.

  “But after we get back . . .” He let the sentence trail off as he looked down at her.

  “After we get back?” She waited for him to finish.

  At this close distance she felt him draw in a deep breath. Zane mumbled a low curse before he leaned down and delivered one hard, fast kiss to her lips before he broke away. He took one more look at her and then returned his attention to the forest surrounding them.

  “Hey, now. I would have volunteered for that there duty if anybody had asked me.”

  “Shut up, Brody,” Zane yelled to the back of the truck.

  Missy saw Brody grin before he went back to watching the road behind them.

  CHAPTER 17

  A knock on the open door of the sunroom had Missy glancing up from her book. The warm afternoon sun had made her sleepy, but the man in the doorway had her pulse racing.

  “Zane.”

  “Hi, how are you feeling?” He moved across the room and sat on the ottoman opposite the sofa where she’d stretched out.

  “A million percent better.” Especially now that he was here.

  She’d barely seen him since the rescue. His team had whisked her and the girls to Chad where she was examined by doctors and interviewed by government officials. He had come to check on her before her father showed up and swooped her away. Zane had promised he’d see her when they were both home, but as the days passed she had begun to doubt his promise.

  “That’s good to hear.” He covered her hand with his.

  “Of course, my mother barely lets me do anything. I’m lucky she let me out of bed to come downstairs today.”

  He lifted one brow. “It has only been a few days since you’ve been home.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. Things move a little slower when you don’t have the presidential fleet of aircraft to whisk you home.” He grinned.

  “There was room. You should have come with us—”

  “I’m teasing you. We had some things we needed to take care of before we left. I actually just got back in the country today. I checked in at base and drove straight here.”

  That revelation erased all her prior doubts and had her falling for him all over again. “Thank you for coming.”

  “I wanted to see you.” He squeezed her fingers. “So, if we can convince your mother to let you out, do you want to go do something? Take a drive? Go out to dinner?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know.”

  “Are you not feeling up to it?”

  How could she tell him it was because the last time they’d gone out it hadn’t ended so well? Yes, they’d had a wonderful dinner, and even better sex, but that next morning—that had really sucked.

  Even a night spent with Zane couldn’t make up for the pain of having him brush her off the next day. She’d been through too much lately to be strong enough to handle that now. She’d survived Boko Haram, but she wasn’t sure she could survive being dumped by Zane Alexander again.

  “That’s not it. I feel fine.” She couldn’t hold his gaze.

  He reached out and lifted her head with one finger beneath her chin so she had to look at him. “Missy, what’s wrong?”

  Damn, she was as insecure as that thirteen year old with braces again. She forced herself to answer him honestly. “Us going out didn’t work out so well last time.”

  “I know. That won’t happen again. You have my word on it.”

  So that was h
ow he was going to play it. They’d go back to being friends. Having dinner, but no sex, that way he wouldn’t have to dump her on the phone the morning after.

  “Oh.”

  Zane shook his head. “You have the most uncanny ability of imbuing a single word with so much. Would you like to explain that oh? I’m a man. We’re a little slow when it comes to the art of understanding a woman.”

  She might as well be straight with him. What did she have to lose? “I’m not sure I can pretend it’s all right that we’re just friends after what happened between us that night at my boss’s house. Having dinner with you as a friend, and then knowing you’re going back to Virginia Beach or wherever you go to be with other women because you don’t want to be with me that way, it hurts.”

  It felt surprisingly good to get that all off her chest.

  “Missy, that’s not what I want.”

  She met his gaze. “What do you want?”

  He let out a short laugh. “Ironically, I want what I did everything I could to get away from before. I want you. Not just for a night. I want a real relationship with you. I want exactly what my father wanted me to do.”

  “Which you rebelled against. Just like you always did for as long as I’ve known you.”

  “Yes. I’m a fool.”

  “No. You’re just being you.” The rebellious bad boy she’d always loved.

  “Can you forgive me?”

  “For what?”

  “For being a coward and for running away rather than get close to you.”

  Again, his running away was typical Zane. How could she fault him now for behaving like the same man she’d always known him to be?

  “The moment you mentioned your father had suggested you call me I knew it was bound to be a problem. Zane, I’ve known you and your family for a very long time.”

  “Yes, you have.” He smiled. “You might be the one person in the world who understands me.”

  “I might be.” Missy liked that idea.

  “Are you really willing to forgive me for all my many faults?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”