Scratching his chin, he said, “There’s another option. I could do it alone or I could get one of my Teammates. Gerry just got home. He might be willing, in a couple of days, to help me out.”
She frowned. “I see the merits of having a Teammate help you, but you told me time was running out fast. Plus, you seem to remember more when we work together. You and me.”
“Yeah…” He looked away, staring out the door toward the ocean.
Standing up, she walked around the table and tugged his chair toward her to make room in his lap. Then she sat down and kissed him. “I’m a part of this journey. So, let’s do it. To think, when I first met you I thought we’d just be bed buddies and nothing more. No one can be prepared for everything, Jack. Just know I believe in you, and we’re burning daylight.”
“Thanks, Laurie. Means a lot to me.” He wrapped his arms tightly around her and squeezed. Then he ran his hand up her leg until he reached her thigh. “By the way, this is a night Op. We have a lot of light to burn.”
He stood up with her firmly in his arms. “Want to help me count your freckles?”
“Jack!” she squealed as he walked with her to the bed. “Again?”
“And again, and again…” Gently, he laid her down on the bed. His hands caressed her. “Thanks, Laurie.”
She nodded. Then slowly, she reached up a hand, cupped his head, and brought his lips to hers. “Love me, Jack. Love me like it’s our last day on earth.”
***
“Time is not my friend.” His words rattled around her brain like a bad song. Wearing a black sweatshirt, matte-black spandex leggings, and black ankle boots with a black silk scarf made her feel more like she was a heroine in some kind of low-budget spy movie than a girlfriend helping out her lover. “Why can’t I add a dash of color, again? Don’t answer that, it was a rhetorical question.” But the look on his face had been priceless as if she had asked why they couldn’t send out engraved invitations to everyone in the community about their supersecret event.
“Laurie…” That word said it all.
Even joking around hadn’t taken the seriousness out of it, yet she couldn’t stop trying. Humor was her mask; when she wore it, she was usually scared shitless!
Laughing, she replied, “Jack, I’m on board. One hundred percent. You know that. I trust you and the Op you have brewing in that SEAL brain of yours.”
An intense feeling flooded her body. The truth always did that, and she couldn’t remember ever trusting a man so fully, except perhaps Gich. “So, MacGyver, what do you have in mind?”
“Yeah, yeah, MacGyver. I like that. Just don’t call me that in bed. I prefer Red Jack.” He winked at her before he leaned over and kissed her. His lips were warm and soft, and she allowed herself to become lost in the kiss.
As they pulled apart, Jack took a deep breath, obviously regretful at ending the contact. Reaching behind her, he snagged a black band with a box-looking thing on it and fitted it around Laurie’s neck. Next he handed her a receiver. “Here, put this in your ear. This is a throat mike and receiver. It will allow us to communicate when we’re apart. Use it like this. Press here to send; release when you’re done, so you can receive.”
Jack reviewed the motions several times. She was grateful he was checking her out on the device so thoroughly. There was nothing worse than being in the field and not being able to handle equipment you were depending on. “You good?”
“Yes,” she replied before she carefully removed the receiver and mike and returned them to him for inclusion in their gear packs.
“Okay, babe, this is where I am putting the first-aid kit on your left hip. The satellite phone is located here—this flap will be easier for you to reach—so this is why it’s on your chest. An extra flashlight will be on your right hip. When you connect the straps across your waist, the access points will make sense. When I finish loading and strap you in, we’ll go through it again.”
“If I’m carrying all of this, what will be in your pack?”
He grabbed his pack and flipped open the top. Looking in, she was speechless. The man had brought cakes of explosive into her house. “Don’t look so shocked. There are no detonators.”
“Dude, I’m a woman. I can detonate my anger in about two seconds flat!” She teased.
***
Laurie clutched the edge of the black canvas, lighter-weight pack that Jack had assigned to her and tried to be excited about their upcoming trip. He had nixed the use of her favorite army-green backpack with its iron-on Brownie decal and sewn-on Girl Scout patches on the outside. Killjoy. She followed close behind as he hefted the abundant operating gear and headed for the water. As she walked onto the rocking dock toward the rubber inflatable boat (RIB for short, she knew), she couldn’t shake the nervous feeling. The night air nipped at her nose, making it drip. Without a tissue, she wiped her nose on her sleeve.
Jack steadied her.
“Slowly… and quietly,” he whispered as he helped her sit and become settled in the boat. Gripping the side of the control panel, she made herself as small and steady as possible and then felt Jack push the boat into the ocean with a lurch.
Her stomach moved with it and it surprised her how uncomfortable she felt. Maybe it was the fact that they were “sneaking” out to sea in a Navy boat.
Implementation is a bitch!
Jack paddled adeptly away from the dock. It seemed prudent to ask if they’d get in trouble for borrowing the craft. She’d lived with SEALs most of her life, and they had several unspoken mottoes they adhered to. “Apologize later… if necessary” was a common one, but “Don’t get caught” was rule number one.
Her father had been big on “Don’t ask permission, just do it now.” Of course, his alcoholism had always taken it too far. There were too many times that he’d borrowed things from the neighbors and had never returned them or returned them broken or damaged, including one time, crashing the neighbor’s car. She’d had to call Gich on that one.
Jack was different. More responsible than her father, Jack didn’t love a vice more than the people in his life. She was certain of it.
Laurie bit her lip, unable to turn her brain off. At least he wasn’t a psychopath who had a complete mental break with reality. Crazy snippets of television shows shuffled through her brain, followed by questions she could never imagine relating to Jack. Wasn’t this a perfect way to get rid of a lover? Take them to sea and dump them into the middle of the ocean. Did Jaws really live out here? Sharks twenty feet long had been sighted off the San Diego coast. Could one of them topple the boat? What other sins could the darkness hide besides drowning, death, and dismemberment?
The water looked black. If the RIB turned over in the water, it would be up to Jack to save her. She wouldn’t know which way to swim to reach the shore. An empty water bottle bounced around the RIB, threatening to fly over the side into the water. She watched it for a few seconds and then secured it under a strap.
The look on Jack’s face was pure excitement. He loved this. Get it together, Laurie. Enough drama. Just do your damned job!
Taking a deep breath, she stowed her uncertainty and gave him her best “I’m on board!” smile. He nodded at her and then went back to his compass and instruments.
The boat curved smoothly to the right, then the left, and back to the right again. Water splashed in her face, jarring her out of her musings. Thank you, God! I needed that!
She was grateful for the wet wake-up call as she wiped the salt water from her eyes and cheeks just in time to get another wet smack. Shifting her weight toward the center of the boat, she tried to avoid the next jolt of the RIB on the waves. She came to the conclusion that she was just destined to be wet and gave up as the next splashes of water soaked her shirt.
Jack didn’t take his eyes off the ocean as he maneuvered them through the waves. He was in his element, the captain of the sea, and the RIB was moving so swiftly that it didn’t look like he would slow down for King Neptune himself. This SEAL
was driven.
She stared at him, bathed in darkness and looking like some avenging angel. Her feelings were overwhelming. He was one very intense, seriously hot turn-on.
“Nice night.” She smiled at him.
“Oh, yeah.” His answering grin was pure sea wolf.
The inky darkness of the night sky seemed to swallow everything around them. The nighttime fog had already descended on the top of the water, and the clouds kept the moonlight and stars at bay. According to Papa Gich’s Bedtime Stories for Small Children, this was the perfect time for an Op.
A strange feeling came over her. Exhilaration. Excitement. Anticipation. She was living an experience that thousands could only dream of. It was amazing!
She leaned into the next wave as Jack sailed the RIB over it. The splash made her laugh out loud. He looked back at her and winked.
Yeah, this is great!
“Go faster,” she yelled.
He heard her and cranked up the speed. If anyone had seen them, they would have witnessed twin grins of pleasure.
Suddenly, he slowed. “We’re almost there. Hang on!” Jack spoke without taking his eyes off the upcoming landmass. The boat came to a crawl. She’d stopped holding on and tumbled forward, landing spread-eagled on the bottom of the boat.
Water had gathered on the bottom of the RIB, instantly soaking her clothes all the way down to her panties. She wasn’t a sissy girl by any means, though when her underwear got wet, that was a childhood signal that it was time to go home. Tough PJs! She was wearing big-girl panties, and they would dry.
The engine stopped. Carried forward on the momentum and by the motion of the waves, the RIB lifted up and down again and again until it connected with a lurch to the sandbar.
“Oh, good, you’re sitting. I was going to suggest you do that while I haul the RIB into shore.” One minute he was speaking softly against her ear and the next he had slipped over the side and was tugging the boat quietly up onto the sand.
Marveling at his expertise as he pulled the RIB in rhythm with the waves, she was mesmerized by the man. His efforts were pure genius—by using the tides coming into shore, he conserved his strength and minimized the noise. He was Hercules, bringing his maiden ashore.
Laurie grinned and stood up in the boat. As she started to step over the side onto the beach, Jack materialized by her side, molding his arms around her. His wet body soaked hers more thoroughly and she began to squirm. “Stop,” he whispered and then he kissed her.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him back, rubbing her body against his. The kiss turned hot and wild, and she felt her body aching for his.
A light shone down on the boat from a helicopter overhead, and then just as quickly, it moved away and disappeared.
He broke the kiss. “I was hoping for that. The timing was right on the dot.”
“What?” She was puzzled. “I don’t understand.”
“We took a Team boat, so if we were caught, any guards would think we’re here for some slap and tickle.” Jack grabbed her bag and gently took her elbow, guiding her toward the trees. He secured a rope to a tree, assuring the boat would not be pulled out to sea by the current, she supposed, and then he was assisting her up a makeshift path.
“Have you done this before?” asked Laurie, feeling a little suspicious.
“No. But I have inside Intel. Don did it all the time with Sheila. He shared a few secrets about this place.” Jack released her elbow, transferring his support by taking her hand. “Come on.”
Laurie was silent as they walked through the trees. Moonlight illuminated the path in patches. The eeriness made her heart race. Was this what it was like for Jack on a mission?
Her foot crushed a dead branch, making a loud snapping noise.
He whirled around and looked at her.
So much for being sneaky! I suck at this.
Jack, God bless him, didn’t seem fazed. Instead, he calmly guided her around the other noisemakers, showing her how to pick out the better path.
“Thanks,” she whispered after they were past the obstacles.
He smiled and then he grabbed her hand and pulled her gently and yet firmly up the path of soft dirt. The thicket of trees was suddenly past and they were out in the open as they climbed a hill.
Fat gray clouds obstructed the moonlight, leaving only an inky blackness. Clutching the strap of the backpack, she allowed him to pull her up the hill. When they reached the top, she was panting from the climb. Looming in the distance was a large shell of a building.
As they drew closer, she could see that it didn’t have any windows, and only a few doors. Nothing was around for miles except for a few trees. Her feet trampled spent brass—bullet casings—as they neared the building, and the smell of gunpowder and something else, crushed leaves and damp earth, made her nose wrinkle.
He dropped his own bag of gear on the ground and took out two dry T-shirts. He handed one to her and kept the other for himself. Stripping his wet one off, he put the dry one on. Pulling out a gun, he put it aside and put their wet shirts in a waterproof gear bag and then stuffed it into his pack.
Laurie stared at the gun. “Uh, Jack. I didn’t know you would be bringing a firearm.”
“My 9mm doesn’t have any bullets,” he said. “I need something familiar in my hand to ground me in realism.”
Nerves smacked her hard. “Show me that there are no bullets.”
He released the magazine and showed it to her, and then he drew back the slide and let her see into the empty chamber. When she seemed satisfied, he reinserted the magazine into the gun and released the slide back. For good measure, he clicked on the safety, though there was nothing in it. “I wouldn’t put you in that kind of position, Laurie. Trust me a little, okay?”
His comment rubbed her wrong. “Listen to me, Jack Roaker, if I didn’t trust you, you never would have gotten back into my bed or my life. Also, I would not be here right now. Got it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Your turn. Show me what you have in there.”
Oh, crap. She didn’t want him to know what was in there, to see the stuff she’d added. As he lifted his flashlight over her tie-down straps, she knew she’d have to come clean. Her fingers worked the knots until they opened. As she lifted the flap, she said, “Please don’t judge me.”
Jack peered inside and then started to laugh. He lifted out a roll of zebra-striped duct tape. “What’s this for?”
She grabbed it and stuffed it back into the bag. “In case I need to restrain you. There’s zip ties in there, too.”
He shook his head. “I think I get your drift, but those things won’t work on a SEAL.” Digging into his pack, he withdrew a small gun. “Laurie, do you know how to use one of these? It’s loaded with sedatives.”
“Yes.” Her father had collected revolvers, and as a child she had learned about gun safety. Every now and then she went to the shooting range, too, but she’d never been to a place where she might have to actually shoot at a real person instead of a paper target. Nervous energy crawled up her spine.
“I’d rather you didn’t use your pink Taurus .38 on me. That has real bullets, doesn’t it?” He quirked an eyebrow.
“Yeah, but it’s for wild animals. I didn’t know what to expect.” She shrugged.
“Well, don’t wave it around. This is Navy property, and I don’t want to see you get in trouble. Got it?” He pushed a sweater over her pink gun, and then tucked the gun loaded with sedatives into a small hidden pocket under her left arm. “All you have to do is reach, pull, and shoot.”
“I promise not to shoot you unless you’re out of your mind,” she said, nodding her head. But the teasing didn’t alleviate the seriousness of the moment.
“Where is the satellite phone?” he asked.
She pointed to her chest.
“Extra flashlight.”
She pointed to her right hip.
“First-aid kit.”
She looked at him cross-eyed and poin
ted to her left hip.
“Great.” He adjusted the camera that was secured to the front of her chest strap and then he tightened the waist strap. “Too tight? Too heavy?”
“I’m good to go.”
His kissed her. One brief soft touch and then he moved away, setting up a small hunting blind to shelter her and store their equipment. When he returned, she knew in her gut it was time to begin the mission.
The sky opened up in a cacophony of lightning and rain. It was mesmerizing and for a few minutes all she could do was stare at the sky-savaging flashes. Thunderous waves of energy echoed around her and the wind picked up, blowing trees and bushes around and swirling dust, dirt, and small debris into the air. She was glad to be tucked away, safe in a small hidey-hole far from the area where Jack was working.
Laurie filmed him as he laid out the C-4 and prepared the site, following his every action as he glided through the ground cover. He looked like the Shadow—or some kind of comic-book superhero—as he slid in and out of the darkness. As long as she faced him, the camera mounted on the front of her pack would capture everything he did.
Jack wired up the last of the explosives, made another obsessive safety check and, having confirmed that they were indeed alone, headed toward her. This had been one of the conditions of their plan, as they didn’t want any cannon fodder.
As he neared her—his Teammate—she could see he was wet. So much for having changed clothes. She sighed.
“Okay. We’re set. I picked this place because it’s a similar terrain to where the incident went down. Also, we practiced for the Sundial Op here.” He looked at her. “Any advice?”
Laurie considered it for a moment. “Let your senses lead you.”
“They always do. Ready?”
She took a deep breath, swallowed the last of her misgivings, looked Jack square in the eye, and nodded.
Boom! Boom! KA-BOOM!
On cue the thunderstorm played into the scene, adding nature’s light and symphonic displays to Jack’s man-made pyrotechnics. The concussive force of the explosions reached them, pressing on their faces and skin. It was followed by the smell of ether, earth, and the distinct odor of the canvas it had been stored in—all of this sensory data carried to them on the storm’s wind. Even the scent of ozone smacked her nostrils.
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