SEAL's Revenge (Alpha SEALs Coronado Book 4)

by Makenna Jameison

  They said their goodbyes, and Ethan was already calling his teammates. Kim worriedly paced the kitchen. What if it wasn’t a coincidence, and someone came after her parents or sister? What if they somehow tracked her out here, and she put Hailey or Ethan in danger?

  All of it seemed absurd, but her face had been splashed across every newspaper. No one had bothered her out here in California, but that was partly because no one expected her to be here. Her own mother had said the media had been contacting them before their plane even landed at Andrews.

  Blowing out a sigh, she worriedly looked at Ethan as he got off the phone.

  “Hey, are you okay? You look pale,” he said as he crossed the room to her.

  “I’m scared,” she admitted.

  “I talked to Jackson. I didn’t want to tell you this earlier, but he requested photo identification of all the Afghanis working at Bagram earlier this week.”

  “What? Why?” Realization slowly dawned on her. “Wait—because of what I saw, right? The guy missing part of his ear? You guys think he was there?”

  “We’re going to review the photos as a precaution,” Ethan said. “Honestly? I don’t think he works on base. But we do need to look into it. I also want a better description of whoever broke into your apartment.”

  “It has to be a coincidence. Say that guy really did work in Bagram—it’s not like he could fly across an ocean to look for me. Besides, what would be the point?”

  “Money. Information. Revenge. The men who kidnapped you released videos of you and demanded a ransom from the U.S. government. We rescued you, and they never received a dime.”

  “Ethan—no offense, but that’s insane. How would he even get into the country? And flying across an ocean just to target me? It would be much easier to attack someone stationed over there.”

  “It would,” he agreed. “And I don’t think he’d fly halfway around the world unless he was coming here anyway.”

  “I’m sure he was Afghani,” she said.

  Ethan pressed his lips together, nodding. “I don’t like how long the investigation is taking,” he said. “Kim, you were kidnapped over two months ago. They should’ve been on top of everything then. They should’ve had names, suspects—everything. Damn it. I wish I didn’t have to go into work, but maybe I can find out more info there. Hopefully Jackson will get access to the photos soon. Our CO had to put in a request for us to receive them. You’ll be at the house all day, right?”

  “Yeah. Hailey’s coming over, remember?”

  He nodded, frowning. “Okay. Don’t open the doors or let anyone in. Aside from her.”

  “Ethan, come on. I’m a grown woman. I’m not going to just invite some strangers into your home. No one knows I’m here anyway. My parents get calls from the media, but no one is calling your cell phone. There aren’t camera crews camped outside. I’m fine here.”

  “I know,” he assured her. “I just want to keep you safe.”

  “And I am safe,” she said. “Now go on. Get dressed and get ready.”

  He nodded but leaned down and kissed her, hard. Her hands flew to his chest, feeling the warm skin stretched across all that hard muscle. Ethan’s kiss was possessive and demanding, and she felt dizzy as he backed away. “I won’t let anyone hurt you,” he said gruffly. Then he turned and strode out of the kitchen, and Kim stood there a moment, dazed.

  She kind of loved Ethan’s protective side. He’d always been gentle with her, but that last kiss had been searing. He was claiming her as his.

  Kim trusted Ethan with her life, but could she really give him her heart as well?

  She heard drawers opening down the hallway in his bedroom and knew he was getting dressed. Crossing the kitchen, she closed the window she’d opened earlier. Kim was all the way on the other side of the country. She was thousands of miles from Afghanistan. Trouble certainly couldn’t follow her all the way here. She might’ve been in the wrong place before, but no one was unlucky enough to be targeted twice.

  Chapter 20

  Kim giggled later that afternoon as Hailey told her about when she’d first moved out to California. She’d been stressed all morning about the break-in at her apartment, but after speaking with the police detective from Virginia, she knew there was nothing she could do but wait for more information. Everyone back home was aware of the media attention surrounding her case, and the detective seemed to think she’d been targeted because of it.

  The entire situation was unnerving, and once more, she was grateful that she’d flown out to California for the week. Although her mom hadn’t wanted her to leave mere days after returning, she’d been almost hysterical earlier knowing someone could’ve broken in when Kim was there.

  Kim glanced back over as Hailey finished talking. “No joke; I was so sick, that when Grayson walked into my hotel room, he took one look at me and brought me back to his place.”

  “Well, it seems to have worked out,” Kim teased. “You’re engaged; you’re pregnant. You might not have planned on an entire new life, but you got one. I’m happy for you.”

  “You seem pretty happy with Ethan,” Hailey said with a knowing smile. “I know you went through hell and just met him in Afghanistan, but it sounds like things were pretty intense.”

  “They were. I’ve never felt an instant connection like that before. Not with anyone. I know it probably sounds cliché, falling for the man that rescued me. I mean, there we were, literally running for our lives, but he made me feel safe. I couldn’t even see him in the dark, but it’s like I just knew I’d be okay with him.”

  “More than okay,” Hailey teased.

  Kim rolled her eyes. “Well, yeah, when I saw him the next morning, I realized he was smoking hot. I wasn’t even really thinking about it though. I was scared out of my mind. It was only what? Two, two and half weeks ago. Now, my entire life has changed.”

  “I can’t even tell you how terrified I was,” Hailey said. “Ask Grayson or any of the guys. And when they left to get you? I may only be a DOD employee, but I swear I wanted to be right there when they saved you.”

  “Apparently, I passed out on Ethan in the helicopter, which I don’t remember at all. They covered me with blankets and got me safely back to Bagram.”

  “They’re good guys,” Hailey said. “All of them.”

  Kim glanced down at her phone as it buzzed to see a text from Ethan.

  I won’t be able to come home early. We’re looking into a few leads on base.

  She frowned, wondering exactly what he meant. Did they find something in one of the photographs? Did he have intel she didn’t?

  Between talking to the police, her boss at the Pentagon, and her superior officer in the Army Reserves, her head was spinning. She’d been more grateful than ever that Hailey had planned to spend the afternoon with her.

  “Was that Ethan?” Hailey asked, nodding to her phone.

  “Yeah. They’re trying to run down some leads on base.”

  “Please be careful,” Hailey said seriously. “I thought my life was one hundred percent back to normal, and then the security officer in my office turned out to be dirty.”

  “Jesus,” Kim moaned. “How can we both have such God-awful luck?”

  “Seriously,” Hailey agreed. “Are you still flying home this weekend? You probably should stay with your parents if you are.”

  “No kidding,” Kim said with a sigh. “Ethan doesn’t want me to go of course. I do have one more week off, but I wanted to ease back into my old routine. Now that my apartment was broken into, I’m not sure what to do. I’m supposed to go back to work in a week, so it’s not like I can stay here forever.”

  “Why not?” Hailey joked.

  Kim huffed out a small laugh. “You sound like Ethan. He was even talking about transferring to Little Creek.”

  Hailey’s mouth dropped open. “He’d up and leave the team? Damn. That man must be crazy about you.”

  “He’s not crazy about me,” Kim protested.

 
“He is,” Hailey quickly interrupted. “Their team is everything to them. You know that—they’re so close, they’re like family. I swear those guys even know what the others are thinking. It’s almost scary in a way, but it does make me feel better when they’re out on missions. He wouldn’t just give that up if he wasn’t serious about you.”

  “Part of me wants to move out here,” Kim admitted. “I never considered it before, but now, after everything that happened? I want a real fresh start. I’d miss my sister and parents like crazy—”

  “That’s what Facetime is for,” Hailey interrupted.

  Kim’s heart pounded in her chest. “Ethan hasn’t specifically asked me to move in with him. I think his exact words were he ‘wouldn’t be opposed’ to me moving out here.”

  “Ouch,” Hailey said with a laugh. “But he also said he’d move to Little Creek for you. Actions speak louder than words.”

  “I guess,” Kim said with a shrug. “I wonder if Grayson will be late tonight, too, if they’re all busy tracking down leads.”

  “No problem—more girl time for us. We’ve got a couple of hours. Let’s binge-watch some shows and then maybe we can all have dinner together later on.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” Kim said with a grin.

  ***

  Ethan cursed as he paced back and forth in the bullpen. The team had been looking through photographs for the past several hours. They had pictures of all the Afghani interpreters who currently worked at Bagram Airfield as well as photos of the men who’d worked there the previous year. They’d even cross-checked the names, despite knowing security at Bagram had already thoroughly vetted them.

  None of the pictures matched the description Kim had given them, and worry churned in Ethan’s gut.

  Troy frowned beside him. “This seems like a dead end. I know Kim thought she saw the man who assaulted her there, but none of these men are missing part of an ear.”

  “How recently was he wounded?” Raptor asked, his gaze narrowing. “If it’s a new injury and these photos are old, they won’t help. We could be looking right at him and never know it. Did she mention any other distinguishing features?”

  Ethan shook his head no. “It was the first night she was kidnapped, and she woke up tied up in a goddamn tent. I don’t think she remembers much of anything. She didn’t even see him close-up after that. It sounds like some lower-level assholes were the ones interacting with her daily and moving her around to different camps.”

  “Fuck,” Grayson spat out. “It could be any of those bastards. And we still don’t know for sure if it relates to the break-in at her apartment.”

  “So what are we thinking?” Logan asked. “The guy possibly worked on base and kidnapped her? They’ve been investigating her kidnapping nonstop and came up empty. What are the chances he’d show up now that we found her?”

  “God damn it!” Ethan said, pounding his fist on the table. The men continued looking through the pictures, not a single one of them appearing anything other than irate. “She’s supposed to fly home in several days. How am I supposed to let her do that if she’s being targeted here? We don’t know who broke into her apartment. We don’t know if it’s related to Bagram, although the timing seems suspect.”

  “None of this makes sense,” Raptor said, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. “The Afghani interpreters are in Bagram. They wouldn’t fly to the U.S.” He glanced down at the photographs spread across the table.

  “What if it wasn’t an interpreter?” Ethan asked, freezing.

  “What do you mean?” Raptor asked, looking over to his teammate.

  “There was an informant. That’s how we got the intel on where Kim was located. They moved her around all the time. Almost daily. When the CO finally gave us word to move in, he said it was an informant that tipped the authorities off about her actual location.”

  The other men abruptly looked up. “Shit. The informant?” Logan asked. “Wasn’t he relocated to the States with his family for their safety?”

  “Fuck yeah, he was,” Ethan said, walking over to the table the men were all sitting around. “He was brought back to the States by his handler. I don’t even know who all was involved in it—State, the CIA. The hell if I know. All we cared about was the intel he gave us and getting the hostage. We rescued Kim and flew back. Mission accomplished. But what if he’s here, too?”

  “You think he’s playing dirty,” Troy mused. “He was part of her kidnapping and then helped us to rescue her with the tip?”

  “Why help us rescue her if he was only going to break into her apartment?” Ethan asked. “We don’t even know who that suspect was yet. The only description we’ve gotten was that it was a Middle Eastern man.”

  “It could make sense if he was double-crossed,” Raptor said, looking around at his teammates. “Maybe the other leaders ousted him. Or he spent all this time orchestrating the kidnapping and realized he’d never get a dime in ransom. We know the names of the other leaders in that terror cell, but this guy is a wildcard. What if he moved up the ranks and stayed hidden? He gave up the location, gets asylum here, and decides he still wants his money.”

  “So…what? He fed us information about her, moved to the States when she was rescued, and then broke into Kimberly’s apartment?” Logan asked. “He didn’t steal anything, just wanted to kidnap her again?”

  “Gentlemen,” Commander Slate Hutchinson said as he strode into the bullpen. He was in his early forties, and despite being older than the rest of the men, Ethan had no doubt he could hold his own in a battle. He was nothing but a wall of muscle, and his green eyes bore into Ethan as he stopped. “I assume Ms. Turner is still safe at your house?”

  Ethan nodded. “Affirmative, sir.”

  “Good. Although the police detectives in Virginia seem to think it was someone local to the DC area targeting her because of the massive media attention her case has received, I have my doubts.”

  “Sir?” Ethan asked.

  “The informant that tipped us off to Ms. Turner’s location was granted asylum here in the United States with his family. What’s concerning is that he hasn’t been seen in two days.”

  “He’s missing?” Jackson asked abruptly.

  “Holy shit,” Ethan muttered.

  “He is,” their CO said. “Although we were under the assumption that he was a lower-level operative in the terror cell, it appears that may not be the case.”

  Ethan exchanged a glance with Raptor. “Do you have a picture of this guy?”

  “I’m waiting on my contacts at State to send it over.”

  “It’s him,” Ethan said. He briefly updated their commander on what the men had just been discussing.

  “Do you think Kim’s in danger?” Jackson asked.

  “Her apartment was just broken into this morning,” their CO said. “He would’ve had to catch an early morning flight to be out here already, and that’s assuming he knew where she was.”

  “Hell. I don’t think anything in her apartment would’ve given that away,” Ethan said. “She was barely even there. After she was discharged from Walter Reed, she stayed with her parents. She might’ve picked up some things, but she barely spent any time in her own place.”

  “The real question is why would he tip us off then?” Logan asked. “He could’ve probably taken her off on his own somewhere.”

  “He wanted asylum.”

  “Then why still go after her?” Ethan asked. “He’s here. He made it to the U.S. If it’s the same guy, he got what he wanted.”

  “Maybe not,” their CO said. “If it is the man who kidnapped her, maybe he’s worried she can ID him.”

  “No, she doesn’t remember anything about that,” Ethan said. He paused a beat. “But she does remember the man who assaulted her.”

  “And there’s a damn good chance it’s the same asshole,” Raptor pointed out.

  “Jesus,” Ethan said, scrubbing a hand over his jaw again. “Whether he wants his identity to remain hidden or wan
ts his money, neither situation bodes well for Kim’s safety. I should get home. Nothing about this is sitting right with me. It doesn’t make sense, and she and Hailey are alone at my house.”

  “Go,” Commander Hutchinson said. “We’ll finish up here.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Ethan said, and he was already rushing out of the bullpen. The entire scenario seemed far-fetched, but he felt worry in his gut over the fact that Kim was there alone with Hailey. He shouldn’t have left her alone after hearing about the break-in that morning. He should never have left her unprotected in his house. Now the informant was missing, and she could still be in danger. He needed to get to her before it was too late.

  Chapter 21

  Kim stood up and stretched, smiling as she looked over at Hailey asleep on the sofa. After watching a couple of shows, they’d put on a chick flick. Her friend had fallen asleep during the first half of the movie, but in another hour or so, Ethan should be home. She walked into Ethan’s kitchen, grabbing a soda from the fridge. After going without caffeine for months, she was loving the ability to have coffee in the mornings and whatever she felt like later on. It was almost overwhelming being able to eat and drink what she wanted, when she wanted.

  She and Ethan had gone grocery shopping the other day, and she’d picked out a ridiculous amount of food considering she was here for only a week. Ethan had seemed pleased about it though, insisting on paying for everything. He was eating some of it too, of course, and she’d made them a few meals.

  It was different than what she’d grown accustomed to though, and she had to remember to go grab a snack when she was hungry.

  A knock on Ethan’s front door startled her, but she crossed the kitchen to see who it was. She’d met a couple of his neighbors, and everyone seemed friendly and had nothing but nice things to say about Ethan. She didn’t recognize the woman on the front porch but opened the door to see what she wanted.

  “I’m sorry,” the woman said. Kim stared at her a beat, confused, and then shrieked in surprise as a man jumped out of the bushes. She tried to slam the door, but he was too strong, forcing his way inside of Ethan’s house and grabbing her arm as she struggled against him.