by Rachel Hanna
Defender
Navy SEALs Romance Series
Rachel Hanna
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
Copyright
Chapter 1
“Good afternoon, I’m Lieutenant Commander Thompson. I’m here to see Captain McCormick,” the officer said brusquely, handing a file folder to the secretary. The older woman took the folder, found the document she needed, then smiled.
“Yes, ma’am, if you’ll have a seat I’ll let the Captain know you’re here.” She pushed back from her desk and disappeared behind a mahogany door, leaving the officer to look around briefly before settling in a padded leather arm chair by the window.
Thompson leaned back in the chair hesitantly, unsure of where to rest her arms. She finally lowered her elbows to the arm rests, then looked out the window at the large grassy parade field. After two years’ service aboard the sardine-like conditions of a nuclear submarine, it still felt unnerving to be in such a wide-open space as the plush offices of the Naval Post-Graduate School, nestled in the postcard-scene of California. There was so much daylight, something she wasn’t used to lately.
“Lieutenant Commander? The Captain is ready to see you,” the secretary said, emerging from the inner office and holding the door open. Thompson rose to her feet immediately and nodded formally, then entered the office.
“Captain,” she began, straightening her spine and saluting. The older officer rose and returned her salute, then motioned her to a chair across from his desk as he sat back down.
“So good to see you again, Thompson! It’s nice to see you’ve lost some of that wide-eyed puppy look you had when you first entered the Academy,” he teased.
“Yes, sir. Two years on a sub will do that to even the most naïve young cadet,” she answered, returning his smile thinly. She cast a quick glance around his office, not surprised to see that very little had changed since she’d finished school there.
“Well, Thompson, when I heard you had put in for an assignment Stateside, I have to say I was rather surprised. It’s awfully early in your career to want to get off a boat.”
Ship, she automatically corrected him in her head. She nodded thoughtfully.
“Yes sir, I’m aware. But I’ve had some family matters come up and just felt like I’d like to be a little closer to home. My last assignment was truly a dream job—”
“I bet it was! It’s been a long time since I’ve traveled under the North Pole,” Captain McCormick said, smirking a little.
“Yes sir. It was absolutely fascinating, and really put my skills to the test. But as I stated, there are family matters—”
“You’re not pregnant, are you?” he accused, cutting her off again. She sat stark still, stunned into silence by his blunt question, before shaking her head. She felt a familiar anger rise in her, but years of training had also prepared her to squash it down deep when a high-ranking superior officer was the one being an ass.
“No sir. My father is dying,” Thompson blurted out coldly. She stared Captain McCormick in the eye without blinking, without showing any emotion. He would be the one to realize his own idiotic behavior, as she would never point it out, at least not in words.
“Oh god, Commander, I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking, I guess I just get so many promising female students through these doors, all of them worrying about getting married and starting a family… I just wasn’t thinking… how is your dad? God, I feel awful!”
“He’s doing well under the circumstances, thank you. But it’s getting worse. When my mother finally had to put him in a nursing home, I didn’t feel bad leaving. He didn’t recognize us anymore, and my mother finally had some small measure of freedom now that she wasn’t looking after him every day. Now, he’s not able to feed himself or take himself to the restroom…” She waited while the officer winced. “…and his doctor feels like it’s a matter of time before we lose him. I don’t need to be on the other side of the world and half a mile deep when she’s left to plan a funeral. I’m in this for the long haul, there will be plenty of time to pick up another deployment after this situation is… settled.”
“No, no, of course. I totally understand. I’m just ashamed to admit I assumed it had something to do with having a personal life, so I didn’t dig very deeply for re-assignment options when you contacted me,” he explained, picking up a folder and shuffling some papers. “I can look for something a little closer to your parents’ place, they’re still in Colorado, right?”
“Anywhere stateside is perfectly fine, I’m just grateful for the opportunity and for your effort,” she replied stiffly.
“Well, get your feet wet in this assignment and then see if you don’t come to me for a new post,” the Captain said wryly, tossing the folder gently in her direction. “You’ll be assigned to the ship but your office will be in the downtown.”
Thompson eyed the contents of the folder and nodded appreciatively. “Forgive my confusion, but this doesn’t seem like a ‘punishment’ assignment. It looks pretty intriguing, actually.”
“That’s because you haven’t seen your actual duties,” he answered with an apologetic sigh. “You’re not gonna like it any more than your team will. Read through your orders there and you’ll understand why. Like I said, call me when you’ve had enough and I’ll see about getting you a transfer.”
He stood and so did the junior officer, and as she turned to leave he called out, “And Commander, I really am sorry about your dad. It was an honor to serve with him, and it’s been an honor to help his daughter forge her own career with the Navy.”
Chapter 2
The sun beat down on the white sand, blinding the five men who stood in a circle a few yards away from the water’s edge. They shielded their eyes as they looked out towards the water, assessing the waves that crashed against the rocks.
“Okay, guys,” Knox called out, clapping his hands once and staring at them over the tops of his aviators, “you know the drill. Get the raft over the waves, past the breakers, ‘round the buoy, and back to shore. Get ready.”
The four men, all wearing tactical gear over their ripped, California-tanned frames, sidestepped until they stood in pairs instead of a cluster. They focused their energy and effort, waiting for the team leader to give the order.
“You sure you’re up for this, Jake?” Mike asked his partner under his breath.
“Why do you ask?” Jake demanded, but he already knew the answer. It had only been three weeks since he’d gotten injured on their last search and rescue mission. Besides still not being able to remember anything after his rope had given way, sending him crashing to the rocks beneath the rescue chopper, he had a little pain in his leg and the occasional dizzy spell. He’d just thought no one had noticed the times he’d had to put his hand out to steady himself until it passed.
“No reason, I guess.”
“If you’ve got something to say, now’s the time to say it,” Jake said accusingly.
Instead of answering, Mike was cut off by Knox’s signal. When Knox let out a loud howl, the four men raced towards the water, grabbing oversized rubber rafts along the way.
The rafts, usually carried by a team made up of six SEALs, floundered in the surf as each duo fought with the waves instead of against them. Their years of training and their countless mission hours had taught them to work smarter
by going with the elements instead of trying to conquer them.
Angel and Tanner were the first to get their raft past the harshest of the pounding waves, but Mike and Jake were barely a second behind them. They easily made up the lost time as they paddled away from the breakers, their effort working in perfect unison, unlike the struggle to communicate over the roar of the churning water and find a compatible rhythm that the pair beside them endured.
“Take it south,” Mike called out from his position behind Jake. Situated in the back post, Mike called the shots while Jake provided the additional power they needed to move against the current that still wanted to drag them back to shore.
Jake nodded and dug his paddle deeper into the surf, using it to push the water behind him. He twisted slightly where he knelt, trying to find a better position for his ankle. He hoped Mike didn’t notice, since he would be sure to hear about it later.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jake saw Angel and Tanner gaining on them. They’d found their working stroke and were gliding over the choppy water faster than before. Jake dug in deeper, calling back to Mike to get a move on.
The two rafts were nearly neck and neck as they raced towards the buoy. An errant wave would threaten to overturn one or the other of the small crafts every so often, but the men would maintain their position by keeping a low profile in the raft and powering through it.
“Push it, Ruiz!” Tanner called out to Angel, seated in the bow of their raft. “Get ready to angle around!”
Angel answered with a slight grunt as he dove the end of his paddle into the gray blue water, pushing it back behind him with as much force as he could.
The rafts jockeyed for position as they approached the channel marker buoy, each one trying to edge ahead of the other. Jake and Mike managed to pull forward as they reached it, but a wave knocked the other boat into theirs, trapping them momentarily up against the tall marine structure. That single lapse let Angel and Tanner move ahead of them, and the split second mistake meant watching their teammates’ backs all the way to shore.
“Fuck!” Jake called out when they hit the sand, his shoulders heaving with the effort of trying to catch his breath. “We had you guys, and you know it!”
“Yeah, but ‘had’ doesn’t get the job done!” Angel shot back jokingly, a rare grin lighting up his triumphant face. He hadn't had much to smile about since his mom’s recent car accident, but her steady recovery and a rekindled romance from his past were definitely putting him in a better mood lately.
“Don't start with him, Ruiz, that's one crybaby contest you won't win!” Tanner said, laughing as he clapped his partner on the shoulder. “Oh c’mon, Jake, it was just a joke!”
“I got your joke right here, buddy,” he answered angrily, flipping him off with both hands before turning to walk back to where Knox was waiting to evaluate them. He paused in front of the team leader, panting to catch his breath while he waited for the training results.
“Great effort, guys. No matter who hit the shore first, both teams set a new personal best. That's pretty good considering this level of surf.” Knox smiled briefly before looking grim. “But there were actually a few breaks in rescue safety that we have to talk about.”
He lectured them for a few minutes on maintaining visual at all times, keeping in communication range of the other team, even the need to keep a parallel path with the shoreline.
“Yeah, thanks for the rehash of the junior lifeguard course I took in eighth grade, Knox,” Jake grumbled, kicking at the sand impatiently.
“What's your deal?” Knox fired back, ripping off his sunglasses and glaring fiercely. He took a step towards Jake, almost as if he was challenging him. Jake didn't back down.
“My deal? Are you serious? How about you have us out here every damn morning at six am, training for some mission that's never gonna happen? We're off active duty, remember?”
“Dude, rein it in a little,” Mike muttered. “You know they can call us back up at any time, and we have to be ready.”
“Yeah, but it's not gonna happen. It's been months, and they still haven't told us what we did wrong or what they plan to do with our team!”
“Hey! We didn't do anything wrong. I don't know why they decide the things they do, but it had nothing to do with us!”
“Who is THEY?!” Jake roared, shoving back at Mike. Knox stepped between them, and Angel and Tanner each took hold of one of Jake’s arms.
“That's enough!” Knox shouted. “All of you, five miles. Now!”
“How is that fair? I'm the one who's losing my crap, not the other guys,” Jake shot back, but some of the fight had already gone out of him. Knox was chief that week; it was his show. It was his job to run the training and dole out punishment when it had to be done. That's what the five former SEALs had agreed on when they first formed SEArch&Rescue. There was no other way to run an equal company and still have someone calling the shots that would get the job done.
“One of you whines like a four-year-old, you all run. Maybe you'll grow up a little with your buddies having to run beside you.” Knox had already turned back to his clipboard to finish filling out the training evals. There was nothing left Jake to do but head off down the beach, following on the heels of the others who'd already started to run.
Jake took off after them, but purposely didn't work to keep up with them. The others were talking about some topic or other, he couldn't hear them well, but they seemed to be in good spirits despite the task. Maybe because they hadn't yet gone out for PT and Jake had, struggling as he was to get back into form after losing a week to his injury. He wasn't actually cleared to return to work, something he hadn't told the others yet. With summer here and tourists hitting the beaches of San Diego, he couldn't leave his crew to do all the work that S&R would face in the weeks ahead.
“Yo, Jake...thanks for the workout,” Ruiz called out when Jake caught up to him and passed him.
“You should be thanking me, the way your gut’s hanging over your belt,” he answered, but Ruiz--one of his oldest friends and long-time SEAL buddy--knew it was all in fun.
“I can't help it if I’ve got a girlfriend who cooks!”
Jake waved him off as he picked up speed. The last thing he needed was another reminder of how happy the other guys were. Not that Jake particularly minded being single, but he and Mike were the only ones in the bunch who weren't tied down. He didn't like it, and certainly not because he was jealous.
“They're getting soft,” Jake muttered under his breath. There was a time when the members of SEAL Team 11 wouldn't have given a second thought to dating or settling down. Their work was dangerous and unpredictable, and asking someone to sit by and keep the proverbial home fires burning while they went off to be heroes wasn't just unrealistic, it was downright cruel.
Now, though, with their active duty status looking less and less likely with every passing day, Knox, Tanner, and now even Ruiz had gone soft. They even double-dated or brought their girlfriends around when the guys were grilling out. It was typical for one of the girlfriends to stop by S&R headquarters from time to time, just to bring some lunch or because they were in that part of town. And not that Jake had a particular problem with any of them, he just didn't like what they stood for: going civilian, for good.
Chapter 3
“You boys have a good workout?” Madison asked when the team stumbled back into S&R’s beach house headquarters.
“Yeah, it was quite educational,” Knox answered in a pointed tone aimed at the team before turning back to her. “Thanks for manning the phones. I know it’s not exactly why we hired you.”
“No, don't apologize, I'm happy to do it,” she answered as Angel came around behind the desk and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. She smiled, but immediately wrinkled her nose.
“Sorry, sweetie, I'm headed to shower right now,” he explained with a goofy grin. He leaned down and whispered, “You're free to join me, you know.”
“Excuse me? I'm on duty, you know,�
�� she answered in a mock disgruntled way, “and besides, I think that's bordering on sexual harassment.”
“Oh, it would be very, very sexual,” Angel whispered again. He grinned and kissed her one more time before sauntering off to clean up, leaving Madison to stare after him and laugh to herself.
“I truly don't know what you see in him,” Tanner joked as he hung up his gear in the next room before coming back into the main office. “Any calls while we were out?”
“Not a one. It's been eerily quiet, although after last week, I can't even pretend to be sorry for the break.”
“I hear ya! That boat salvage last week was a tough one,” he answered, still shuddering at the “recovery” mission they’d been called to. A small boat had been tossed around in rough waves, only to be flipped over. The father had managed to get his wife and kids out, but hadn’t been able to save himself. S&R had been called to retrieve the family from where they clung to the sides of the boat, then to retrieve the man’s body so his family would be able to bury him and say goodbye.
“What’s with him?” Madison whispered when Jake stormed through the doorway and stomped past without so much as a word of greeting. Tanner shook his head.
“He’s having a tantrum ‘cause he lost the drill this morning. Well, that...and the fact that he really needs a woman.”
“Excuse me? Language, mister!” she answered, pretending to be insulted.
“I didn’t mean it like that. Jeez, Maddie!” Tanner said with an embarrassed laugh. “I meant it in the right way, the ‘settle down with a sweet girl’ kind of way.’ It’s been a long time for Jake...for all of us really, what with the job and all. And a night or two of companionship isn’t the same thing as meeting a girl you can really care about. Like Ruiz has done with you.”
Madison smiled, cocking her head in understanding. She smiled to herself before admitting, “But Angel and I actually dated years ago. We both had some growing up to do before we could find each other again.”