Code Name_War 0f Stones

by Natasza Waters

  Greg nodded, as did the rest of the team.

  Mace shrugged. “Look at us. We’re all getting long in the tooth. But being a SEAL after fifty years of age isn’t about our will to continue, it’s about nature. You can’t fight it. It’s harder to pass the physicals. We can’t beat a Frog in his prime. There’s always the few who break the mold, just as there will be women who do the same, but the fact is an aging guy and a woman face the same stumbling blocks.”

  The next ten minutes crawled by, then the planked door burst open and Stitch, a.k.a Caleb Stone, stepped into the room wearing surgery scrubs as if he’d dropped everything, including someone’s kidney, and came.

  “Where the fuck is my nephew, Ghost?”

  It only took a couple minutes to explain the history between him and General Northcott. Thane left out the part about his private meeting with President Footling. Putting the pieces together, he believed Sloane had been inadvertently dragged into the exercise.

  Tinman paced behind the couch. “You think Northcott’s geared an exercise to prove women don’t belong in combat?” He paused. “The guy has to be insane.”

  “Sloane was terrified when she screamed for my help.” Thane’s heart clenched, wanting to move out and find her, but he knew they had to have some kind of plan or like any mission, they’d fail. “Admiral Paulson is going to give me the details we need.”

  “Ghost, you have contacts up the ass. Why don’t you call them? Put a stop to this exercise,” Mace asked, sitting on the couch between Fox and Greg.

  “Because he won’t and I don’t want Northcott to know we’re coming. If I start asking questions, someone will give him a heads-up. We’ll find her.” He nodded. “And your nephew, Stitch.”

  “You trust Paulson?” Mace asked.

  “I do. If he knows what’s happening, he’ll tell me enough that I can figure out the rest.” He paused. “Whether he wants to or not.”

  The harsh lines creasing Stitch’s aging features were a mixture of determination and worry. “Ghost, it would take fifty guys to drag Damon away from Sloane. Besides, he’s one helluva good man, he’s got years of missions under his belt. He’ll keep her safe until we find them.”

  Thane hoped like hell he did, but Damon was also the man responsible for dragging his daughter into this mess.

  Stitch shifted the glasses up his nose accompanied by a rueful grin. “You don’t have to say it out loud, Ghost. We fought together too long for me not to see it. I can read the accusation on your face.”

  Guilt crested and he shook his head. “Stone couldn’t see this coming. Not his fault.”

  Kayla thrust the door open and stepped into the room. “Paulson’s on the golf course. I just spoke with Madeline. He’s due home in a couple hours.”

  “Which course?” Thane asked.

  “Coronado Municipal.” Kayla gripped the back of the couch, seemingly to ground herself. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on, or leave me in the dark about my daughter?”

  Thane cleared his throat roughly. “Men, I’m going to the course. Gear up. Rendezvous back here in forty-five minutes.” He didn’t have to say anything more. The team knew where they were going. They didn’t need an instruction booklet on what they would need. He waited until all but Adam, Kayla and he were left in the room.

  His wife waited not so patiently for him to explain. The chances of him leaving the four clapboard walls without giving Kayla what she wanted were pretty much nil. “Sloane is on an exercise spearheaded by the CIA.” She nodded for him to carry on. “We’re going to Palomar Mountain to find her.”

  “Because?”

  “She asked for some help on the phone.”

  “Thane!”

  He raised his hand seeing Kayla quickly losing her patience. “Before I retired, General Northcott had voiced his opposition to women in combat. After I left, he looked for support and obviously found it.”

  Kayla listened, her mind working with the details he’d given her. “Am I to assume that this exercise is geared to test the abilities of women?”

  He nodded. “I believe so, but it’s more than likely unreachable limits.”

  “Is she in danger?”

  He maneuvered around the couch and wrapped his arms around Kayla’s waist. Twenty-six years had swept by since the day he’d returned from a mission to find her standing in the shadows of Base Command. She’d rocked his world. Sent him hurtling back to humanity to crash land at her feet. So delicate in stature compared to him, but not a day passed that she didn’t excite or surprise him. No other woman could have given him the life he didn’t deserve, but never took for granted, once he’d convinced her they were meant to be together. He wanted more—many, many more years with Kayla, and to watch Adam and Sloane find their way.

  As a SEAL, he’d swam to great depths, but no dive ever compared to the depth of his devotion to the woman he now held in his arms. “Our daughter needs our help. That’s why we’re going to find her and bring her home to you.”

  As always, Kayla did something that surprised him. “Adam, come here,” she beckoned with her arm. She gripped her son’s hand and then Thane’s. “Go with your father. Bring your sister home…and your dad.”

  Adam leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Then a shit-eating grin tore across his face when he looked at Thane and said, “You heard the boss.”

  Thane shook his head and chuckled, leaning to plant a slow, delicious kiss on his wife’s lips. Her slender arms wrapped around his neck and he clutched her against his chest, the thrill of her soft body never tarnished over the years. “I love you, Snow White.”

  She swept her nose against his. “You better remember that before you activate the SEAL button on your alpha ass.”

  Adam busted out laughing. “Good one, Mom.”

  Thane twirled his wife and swatted her butt, then hooked an arm around his son’s neck. “Let’s go find your sister.” Thane pushed the door open

  Adam followed them outside. “Sloane’s probably got the General in a headlock, maybe it’s him we need to save, Dad.”

  Thane led the way back to the house, headed for the supply room downstairs where he kept a few tools of the trade in a locked metal cabinet for safe storage. The SEAL Cave was a weapon-free zone and for security reasons, he kept his gear in the house.

  “Hope you’re right, Adam, but Sloane was scared.”

  After Kayla headed into the living room to speak to the women, Adam asked, “What did she say?”

  “Palomar. Delta it’s for Romeo.” When Adam’s brow wrinkled, he explained. “It’s a code that Paulson and I used to use for exceptionally dangerous missions. Your sister knew what it meant.”

  Adam stopped in his tracks. The smile slipped from his expression. “How crazy is this son-of-a-bitch Northcott? I mean, how far do you think he’ll go to prove his point?”

  Instead of telling Adam the connection between Northcott and General Caufield, which would result in more questions, he said, “There’s no doubt he’s obsessed, but he’ll learn the meaning of deadly if he crossed the line and put Sloane and the others in danger.

  “How much shit are we asking for, getting involved where we’re not invited?”

  Thane tossed a pair of spare camo pants at his son, which he caught midair. “Not about the invitation, son. It’s about how we clear the table after we’ve served up a bowl of gone-to-shit-in-a-minute rice.”

  “Is that like a put-out-to-pasture SEAL saying?”

  Ramming the extra magazines in his chest pack, he paused to survey his son. “You think I can’t keep up?”

  Adam’s brows shot together. “No, sir. That’s not what I’m saying.”

  Thane’s eyes narrowed with suspicion as his son continued to gear-up. There was the “No, sir” that meant respect, and the “No, sir” coated with cocky attitude of a son that thought he knew it all, but hadn’t bitten into the fully loaded flak jacket of fucked up yet. Adam hadn’t experienced the type of mission that left burrs i
n your soul as you fought your way through the shit-storm of war. Eventually, his son would see the worst of humanity, where they handed out cruelty like goddamn lollipops from Hell.

  “You ready?” Thane asked, hooking the supply pack over his shoulder.

  “Never thought I’d run a mission with my Old Man.”

  Again with the senior citizen comment. “This isn’t a mission. We’re—going camping. Might do a little hunting and fishing along the way.”

  Adam nodded, his lips pursed. “Yeah, how big of a fish you gonna kill with that semi auto?”

  “Get in the fucking truck, son.”

  “Sure, Dad.”

  * * * *

  Adam hopped into the passenger seat of Uncle Patrick’s truck while Dad found the key on his chain and started the engine. He never imagined he’d have the opportunity to run a mission with his old man. Whether Dad played the name game calling it a fishing expedition, didn’t matter. They were going to get his sister out of whatever mess she was in. And doing it together.

  What he couldn’t figure out is why Lt. Stone hadn’t made a quick extraction with Sloane if she was in danger.

  “Adam,” Kels yelled, running down the sandstone pathway from the front door.

  “Can I have two mikes?” he asked.

  Dad tossed the truck into park and nodded, a half-smile crowning his features. “Make it count.”

  Adam pushed the truck door open. With one foot on the ground, he turned a look over his shoulder. “How the hell am I supposed to do that? Kels is scared of history repeating itself.”

  Gripping the wheel of his best friend’s truck, his dad said, “Your mother taught me that we can’t change the past. But we can look at the future with new eyes and an ounce of faith.”

  They came face to face near the flowering yucca at the edge of the driveway. For a second, Adam thought she might just turn tail and run back to the house without a word.

  Kels clutched her hands together, pressing them against her chest. “Don’t be a stupid jerk.”

  “What?” He gaped at her.

  “By the sound of it, Sloane’s in deep trouble. Don’t lose your head.”

  He crossed his arms and cocked a brow. Watching her spout off at him had the reverse effect of most women. As her irritability spiraled, so did his desire. He wrapped his hand around her delicate neck and leaned closer. “Why don’t you just tell me what you really want to say and what I need to hear?”

  She shifted uncomfortably, but her silver gaze snapped to his. “That you could have been anything you wanted to be, but you chose the most dangerous profession in the world. You think you’re invincible. And—I worry about you every single day. Follow Uncle Thane’s lead.”

  He nodded sharply and stepped back, giving himself a mental cuff at the same time. Why the hell did the flame for her continue to burn even though she kept kicking him in the proverbial nuts? “See ya later, Kelsey.”

  “Adam.”

  Goddammit to hell. She made him feel like he was ten-years-old again. Follow his dad’s lead? Did she really think he was that useless? He jumped back into the truck and slammed the door.

  “Adam.” She clutched the driver’s side door and stuck her head inside, ignoring Dad and looking every bit as frustrated as Adam felt.

  “We gotta go, Kels.” He stared out the front window, wishing his dad would take the hint and put the truck in reverse.

  Exasperated, Dad jerked his head to look at her. “For the love of God, tell him you love him so we can get the hell outta here. You kids are gonna be the fucking death of me.”

  The seconds ticked by.

  In a hard voice, he said, “Let’s go, Dad.”

  Adam shifted his priority to Sloane. He either pushed Kels to the back of his mind or he’d end up dwelling on her instead of his sister who needed him.

  Kels stepped away from the truck without taking his father’s advice and Dad threw his arm across the top of the seat, twisting to see out the rear window. He backed out of the driveway, hit the brake, powered the gearshift into drive and hit the gas pedal. The expression on his face morphed into one Adam hadn’t witnessed before—deadly.

  He’d heard all the stories about his famous father during Ghost’s days of active duty. Back in Little Creek, and during his first assignment with Team Two, Adam got twice the rough ride than the other newbs, just because he was the spawn of the great Admiral Ghost Austen. Adam worked hard to prove he wasn’t given a free pass anywhere along the way.

  Two and half years of training and finally assigned, he’d been on four missions. He hadn’t fucked up. The objective was always acquired. No one killed in action.

  He was a Special Operator, and if Kels couldn’t accept that, then she couldn’t accept him. If she wanted him to fall in love with someone else, then maybe he would.

  Fuck. How the hell had she snuck into his thoughts again!

  A few minutes later, Dad parked the truck at the municipal golf course and they ran across the parking lot jammed with cars on the Sunday afternoon. A young girl with thick, blonde hair standing behind the visitor’s counter watched them approach.

  “I’m Admiral Austen. I’m looking for Admiral Paulson. He had a tee time this afternoon.”

  The girl’s brows rose under her blunt-cut bangs, her big blue eyes straying to Adam. “Are you an admiral too?”

  He chuckled. “No, sweetheart, but we do need to talk to Admiral Paulson. It’s important.”

  She didn’t spare his dad a look, but flicked her lashes at Adam. “An emergency?”

  He nodded.

  “Like, national security reasons?”

  His dad thrummed his fingers on the countertop. “Reasons important to my family. What hole do you think he’d be on?”

  She smiled sweetly and then tapped the keyboard of her computer. “Admiral Paulson tee’d off at three o’clock.” She shrugged. “Maybe hole seven.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  She winked at Adam. “Need a cart? It’s a bit of a jog out there.”

  “Appreciate it.”

  “Through those doors. Collin’s on cart duty. Tell him you’ll be in and out under five. I’m Courtney, by the way.”

  “Thanks, sweetheart.”

  His dad cleared his throat as they headed for the glass doors leading to the tee-off area.

  Adam darted a look when he swung open the door to let his old man pass. “Catch more flies with honey than vinegar, Dad.”

  He laughed. “Don’t need honey, son. I’ve got your mother. She’s enough for me.”

  Collin barely gave them a wave of the hand when they offered Courtney’s message of being in and out in a few minutes. Adam hopped behind the wheel and his dad gripped the roof of the cart and swung into the passenger seat. Throwing the cart into gear, he headed toward the seventh hole.

  Dad hated golf, but Adam liked the challenge. Once he’d learned, he and Mom had spent a few afternoons on the greens.

  “How come you haven’t badgered me about Kels?” he asked. By his dad not mentioning anything after overhearing them at the BBQ and today, the waiting ate away at Adam.

  Dad gave him a long look across his shoulder. “What do you want me to say, use a condom? Little late for that, I’m sure.”

  “You said something to her, didn’t you?”

  His dad shrugged, then pointed. “Path goes that way, son.”

  “What?” With a quick correction, he shot to the left and rejoined the groomed path he’d veered from. “What did you tell her?”

  “Didn’t work, huh?”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because, since yesterday you’ve been moping around the house like the time your mom said you couldn’t have a Saint Bernard puppy.”

  He snorted. “Little bit of a difference between a puppy and Kels.”

  “Not really. Stop the cart. There he is.”

  They both strode across the trimmed course to the seventh green where Admiral Paulson concentrated on the hole ten
feet from where he stood.

  “Nate!” Dad called.

  Admiral Paulson broke his concentration and looked up. Adam could see him exhale and then nod to himself as if he knew what was coming. The way his father made a direct line for his old teammate, an RPG had a better chance of missing the target than his father.

  “Before you blow your short fuse, Ghost, I can tell you she has Lt. Damon Stone with her.”

  Dad didn’t allow much separation between his anger and Paulson. “Then why the fuck did my daughter just call me shouting for my help?”

  Tucking his club in the crook of his elbow, Paulson shrugged. “You’re mistaken.”

  “Am I?” he growled. “Who’s monitoring the exercise other than Northcott?”

  Paulson put up a hand as if that would settle Dad down. Bad mistake.

  “Ghost, it was shithouse luck Sloane was chosen, but the exercise was vetted before the final approval. It’s tough. I won’t lie about that, but it’s fair. With Stone as her partner, they’ll get through the physical challenges.

  “Where is she, exactly?”

  “Listen, if it makes you feel any better, I’ve been receiving daily briefs from Lt. Milstrom, a nurse assigned to the exercise.”

  The low chuckle that rolled from his dad’s throat would make most men shudder. “Nate, let me tell you something about my daughter. She’s as stubborn as me. If you throw a challenge in front of her, she will fight to the bitter end. So when she screams for my help and then the call is disconnected, you can be damn sure I’m going to find out what’s going on. And if Northcott has run off the rails, he’ll be taking residence in the cell his uncle evacuated two years ago.”

  Admiral Paulson sighed. “They’re on Palomar Mountain. Northcott didn’t want to use the S.E.R.E training facility. He’s using the east face of the mountain for the exercise.”