SEALs of Honor: Dane

by Dale Mayer

  Now she had to wonder if anyone else had the same perspective on him or had the others seen him in a clearer light.

  Which would seriously suck and make her judge her own ability to discern character.

  “Where are we?” She looked around as it suddenly struck her how unlikely her position was. They were still in the house – or a house. As she hadn’t lost consciousness, she knew this wasn’t a new location but if this was part of the same house…nothing made sense.

  Then she got it. “Is this an underground tunnel?” she asked excitedly. “That’s awesome.”

  “It is a tunnel and it is awesome. I’ve used it for years. A great way to come and go and not let the lookouts above know what I’m doing.”

  “How long is it? Does it let out to a road or another house?” She knew she was supposed to be terrified but really…she wasn’t. Dane was coming after her. He’d have noticed by now that she was gone. It didn’t matter if Michaels had locked them in. That wouldn’t stop her SEAL. And he was hers. At least for the moment. And maybe now they could get to the bottom of this nightmare. Besides, this tunnel was wonderful. She reached out a hand to touch the stone wall and marveled at the texture. “It’s a magnificent job. I can’t imagine how old this is.”

  “I’m not sure how old it is. It was used to move Jews out of the hands of the Germans, but it existed long before that,” he said, keeping a close eye on her. She didn’t mind. He’d missed the paper trail she’d left and really he was waving the gun around with a loose grip. He’d killed his brother and was fully prepared to shoot her, but she didn’t get the feeling he was planning to kill her. Unless she caused trouble. But she wasn’t going to.

  At least not yet.

  *

  THERE WERE ONLY three steps then a long hallway opened up in front of Dane, round and cold, with a moistness in the air that bespoke of deep underground. He stopped and assessed the danger moving ahead. This wasn’t a hall but a tunnel. From the chipped marks on the rocks, it had been hand built. He raced into the darkness, his boots making a strong clipping sound creating an echo as he moved. Immediately he shifted to stealth mode and moved silently. And the echo stopped.

  They couldn’t be more than twenty minutes ahead of him. He caught sight of something tiny and white on the stone floor. Then another piece and another. Marielle was leaving a trail for him to follow.

  He watched the tiny trail of paper as he raced past. There was a larger one up ahead. He scooped it up as he moved but he never slowed his pace. He turned once to see Swede and Mason behind him. The paper was tissue. He sniffed. Marielle had one in her hands earlier. He smiled. Smart lady.

  He picked up the pace and before he took another twenty steps he came up against a blank wall. And knew it was another door. But now that he’d seen the craftsmanship and style, it only took him until Swede and Mason caught up to him to find the mechanism and open the door.

  To another tunnel?

  He frowned but moved into the newly opened space and realized that this was no longer the same tunnel but now they were in another house. As in the two houses were joined by an underground tunnel. Fascinating, but scary as hell. How far had this asshole taken Marielle? Surely they hadn’t had time to get too far.

  But now they were in a different house and that meant the likelihood of more people. Were the owners aware of the tunnel? Were they accomplices? Did Michaels own this house as well?

  He came to a single wooden door with a silver handle. The door was slightly ajar. He pulled it open slowly and peered around the other side. A big empty room. But tiny pieces of paper sprinkled the steps that wove upward against the left wall.

  Marielle.

  His heart racing, he ran up the stairs to another room. And voices.

  “I don’t care what you want me to do,” Marielle said, her voice exasperated. “I’m not interested.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you want. My employer wants you, damn it. Now turn around so I can tie your hands behind you.”

  Dane snuck up on the voices. Relief that she was still okay coursed through him, yet at the same time he wasn’t sure why she was being difficult. Then it was Marielle. She was a free spirit.

  The man’s voice turned ugly. “Now, or I’ll knock you out.”

  Instead of having the effect he wanted, Marielle laughed. “Then I’ll be useless. I’ve had so many head injuries I won’t likely survive another one.”

  “And you won’t have to,” Dane snapped. “Don’t move, asshole. Keep your hands where I can see them.” He quickly added, “Marielle get over here.”

  She tried to get out the way, but the gunman jumped her and held the gun to her head. Then laughed at Dane. “And now what?” He gave Dane a baleful look, shaking Marielle hard. “She’s leaving with me.”

  “No, I’m not,” Marielle cried. “I won’t. You’ll have to shoot me.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” the gunman cried. “I need you to go. The company wants you and what the company wants the company gets.”

  “I’m not leaving here,” she said calmly, staring at Dane. “I will not be a prisoner for the rest of my life.”

  “We’re all prisoners,” he cried. “To our bills, our bosses, our taxes, our families. You can’t run away.”

  “No and neither can you,” Dane said. “Dr. Michaels, I presume?”

  Michaels stared at him in shock…then started to rant his displeasure. “How could she have told you? She didn’t have time?”

  “She didn’t tell me, I figured it out,” Dane said, keeping an eye on the man who appeared to be losing the veneer holding him together. “I presume that’s a close relative in the morgue.”

  “His brother,” Marielle said. She tried to pull free. The gunman pressed the gun into her temple.

  Dane lined the gun up… “Let her go.”

  “No. I need her. I’m dead without her.”

  Dane understood but that was too damn bad. “You can’t have her.”

  “Why the fuck not?” Michaels looked close to tears. “Why do you want her?”

  Dane didn’t answer. “Put the gun down.”

  Silence.

  “I’m asking you to let me have her,” Michaels said calmly. Too calmly. “If you won’t, then neither of us will get her.”

  “No,” Dane yelled. The look on Michaels’ face was that of a man who’d hit the end of his rope. He had to make a fast decision. He lowered his weapon.

  Chapter 29

  “WHY DID YOU do that,” Marielle cried as Dane placed the gun on the floor. “Please don’t.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Marielle. I see you’ve finally met your match, haven’t you?” Michaels laughed. “Who’d have thought there would be someone in the world who’d sacrifice himself for you.”

  And that was exactly what he’d done. Marielle stared wordlessly at Dane, seeing the love in his eyes. The confidence. The knowledge.

  She’d trusted him all this time, how could she let him down now?

  “I know he would. He loves me,” she said quietly. “And I love him. And you will never live to see another day if you try to kidnap me.”

  Michaels laughed. “I’ve already got the upper hand here. And isn’t that so cute. Love is a lie. A stupid vision that society has gotten sucked into. But it’s nothing.”

  She patted his hand, her smile brightening as she gazed deep into Dane’s eyes. “Maybe and maybe you are missing a major piece of DNA that everyone else has. You can’t feel joy or love, the same as you can’t feel regret or remorse.” She lowered her voice. “That’s all right, I forgive you.”

  “What?” Michaels shook his head and tried to drag her backwards, his gaze shocked as he stared at her. “You’re fucking nuts.”

  “Am I?” She watched Dane crouch down on the floor, a message in his eyes as he lifted his jeans’ leg.

  And she remembered. She gave a slight nod, and with three fingers held out she counted down to two, then one. Then she sat down – hard.

  “Wha–�
�� Michaels was blown backwards as the bullet hit him high in the shoulder.

  The gun dropped harmlessly. Marielle dove for it, snatched it up, rolled over and pointed it at Michaels. Dane approached, holding his gun back up. Michaels swore profusely. “God damn it, Marielle, what did you do? I’m a dead man now. I’m dead, do you hear me?”

  “Having been through the loss once, I’m sure I can stand it,” she said, snarling. “After what you’ve put me through already and the future you were happy to convict me too?” She snorted. “I’m good with that.”

  “No, you don’t understand. They will kill me now.” He wavered on his feet, the shock and loss of blood making him weak. Staring at her, he fell to his knees. “I didn’t mean for you to get hurt? If you’d willingly been a part of this company, you’d have been fine.”

  Blood burbled out of his mouth and she realized he was more injured than she’d initially thought. She handed the gun to Dane and ran over to Michaels’ side “Easy. We’ll get you some help.”

  He looked at her. “Why?”

  “Because you’re hurt,” she cried out. “I was mad at you for what you did to me, but I don’t want you to die.”

  “It doesn’t matter. But you’ll need to get out of here fast. They are coming to pick you up. If I’m alive they’ll kill me. If I’m dead, they’ll assume you got away.”

  “Will they come after her again, if that happens?” Dane asked in a harsh tone.

  Michaels tried to answer. “Library. Bottom shelf. Journals of the company. Use them. Bring it down.” He collapsed to the ground, her hand bracing him as the blood pumped sluggishly at a steady rate. Something vital had been nicked. She watched the blood, wishing the medics would arrive faster. She held her hand over the wound but the blood slowly pumped between her fingers. “They take out all resistance before it can grow. Anyone and everything.” He gasped slowly.

  “Did they have a lab in Italy?” Dane asked, remembering the innocent man gunned down on the road after talking to Mason.

  Michaels nodded, whispered, “Not anymore.” He coughed once then again. “They buy, use the place for a few years then ditch it. They’ve already silenced everyone that had anything to do with the deal. They take out any one they believe is working against them.” This time when he coughed, he couldn’t stop and his weak body shook in pain.

  “Easy,” Marielle said, “Help is coming.”

  “Not in time,” Michaels groaned.

  “I’ll find the journals. We’ll bring them down,” she promised.

  “Good.” Michaels’ gaze shifted to Dane. “Is she right?”

  Dane frowned but crouched beside the dying man. “Right about what?”

  “Do you love her?”

  Marielle watched the start of surprise jolt through Dane. But he answered quickly, “Yes, I love her.”

  Really? Oh Lord. It was a hell of a time for this subject matter.

  “Good. Then protect her. She’s onto a brilliant idea. This won’t be the last time someone comes after her.”

  Dane leaned closer. “How do we keep her safe?”

  Michaels now leaned against Marielle, his breath harsh, strained, whispered, “It’s all in the journals. Find them. Use them. Keep her safe.” He took a long rattling breath…and died.

  In Marielle’s arms.

  Many hours later they stood outside the military airport in the cool air. They were going stateside. Finally. It had been a very long, hard day. There was a mess to clean up, but the Germans would take care of it. The journals were being taken to the joint task force that would work together to bring down the ones behind the scenes.

  Marielle stood outside the plane and stared up at the sky. Dane wasn’t here yet. He’d been in the last vehicle. She hoped the plane would wait for him but knew it wasn’t a guarantee.

  “Marielle, come inside.”

  She nodded and let Mason lead her to a seat at the front. Moments later she was buckled in with the engines warming up.

  So this was how it was going to end. No Dane. No Masters. No one had seen the cat since Michaels had taken her captive. Nothing to show for her week long holiday but the memories – both good and bad.

  Tired and immeasurably sad, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She refused to cry. The damn tears could wait until she got home. That was when she’d let it all pour out. Not until then. But saying so didn’t make it so. She sniffled and wiped her eyes. Damn it. That big lug had better look her up when they made it home.

  Without warning, the plane door opened suddenly and Dane raced in.

  She stared at him in shocked surprise then delight as he placed one very familiar cat carrier on her lap. One very large tomcat stared at her and said, “Meow.”

  “Masters!” she wrapped her arms around the carrier and hugged it. She laughed, but tears of happiness leaked through. “I thought I’d lost you this time.”

  “We finally got clearance based on the reading of the will the first time,” Dane said from beside her. “But I had a devil of a time catching him. He didn’t like all the strangers in the house.”

  “That’s all right. I didn’t either.” She reached over and grasped his arm. “Thank you,” she said warmly. “I’m so happy you found him.”

  He nodded, stared at her and opened his mouth as if to say something then snapped his jaw closed.

  “What?” she asked curiously.

  “Did you mean it?”

  She frowned. “Mean what?”

  “What you said back there?”

  “Ah that.” She grinned and realized what the hell, after all they’d been through, she might as well be honest. Besides, it was the only way she knew to be. “Absolutely.”

  A light grew deep in his eyes. He leaned closer. His breath was warm on her cheek, the tender look in his eyes melting her heart. “We haven’t known each other for long.”

  “Long enough for me to know all I need to know about you,” she whispered. “Unless you need more time.”

  “Oh I do. I need all the time in the world – with you.”

  And he kissed her. In the back of the plane someone yelled, “Finally.”

  “About time.”

  “Yay.”

  “Go, Dane.”

  She chuckled. She was fine with that. They were her family now too. And families did things like this.

  As long as she had Dane. It was all good.

  “Does that mean we can go home now?” she whispered after he lifted his head.

  “Oh yeah. Home, a hot shower, good food and a big bed just for the two of us.”

  She grinned. “Sounds perfect.” The plane finished taxiing at that moment and lifted into the air. “I can’t wait.”

  The future was ahead of them. And it was damn near perfect.

  This concludes Book 3 of SEALs of Honor: Dane.

  Book 4 is available here.

  Swede: SEALs of Honor, Book 4

  Buy this book at Amazon.

  SEALs of Honor Series

  Mason: SEALs of Honor, Book 1

  Hawk: SEALs of Honor, Book 2

  Dane: SEALs of Honor, Book 3

  Swede: SEALs of Honor, Book 4

  Shadow: SEALs of Honor, Book 5

  Cooper: SEALs of Honor, Book 6

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for reading Dane: SEALs of Honor, Book 3! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment and leave a short review here.

  Dear reader,

  I love to hear from readers, and you can contact me at my website: www.dalemayer.com or at my Facebook author page. To be informed of new releases and special offers, sign up for my newsletter. And if you are interested in joining my street team, here is the Facebook sign up page.

  Cheers,

  Dale Mayer

  Touched by Death

  Adult RS/thriller

  Get this book at Amazon.

  Death had touched anthropologist Jade Hansen in Haiti once before, costing her an unborn child and perhaps her very sanity.

>   A year later, determined to face her own issues, she returns to Haiti with a mortuary team to recover the bodies of an American family from a mass grave. Visiting his brother after the quake, independent contractor Dane Carter puts his life on hold to help the sleepy town of Jacmel rebuild. But he finds it hard to like his brother’s pregnant wife or her family. He wants to go home, until he meets Jade – and realizes what’s missing in his own life. When the mortuary team begins work, it’s as if malevolence has been released from the earth. Instead of laying her ghosts to rest, Jade finds herself confronting death and terror again.

  And the man who unexpectedly awakens her heart – is right in the middle of it all.

  By Death Series

  Touched by Death – Part 1 – FREE

  Touched by Death – Part 2

  Touched by Death – Parts 1&2

  Haunted by Death

  Chilled by Death

  Vampire in Denial

  This is book 1 of the Family Blood Ties Saga

  Get this book at Amazon.

  Blood doesn’t just make her who she is…it also makes her what she is.

  Like being a sixteen-year-old vampire isn’t hard enough, Tessa’s throwback human genes make her an outcast among her relatives. But try as she might, she can’t get a handle on the vampire lifestyle and all the…blood.

  Turning her back on the vamp world, she embraces the human teenage lifestyle—high school, peer pressure and finding a boyfriend. Jared manages to stir something in her blood. He’s smart and fun and oh, so cute. But Tessa’s dream of a having the perfect boyfriend turns into a nightmare when vampires attack the movie theatre and kidnap her date.

  Once again, Tessa finds herself torn between the human world and the vampire one. Will blood own out? Can she make peace with who she is as well as what?

  Warning: This book ends with a cliffhanger! Book 2 picks up where this book ends.