Page 48 of Protecting Jess

Jess choked on the sip of champagne she’d just taken. “Kaley Simpson, what are you saying?” The last thing she expected to hear coming from her friend was that she was considering staying in San Diego.

“I’m just saying...what’s not to like about this place? There’s sun. There’s the beach. There’s—” she waved her hand around. “You know, plenty of eye candy.”

“Of the Navy SEAL variety?” Jess said wryly.

Kaley gave a negligent shrug. “This is just one option.”

An option that there was no way her bestie had considered until just the past few days. Had something happened between her and Oak?

The kiss they’d shared on the beach seemed pretty passionate, but then they’d also clashed a lot. Oak was just coming out of a relationship. Not that Jess knew how long Finn’s buddy had been seeing the girl who’d dumped him the night of their last show.

“Is there something going on with you and Oak?” she asked.

“Damn, I need another drink. Do you want one?” Kaley stood, clearly wanting to avoid the subject.

Jess would give her this moment, but she planned to find out exactly what was going on. “Sure, but I’ll just have a soda. Thanks.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

Her bestie bustled off and she picked up her phone, needing to ensure this morning’s email was still there, and she hadn’t imagined it.

There it was still, and this time Jess opened the contract attached and began to read through it. She hadn’t looked at it when she’d first opened the email. Her excitement at her promotion was all she’d been able to think about.

Something sharp pierced her skin. Sudden pain penetrated her shoulder and her flesh burned. She’d been so engrossed in the legalese, the footsteps in the background barely registered—until it was too late.

“Payback, bitch,” an angry voice whispered.

Jess clutched at her shoulder as she watched a figure running away. Confusion mingled with the pain, and it took her a few seconds to realize what had happened. Blood trickled down her hand. She lifted it to her line of vision, seeing thick red smeared across her fingers.

“Oh my God, Jess!” Kaley’s yell penetrated the daze she’d fallen into.

“I’ve been stabbed,” she managed to say before she passed out in the chair.

Finn slipped the transfer request he’d printed out into his backpack. Dread slammed into him. His heart rate picked up and he looked around the space he was in.

Kevlar and his team were gathered around Safe’s desk, chatting and laughing.

If there was something going down at the base, then surely, they wouldn’t be that relaxed, right? They’d be jumping into action.

Had something happened to his mom or dad? Or worse, Primmy?

Finn picked up on the sound of someone’s cellphone ringing, but he was focused on trying to determine what was causing this mounting trepidation ballooning in his belly. It didn’t register that it was his phone until Kevlar was standing in front of him.

“Hive, you going to get that?”

“What?”

“Your phone. It’s ringing.” The guy leaned down. “You okay, man?”

He shook his head in an attempt to disperse the fog clouding him and dug into his pocket. Finn didn’t recognize the number. Before he could hit the connect button, the ringing stopped.

All he had to do was go to his recent calls and hit the number to find out who was calling him, but, for the first time in his entire Navy career, he was frozen, unable to get his brain and body to connect and work together.

His phone started ringing again, and all of Kevlar’s team was standing around him.

Taking a deep breath, he connected the call. “Spelling here,” he said brusquely, surprised at how strong and in control his voice sounded.

“Finn? Oh my God. Jess. She’s… Oh God,” Kaley’s voice broke, and he caught the sound of sirens in the background.

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