Page 5 of Carter's Battle

A group of women in bikinis strolled by. Maybe he could learn from one of the many gorgeous women that seemed to live on this island. That would make all of the inevitable falls less painful. His brain flicked to the woman from the bar, Mia. He wouldn’t mind having her teach him. Seeing her in a bikini would go a long way to curing any hurt that surfing might inflict.

He glanced at his watch. It wasn’t like Castle to be late. Especially not this late. A knot of worry that had been building since Castle had told them they were going to Hawai’i got a littlebigger.Damn. He hated all this. Hated suspecting that the other four members of the new team were dirty. Hated the fact that he and his best friends had been left hanging too many times for it to be coincidence, and hated the fact that he was pretty sure the other four team members, McCarthy, Hendrick, Jones, and Ferrero, had killed the men he and his teammates were brought in to replace.

His cell sounded and he answered before the first ring had finished. “Sir.”

“Nolan.” Castle’s voice was weary. “How’s Hawai’i?”

“Good, sir. The weather is awesome, the views are incredible, and the beer is ice cold.”

Castle snorted. “Does that mean you’re not getting any work done? I sent you there to run diagnostics on the radio system and other equipment on purpose.”

Carter replied. “We’re doing it, sir, although we both know it’s not the equipment. But we’re trying to enjoy the environment as well. No point in not doing it.”

“Fine. Just don’t enjoy it too much,” Castle warned. “If I get any calls about you guys misbehaving, it’s not going to help things on this end.”

“And how are things going on that end, sir?” Carter couldn’t stop himself from asking. There was a long pause and Carter’s gut tightened.

“It’s going. To be honest, Nolan, I’m not finding much. I’ve been over what happened to the former members of the team, and it was a shit show. But there’s nothing I can point to that says it was on purpose. My men were cut off from the others and got taken out by sniper fire. I can’t prove anything else.”

It was Carter’s turn to be silent. “Do you believe us, sir?” He didn’t want to ask because it made him feel like a stupid kid looking for reassurance, but he needed his CO to believe in him and his teammates…believe that they weren’t imagining things.Believe that four members of their own team were trying to kill them.

“I do, son. I might not have been able to find anything out of line about the others dying just yet, but I have managed to uncover a money trail. It’s small but it might lead to bigger. That’s all I’m going to tell you for now. You and the others need to be patient and run the diagnostics. I know the situation isn’t ideal, but this is how we have to handle this investigation. As soon as I have something solid, I’ll get back to you. Until then, test the equipment and stay out of trouble.” Castle hung up.

Carter sighed and slipped his phone back in his pocket as the surfer tried to catch another wave. This one broke oddly and the surfer got swept off his board and pulled under the waves. Carter knew just how he felt. He and his teammates had been broadsided by the unexpected. They were all trying to cope in their way, but it was damn hard. They were men of action. Sitting around and waiting for Castle to complete some kind of clandestine investigation sat like an over-weighted dive suit.

Lately, lots of things seemed to fall outside his three-foot world, the area that, as a SEAL, he could control. He’d put in his twenty years, and re-enlistment papers were in his near future. Carter never imagined he’d be the one to pull the plug. In his mind, the Navy would have to push him out the door. Or carry him out in a simple pine box. Recently, however, the signs pointed the way to knowing it might be time to go.

He wouldn’t leave his brothers, though. If they all re-upped, then he would as well. It was something they’d all have to discuss.

The surfer caught another big wave and rode it all the way to the shore. There was something about Hawai’i. Something that made it seem like he had a future outside of the military. Something that appealed to him in a big way.

His phone went off again and he pulled it out, glancing at the screen as he answered. “Quinn, what’s up?”

“We’re gonna meet at Ohana’s. You in?”

“Sure. What else do I have to do on a Friday night?” Carter straightened and then got into the Jeep.

“Okay. I’m on my way to grab a shower and then I’m gonna head over. See you there in about an hour or so.”

“Sounds good.” Carter clicked off the call and glanced at the setting sun. The surfer was walking across the sand, heading towards the parked cars. It was time for everyone to leave this beach. The dread lining his gut blossomed uncomfortably, and Carter just couldn’t shake it. If Castle didn’t find anything then they were going to have to go back out on missions with four assholes whom they all suspected. An unhappy occurrence that was way beyondnot good. Every mission was dangerous, but this FUBAR situation was truly fucked up beyond all reasoning. It fell under thedangerous as hellcategory. Being distracted by worrying about their own guys killing them was deadly. Hard to catch the enemy when you were worried about dying from friendly fire.

He let out a long breath and started the Jeep. He’d have to tell the others there was no news yet, which sucked balls, but there wasn’t much he could do. His CO was working behind the scenes to prove what Carter knew in his gut. The team had dirty members; assholes who could get them killed. But he was in Hawai’i, and there was not one thing he could do to help at the moment. He needed to let it go or he would be tied up in knots.

He rolled his shoulders to release the tense tangles giving him a headache, then pulled out of the parking lot and away from the beach. Maybe Mia would be at the bar tonight. He was determined to chat with her. Maybe get her to teach him to surf. The thought of her in a bikini made him almost forget the shittysituation and kept him smiling the whole way across the island to the bar.

CHAPTER 4

“Look Akela,I don’t really want to get into the details,” Mia hedged.

The other woman frowned. “You said you’d tell me your story if I told you mine. Are you saying you lied to me?”

Mia gritted her teeth. “Who is the liar here? You are the one with cooked books. You’re the one using me as cover to hide what you’re doing.”

She held up her hands in surrender. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I ever involved you in this mess.” Akela rubbed her face with her hands.

Mia let out a long breath and took the plunge. This story still shook her and spewing it out fast was the only way to live through the retelling. “Long story short, I used to gamble. Bobby made money off me. When I decided to stop, Bobby and his money man, Donny, didn’t like it. They threatened to hurt my family but then Bobby went to jail. Someone ratted out his gambling business, and they found drugs in one of his places, which made it much more serious.” She’d been so relieved when Bobby had gone to jail. She felt like she could breathe again. Until… “Two years ago, just after Bobby got out, my parents died in a weird car accident no one could reasonably explain. Theevidence suggested that some animal must have run across the road and they swerved to avoid it.”

“But why would Bobby want to hurt your family, your parents?”

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