Page 4 of Protection for Nichole

He had leave, and he wanted to spend it with her, wrapped in her arms, sitting on the beach beside her, or just enjoying good food and laughs.

That she wanted to see him again amazed him. Now that he had her email address, he had a way to contact her. He should have tried before, but he’d always felt lame searching for her contact info after reading one of her articles. Nichole was smart and interesting, and he was just some military geek who barely had a life of his own.

“Okay, settle down. We have a lot to discuss. A medical group operating in the Middle East was taken captive. The groupclaiming responsibility has released a video of one of the doctors reading their message.They also showed the two people they killed. They have made demands and currently are holding ten people. They are making threats, but we’re not sure how serious they are.”

The guys mumbled, expressing their dislike for terrorists who took hostages. Anger flared, and Jay wove his fingers together on the table in front of him, taking deep breaths to stay calm. This was where their skills were most useful. Some people may describe them as killing machines, but they are more nuanced than machines. They used their humanity to determine force. Killing doctors who were helping civilians survive was beyond monstrous. There was no coming back from that. They would have to respond now.

The lieutenant giving the briefing pulled up another screen on the computer. “Petty Officer Williamson, your team will be heading over. I’m not sure what you’ll find once you get there, but we’ll keep gathering intel while you’re in the air. Two hours and the plane leaves.”

Sharp pressed his lips together. Jay wondered how hard it was for Sharp to leave Danika behind. There were plenty of SEALs who were able to deal with relationships, but he knew of a few who’d lost families because of the missions that popped up and took them away from important family events. It was just a part of being in a relationship with a SEAL. It was probably good that he didn’t have someone. What would Nichole think of his job? Would she be the type of woman who stuck around, or would she leave once she realized the demands of his job?

“Dismissed. We’ll see you in less than two hours.”

“Hold on,” someone said as they shuffled to the front of the room. “Sorry, sir, they released another video moments ago.”

Jay groaned as he lowered to the chair. He had a go bag here on base, so he didn’t have to head home to get his things, but itwould be nice to eat something and grab more coffee. The video came up on the large screen at the front of the room. He sat back, ready to listen to the terrorists’ bullshit, but he wasn’t prepared for what he saw.

Chapter 5

Nichole wassure this was it. They were going to kill her. It was the only reason for this man to be leading her away from the group. During the training where they’d prepared her for possible eventualities, they’d talked about the fact that rape could be something she had to face.

As much as she wanted to fight them, their guns held her in check. Before coming out here, she’d had a few moments of worry that something like this might happen, but she’d pushed the worry away, thinking the likelihood of her being taken hostage was way too slim. Now that she was being held captive, the reality was much scarier than she’d even imagined.

The man holding her arm led her down a long hall to a room with a chair and a camera. Relief poured through her. Then she remembered them killing the doctor who wouldn’t read the statement, and her knees started shaking as fear made her nerves feel like they were on fire.

“Sit.”

Compliance would get her much further than an attitude. She could fight back later once she figured a way out of this place.

“Read.”

Her gaze flashed to the man who’d ordered her to read, but she had no idea what he wanted her to read. Her gaze flew around the room as she searched for a piece of paper or card with words. Eventually, her gaze landed on a piece of paper being held by some guy standing next to the camera. The words bled together as panic threatened to take her out.

“Read or you die.”

Nichole lifted her hand and nodded as tears gathered in her eyes. She hated crying, but there was no way to stop the tears. Fear held her too tightly, making it difficult to contain her emotions.

“M-my name is Nichole Brenton, and um, they want me to read th-this statement.”

She hated that her voice wobbled and caught as she spoke. She had done numerous interviews and was well versed in how to speak on camera, but all of that went out the window with the men and their guns in her frame of vision. The man who’d led her into this room seemed to be angry that she wasn’t talking fast enough, so she started reading faster, though her head swam. She hoped she could actually read every word without passing out.

Jay couldn’t believehis eyes. His breath stalled in his chest as he listened to Nichole’s voice shake. Tears slid down her cheeks, revealing her fear. The men holding her wanted three prisoners released. They were given four days to comply. When Nichole read that part, her gaze swung to the side, and her eyebrows knitted tight together before she asked if that really was enough time.

He was proud of her but also worried that she would say something to get herself killed. The statement they had her read had her saying some anti-USA statements, but he knew that wasthe terrorists putting words into her mouth, not her thoughts or ideas.

“Fuck,” Apple said under his breath as Nichole finished the statement with the warning that the terrorists would begin killing prisoners if their men weren’t released.

Jay felt like the world had just been ripped out from under him. He had so many questions. Nichole had sent him that email last night. That must have been just seconds before they’d been abducted. How the fuck…he knew how. Someone had missed a critical piece of intelligence.

“Jay, you okay?” Griz’s eyebrows were raised, worry crossing his expression.

He gave a brief nod, not wanting to reveal his inner thoughts. “Yeah. I’m good.”

Griz didn’t look convinced, but he sure as shit wasn’t going to tell anyone that he knew Nichole. Knowing her made this mission even more important. If he revealed he knew her, they would take them off this mission. Nichole wouldn’t be a distraction. Instead, she would be even more reason to complete this mission successfully.

This mission went from something he wanted to do to something he needed to accomplish. He couldn’t fail at this because Nichole’s life depended on his success.

Chapter 6

---