Page 45 of SEAL by Fate

16

HE HEARD STORMY scream and he freaked out, jumped up and hit his head on the low ceiling of the car. Automatically, Gray went for his gun from the driver’s seat, ready to shoot to kill.

What the hell? He blinked through fuzzy vision at the ugly mug staring through the passenger side window.

“Who is that?” Stormy’s squeaked voice echoed off the walls of the car.

“That, my dear, is our knight in shining armor.” Gray climbed over into the driver’s seat, which wasn’t any more graceful than last night, pulled on his boots, hat and coat and met his buddy and fellow team member, Jamison, outside. He gave him a thump on the back and a strong handshake. “What the hell are you doing here, man?”

“We got your message. Maybe I should ask, what have you been doing?” He jutted his chin toward the car where Stormy was still inside, probably recovering from having the bejeevies scared out of her.

“It’s a long story, bro. How the hell did you make it up the hill?”

“Hell, it’s a heat wave out here compared to how it’s been, and I brought the tank. You know it’ll make it through anything.” Tank was his nickname for his HUM V.

“Damn. I can’t tell you enough how glad I am to see you.”

“Are you sure about that?” Jamison jerked his chin.

Gray followed his buddy’s stare. Stormy had climbed from the car and, although she was still bundled up in layers, the way her lush hair laid around her shoulders and her bright eyes shone made Gray’s chest tighten. He noticed how Jamison stared in appreciation and something swirled through Gray that was a lot like jealousy. Clearing his throat, he took several steps toward Stormy and waved her over and introduced them. He’d have to go into details later how they met.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” Jamison held out his hand.

“Nice to meet you too.” She shook his hand. “Sorry about the dramatic first impression but I was caught off guard.”

Jamison smiled. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I came up on the vehicle here and I looked in to see if anyone was inside. Low and behold, I found the man I was looking for.”

“And thank goodness you did,” Gray said.

“Maybe we need to debrief.” Jamison swiped a hand down his whiskered jaw, looking from Stormy to Gray in question.

“It’s okay. We can talk in front of her. After the hell we’ve been through for the last few days she’ll want to hear. Tank still warm?” Gray already had Stormy’s hand and was leading her toward the vehicle. She climbed into the back with Lola and Gray and Jamison took the seats in front. “You have a map?”

“In there.” Jamison pointed at the glove compartment.

Gray had the map spread out as flat as possible in the space of the front seat. “As you know, I was on this mountain because of the informant’s tip. A lot has happened since then. Phantom tried to kill me, or at least he wanted it to look that way.”

“You saw Phantom?” Although Jamison’s tone remained calm, Gray could see the shine in his buddy’s eyes.

“I didn’t see his face, but I’m certain it was him and he’s not alone. A woman is working with him.”

“Can you identify her?”

“Never seen her before. They knew I was here, so my guess is that this mysterious woman is the informant and bringing me here was a ploy.

*

After listening to the two men discuss the situation involving some guy by the name of Phantom and a female informant, Stormy’s head was swimming. She’d faded out of the conversation ten minutes ago and barely heard when Jamison said that he would drop them off and return to look for Phantom, although he was doubtful he’d still be around.

Once they were out of Jamison’s vehicle, she looked at Gray who seemed irritated. “Why didn’t you go back on the mountain with him?”

He gave a short shrug. “He’s capable of doing this on his own,” he grumbled.

She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her toe. “I heard you talking about how dangerous this Phantom man is. If I wasn’t with you the outcome would have been different. You’d be back up there helping Jamison.”

He blew out a long breath. “I’m glad I’m here. This is where I should be.” He didn’t make eye contact with her. He started to walk across the parking lot toward the car rental shop, but when he realized she wasn’t following, he stopped and turned to face her. “What is it?”

“Don’t lie to me. You’re going to be in a foul mood now all because of me.” It wasn’t nearly as cold off the mountain and there was only a thin layer of snow remaining. She felt a sense of relief that they were away from the immediate danger, but that was thwarted the second they stepped onto the concrete and Jamison pulled away, heading back to the mountain.

---