Page 11 of Kidnapped By a SEAL

“Fucking hell,” Ryker muttered. “I can’t believe we have to just leave other women and kids there.”

Hunter’s gaze locked with his. “They’re not our priority. We’ll take out whoever we can when we breach the compound, but ultimately, this is a rescue mission to get an American hostage. She’s been in enemy hands for too long. This ends tonight.”

“Damn straight it does,” Ryker said, clenching his fists.

“Let’s get those bastards,” Jacob said, glancing around at the other men. “They can’t take an American citizen and get away with that shit. They’re going down tonight.”

“Hoorah!” Noah shouted, as the other men whooped and hollered.

“Ready up, men,” Hunter said, listening to a voice over his headset. “The Coronado team will be landing in thirty.”

***

Ryker strapped on his remaining gear, checking his K-BAR knife and night vision goggles. Thewhomp, whomp, whompof helicopters coming in sounded in the distance. “Sounds like the boys are here,” he said, glancing over at Jacob.

“Hoorah. Do you know Raptor?” Jacob asked, adjusting his headset.

“Nope. Heard a hell of a lot about him though.”

“He’s badass,” Jacob said with a chuckle. “One scary mother fucker.”

Ryker’s headset crackled, and then a deep voice spoke. “This is Raptor. We’re en route, approaching base right now. ETA is one minute.”

“Roger that,” Hunter said over the headsets. “The Delta team is ready and waiting. We’ll quickly convene for a SITREP, and then it’s go time.”

“Roger. Over and out,” Raptor said.

Ryker grabbed his weapon and stood with the other men, watching as two helicopters landed and the Coronado team jumped out. They jogged over to the small command center. A tall SEAL with dark stubble across his jaw lead the way in, his dark gaze sweeping around the room as he instantly took everything in.

“Welcome fellas,” Hunter said. “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Hunter ‘Hook’ Murdock. These are my guys on the Delta team based out of Little Creek,” he said, briefly introducing the men.

Raptor nodded. “I’m Blake Reynolds,” he said, nodding at them, “but you can call me Raptor. Jacob and I already know one another. This is my team,” he said, calling out each of the guys standing behind him.

Ryker’s gaze slid over the other men. Troy “T-Rex” Harrison looked vaguely familiar, and he wondered if they’d gone through BUD/S around the same time. This was no time to journey down fucking memory lane though. They had an op to run. A woman to save.

“The woman being held is a special agent with State,” Raptor said.

“Affirmative,” Hunter replied. “She’s highly trained and could probably hold her own in other circumstances. We don’t know her condition though or if she’s even capable of walking out on her own.”

“Understood,” Raptor said. “We’ll move in for rescue and retrieval.”

“It’s unknown how many insurgents are at the compound. We’ve got a rough count of people, but some are believed to be women and children.”

“Fucking hell,” Troy said, his green eyes blazing. He had light stubble across his jaw, but Ryker couldn’t see his hair beneath the helmet. He was probably blond, not to mention tan, like a typical California boy. Typical save for the murderous look on his face and thick muscles to rival any of the men on the SEAL team.

The Alpha SEALs from Coronado may be used to life on the west coast, but they were just as deadly and highly trained as the men based in Little Creek.

“We don’t know if the women are being held against their will,” Hunter continued. “Some are the wives of the leader—they might not take well to us breaching the compound. We have to treat everyone like a potential threat.”

“It’s not like they have a goddamn choice in the matter,” Raptor said, his eyes blazing.

“Everybody understand where you’ll go once we land?” Hunter asked.

There were several grunts of affirmation and “Hoorahs” from the men.

Hunter nodded. “Comm channels are open. We’ll keep each other apprised of all updates as we search the compound for the missing American. Let’s move out!”

Ryker and his team jogged to one of the waiting helos, jumping on board. He and the other men crouched down, readying for liftoff. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and he clenched his jaw, ready and alert. Nothing like the beginning of an op to make a man feel like he could take on the entire world.

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