Page 12 of Kidnapped By a SEAL

The chopper began to lift off the ground, and then they were flying toward the compound under the cover of night.

He looked out at the terrain below using his night vision goggles before glancing around at the other men. They were fully decked out in their gear, ready to charge in, weapons blazing. Hopefully they didn’t scare the hell out of the hostage when they burst into the compound, but she had to be used to military if she’d been at the U.S. base in Afghanistan.

Hunter’s voice came over his headset. “ETA is five minutes. SITREP?”

Noah responded. “Aerial surveillance still shows minimal movement. One lone guard was patrolling the interior perimeter of the compound.”

“Let’s hope everyone is all tucked in for the night,” Hunter quipped.

There was no movement at the compound as they approached, and then they were jumping out of the helicopters and moving forward. Ryker and Noah headed to their respective vantage points to watch the compound through the scopes of their weapons. The other men on both teams ran off in different directions.

A voice came over his headset. “All quiet on the south side,” Raptor said. “My team is moving into position.”

“Roger that,” Hunter replied. “We’re readying to move in here. Are you in position, Bulls Eye?”

“Affirmative,” Ryker said, crouching down in the sand and setting up his gear. He laid down on the ground, the compound coming into view through his scope. There was no movement around the perimeter, and his own team was approaching from the other side.

“If any of those mother fuckers come running, you take them out,” Hunter replied.

“With pleasure,” he said, watching as Noah crouched down twenty yards away.

Ryker’s gut churned. Normally he relished watching from the distance, taking out hostiles who didn’t even know he was there. Tonight felt different though. He was on edge. Eager to retrieve the woman. He wished like hell that he was charging the compound with the other men. He was the best shot of everyone, but the woman who’d been taken hostage had been niggling at the back of his mind for a month. It was insane, but a part of him wanted to be the one to rescue her. To haul her to safety.

Which was fucking crazy.

He didn’t know her. Hadn’t even seen her. Sure, it was intriguing that she was a special agent with the State Department—that was a hell of a lot different than the woman he was usually with. She was probably bossy, brash, and boyish though—not a feminine bone in her body.

The delicate necklace he’d found suddenly flashed through his mind, contradicting all of that.

Hell.

He needed his head in the game, not on some damn fucking mystery woman he’d probably never see again after tonight.

“We’re in position,” Hunter said in a low voice. “Raptor, are your men ready?”

“Roger that,” he said as the other men affirmed their positions over the headsets. “Let’s do this.”

“All right, on my command. Move in!” Hunter said, and Ryker heard rustling as the men charged forward. He clenched his jaw, watching the compound through the scope of his weapon. There was a thump over his headset as the men breached the wall and landed on the ground on the other side. He wished he had eyes on what was happening inside. He had a perfect view of the exterior though. No one who emerged would make it past him.

Ryker heard the sound of a door being kicked open. “Building one is empty,” Raptor said. “Men, move forward and search the next.”

“We’re on the other side of the compound. Entering now.” A door was smashed open, and Ryker heard a woman wailing. “Stay down, stay down!” one of the SEALs commanded in Arabic.

“We’ve got another woman with children here,” Colton said. “Three young kids. Move them over to the side. Let’s keep searching!”

“Fucking hell,” Ryker muttered.

Gunshots pierced the air, and the men returned fire. “Two hostiles down,” Hunter said. “Repeat, two hostiles down. Moving in to another building.”

Ryker narrowed his gaze as he saw movement atop the wall before one of the enemy combatants hauled himself over. Ryker aimed directly at him and took the shot, watching as the man slumped to the ground. “Just took out one guy trying to escape out the east side,” he said in a low voice. “No other movement here.”

“We’re entering the third building,” Raptor said, and there was a crashing sound as his team breached another door. A child started crying, and someone cursed over the headsets.

“Mason and I see what looks to be a small storage building close to the perimeter—no windows. Hell, that looks like blood on the ground,” Hunter said. “Moving in.”

“Damn, that’s definitely fresh blood,” Mason said in a low voice.

The door was kicked open, and gunshots sounded again. “One hostile down,” Hunter said. There was a scuffle as the men moved in and kicked away the dead man’s weapon.

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