Page 45 of SEAL Ever After

Ryan paled, his heart skipping a beat. They found her clothing? As in those assholes had stripped her wedding dress off of her? He’d fucking rip them apart with his bare hands. Pummel them to death for every ounce of hurt they’d given Sarah. For a split second, he was so angry he couldn’t even breathe or see straight. His world literally stopped right in front of his eyes.

Hunter moved toward him, and then Ryan took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

“And Sarah?” he asked, his voice cracking.

Fuck.

He commanded missions all over the world. He’d jumped out of planes himself under the dark of night and gone after enemies unknown. He’d killed violent men with no remorse because it was for the protection of others.

But this?

He couldn’t handle a phone call telling him what had happened to his future wife.

“She wasn’t there, but there also wasn’t any sign of a struggle. There was no blood, nothing disturbed in the room aside from her belongs being left there. The other woman was found locked in the bathroom. It seems Miss Foster was only there for a short period of time and was likely moved to another location.”

“Goddamn it. So where the hell is she?”

“We’re reviewing all surveillance footage and searching every room on the floor.”

“Search the entire goddamn hotel!”

“We’re interviewing any and all guests. I’ll be in touch with additional updates. Until we run all the prints from the third room, our best bet is to see what type of vehicle our potential suspect was traveling in. Knowing they took her unharmed is good news. I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but it’s better than the alternative. She’s out there somewhere. We’ll follow up on all leads and find her.”

Ryan nodded, realizing the detective couldn’t see the motion over the phone. His heart pounded in his chest, and he felt sick to his stomach. She was out there, helpless and scared, and he couldn’t do a fucking thing.

He wanted to race down to the hotel ASAP, grab any and every person he saw, asking if they’d seen anything suspicious yesterday. He wanted to search the damn hotel himself room by room until he found her, but he knew the odds were that she was long gone.

He ran a hand through his cropped hair, beginning to pace again.

The detective was still talking, and Hunter finally took the phone from his hand.

“This is Hunter Murdock, leader of the Delta SEAL team. We’re here with the commander at Little Creek.”

Ryan walked over toward the table of men sitting there, letting Hunter continue the conversation with the detective as he pounded his fist on the table in frustration. He was used to being calm and collected on missions. To being the level-headed one amidst the chaos and a leader his men could depend on. Now he couldn’t even handle a damn phone call.

“What’s the latest intel?” Jacob asked.

Ryan relayed the latest information as everyone in the room gathered round.

Hunter walked over a few minutes later, handing Ryan back his cell phone. “The detective just got some new information. Evidently, Juan knew the hairstylist from years ago, and he forced her to cooperate with him in the kidnapping. It seems that he threatened her family. The detectives will question her fully after she’s examined at the hospital, but from their brief conversation, it sounds like he’s been living here in the States under an assumed name.”

Ryan raised his eyebrows, his heart pounding. “They have a name?”

“Jesus Lopez. They’re running a trace now. She knew him by that name years ago. We already know he’s operating under an alias, so it could very well turn up nothing but old information, but it’s all they have to go on right now.”

Lexi flipped her sleek black hair over her shoulder. “We can run a trace of our own and see what turns up, see what names Jesus Lopez is tied to. And let’s make sure Brent knows the latest since he’s down there with the police.”

“I’ll call him,” Evan said, standing up. “Which reminds me, I talked to Ali a few minutes ago about what they used to drug Sarah. Apparently, it’s extremely powerful stuff. She could’ve been out for hours.”

Ryan let out a breath. “They could’ve taken her out of the hotel before we even realized she was missing. The only good news, if you can call it that, is she was taken unharmed. They drugged her but didn’t injure her based on the evidence. But we need leads immediately on Juan and whatever the hell other names and connections he has so we can find her.”

He shook his head and stepped away as the others continued to discuss updates, trying to collect himself.

Hunter walked back over to him. “I still can’t believe the goddamn hairdresser was in on all of this,” Ryan spat out. “Morgan said she seemed a little nervous when she arrived at the room yesterday. Damn it. Why didn’t I ask Sarah more about the people she was hiring for the wedding?”

“You couldn’t have known,” Hunter said in a low voice. “None of us did. What bride worries that her florist or hairdresser is trying to kidnap her?”

Jacob shifted from his own seat at the table. “We were all on alert, sir. Any one of us could’ve checked into it.”

---