Page 37 of Summer Heatwave
Her kiss was sweet, like a good morning kiss between longtime lovers.When she didn’t crawl back in the bed, grabbing the T-shirt instead, he changed his plans for more sleep.
“Hang on, Audra, I’m going to put you on speaker.I think Mike needs to hear this.”Kam crawled onto a stool at the kitchen island and set her phone down between them.“Audra, I need you to start over.”
“From the beginning?”Her friend protested on the other end of the line.
“Only the highlights.Especially the military part.”Kam got up and wandered over to the refrigerator.
“Mike, first of all, it was nice meeting you, finally.Second, you’d better be taking good care of our girl.”Audra sounded like a mother hen, very protective of her chick.
“He is,” Kam called with her head in the refrigerator.
“She’s safe here, with me.”Mike hoped that was reassuring enough.
“Okay, the two men Kam shot last night are so similar, right down to what they’d eaten for supper.Both had been shot more than once but in different places.In my expert opinion, these men are, or were, military.”The line went relatively quiet except for a few clicks.“I’ve never seen such an unusual tattoo and they both have the same one in the same place.I’m sending Kam a picture.They look like four sticks.Maybe they’re like tracks or something.”
When the photograph came through, Mike knew exactly what they are.“Those are frog footprints, very popular with Navy SEALs and wannabes.These men may be still active-duty.Audra, can you send me pictures of their faces?”
“No can do,” she instantly replied.“But I can send Kam pictures of them.Give me a few minutes.”
Mike looked up from examining the tattoos to find Kam unloading food out of his refrigerator.“What are you doing?”
“Making breakfast for us.I’m starved.”She gave him a sassy grin.“You take a lot out of a girl.I need to store up some energy.”
Mike stood and headed into the stove.“You’re my guest.I’m supposed to cook for you.”
“Listen to you two fight,” came the voice from the phone.“You sound like an old married couple.”
He looked at Kam.Really looked at her.He could see her in his kitchen, their kitchen, twenty years from now still arguing over who was going to make breakfast.
“Have the pictures arrived yet?”Audra called from the phone on the counter.
“Checking now.”Kam picked up her phone and punched a few buttons.She held the phone up to Mike.“What do you think?”
“I think I know this guy.I can’t be sure because there are several thousand SEALs between the two coasts but I’m pretty sure this guy is a SEAL, or was.Hell, I don’t even know everybody in my command now.”
“They moved as though they were highly trained.”Kam shrugged.“I’m not sure how I got the drop on them.God was looking out for me.”
“I ran the pictures through all the databases we have and Noellyn is doing her magic, but we haven’t come up with anything.And I mean not a thing.”Audra let out a long breath.“It’s been a long night.Kam, your two dead guys are done.I’m going home and sleeping for the next sixteen hours.”
“Audra, before you go, am I allowed to share these photographs?”Mike flipped back and forth between the two pictures.The frog footprints were usually a strong indication of SEALs.
“This is Kam’s investigation.I’m just the medical examiner.The one who is hanging up now so I can go home.”
“Good night, Audra.Careful driving home.”Kam ended the call.“Who are you thinking about showing these to?”
“Captain Hubbard.”That’s where Mike would start.“If they are current SEALs, he needs to know they’re dead.If they are former SEALs, then you can hopefully get an identity.”
“Why wouldn’t they appear in any search?Noellyn has access to some pretty serious search engines and databases.”Kam started opening cabinet doors and drawers.
“The military is very careful about scrubbing everything on the Internet that may indicate anything about members of the special operations community.”He stopped Kam by putting his hands on her shoulders.“That’s why it’s so important that anything you see, hear, and do on base,” then he went on and added, “and aroundme, never gets discussed with anyone else.Every SEAL has a price on his head.”
“Every SEAL?”Kam asked cautiously.
“Yes, even me.Hell, especially me.I command hundreds of SEALs.I know about every top-secret mission my men are sent on.”
Kam stepped into him and wrapped her arms around his waist.“Please be careful.”She lifted her face to his and kissed him.
“Said by the woman who last night was threatened by two men who are most likely special operators.”He gave her a kiss, turned her around, and swatted her ass…which was bare.That’s all it took, and he was hard again.
