Page 6 of SEAL of Fate

Lately, too much alone time seemed to always end with a damn hard-on, courtesy of one Jordan Hayes, who’d gotten under his skin after a chance encounter at a local bar a week ago. Damned if he could get her slender figure and to-die-for legs out of his head. Not only was she gorgeous by any man’s estimation, but her below-the-shoulder hair had curled enticingly around his fingers as he grasped the back of her head to pull her close. The silky strands were dark brown to match her eyes—eyes so deep he’d damn near lost himself within them. The bright yellow cotton dress she’d worn had displayed a delectable amount of skin and bathed her in a golden hue. The thought of that dress, bunched at the top of her thighs as she straddled his lap, would surely be his undoing.

A small herd of deer meandered into the meadow just below him, grazing unhurriedly until the wind changed directions. The animals caught his scent and bounded away. As they disappeared, another movement jerked his attention to the far side of the meadow.

A tall, broad-shouldered form separated from the trees and stood for a moment in full view. Travis removed a coin from his pants pocket and briefly let it catch the moon’s rays. The figure melted back into the shadows.Signal received.

He palmed the coin and traced the Navy SEAL trident that graced the center against a backdrop of blue. Circled by silver and the wordsthe only easy day was yesterday, his challenge coin represented who he was and had been earned with blood. It was one of a severely limited number of possessions he prized. He twirled it through his fingers and tucked it back in his pocket.

Maybe now he could get his mind off Jordan and back on his job. Why she was always front and center in his thoughts was a question he wasn’t ready to debate. He should have just taken her home or, better yet, called her a cab. But he’d wanted to taste her lips so damn bad. Then she’d kissed him, and he’d lost his mind for a minute.

When he’d finally pushed her away, he’d witnessed everything parade through her eyes—rejection, embarrassment, regret, and acceptance with wisdom beyond her years. If she’d screamed at him that he was just like everyone before him who’d refused to value her, he wouldn’t have been any more convinced of the depth of her pain. And it pissed him off.

Not at her, but the result had been the same.

Travis had wanted to see her again, but she’d shown him the door, literally. Any other woman kicking him out would have been fine. Once burned made a man twice as careful. And his high-school-sweetheart-turned-fiancée had burned him badly. Never again.So, get over it. It’s not the first time my natural charm cost me the girl, and it won’t be the last.

It was nearly fifteen minutes before he caught sight of James Cooper again, a hundred yards below, sheltered within the trees and moving quickly up the ridge toward where Travis stood. His partner’s soundless progress over the rough terrain caused a smile to tug at Travis’s lips. He’d not expected his former SEAL team member to forget his training and leave a trail any amateur could follow, but it was still comforting to know Coop was taking care of business. After all, he had a fiancée to go home to now.

Travis shook his head, considering the odds of his three closest friends finding their soulmates over the past two years after leaving the Navy and starting their private security business. Hell, he wasn’t even sure therewassuch a thing, but if there was, he’d blownhischance years ago. But that wouldn’t keep him from being happy for Luke, MacGyver, and Coop.

Travis strode forward and gripped Coop’s hand, pulling his friend in for a bro-hug and hearty slap on the back. Coop stepped away, and concern bubbled through his expression before his features relaxed into his customary grin.

“I was beginning to wonder if you were coming.” Travis retreated into the shadows and crouched beside the backpack he’d dropped at the base of the pine tree.

Coop knelt beside him. “Hey, it’s deer season. There are probably a few dozen hunters camped in these mountains tonight. Most of them are drinking and don’t have much respect for the law. I didn’t figure it was a good time to make Bambi noises.”

“I hear that.” Which made Travis’s next question even more pertinent. “What’s so damned important it couldn’t wait?”

Coop broke eye contact first. “Is it so hard to believe I just wanted to see your ugly mug?”

Travis chuckled as the bonds of brotherhood tightened around his hardened heart. Coop was his best friend. Fifteen years and hundreds of missions in Middle Eastern hellholes had cemented their friendship and trust. They’d been through hell and back together, starting with the Navy SEAL training program. Coop had stopped seeing him as a person of color long ago until this mission appeared on their radar.

Once you traveled east of the Cascades, Oregon wasn’t exactly known for its diversity, making the area perfect for swastika-wearing, domestic terrorist groups to hide in plain sight. Naturally, Travis’s fair-skinned, blond-haired friend, Coop, had thought he should be the one to embed within Brody’s organization. But Special Agent Roberts, their FBI handler, had proposed a different plan—one that had put the worry in Coop’s eyes.

Travis snorted a laugh. “Don’t tell me you miss me with Jade taking up all of your spare time. How’s she doing, anyway?” Coop had almost lost her five months ago when a bullet to the chest had slowed down life for the snarky Air Force veteran.

“Great. Almost as good as new.”

“Set a date yet?”

“Since you’re my best man, you’ll be the first to know.” A wide grin spread over Coop’s face.

“Damn straight, bro.”

Coop paused, and his humor disappeared. “There’s been a new development. Senator Mann’s son went missing two days ago, and eye-witness accounts of his last known sighting suggest his disappearance might be related to Brody’s group of hate-mongers. Senator Mann is getting impatient. She wants an in-your-face hostage rescue suitable for the five o’clock news. If thelaw-and-ordersenator doesn’t get her son back soon, she’s threatening to call in the National Guard and start a private war on domestic terror. So far, Roberts has been able to buy time, but he’s getting his ass chewed daily. His concern is that Mann will let it slip to the media that there’s an undercover operative in Brody’s training facility.”

“That camp is armed for trouble. Brody won’t back down, the crazy son of a bitch.” Travis had embedded with Brody’s crew to save as many innocent lives as possible.Damn politicians—they always have to make it harder than it needs to be.

“The FBI hasn’t determined if William Mannisa hostage or if he voluntarily joined Brody’s group. I texted you his picture.” Coop rubbed the back of his neck.

Travis didn’t need any more complications but nodded in acknowledgment. “There’s not much cell service at the camp. If you have a photo, let me take a look.” He took the phone Coop extended and studied the beefy-looking, twenty-something man with sandy-colored hair nearly brushing the collar of his shirt. Travis had never seen him before and doubted Brody would bring him into his training camp.

He handed the phone back to Coop. “As a hostage, he’s a dead man unless we get to him first. If he’s in on it, they could make him the new face of white supremacy to embarrass the senator. Either way, we need to know the target or targets they plan to hit and who’s the brains behind the operation.” Without the answers to those questions, they were merely treading water.

“Still no sign of Brody’s boss?” Coop returned his cell phone to his pocket.

“No, but we’re expecting a guest any day, and he must be important. Brody’s trying to keep the boys clean and sober, so we make a good impression. And that’s no easy task.” Brody was second-in-command, and whoever he reported to had been extremely careful not to openly connect his name to the weaponry the group had stockpiled. Not surprisingly, the FBI wanted the top man. “Has surveillance on Halstead’s ranch turned up anything?”

“Nothing to link him to Brody. It’s been like a graveyard until a couple of days ago. Surveillance indicates Halstead’s nephew and at least one of his men are planning a trip.” Coop picked up a bundle of three pine needles near his foot and ripped it apart, evidence of his frustration.

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