Warrior (Navy SEALs Romance Book 5) (5 page)

E
mily felt
her phone buzz in her pocket. She fought to keep calm, even while letting herself hope that Mike had sent her a message. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw his number on the screen.

Hey. I really want to explain. I hope you’ll at least hear me out. Got called to a rescue. Will call you when we’re done but could take a while
.

She smiled a little, grateful for the text. She was still burning with anger and humiliation, but at least it meant she hadn’t been wrong about every part of Michael. It had been a long time since she’d been on a real date with anyone, and it nagged at her that her lunch with Mike counted as the closest thing. She was angry and hurt, but she needed to know why.

Emily typed in a text in reply.

Be safe out there, hear from you when you're not busy.

She didn't want to seem clingy but certainly didn't want to be aloof. It was a ridiculous dilemma, but her mother had drilled it into her head that men didn't want a lady that was too pushy or too smart. Fortunately, her grandmother had always swept in to tell her she could do and be anything.

“You’re smart, and that’s something that will never go out of style,” she’d say in her shaky voice. “If anyone doesn’t want you because you’ve got a brain in that head of yours, then they’re not someone worth knowing.”

Emily smiled. She knew her grandmother would have gotten a kick out of Michael, or at least the pre-jerkhood Michael, mostly for his sense of adventure and his dedication to rescuing a damsel in defense, if not because of his straight-laced style and incredible good looks. Any man who would throw himself in harm’s way to save others would have been all right in Granny’s book.

But now she had other things to focus on. With that single text out of the way, Emily pushed ahead with her preparations for the research trip. Like Macmillan had said, shrimp weren’t the most glamorous example of marine life, but they were one of the most vital. A number of species survived off the creatures’ place in the food chain, including humans, if the prospectus calculations on future populations were accurate.

It didn’t take long for her mind to return to Michael’s deep steel-grey eyes or chestnut brown hair, both of which were perpetually lit up by a radiant smile. His easy grin was a clear sign that the man had never met a stranger, and never met someone he didn’t like. It belied his job as a Navy SEAL, and Emily had to wonder for a moment if his happy-go-lucky personality didn’t hide some past traumas.

“Stop it,” she said to herself quietly. “It’s too soon. You should be busy checking off his flaws right now.” She knew she was right, but she had a habit of preemptively finding the problems in people so she didn’t feel so bad when they didn’t want to continue seeing her. Emily had to force those feelings aside and focus on her work.

* * *

“
W
hat do you mean
, you left her behind?!” Angel roared, pacing back and forth in the small office as he shouted into the headset. “Why did you leave Madison?”

“I told you, we had to get the kids to safety and the teacher to medical help,” Knox explained for the umpteenth time as they flew to the safety of the base camp. “He’d already been unconscious in a diabetic emergency for far too long. It was Maddie’s call, she chose to stay behind the keep the kids calm. Tanner just freaked them out.”

“You don’t ever leave someone behind, least of all her!”

“I know, and I swear, we’re heading straight back to get her and the other kids. We just had to get the priority casualties to safety first. She’s safe, I promise. The blaze hasn’t reached that trailhead yet.”

“You’d better hope it doesn’t, Knox! If anything happens to her…”

“Then she’ll be a true member of a search and rescue team,” Know interrupted. “She’s a part of this team, and she knew the risks before she put on the flight suit. Don’t go acting cocky on me now that your girl is the one in trouble. We’ve all got someone sitting at home waiting for us, and you don’t hear any of us bitching about whatever crap they’re facing right now. So give it a rest and do your job!”

Knox flipped the switch to turn off the radio and leaned back in his seat, fuming. Mike looked at him out of the corner of his eye, watching the skyline in front of the helicopter while trying to decide how to approach this new, weird development.

“Dude, he’s just freaked out, that's all. We've gotta let it go.” Mike looked straight ahead as he spoke softly, trying to sound reassuring.

“Yeah, well… we’re all on edge. He doesn't get a pass just because we've got the Navy breathing down our necks and a multi-victim rescue going down. So I’m sorry for not giving a rat’s ass that he's stuck in the office and not out protecting his little girlfriend, who doesn't need his help, by the way!”

“Okay, relax a second. Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just trying to play devil’s advocate. Sometimes people have other stuff on their minds and they lash out… you know, kind of like you’re doing right now,” Mike added with a play nudge from his elbow.

“Don’t you start giving me crap now too,” Knox warned in a low voice, but already his rage was start to settle down some.

“Nobody’s giving you crap, I swear. Angel just flew off the handle at the surprise announcement. He’s probably on his way to the store right now to get you an apology six-pack. All right? You all good?” Mike risked a glance at Knox’s face and felt a swell of relief that he seemed to be back to his old self.

“Yeah, I’m good. I’m just gonna stay off the radio for a while and let my mouth catch back up with my brain.”

“Good plan, buddy. Now call up the coords for setting this bird down. We’ll drop these guys with the medics and go back for another run.”

Michael followed the route Knox plotted and set the helicopter down in a small clearing. He waited while a crew ducked under the rotors and unloaded the teacher, carrying his IV overhead as they ran him to safety. Knox pointed to an area that had been cordoned off with flagging tape, corralling a cluster of anxious-looking people who must be the school kids’ parents. Five of them ducked under the tape and raced forward when the three young passengers were unloaded from the helicopter, only to be blocked by ground crew members to keep them from running straight at the chopper’s blades. The other parents clung to each other in tearful fear when they saw that the children weren’t theirs.

“God, look at that,” Knox said, his voice softening. “I’ll take blowing up terrorists any day over telling some parent her kid didn’t make it out alive.”

“I hear ya,” Mike answered, thinking of recent events. “So let’s get back and make sure we don’t have to do that. Reports on the blaze are that it’s nowhere close to being under control.”

“We’ve got four minutes ‘til we’re cleared to lift off, ground crew is still securing the civilians.”

Mike smiled at the break in the timing and used it to type out another message to Emily. He didn’t know what it was about her, but even something as simple as a frantic lunch date had kept her front and center in his mind. He didn’t even know her, and he was the last guy to put any stock in a woman’s looks. Always the level-headed member of the team, he’d sat on the sidelines too many times, watching as his buddies got their hearts - and sometimes their wallets - broken by a gorgeous girl.

Now, though, all those good thoughts were gone as he tried to climb up out of the pit she’d thrown him in. Not that he could blame her in the least, but not even getting a chance to explain stung worse than anything she could have called him. It meant she never really trusted him.

“Are you texting that girl again?” Jake called out from the back before breaking into a singsong voice. “Woooo! Michael’s got a giiiiiirl friend!”

“Cut it out, I’m just letting her know why I can’t call her for dinner,” he answered self-consciously, making up a half-truth on the fly.

“Hey, with any luck, we’ll wrap this up and be home before then. How many kids can we take on each run?”

“I’d say at our capacity, we’re looking at doubling up. This bird’s designed for two in the cockpit and five in the cabin, but each kid is only half a person’s weight, right?”

“I dunno, some of them were pretty stocky looking,” Jake answered, laughing. “But just because they weigh half an adult doesn’t mean they can sit two to a seat. I’m guessing we can fit eight kids in here now that the gurney’s over there with the medics.”

“If that fire gets any closer,” Knox interrupted calmly, “we may have to pull full capacity. I’d even ditch some of the gear and equipment if it came down to it. Remember, on the last run, we’ll be bringing Madison and Tanner back, too.”

“Yeah, and it'll be dark soon, too. I'm thinking we’d better load it up on the first runs. I don’t want to jettison the gear just yet, though, since this bird isn’t even paid for,” Mike said, pointing out the cost.

“But that’s what makes contracts so great. Anything happens to this baby while we’re on a run, it becomes the state’s problem, not ours,” Knox smiled with relief, then sat up straighter when he caught sight of the ground crew member waving his arms, giving them the all clear. “We’re good to go. Let’s go be heroes!”

E
mily's phone
buzzed on the kitchen counter while she poured herself some coffee the next morning. She steeled herself before reading it. Michael had explained his side of the story, and she so desperately wanted to believe it. Something about a group text with his friends and the message not even being aimed at Michael, but one of the guys going to see a friend who was in town from Wales. It was convenient and far-fetched, but she wanted nothing more than to think it could be true.

Her face fell when she read the screen. It wasn't from Mike, but from Macmillan.

Change of plans, storm out in the Pacific. Won't change the trip, but changes when we launch. Now or never, be at the marina in one hour.

“Crap!” she whispered to herself before dropping the phone down in her bag and gathering up her materials. She thanked her lucky stars that she had packed as soon as she got home from work last night instead of waiting ‘til morning. She threw on her clothes, piled her long hair in a ponytail and topped it with a baseball cap, then headed out the door.

During the drive to the pier, she thought about the strange message from Mike right before bed. He had managed to text again while swapping flight shifts with another pilot on his team, telling her something about a fire rescue and some stranded people. He hadn't gone into great detail, and Emily was surprised to find she was grateful for that. She didn't allow her imagination to fill in the blanks, and more specifics would have just made her afraid.

She squashed those hurtful thoughts way down deep and instead thought of the trip ahead of her. She had to find time to send Mike back a text, but that would have to wait.

* * *

“
I
'm not telling him
. You tell him, you're the pilot,” Mike said, holding his hands up in surrender.

“Nuh uh, you're about to go back on shift so it's your job. And besides, the last time I told him, he bit my head off. You were there, you heard how pissed he got.”

“I know… geez, I don't want to tell him this.” He looked out the windshield of the chopper at the orange glow lingering in the trees, the smell of smoke billowing around them as the sun began to rise over the horizon. He sighed and halfheartedly leaned forward to flip the radio on. “Bird to base, do you copy?”

“Copy that, bird. Go ahead,” Angel replied. “And be apprised, Warrant Officer Todd has dropped by for a visit.”

Michael and Knox exchanged a horrified look. “Don't go ballistic on me, okay? But… we've been grounded. Due to the flames.”

“Okay… and what seems to be the problem, bird?”

“We, um… still don’t have all the team members on board.” Michael closed his eyes and said a silent prayer that Angel would hold it together for the team’s sake. He may have personally decided that the Navy could shove it up their collective asses, but he knew that Angel and Knox hadn’t decided whether or not to resign their commissions, let alone Jake and Tanner.

“You mean Madison,” Angel continued slowly.

“Affirmative. And Tanner as well. Over.”

“Send over your coordinates,” Angel replied after a long pause, his voice strangely calm. “I’m headed to your location.”

“Negative, home base. We’re about four hours away by land, and we need you at the command center. Copy?”

“No, as a matter of fact, I don’t copy. And trust me, it won’t take me anywhere close to four hours to get there. I’m coming to get my girl since you guys can’t be trusted to do it.” The radio went dead as Angel clicked off the channel.

* * *

“
H
ello
? Anybody out here?” Emily called out as she walked down the pier in search of the crew. In the next to last slip, she saw a pathetically small and fairly rusted deep sea vessel with a light glowing from one of the windows. An inflatable zodiac runabout was upended at the stern. This had to be the right.

“Dr. Stanton? You made it! Just in time, too, we were just about to shove off.” Dr. Macmillan emerged from a hatch that led below deck and stepped up.

“We? Great. Who else do we have joining us on the project?” Emily asked, forcing a cheerful smile.

“Oh, just one other student. We’re on a strict budget, after all. You might have bumped into Bri on campus.” He gestured to an undergrad who popped up from the same hatch. Her hair was disheveled and her makeup had obviously been slept in, but Emily tried her best not to judge. The situation seemed almost too blatant to be believable, a professor and one of his students cavorting below deck on a research ship.

“Of course, nice to meet you, Bri. I’m Dr. Stanton.” She smiled, but her face froze when she saw the look of pure, seething hatred on the blond girl’s face.

“I know who you are. Glad you could make it.” She practically sneered before turning to Macmillan. “Didn’t you pack any coffee? Or just booze?”

The young professor looked uncomfortable as he hissed at Bri to go back down below. He turned his 100-watt smile on Emily, and told her to make herself comfortable aboard the ship.

By the time Emily had strewn her bag below deck - in the very communal sleeping bunks, she noted - Mac had backed out of the large slip and was heading northwest. She came back above deck, trying her best to avoid their even younger shipmate, and began to ask some specific questions.

“So, I looked over the research you sent to me, and I have to say that it was all very vague. Some of the articles were published in journals that aren’t even in operation anymore. I realize shrimp as a species date back to the dinosaurs, but what could we possibly be adding to the canon of knowledge that hasn’t already been gleaned about these creatures?”

Macmillan smiled wanly while steering them towards deeper waters. He shouted over the decrepit engines to be heard. “We’re looking for coloration changes that would indicate a rise in sea temperatures due to climate change.”

“Right, but climate change is already an accepted reality. What could our findings possibly add to the concern when there is already so much evidence of related cause and effect? Like the return of smallpox due to glacial melting over Arctic indigenous graves?”

Even over the roar of the engines, Emily could hear Bri practically snort in contempt. “Is she gonna talk like this the whole time?”

Emily whirled around, disgusted by the student’s attitude. She would never have dared to speak about one of her professors like that. “Excuse me? Do you have something to say to me?”

“Not a thing,” Bri answered, turning and looking down at her phone.

She moved to put on her scuba gear, but not before she overheard the female student saying her name. Emily froze, listening closer, but couldn’t make out anything over the crash of the waves against the hull of the speeding boat.