Code Name: Kayla's Fire (19 page)

Thane pushed himself to his feet, placing his arms around Kayla and
drew her to his chest. With a quick kiss on her cheek, he said, “Ready for the
world to shatter?” She turned her widening eyes up to him. He held his hand up
to quiet the crowd.

“I have an announcement, and looking around I’m glad so many of you
came this weekend. Doing what we do, these moments are important. They’re the
ones we hang onto when things get tough, and they remind us why we fight for
God and country.”

A few whistles and hooyah’s broke the night air, but otherwise the
crowd settled down to listen.

“Fighting with you men at my side has always been number one on my
list.” He was taking a big chance, a huge one, but she was worth it. Their
relationship was going to cause a huge shit storm. He’d already caught looks
from Carrie, and the woman was as vengeful as they came. She was going to be
the pipeline to the brass. Kayla had been right. He’d gotten the internal
investigation back a couple days ago. Ms. Watson’s family tree was in Slovakia,
not the Dakotas. To save her ass and barter it, she would sell him and Kayla
out. Ironic thing was—Carrie was the type of woman he would have spent the
night with before Kayla came.

Marriage and family had never cluttered his radar until Kayla became a
huge blip on the screen, one he wanted to beach himself on and never leave.

“I used to think fighting for my country was the most important thing
to me.” The crowd stared up at him. “I’m being selfish, but after twenty years
of service, I’ve earned the chance to have normal, and this woman I’m holding
in my arms has given it to me in spades.” He felt Kayla tense, but he squeezed
her to let her know he wasn’t stopping. “She’s made me feel every warm, loving,
peaceful emotion I’ve been missing in my life, and nothing is going to take
that away from me.”

“Tell her why, Frog.” Cobbs shouted out. Marg threw her arms around
Pat’s shoulders and kissed his cheek, a huge grin bloomed on her face as she
leaned her head against his.

He chuckled. “That’s easy,” turning a trembling Kayla in his arms.
“Because I’ve fallen in love with her. Out of control, mind numbing, forever
love with Snow White.”

“Finally,” the team groaned together, and that included Red.

Kayla’s lips parted with shock.

“I must have looked liked a walking neon billboard.”

“He did kinda look like that—but what do I know?” Fox shouted out.

“Does that make you Prince Charming, Captain?” Tony called out.

He shot a look over her shoulder. “Have you bloody bastards got it all
out of your system, yet?”

“Nope. Nuh-uh. Not really,” they all voiced together.

He waited until they were done.

Looking like she wanted to bolt meant he had to start talking and
quick. He grasped her slender shoulders. “We’ve earned the right to be Thane
and Kayla. Please, walk beside me. Challenge me. The Ghost and Snow White have
done their share, now it’s time for Thane and Kayla to get on with life.” He
was turning into a one-celled wonder again, but this time it was nerves eating
him up.

She cocked her head at him. “Are you asking me to go steady, Captain?”

A gust of nervous laughter erupted from him. “Yes, Ms. Banks.” He
picked her off the ground by her ass and swung her around. “I love you, Snow White.”
He didn’t wait for an answer, because it was in her eyes. It’s where he’d
always looked to see the truth. A warmth he’d never known engulfed him. It made
him strong, made him tremble, but he knew for sure in that second, she was his.
He kissed her, and she didn’t let go of him while the wolf whistles rose from
the crowd.

 
“The next mission,”—he said
loudly—“will be my last in the field. I’m going to join the ranks of the pencil-pushing
captains, since the Navy has decided to promote me, and warm some chair behind
a desk. Coming home to this woman every night is a helluva lot better than
eating MREs with you frogs.”

“You’re crazy,” Kayla said, laying her palms against his chest.

“You make me that way, Ms. Banks.” He tried to kiss her again but
Nina, Marg, and the rest of the squad not far behind, accosted them.

Dickerson began to strum a lazy-sounding Caribbean beat
.
It was perfect. He’d run the race,
more challenged than BUD/S for what was at stake. With live fire, he’d walked
through the smoke and mirrors of her demons and resistance to the end of the
line, and found her standing there. He’d never rung the damn bell in BUD/S,
though two hundred other men had, and thousands since. He was a warrior, battle-torn
but alive. It was time to turn for home and claim his heart.

He drew Kayla into the darkness and away from their friends. “Captain,
why did you do that in front of everyone?”

“Ya think you can call me Thane, since I just admitted my undying love
for you in front of every man, woman and child we know?”

She burst into a laugh. “Fine, Thane, what the hell are you thinking?”

He leaned over and whisked her into his arms. “I’m thinking there’s a
lot of women forking over twenty dollar bills tonight to the ones who were
smart enough to put their money on you.”

“You’ve completely lost your mind. There’s a policy in place. You know
we can’t work together and…”

“Yup,” he drawled, but grinned down at her as he strode toward the
porch, headed for crisp sheets and the warm skin of the woman beside him.
“Since the first day you graced my doorstep—lady, you’ve been nothing but a
pain in my ass. I’ll take the disciplinary action, but you are going to pay
dearly for infiltrating my heart.” When they reached the front door, she pushed
it open, and he carried her over the threshold.

“You can’t carry me up the stairs,” she said, trying to palm the wall
to stop him.

“Oh woman, you have such little faith, don’t you?”

“No, I just don’t want a broken neck.” She squirmed to get free, but
he broke into a run when he hit the winding staircase.

“Oh, shit,” she squealed, and buried her head in his neck. He laughed
all the way down the hall and bumped the door to their room open. Pinning her
on the bed, he stared down at her, into the deepest eyes he’d ever seen.
“There’s a lot of single SEALs down there wishing they were me, because they
know we’re not leaving this room for the next two days.”

“Thane, we need to eat.”

“No, we don’t. You’re all I need to feed my hunger,” and he leaned
over her for a toe-sizzling kiss, showing her how much he loved her. He wasn’t
kidding about the next two days.

* * * *

The group huddling at the hangar was intimate, the space quiet at zero
four thirty hours. Marg—Cobbs’ wife, Kate—Fox’s wife, Shelly—Clay’s fiancé, and
Naomi—Caleb’s wife,
holding their baby in her
arms, took a minute to pray. The other children hung onto their parents, having
been here many times. Nina was there as well, and worry crowned her features as
she stood in front of Mace.

“Hey, why so worried?” Mace asked, cocking his head and giving Nina a
slow smile.

“Why do you think, you stupid ass,” she retorted, but her fiery
response dulled. “You’re going to be careful, right? As much as a SEAL can be.”

“Always try to keep this,” he said pointing at his head. “I’m more
concerned about you. Don’t do anything brave. Keep close to Kayla.”

“Why, what’s it to you?” she said quietly. Everyone was standing close
enough to hear, but trying not to pry, except of course for her, Kayla was all
ears.

Mace’s gaze heated. “Because when this mission is over, I’ll be
getting some leave.” He took a step closer. “I’ve never been to Victoria,
thought you might want to show me around. You know, introduce me to your
daughter, maybe. I’d like to meet her.”

Nina suddenly took in a deer in the headlights look Mace had. “You
would?”

“Yeah, I would.”

“All right,” she stuttered, “Maybe, we’ll see.”

She didn’t move when Mace took another step to bring him within
striking distance, and he didn’t wait, threading his fingers through her red
curls. “Can’t wait for lesson number two.” He kissed her with too much heat for
anyone to keep staring at them. It was almost indecent.

“Pheww.” Kayla turned to see Thane smiling at her. “What?”

“You think we look any different, baby.” He grabbed her, and laid a
heart-stopping kiss on her lips, and then the kids were groaning as all the
adults said their goodbyes.

Kayla heard Kate say to Fox, “You know where you belong.”

“Beside you, darlin’,” Fox said, folding her in his arms.

Marg and Cobbs shared an intense moment, before Marg said, “Forever,
and ever.”

Cobbs laid his forehead to hers. “Amen,” he said and kissed her again.

It registered what she was hearing. They were talismans, in the form
of words. Whether real or not, their warriors had come home in the past, and
the verbal charms were said each time they had to say goodbye.

“I want to look in your eyes again, Kayla,” Thane breathed on her
lips. “Please be here. I can’t go unless you promise me.”

“You know what direction points home.”

“Always to you, no matter how dark it gets, I’ll always find you.” He
kissed her hard. “This is the last time we say goodbye.”

She nodded and squeezed him tight. “Last time.” He gently separated
them.

“The squad’s going dark the entire mission. Not even you will know
where we are.” He scanned the men, then knelt on one knee. “Lil’ one, I can’t
wait to see you.” Thane kissed her stomach and returned to his feet, staring
down at her, worry crisscrossing his expression. “Sweetheart, we both have a
reason to fight hard to live. I’m coming home. I promise.”

She swallowed, knowing he would do everything in his power to keep it.
“We’ll be here.” It wasn’t a lie, just a small untruth to make sure he got on
the plane with his men.

“It’s time,” he declared, his voice terse. He planted one last kiss on
her lips. “I love you, Kayla, always remember that.” He grazed his finger over
the trident hanging around her neck. “A part of me is always with you.”

The women closed ranks. Arm in arm they watched the squad give a final
wave as they walked out the doors. Only the cool morning air lingered, and
their memories. The room felt so empty, even with all of them standing there,
clutching each other.

Kate had told her earlier how lucky they were to have this
opportunity, but it was hard hiding her fear from Fox. It was the worst catch-twenty-two
for everyone; service members keeping their country safe, but being men also
meant falling in love, having a family, then trying to juggle both. It was like
playing the slot machine of life, but you prayed with all your might fate
didn’t line up and take away the one you loved.

Thane couldn’t protect her any more. Openly asking him to stop hadn’t
worked. In fact, it made him more stubborn. She’d put on the performance of her
life at Marg and Cobbs’, reminding him of his duty to his men, and adding a
little guilt to drive it home. Reality sat heavy in her chest because somehow
she knew one of them wouldn’t survive the weeks to come.

Chapter Seventeen

Over two months of eating the same food can make anyone nauseous.
Being pregnant made it worse, being bunkmates with a thirty-year-old—near
impossible. She and Nina were under guard in Mace’s small apartment. The
constrictive routine of getting up, eating, and then being escorted to Base
Command, was driving them both insane. John trained Nina at the Command Center,
while she took up the slack. SEALs from Team Three escorted them back to the
apartment at the end of their shift, and then they were locked down for the
night.

“You’re not making coffee at this hour?” Nina asked tightly, looking
up at the clock. “It’s almost time for bed, and you’ve been drinking too much
for being preggers.”

“No, I’m making tea. Want some?”

“I want to get the hell out of here before I go stark raving mad,” Nina
said slamming a mug down beside hers. “Are you nauseous again?”

“When aren’t I?” She slipped one bag into each cup. “If you wanna make
a break for it, you just have to get past the two guys stationed on every floor
between here and the lobby.”

Nina’s brows popped. “There aren’t that many?”

Kayla slid onto the kitchen chair. “No, but just about.” She flipped
the pages of a magazine she’d already read fifteen times. “Have you called
home?”

“Every night,” Nina said, leaning against the counter and bumping the
back of her head against the cabinet slowly. “Did I hear you talking with that
cop Manchester today?”

“Yup, they didn’t get anything of use from the kid the Shark hired. He
didn’t show himself, just offered him money and instructions by phone.”

“How long will this go on? Gabby is going to be a foot taller by the
time I see her again. I talk to her every night, but I miss my baby. I’m going
bonkers living like this. No offense, but I didn’t get along with my big sister
when we had to share space either.”

Kayla tossed the magazine across the table. “The Shark must be going
bat shit crazy by now. I don’t understand why they just don’t plant me in the
middle of the street and wait it out.”

Nina stopped banging her head, and brought the whistling kettle over
to the table, filling their cups.

“I don’t think the Captain would go for that idea, but I’m sure those
poor guys watching us all the time wished you would.” Nina sat in the chair
across from her. “How long do you think Alpha Squad’s mission is going to be?”

She blew the steam from her cup, and shook her head. “Days to months.
It depends on the severity, how much recon they have to do, what’s at stake. A
mission can take an endless amount of planning or spur of the moment
decisions.” Flicking her tongue after burning it on the hot tea, she said,
“Alpha Squad has extensive training in everything from psychological strategies
to heavy-duty mechanics, and just about everything in between. They can all
pilot several types of aircraft, speak several languages, change their
appearances, how they act to infiltrate a village and mix in. They can put a
bloody mini sub together underwater and swim in the arctic cold as long as
their tanks last. All of them can run for miles and swim farther than that.
Team One Alpha is an elite squad.” She placed her mug on the table,
understanding more than Nina what that meant. “You’ve heard of the DevGru,
which gets a lot of attention, but One Alpha holds their own. Personally I think
it’s because of Thane.”

“You’re not biased at all, are ya?” she teased. “But, why
does
he go out with them? He’s really in
charge, isn’t he? I mean he’s not supposed to be out there, is he?”

“No, but the U.S. Navy wasn’t going to argue when he continued to
deploy with his men. Captain Redding takes up the administrative slack when
he’s gone.”

“You have yourself an honest to goodness hero, who’s head over heels
in love with you.” Nina said, offering her a grin. “Not to mention he has to be
the hottest-looking guy on the friggin’ planet. Seriously, he could be a
model.”

Kayla smirked. She shouldn’t, but she gave way to a little bit of
pride. “That would mean vanity, and although the Captain is bursting with ego,
he’s not vain about it, if that makes any sense. He knows his strengths and
weaknesses. They all do. It’s what keeps them alive. And then there’s Mace.”

Nina cleared her throat and sat back in the chair. “Yeah, he’s pretty,
wow.”

“Wow, meaning?”

Nina picked a hair winding under her collar. “Do you think he’s okay?”

She nodded, understanding Nina’s worry. “If something goes wrong,
we’ll be one of the first to know. That’s how it works. We monitor them if it’s
cleared, and doesn’t pose a threat to them, and we’re first contact after
extraction.”

“To be honest, I’m out of my mind scared for some reason.”

“Some reason, huh? Tall, hunky and sweet, going by the name of Mace
Callahan would be the reason.”

Nina’s green eyes scoured her. “I don’t know what happened. I mean, I
can look at a thousand guys and they don’t do a thing for me. I have Gabby and
my mind’s always on her. I…I…”

“Those SEALs can do that to a woman. They’re not just everyday guys.
They are the premier warriors, and their strength, stealth and abilities make
them extremely attractive to women. Hence the Frog Hogs.”

“The what?” she said breaking into a grin.

“SEAL groupies. They get a bum rap, really. They’re just like any
other girl who wants an honorable, strong man.”

“Mace, he’s not into…” Nina fiddled with the corner on the magazine.

Kayla remained silent, tipping her cup and shrugging. “They all have.
Guy meets girl, buys girl drink, and gets down and dirty. They’re not saints,
but somewhere along the way, even the players settle down.”

“Do you believe in love at first sight? I mean I didn’t, but then
Mace, he…pheww. I sound like a sixteen-year-old, don’t I?”

“No, actually you sound like you might have a wee bit of crush on
him.”

“Crush, shit.” She barked with laughter. “God, when we left you guys
after your fight and walked down to the beach that night, I unraveled. We hit
the sand in a tangle of arms and legs and couldn’t stop. That’s never happened
to me before. He’s unbelievable, and I’m thinking I’m going to get pulverized
here. He’s a player isn’t he?” Nina nudged her bottom lip with her finger and
nibbled on it.

 
She yawned at the same time a
laugh came bubbling up. “Nina, you’re doing it again.”

“What?”

“You never give yourself enough credit.” Taking another sip of her tea
and burning her tongue, she walked to the freezer and picked an ice cube from
the tray. “Next to Thane, Mace is my favorite SEAL in the world. I was wishing
he’d find someone super-special, because he’s special.” Dropping the cube
unceremoniously into her cup with a splash, she said, “Guess I got my wish.”

Nina flushed. “So you don’t think it was just, you know, a
one-nighter?”

“Nina, I hate to tell you this, but we heard you at the ranch for
three nights straight. In fact, I’m pretty sure the entire house heard you,
many times over. That kinda loving isn’t a one-nighter, it’s a lifetimer. I
heard Thane threatening Mace that there better not be any holes in the walls.”

Nina blushed even redder. “Yeah, well, when Captain Austen came down
to the kitchen—the next afternoon I might add, to get some food and take it back
upstairs, I heard Lieutenant Cobbs ask him if he should check to make sure you
weren’t chained to the bed.”

Now it was her turn to flush. “Okay, okay, truce.”

“Kayla, he wants to meet Gabby. I mean, I think he honestly does.”

“Of course he does. Mace would be a great dad.”

“Ho,” Nina gusted. “I don’t know. These SEALs, they live hard and die
hard. What if I fall in love with him? I’m pretty careful with who I let into
Gabby’s life.”

“
If
—you fall in love with
him?” She laughed at her. “Age old question every woman wallows in when she’s
attracted to a SEAL. It isn’t an easy one to answer.” A wickedly hard question
to answer, more like. “They’re away for months at a time. Even their training
missions are dangerous. When they do a workup before deployment they do it like
no other special ops group.”

“You’re so lucky the Captain isn’t going to deploy any more, once this
mission is over.”

“It’s not over yet, for any of us.”

* * * *

Kayla nodded her thanks to Ross from Team Three as he held the door
open for her to Base Command. Her thoughts kept flipping back to her
conversation with Nina the night before. It wasn’t always active warfare that
took a warrior’s life, accidents happened, and a red glowing cannonball of
truth sat in every woman’s belly watching the SEAL she loved walk out the door.
She’d left Nina with words of wisdom she needed to trust herself.

“Don’t paint pictures, Nina. You’ll drive
yourself crazy. More than anything, you have to believe in them and their
skills. They’ll walk closer to death’s door than any serviceman, but they don’t
want to die either. They’ll do what has to be done. A woman who loves a SEAL
has to accept that, and know it’s done to save a life or the mission, but it’s
always with honesty and valor.”

Kayla slid her card through the reader and cracked the door to the
Command Center. Her steps slowed as she saw five people huddled together over
the intel computer. All heads rose and Captain Redding took a tentative step
toward her. “Kayla—”

She stopped in the middle of the room, not wanting to walk any closer.
Lieutenant Law, Barry, John and Nina all stared at her. It was Nina’s face she
read first. While the others tried to hide it, Nina couldn’t. The silence
scared her the most.

“No, Kayla,” Captain Redding said with a severe expression. “It’s not
good news.”

Her hand instinctively went to her stomach. Could she say the words
out loud? Make them real? Fill the room and listen to them echo with a sullen
truth. “Is my warrior dead?” She barely whispered the words.

Captain Redding’s gaze fell to the floor.

“Captain? Don’t…” Suddenly cold, her throat thick, she cleared it.
“SITREP,” she said in a strong voice.

Law coughed, and drew her attention. “Caleb, Clay and Mace have
surfaced. Mace is being flown to a hospital in Germany. His injuries are
critical.”

Her gaze shot to Nina, who closed her eyes, her face paling.

Law continued. “Caleb’s intel says the mission took a dive. Tangos got
wind of who they were. Ghost has the woman they were sent to retrieve and
Nathan was with them when they were separated. Fox, Tinman and Cobbs have
disappeared. We don’t know their position or status.”

She dropped her bag where she stood, and turned toward a solitary
computer that accessed the satellite systems.

“What are you doing, Kayla?” John asked, seeing where she was headed.

She didn’t answer, activating the link to a satellite passing over the
Middle East. The group shuffled quickly to hover over her shoulder.

“I thought that was read only,” Nina said.

Kayla opened a secure hidden file on the computer. One she’d put there
long ago. Every day she updated it, breaking the code.

“Christ, Kayla are you kidding?” Lieutenant Law blurted, watching her
take control as the view began to cross the Sudan, Egypt and settle over Syria.

“No one in this department has that code,” Captain Redding said. “We
don’t control the Sat…”

She glanced over her shoulder at the Captain then maneuvered the
satellite into position by inputting latitudes and longitudes.

“How the hell…” Captain Redding sighed. “Kayla…”

Initiating a full zoom and scan, she found the village where she’d
last seen the squad.

Law leaned closer. “Have you been watching them the whole time, Snow
White?”

“Yes,” she said, afraid to look at her captain and inputting some
final minor adjustments.

“How did you find them?” Law asked.

Typing in another command, a grouping of small dots with a series of
letters and numbers appeared in the middle of a forested area with a small
farming village sitting on its edge. “Thank God.” She sat back against the
chair, but then one more appeared, its blue pulse slow. “No.”

Captain Redding leaned over as well. “Who’s that?”

“It’s Thane, his body functions are low, heartbeat, blood pressure.
What’s happened?” No time to dwell. She recorded the lat and long, and then
went for another dot. Another blue one. “Cobbs,” she said her throat
tightening. “He’s hurt. They both are. His vitals aren’t strong.”

“What the hell.” A new voice, one she’d only heard a few times, made
her freeze. Admiral Timmons. Her fingernails clicked on the keyboard, but she
didn’t enter anything. “Sir.” She swiveled in her chair. Did karma always have
to bite her in the ass?

Admiral Timmons looked down at her with cold blue eyes. “Might have
guessed. Is that our missing team?” he asked, looking at the monitor.