SEALs of Honor: Hawk (3 page)

Who’d like to scramble on their belly through tunnels running with water? Not her.

“I’d like to spend a couple of days down here. It’s so quiet. So close to Mother Nature. Like being back in the womb again,” Mike said. “Anyone else?”

Mike was part of the local spelunking club and had contributed to the mapping of this cave system. But his comment made her stomach churn.

She shook her head. “Not me.”

“We could check out those other exits and see where they go. Spend a weekend camping down here,” he added enthusiastically.

She smiled. “Nah, that’s your department.” He was a nice enough guy, but she had no plans to spend a weekend down here eating dirt. Partly because as nice as he was, she was afraid he was attempting to turn their casual relationship to something more. And that she wasn’t into.

He asked a couple of other people. As their responses weren’t as negative as Mia’s, she was happy to hear he’d likely get a group together of other enthusiasts.

“Time.” John stood up. “Let’s go everyone.”

She led the way back, again, needing to find a level of comfort with having ropes between her feet and her pack dragging against the dirt roof above her head. The sensation of dirt constantly falling on her head. Worse was the fear. Of having it all come down. Of being buried alive. Of never being found. Closing her eyes briefly, she shoved all the self-defeating thoughts to the back of her mind. It was why she was here. Learning. Practicing. So in an emergency when others were filled with those kinds of thoughts, she could help.

Loose dirt fell on her shoulders, pinging off her hard hat. Lord it was hard to stay calm at times.

She wished she had elbow pads. They were coming up to the even lower section of the tunnel and she had to snake forward on her belly.

The opening to the second cave was up ahead. Grateful, figuring she’d eaten enough dirt for one day, she pulled herself through the last narrow pinch to where she could come upon her knees then crawl the rest of the way. As she stood up, she took several deep breaths. Thank God that part was over.

She was starting to really hate being down here. Out came her water bottle again and she finished the last of it. She had two more bottles in her car but hadn’t carried a second with her.

The others were at the entrance behind her. She watched and waited as Paul got to his feet.

“That’s quite a trip, isn’t it?” He said with a big grin.

“I’m wondering who was so crazy as to crawl into a hole like that in the first place,” she muttered. “Especially considering he couldn’t see light at the other end.”

Jason laughed. “Men have been exploring since time began. It’s what they do.”

“Yeah, that’s why women stayed home with the babies. It was way better than that.” She motioned to the small tunnel she’d made it out of.

“You looked to be handling it better this time,” Peter said, studying her face. “Was it better?”

She laughed. “It was. But it’s never going to be my favorite sport.”

“Good enough. It’s not for everyone.” Mike stood up and stretched his arms high over his head. “For me, it’s more about the finding of new spaces. And that often means going into small shitty ones to find the big glorious ones.”

“Understood.” She watched as the others arrived, mentally counting the numbers to be sure they were all there. An old habit. “Are we ready to head to the vehicles?”

They all nodded. Peter fell into step beside her as they walked through the midsize cavern leading to the first cave in the system and the way back out. She rolled her shoulders and gently massaged her neck.

“How’s the arm?”

She smiled. It was a common question these days. “It’s all good.”

The walk to the sunshine and green woods was easy from that point on. Once outside and a good distance away from the cliff rising behind her, she turned on her phone and checked her messages. And froze.

“Shit.”

*

“
I
’VE JUST CONTACTED
Mia,” Eva said. “She’ll get the message when she’s got cell reception again.”

“Did she find the cave with the weapon stash?”

Eva shook her head. “No. She likely doesn’t know about it yet.”

He nodded. “She will soon.” He motioned toward the office where Gordon’s body lay. “I’ve called the sheriff. But no one has shown up yet.”

“He’s probably thinking anything to do with Gordon’s general store is small potatoes compared to what else he might be dealing with. Besides, we’re still a law unto ourselves. The sheriff rarely comes here unless we make life really ugly for them.”

“So things haven’t changed much.” Hawk remembered being a little wild growing up in the country where the only thing to do was the single bar at night. But he’d been into hunting, horses and women, even back then. Now he came for the peace and countryside and the sheer
lack
of people. He lived and worked in close confines to the extent his team were brothers. Friends, but more family. They knew each other like he’d never known anyone else, and he found a sense of camaraderie that hadn’t been in his life experience up until then. Now he didn’t want to do without it – them. They were who he depended on in life. But at night, it was nice to have someone to love, to hold.

He’d met Mia a couple of times but didn’t know her. She was his sister’s best friend but that relationship had only been close in the years after he’d left. Now he remembered her as a redhead with braces and a face covered in freckles. He had to admit the freckles fascinated him. But she was likely after a stay home kind of guy. So many were.

And he was anything but.

His gaze went to his watch then strayed to the office. Gordon needed to be taken care of. Damn it. Leaving him like that ate at him.

He hadn’t seen Gordon much in the last five years, but he’d been a good man. He hadn’t deserved this.

“Are you sure it’s Gordon?” Mia asked suddenly. “He’s not been doing much walking. It doesn’t make any sense that would be him.” She spun around. “In fact, I haven’t seen him for a few months, so I’m not sure how ambulatory he is…”

Her words caught him by surprise. Ambulatory? He spun around to ask her when the sounds of a vehicle screaming into the parking distracted them both. He raced to the window to look out.

A blue Ford, beat up and covered in dust, drove to the front steps and came to a screeching stop.

A tall lean redhead hopped out, a braid swinging down her back. Mia.

Chapter 3

M
IA BOLTED OUT
of her truck, slamming the door in her panic. She jumped the stairs to her father’s general store and shoved the door open hard. She ran inside, her heart pounding in fear, a sweaty itch all over her body. Please let the message be wrong. Please let her father be okay. They had their problems but he was all she had. And she so wasn’t ready to lose him.

Her wild dash ended against a solid wall of muscle and arms restraining her.

Still panicked, she acted instinctively and brought her arm up, her elbow to his throat, her knee automatically lifting as she twisted.

And just as suddenly she was grabbed, spun and held immobile against a heavily muscled chest, his voice calm and clear as he said, “I’m not going to hurt you. You need to calm down.”

She stilled. Then twisted so she could look at his face. And recognized him. Her shoulders sagged. Eva’s brother. “Hawk?”

“Yes, it’s me. Are you going to stop trying to desex me?”

The arms held her firm. She nodded once. He dropped his arms and stepped back. She still trembled, her mind screaming at her to ask him about her father. A sound burst through from the back office.

Eva.

Eva with tears running down her face at the sight of her friend. Mia shook her head. “Please tell me you were wrong. That he’s fine.”

Eva shook her head and ran to hug Mia. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “It looks like it’s him.”

“No, oh no.” Mia burst into tears, her arms tight around Eva. “Please not.”

She stared at him, looking for confirmation.

He nodded once.

“Oh.” She shoved her fist into her mouth to hold back her cries.

“I found him.” Hawk’s harsh voice cut through the air. “He’s been shot through the head in his office.”

She gave a small scream and pivoted to look in the direction of the door. Then slowly approached, she opened the door and stopped at the sight of a blanket shrouded body on the floor. Tears flooding her gaze, she slowly sank beside him, her heart breaking. With a shaking hand she reached out to pull the blanket back. And cried out in shock. “Oh my God. It’s not my father.”

“What?” Hawk roared.

Hawk and Eva ran to her side.

“No, it’s my Uncle Gerry.”

“Really? Holy shit.” Eva dropped and wrapped her arms around her friend. “It’s horrible to think this is a good thing, but…”

“This is a good thing.”

“Since when did Gordon have a brother?” Hawk demanded. He squatted beside the body and rolled it over slightly so he could see the face and confirm her words. “Damn, I’m so sorry. I thought this man had a little less hair, but I haven’t seen Gordon in quite a while.

“It’s okay, you didn’t know. They look tons alike.” Mia sniffled back her tears, her heart aching with the continuous shocks, but relief was the primary one. “He showed up a few months ago.” She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “They’ve been estranged for decades.”

“And he just showed up out of the blue?”

“Yeah, at first Dad didn’t know what to do.” She sniffed again and gently lay the blanket back over the body. “Dad is going to be so upset.”

“Where is Gordon?” Hawk asked.

“He should be at home. He has been most of the time since the accident. Especially if Gerry was here.”

“What accident? And was Gerry working for your father?”

Both Eva and Mia glanced over at him then at each other. Mia groaned. “You don’t know.”

“Know what?”

“Dad was in a car accident a few months ago. He’s in a wheelchair. The doctors say he’s going to get better eventually, but right now he’s having trouble with mobility, so he’s confined to a wheelchair until he’s stronger.”

Hawk’s gaze searched her face then dropped to the body on the floor.

“I wonder if the bullet was meant for your father or your uncle?”

She stared at him and shook her head. She pulled out her phone and called her father, her gaze on her uncle, her heart not sure how to react after the shock, the relief and now back to panic. The phone was picked up and before anyone could answer, she jumped in with, “Dad, you there?”

“I’m here,” he answered. “How was the caving?”

She closed her eyes, tears collecting in the corners as his warm caring voice filled her ears and her heart. “It was okay. But there’s something I have to tell you.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

“It’s Uncle Gerry. He’s been shot.”

She heard her father suck in his breath hard. Then a half cough. “What? How? Are you sure?”

“He’s been shot in the head.”

“Damn it. Where?” His voice fumed in a mixture of pain and anger.

“I’m in your office staring down at him now. Eva’s brother Hawk, found him.”

“Hawk’s in town?” His voice regained some strength as he registered Hawk’s name.

“Yes, he’s called the authorities but they haven’t arrived yet.” No surprise there.

“Apparently a cache of weapons was found in one of the caves.” Her father muttered. “Gerry mentioned something about bombs and chemicals this morning when I talked to him.”

“After the ambulance comes to collect him, I’ll take you down to the hospital so you can see him.”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I’d appreciate that.”

Hearing the roughness in his voice, she felt her own tears burn her eyes all over again as she said good-bye. She turned to the others staring at her and shrugged. “He needs to say good-bye.”

Hawk nodded once. She turned her back on him and clasped her hands around her knees and rocked in place. With Eva’s arm wrapped around her, she sat in silence.

Unlike Hawk. Who paced.

Mia looked over at Eva. “How long has he been here?”

“He got into town just an hour ago. I was expecting him today, just not when.”

“He’s on days off?”

“Yeah.” Mia grinned. “Five days.”

“Nice.” She studied him covertly. She’d heard about the arrogant, so damn sexy SEALs.

She had nothing against men. Even loved a few. But some were just more than others.

Hawk was one of those.

More. Everything. More presence. More male. More power.

But he was a SEAL. The ultimate of warriors. So not for her.

She’d never felt like she was enough. Could ever be enough. So she’d never entered the race. Why would she? She hated to fail and it was a given she’d fail that one.

*

I
T
WASN’T
G
ORDON
. Shit. How could he have made that mistake? Hawk had to take another look. See what he’d missed. Moving the women to the other side, Hawk crouched down, pulled the blanket back and studied the dead man’s features.

Mia spoke behind him. “They’ve got an uncanny resemblance. Maybe because they were Irish twins.”

Glancing at her, he realized she was sitting with her back to the body. She didn’t have to see it.

He frowned, trying to dredge up an explanation for that phrase. “Irish twins.” Then got it. Both boys had been born in the same year. And according to what he was seeing, they both looked close enough alike to be real twins.

Speaking of brothers…

Swede. He quickly texted Swede and let him know about the mix up.

His phone rang only minutes after he’d sent it.

“What the hell is going on there, buddy?” Swede sounded exasperated and worried at the same time.

“Damned if I know. Apparently Gordon had a bad accident, and his brother came back into his life after decades of not being there. And now six weeks later he’s dead, sporting a bullet that might have been meant for him or for Gordon, and on top of that, apparently someone locally found a cache of guns, bomb making equip-ment and possibly chemical weapons. I don’t know where or why or how. And damn it, so far I haven’t been able to get any authorities to come to the crime scene or investigate because of it. All units are supposedly involved with finding and cataloging the weapons’ cache and tracking down the owner.” His frustration ate at him. “Apparently, a murder is a secondary priority.”