SEALs of Honor: Hawk (9 page)

Outside the hospital, she stood at the front doors and stared across the parking lot. There were cabs waiting on the front curb. She walked over to one, but it drove away as she approached.

A truck drove between her and the next taxi. She tried to walk around it but a man hopped out. She shifted out of his way.

The man called out to her. “Excuse me.”

She spun and looked at him, “Yes.”

“I think this is for you.” He held out a package.

She frowned. “From who?”

“A guy in a black Jeep.”

Her face lit up. Hawk. “Oh,” she said hopefully and reached out to take it. “Thank you so much for delivering–”

She never saw the blow, never felt the air cut off from her lungs. Nor did the pain hit her awareness quickly. Instead it was like a slow motion movie as she watched her body fall into his waiting arms. She knew something was wrong but couldn’t seem to connect the weird grip on her neck with the numbness of her legs.

His voice, concerned and helpful, called to her. “Oh dear. Are you all right? Here, let me help you up.”

She was boosted into the back seat of the truck where she toppled forward into the foot well. Her head hit the seat cushion and bounced off to slide to the floor. She lay there, her eyes open, her brain aware, her mind no longer functioning.

The truck engine turned over.

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, for now. We’ll have to find out who she’s talked to and take care of them as well. But for the moment, the issue is contained.”

“Can’t leave any loose ends.”

“A couple of days are all we need. Less if things go as planned.”

“Should just dump her in the river. Be done with it.”

“Have to figure out what she knows first. Who she’s told. Can’t leave that to chance. After that, we’ll shut her up permanently.”

“Should have done it before she could talk. Damn Stan.”

“Yeah, he’s always been one for taking a little bit of a bonus for himself. But we needed the extra manpower, and he was someone we’d used before.”

“Now we’ll need a couple of new men when we hit the docks.”

“There’s lots of casual labor around there. People who don’t ask too many question.”

“Good.”

Mia lay in the back, the words rolling through her brain. She wanted to retain them but they flitted in and out. Making sense then not making any sense. Between the rest of the events of the day her brain wanted to shut down.

“Settle in, we’ve got a decent ride ahead of us,” the stranger called back to her. “You won’t be leaving this truck until we hit our destination.”

Her eyes drifted closed.
Please not.

All she’d wanted to do was go home and rest. Instead she was in trouble. And she had no way of calling for help.

*

H
AWK WOKE FROM
his power nap after ten minutes. Perfect. With Shadow driving, they were still making good time and he was revving up ready to go.

“Glad to hear Gordon’s doing well,” Shadow said as he drove Hawk’s Jeep down the highway behind Swede’s truck. “He took a pretty good knock to his head.”

“I am too.” Hawk pulled out his phone and checked his messages. “Shit. There are several missed calls from him.” He quickly called Gordon. “Hey, sorry I missed your calls. Is everything okay?”

“No. There’s no sign of Mia. She left just after you to go home as the doctor gave her the okay, but she’s not answering her phone and I’ve had a friend check both my house and hers and there’s no sign of her. I’m calling her phone constantly but there’s no response.”

“What? Why did she leave?” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Maybe she went to my sister’s place.”

“No, Eva’s looking for her. The last anyone can place her is here in front of the hospital. A cabbie thought she was coming toward him for a ride but a truck stopped and a guy got out. He said she appeared to be smiling and talking to him so he ignored her. When he looked up again, the truck and Mia were gone.”

Gordon’s voice dropped. “Damn it Hawk. What’s the chance those guys decided they couldn’t afford any loose strings?”

“But there are loose strings. You’re alive. I’m alive. She’s only one of many. Maybe he’s a friend of hers.” Hawk’s heart raced as his mind reached for more reasonable explanations and came up empty. “Shit.”

“I know. Where are you?”

“On the hunt.”

“Make sure you’re looking for my little girl at the same time. She’s quite likely to be the catch at the end of the day.”

Hawk glared at his phone. He’d turned the volume down low when they’d been trying to get away from the killer, and he’d forgotten to turn it back up again. He couldn’t believe he missed the calls.

Would it have helped to have known earlier? Maybe not, but at the same time he couldn’t not consider it. He’d been there at the hospital with her. Why hadn’t she said she was heading home? He’d told her to stay and heal. She could have said something then. Then again he’d also told her to stay out of trouble. Why the hell hadn’t he taken the time to drive her home?

Because he was after the terrorists and she was supposed to be safe. But he should have made
sure
she was safe. Not assumed she was because she was in the hospital.

And he was too damn attracted to her. It threw off his thinking. She was something. But
he
wasn’t what Gordon would want for his little girl. Truly, Hawk couldn’t blame him for thinking that.

Hawk had hardly led the type of life anyone would want for their daughter. So he had to stay away. She didn’t appear to be interested in him more than her best friend’s brother, but then again he hadn’t given her any opening. She was strong and enduring and he loved that. It was qualities he’d seen in his team but never looked for in a woman. Then his relationships were the opposite of that. On purpose. He wasn’t ready to settle down. She was the girl next door type. Settling down kind of girl. Mia reminded him of Tesla.

Whoa, not quite. Tesla was Mason’s girl. She had the same grit Mia had. He remembered the way Mia had taken them into the cave and shown them what she’d found. She’d been instrumental in giving them a starting point. Now look what had happened to her – again.

He’d found her and rescued her twice, but a third time. Damn. He couldn’t let those assholes hurt her. He dialed Swede and quickly gave him the update.

“Did he give a description of the truck?”

“An oversized black Ford.”

“Hmmm. As in lifted?”

“No confirmation on that,” Hawk said. “I’ll call him back and see if we can’t get a few more details.” He hung up on his buddy and called Gordon back. “Do you know if there was one man in the truck or two. Was it a lifted rig or a big rig? Did it have a canopy or anything else to identify it?”

“No idea, but I know the cabbie. I’ll call you back.”

Hawk sat in the Jeep and waited. His mind caught on the little things Mia had done for her father. Dashing in to save him instead of taking off. Refusing to leave without him from the storehouse. Making sure Hawk was okay with carrying the extra weight. Everything she’d done had been with someone else in mind. Even at the hospital she’d wanted to leave. Said she wasn’t hurt and the bed was needed for real patients. She’d been doing similar things since he’d met her.

Admirable. Made her unforgettable.

Gordon called back. “Super cab, raised, no canopy and four by. There was an off light in the left headlight. As if they lost a light and had to use whatever they could find.”

“Good to know. License plate?”

“Mudded over. In fact a lot of it was pretty muddy.”

“And they didn’t do anything that made him question them?”

“No, just called out to her.”

“Are we presuming she’d have to have known the drivers?”

“Or they had some ruse to get her attention without making her leery,” Gordon said in worried tones. “She was really tired and not thinking straight.”

“Damn. Okay. I’ll let you know if we find anything.” He ended the call and stared out the windshield blankly. His mind searched for answers.

“Nothing?” Shadow asked.

“A little bit. But we need to run the truck.”

“Good luck. Trucks dominate the roads, and I swear black has got to be the most popular color.”

“Maybe, but the highway patrol needs to be on the lookout.”

“So, who are you calling? The sheriff?”

“Mason.”

Chapter 11

T
HE TRUCK NEVER
stopped. The rolling of the wheels lulled her into sleep and out of sleep and back under again. She had to go to the bathroom but she kept telling her body to forget it, that kind of relief wasn’t going to happen any time soon. They’d have to stop for gas at some point unless they had a big tank in the back. From her viewpoint, she couldn’t tell.

From the front came an odd rustle then sounds of food being eaten. Thankfully she wasn’t offered anything. The way the wheels churned through the miles, in combination with her position, she’d have upchucked anything she tried to put down. Although a drink of water would be lovely.

But not going to happen.

She lay quiet.
Hawk, if you can hear me, please tell Dad I love him.

She didn’t know why she was talking to Hawk, then again why not, considering it was all fantasy. She could have just as easily been calling to her father. But instead she’d chosen Hawk. Why?

Because she wanted to see him again. Wanted to be held by him again. This time with affection. He confused her. Made her feel things she’d forgotten were things she’d always hoped to have. It wasn’t the white picket fence dream she wanted so much as wanting that special person to be there for her. Knowing she was part of a special twosome in a world of twosomes. She wanted to wake up to the same person morning after morning and know he’d be there on the next morning too.

Foolish maybe, considering his job, but she’d rather have years with him than decades without him. And this was just stupid. Hawk didn’t even know she existed. Then again not many men did.

Not a good time to reflect on her life. A good life but not one of excitement or even half interesting events.

What a waste. Sure she’d been doing more training for her Search and Rescue work, but that was nothing to what she could do. No, she’d stayed small town so she wouldn’t be pushed out of her comfort zone. How was that working out for her now? She could do so much more in her field, but she’d resisted leaving Canford because it was safe.

Lord she was a fool. Hawk was a man of the world. He wasn’t going to want anything to do with her. She was a mouse. And he was a predator in a good way. She’d do well to run.

Except she’d love to be pounced on. The analogy made her smile. He was so much more than she was used to. She’d love to think she was up to the challenge. She’d also love to be flippant and in control right now. It would get beaten out of her soon enough.

At that her tears started.

She tried to make them stop, but her body refused to follow orders. Instead every part of her screamed from being in the same damn position for too long. The stress and pain and panic had caught up with her although she wasn’t willing to blame it on the drugs, but they’d had an effect on her too. She was a mess. She hated it.

She tried to shift her position, only she couldn’t move. Why couldn’t she move yet?

She hadn’t felt anything for a long time, but now for some reason her body just wouldn’t stop feeling. She wished it would go back to numb. It was weird but more comfortable than the screaming pain of now.

She lifted a hand and realized in shock that it moved! Not enough and not in control but whatever he’d done was wearing off.

Finally.

“How is she doing back there?”

She closed her eyes, letting her arm fall back in the position it had been in as the seats creaked with movement.

“She’s the same. Out cold.”

“She should be waking up soon. How hard did you knock her out?”

“Hardly. Besides, if she died we could just ditch her. So much easier.”

“Not until we find out who the hell she told.”

“Just the couple of guys she was with.”

“Maybe, and if so, who the hell were they? No one gets away like they did. There had to be some training there. And if that’s the case we need to know.”

“Why, we’ll be in and out and the job done before anyone realizes.”

“But training means they are likely law enforcement or military.”

“So? They have the gun cache so you know both are going to be brought in.” He shrugged. “Makes no difference if there are one or two extra.”

“But what if they saw us? The best way is in and out, but that only works if no one is waiting for us.”

“True.”

She heard the sound of vinyl seats as the man shifted again. She could imagine the scary dude leaning over to take a closer look. Thankfully her hair had fallen over her face so he shouldn’t be able to see her eyes or the tear tracks on her cheeks.

“She’s out. So until she wakes up there’s nothing any of us can do.”

“We’ll wake her up. No worries there.”

And he laughed. A laugh that let her know she wouldn’t have the luxury of sleeping through whatever they had planned. They were going to get their answers no matter what.

*

“
W
E NEED A
better way to track these guys.”

“Mason is looking for details on the dead man, identified as Stan Slater. He’s the one they killed and left behind.”

“Known associates?” Shadow asked.

“Yeah, coming up on screen now.”

Hawk’s cell phone showed several men. He flicked through each, taking a long look to make sure he re-membered the features in case he stumbled across them. On the last one, he stopped. “This was the second guy that came with Stan.”

Shadow reached out a hand for the phone. He took a long look and shook his head. “Never seen him.”

“He’s one of them.” Hawk quickly responded to Mason, knowing he’d widen the search for this guy’s associates. In the meantime he’d forward the email to Swede ahead of them.

“The more we find…”