Page 35 of Loved by a SEAL

Chapter 10

Sarah put her bags of groceries into the back of her mini cruiser and slammed the trunk shut. Spaghetti squash with tofu meatballs sounded amazing for dinner tonight. The vine-ripened tomatoes and fresh basil she’d grabbed would make a quick and easy sauce. She’d open a bottle of vino and be all set for the night.

Although she preferred shopping at the local farmer’s market, it was only open on the weekends. Still, it was a sacrifice she’d been willing to make for a fun weekend at the beach. Relaxing on the sand yesterday with Morgan had been just what she’d needed—never mind that Morgan had laughed at her for slathering on SPF 55 sunscreen and bringing the biggest umbrella on the beach.

She drove home, pulling into the driveway of her townhouse. Ivy climbed up the wrought-iron trellis she’d put near the steps, and the day lilies bloomed from the flower bed beside it. She’d love a huge yard someday where she could plant tons of flowers and a vegetable garden, but this suited her for now.

It had been a busy day at work, but she loved all the patients she had. Watching the progress some of her kids had made always left her feeling proud.

Her cell phone buzzed as she was carrying her groceries in, and she set her bags down on the counter. As she pulled her phone from her hobo bag, she was surprised to see Rebecca’s name flash across the screen as a missed call.

“Hey! What’s up?” she said when Rebecca answered. “I’m just carrying groceries in.”

“Hey Sarah, I’m so sorry to be calling like this. I was wondering if you could watch the kids tonight?”

“Oh, sure. I can come over. Is everything okay?”

“Alison’s in labor. Evan left this afternoon with the rest of the team—”

“They left?” Sarah asked, pausing. So much for her plan to call Patrick tonight. But they couldn’t really be going after the missing American woman, could they? It had just been on the news this morning. Certainly things like that required planning and preparation. Maybe the team could deploy quickly, but as for actually carrying out a mission? That had to require time.

Still, it would be too much of a coincidence if they deployed today, wouldn’t it?

“They left this afternoon. You know those guys have no warning when they need to deploy. And Alison’s a few weeks early. I guess she was on her feet a lot today in the ER and went into early labor.”

“Oh no. Hopefully they can stop her labor from progressing. Is she at the hospital now?”

“Never even left,” Rebecca said.

“I guess that’s one advantage of working in the ER. Will they send Evan home?”

“Not for something like this I’m afraid—they can’t turn around the plane carrying the entire SEAL team. I can’t even get a hold of Patrick. I spoke with Commander Mitchell, and he’ll get word to Patrick when they land. It will be up to him as to when he tells Evan though—I mean it could very well turn out to be nothing if they can get Alison’s labor to stop. And distractions on the mission can be dangerous to everyone.”

“Of course. I can come over and watch Logan and Abby for you if you want to go be with Alison. I’m sure she’s freaking out right about now. Are you at your house or Patrick’s?”

“Patrick’s.”

“It’ll be at least an hour with traffic, but I’m on my way.”

“I know. And thanks. I really appreciate it!”

The two women disconnected the call, and Sarah looked around her kitchen. She’d put her groceries away. Pack an overnight bag. Then head back the way she’d come less than 24 hours ago.

A knot formed in the bottom of her stomach. Something about this entire thing felt off.

***

Ryan took a sip of the scalding hot coffee at 0300 and rubbed his eyes. Moving this entire operation up was a big fucking mistake. Because the Delta team was there ahead of time, the Pentagon was insisting on moving up the timeline for the mission. As soon as his SEAL team had landed, they’d hopped in an armored convoy to their forward-operating base and geared up to go rather than waiting until the following night.

A middle-of-the night assault would catch the enemy off guard, but hell.

His men needed time to assess the situation and plan accordingly. To go over it all with the men from Delta. To catch a couple hours of shut-eye. Nothing like a fourteen-hour flight to the Middle East and then immediately charging in, guns blazing.

Shit.

He watched the massive screen in front of him as the men strapped on their gear. He was like a goddamn fly on the wall with the sophisticated comms they had. He could hear every word and watch nearly every move they made via the feed from the headsets.

“You checked the coordinates, Flip?” Patrick asked, calling Evan by his nickname.

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