Page 19 of SEAL Ever After

“Negative,” Ryan said. “I hope like hell we’ll hear something new soon. That’s no situation for a woman to be stuck in.”

“I hope the woman Ice’s team rescued is doing okay—that shit is brutal.”

“I’ll see if I can find out anything on her condition. There were no updates on the men who escaped over the weekend, either,” Ryan said with a frown as they entered a building on base. “Of course, that’s not my primary concern. They had scouts all over the U.S. sending them women as part of their sex trafficking operation. We don’t need any of them sniffing around here for information about the men or their families.”

“We’ll all be on alert,” Hunter assured him. “I don’t like that the Alpha team’s names were leaked.”

“It’s a problem,” Ryan agreed. “It would be easy enough for them to assume that U.S. Special Forces were involved in the rescue—and the locations of bases aren’t Top Secret. A quick search on the Internet will find most of what they need to know. Hell, some of the Mexican government officials knew they were SEALs. If they wanted to track the guys down, they could. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Understood,” Hunter said. “We’ll all be vigilant in case someone is out for revenge.”

The men parted ways as Hunter headed into the locker room and Ryan to his own office.

He had a briefing with some Top Brass at the Pentagon in an hour, and he needed to catch up on the latest updates. His chest tightened at the thought of his men being put at risk on U.S. soil. The names of active SEAL team members were never released to the public. Their locations and missions were kept under wraps.

Having the names of his men out there amongst criminals was unnerving. And although his men could handle themselves, they had families. Wives, girlfriends, children.

Setting his coffee down on his desk, he frowned. Ryan logged into his computer and read through the latest SITREPs. With multiple situations around the world that he was monitoring, there was only so much attention he could give to the trouble down in Mexico. When they got word on the second woman, they might be sent in for a second rescue op. Until then, there were multiple other pressing matters.

His cell phone buzzed with a text, and he saw Sarah’s name flash on the screen.

You didn’t wake me up this morning, baby.

He smirked. She’d been dead to the world when he left. And although Sarah loved his attention in the bedroom, a Monday morning when they both needed to get ready and leave for work wasn’t the ideal time for leisurely lovemaking.

He thumbed a quick text back before he had to attend his briefings.

We’ll have plenty of time tonight, baby girl.

Miss you.

His phone buzzed one more time with her reply.

Miss you more.

Warmth flooded through his chest, but he pocketed his phone and stood, gathering the papers he needed. Sarah would be heading into her office soon, and duty called. He’d see her tonight when they both got home and talk then. If it was urgent, she could always reach him, but there was work to be done.

Chapter 9

Sarah smiled to herself as she shut the car door, walking down the sidewalk toward her office. She breezed inside, her hobo bag sliding down her arm, bracelets jangling. She’d been in such a good mood, she’d thrown on a ton of jewelry without thinking. She couldn’t exactly work through exercises with her patients sporting an arm full of jewelry though.

“How was your weekend, girl?” Dawn asked, flashing Sarah a knowing smile as she walked in.

“I’m not gonna lie,” Sarah said as she set down her green smoothie and slid the bracelets off her arm. “It was incredible. We surprised everyone Saturday night by telling them we were engaged. The guys thought it was just a welcome home get-together since Patrick’s team just got back from a mission. They were pretty much blown away when we told them we were getting married.”

“I bet. How’d your brother react?” Dawn asked.

Sarah laughed. “He was happy for us. I don’t think he was all that surprised—I mean, I’m over at Ryan’s most of the week anyway. I practically live there, so I’m sure he saw it coming.”

“So when are you officially moving here?”

Sarah shrugged. “Not sure. There are a million details to work out. This weekend we were so excited, we planned the beach bonfire for Saturday night and then just relaxed at home all day yesterday.”

“That sounds pretty perfect to me.”

“For sure,” Sarah agreed. “Coming into work and back to the real world today was brutal. I don’t think we’re going to have a long engagement either. Ryan and I talked yesterday, and we’re both excited and ready to move forward with the next part of our lives. Which means I need to start planning big time.”

“The wedding or moving?”

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