Page 58 of SEAL's Paradise
Suddenly, everything began happening at once.Sawyer called his commanding officer, just as Riley got a text from her DOD handler and her phone began ringing as the manager asked her to come early into Coconuts.“I’ll get to base to update the team,” Sawyer told her.“You talk with DOD, cancel your shift or whatever at Coconuts, and I’ll pick you up in an hour or so.We can head down to the harbor together and get there before Bengal and Brown arrive.”
Riley was already standing, rushing around her kitchen.“If you’re not here in one hour, I’ll meet you there.”
Sawyer huffed out a sigh.“I’d tell you no, to wait for me, but I know you’d never listen.”He crossed the room and kissed her once, hard and fierce, and then was rushing out her front door.Riley was already on her cell phone, calling her contact at DOD.
“I’ve got an update,” she said urgently.“I think the transfer is happening tonight.”
***
“HOW THE HELL DID THEYsneak out another missile?”Commander Madden seethed, eyeing the team in the bullpen.His face was red with rage, and Sawyer wasn’t sure when he’d ever seen him so pissed off before.
“No idea, sir,” Sawyer told him.“But according to these communications, we have reason to believe they’re shipping the stolen weapon out tonight.”
His CO cursed and shook his head, stalking across the room.“We’ve been watching them.Surveilling their actions.Intercepting their messages.I even got a damn count of what should be in the munitions’ storage.”
“Do you think it’s a cover-up?”Ryan asked.“Whoever gave you the figures could have the incorrect numbers.”
“I don’t know what to think,” he muttered.“It seems damn near impossible that another missile could’ve been stolen off base right beneath our noses.”
“Maybe it was already smuggled out,” Wyatt said.All eyes swung to him.“Whenever they took the first missiles, maybe they also snuck out another,” he continued.“Maybe Bengal and Brown had all they planned to steal this entire time.”
“Without telling the buyer?”Sawyer asked.“Because the communications Riley has, the intercepted texts, all indicate that only two missiles were stolen.”
The CO moved toward them.“No.Wyatt’s right.It’s risky to pull off the same move twice.Hell, the first damn time was risky.They could’ve taken all the missiles then and stored them somewhere offsite.They shipped off the first delivery, or so we believe, and they’re just waiting on the second.The buyer indicated he had possession of the first two missiles, but we have no idea where they actually are.”
Sawyer frowned, working that thought over.
According to Riley, analysts were trying to find the buyer and where the missiles had ended up.They’d had zero luck on either count, and it bothered him that they had more questions than answers.He glanced at his watch.“Shit.I need to go pick up Riley.We’re heading to the harbor, and if don’t get there in time, she’ll go without me.”
“I think you’re already too late,” the commander said with a frown.“Riley just emailed an update that she’s on her way.”
“Damn it!”Sawyer cursed.He rose from the conference table, jogging out of the room.He hadn’t been dismissed by his commanding officer, but at the moment, he didn’t give a shit.Riley was putting herself in danger by going there alone, and he couldn’t stand the idea of her being hurt because he wasn’t there.
Jumping into his truck, he quickly grabbed his cell phone.Sawyer frowned as he saw three missed calls from Riley.What the hell was going on?
He glanced at the time again, then raced off base, speeding to the harbor.Riley wasn’t picking up her cell, and fear coursed through him.Something was happening.Something was wrong.His tires squealed as he finally pulled to a stop, double parking on a side street.Sawyer could see dock workers loading cargo containers onto a massive ship, but they were all stamped with the names of various food products.
Was he at the wrong place?
Riley arrived at the harbor just after him, jumping out of her convertible.“Those don’t look like missiles!”Sawyer called out to her.The machinery down at the harbor was noisy, and it was hard to hear what Riley was saying.He briefly looked off in the distance as he saw a storm rolling in.
“They’re not taking them off the island!”Riley shouted, slamming the door of her convertible shut.
Sawyer’s head snapped back toward her.“What?”
Riley rushed toward him, face flushed, her long hair blowing in the wind.Thunder boomed in the distance as a storm moved in from offshore, and the dark clouds looked ominous, perfectly reflecting Sawyer’s mood.
“They’re stashing the weapons here in Oahu,” she said in a rush.“The shipping containers were just a decoy.They knew we were reading their messages and sent us here to throw us off.They’re planning to launch missiles at the Pacific Coast from right here in Hawaii!”
His jaw dropped, and Sawyer found himself momentarily speechless.“Holy.Fuck.”
