Page 1 of SEAL's Sky
Chapter 1
“Another fucking dead end. How the hell does he stay ahead of us?” Drew “Murph” Murphy sighed in exasperation. His impatience echoed that of the rest of the team. Four leads, four missions and they still hadn’t captured Azfaar, the slippery son of a bitch.
The ex-Taliban terrorist managed to evade capture for almost a year since he’d initiated the kidnapping of a Missionary Group in Afghanistan. During the rescue mission, the SEALs neutralized Azfaar’s brother and he’d vowed to avenge his death.
Ousted from his Taliban group by the leader of the province, he joined ISIS to continue his Jihad and carry out his threat against them. He’d made good on his promise with an attempt on their lives on American soil. It was too damn close for comfort and they wouldn’t rest until Azfaar was either captured or dead.
‘We’ll get him,” Jake Warner replied. He was the boss of the Black Eagle Team and just as frustrated as the rest of them. But losing their shit wasn’t going to help.
“We’d better. Miranda still has nightmares at least once a week that he’ll take her again,” Cameron “Cam” Peterson added. Miranda, his girlfriend and the daughter of a US Senator was part of the missionary group that had been taken hostage.
It was their first run-in with Azfaar, and it hadn’t ended well for him. The SEALs’ mission to rescue the senator’s daughter grew to include saving the rest of the kidnapped missionary group who were being held captive in a separate location.
Rescuing all of the hostages was a big win, but danger had followed them home. Homeland Security dropped the ball somewhere and some of Azfaar’s men made it into the U.S.
It wasn’t until months later that they realized the team and their women were being targeted. Several attempts on their lives culminating with Miranda being kidnapped a second time and Cam and his K-9 Halo getting shot.
If it hadn’t been for John “Tex” Keegan’s help, they never would have found her in time. It wasn’t the last time they’d be indebted to the medically retired SEAL with mad computer skills. When all else failed, he was their secret weapon.
“I hear you, Cam. When I walk in the door, Meghan gives methatlook. Even though I don’t say anything, she can read it on my face. The fear in her eyes is like a punch in the gut,” Rafe Buchanan, second in command, said as he stowed his pack for the fourteen-hour flight home.
“Chrissy is doing all she can. Will you cut her some slack? It’s not like Tex has done any better,” Ryan McLaughlin, the team medic, said with an irritated sigh. Chrissy Stillwell, a former FBI analyst who helped identify and take out a massive terror cell, was his girlfriend. After the two of them took out the threat and shut down the cell, the CIA recruited her. Normally, she shouldn’t have been involved in this case, but her best friend was Meghan, Rafe’s woman. She and Tex were working together to track down Azfaar’s current location.
“No one’s blaming Chrissy or anyone else. Chill your ass. Y’all will be buttering your biscuits soon enough,” Murph said with his ever-present sarcasm.
The team changed a lot over the last year. It wasn’t only the threat by Azfaar, it was the women who were now part of their ‘family’. Of the five members of the Black Eagles, three were now in committed relationships. Only Jake and Murph were still single. Murph was by choice, but he had a feeling their boss was getting a little bam-bam in the ham on long weekends when he disappeared.
They were all getting soft, touchy-feely. It was ridiculous. They were freakin’ Navy SEALs. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d hung out at the range blowing off steam and going through a case of beers. Their after-action meetup at the Ready Room even included the women now.
“I know you’re pissed off, but you all need to chill the fuck out,” Jake said making a point to make eye contact with Murph. “We’ll get him. No one is that good. He’ll make a mistake and we’ll be there. It’s no different than the hundreds of other missions.”
The team’s nerves were raw and Murph knew better than to push their buttons. But he couldn’t help himself, it was part of his nature and they knew it. It’s not like he was jealous. No fuckin’ way. The last thing he needed was a clingy woman waiting for him with a lot of questions he couldn’t answer about where he’d been and then handing him a “honey-do” list. Even if a warm body in his bed and a little four-legged foxtrot would help him blow off some steam, it couldn't beat his personal freedom and the cozy apartment waiting for him.
Patting Halo, their German shepherd K-9, on the head, he headed for the cooler they kept stashed on the transport. Murph needed a beer but he’d have to settle for the root beer variety until he got home. A few cold brews would ease some of the tension still coursing through his veins. How the dirtbag asshat managed to stay one step ahead of them, he had no idea but it fucking sucked.
“What the hell is going on with you?” Jake asked as he came up behind Murph.
“Nothing. I’m good.”
“Bullshit. Are you going to tell me you weren’t trying to start something?” Sparks flashed in Jake’s steel-grey eyes.
“No, maybe. I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m just…”
“I don’t give a shit. You think it’s all fun and games but dammit, you need to learn when enough is enough.”
“Sorry, Boss. I’ll work on it.”
Jake searched his face for something and must have found what he was looking for. With a lift of his chin, he grabbed a soda and headed back to his seat.
Murph sighed. He didn’t think he’d been that bad, but Jake didn’t get pissed off for no reason. Unless there was something else going on they didn’t know about yet. He really needed to get laid. It had been months since he’d had sex, and not because of lack of opportunity, more like lack of desire. It made no sense. He was the biggest horndog on their team. It was time he went back to his usual ways.
For the first time since he’d joined the Black Eagles, Murph felt alone, not lonely, more like isolated. It was his own fault. He’d gone out of his way to put distance between himself and the guys over the past couple of months. What he didn’t understand was why he’d done it.
Seventeen hours later when their transport plane touched down at Naval Station Norfolk, Murph was no closer to figuring out his shit than when they took off from Bagram Airbase. Grabbing his gear, he followed the rest of the team off the plane.
“Debriefing at sixteen hundred,” Jake reminded them as they walked across the tarmac. Not that any of them needed to be reminded.
“And we’ll hit the Ready Room afterward?” Murph verified. Going home to his empty apartment after spending the last two weeks chasing down Azfaar was the last thing he wanted to do. It had become a tradition to go to their favorite bar to unwind after each mission. Meghan, Chrissy, and Miranda had been coming too. Truth be told, he enjoyed their company and he'd been worried at first that it would change the team dynamics, but they’d fit right in.
