Page 3 of SEAL's Tempest
Velniop…fuck.
Tempest tore her gaze from the horrible satellite images of Zdolnihiv and looked down at her hands in her lap. Noticing that she was twisting her mother’s ring around her finger, she briefly closed her eyes. It remained the only “tell” her father couldn’t get rid of when he’d taught her and her sister to hide their feelings. Instead, she clasped her hands together so she couldn’t play with the only item she had from her mother.
As she remembered the bustling city of her youth, Tempest blinked her eyes to clear the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. It was almost completely leveled. The utter devastation ripped a hole in her heart, and memories long ago buried rushed forward, raising goosebumps on her arm as her stomach churned.
How many innocents had perished in the senseless destruction of her birth city? Tempest still had family in Marikistan. Her father had done all he could to convince the rest of her relatives to join them when they emigrated to the United States, but they’d refused to leave. Now, as she looked at what remained of the once beautiful city, she couldn’t imagine that much had survived the shelling. It would be a miracle if they had.
Unable to look at the image for another moment, she turned away and met Josh’s intense gaze. She expected to find everyone focused on the briefing.
She settled her expression into one of indifference, or at least hoped it was. She needed to keep as much distance from him as possible. After a moment of meeting Josh’s stare, she returned her focus to the head of the table where Knox stood, while averting her gaze from the disturbing images projected on the whiteboard to his left.
After another thirty minutes, Knox finished the initial information dump to the team. The details they’d gathered were impressive, not that Tempest expected any less. Every mission she’d participated in with the SEAL teams in Coronado had been the same.
SEALs always said, “proper planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance.” Unfortunately, it could all be worthless information by the time they reached Marikistan. She prayed they wouldn’t be too late to save the aid workers, and if they were extra lucky, some of her family.
“JSOC is recommending a HALO here,” Knox said as he pointed to a spot on the map on the Lithuanian side of the Medininkai Highlands. “We won’t be advising the Lithuanians of our presence, so you know the drill. It would be about a twenty-klick hike through the mountain pass to the border of Marikistan, then twenty-klicks to Zdolnihiv. That is, unless we can give them an alternate proposal.”
Quinn, the red-headed SEAL team boss, wore an intense expression as he approached the whiteboard.Šventas südas...err…holy shit, Quinn was drop dead gorgeous and had to be thirty pounds heavier and probably four or five inches taller than Josh. She’d bet anything there wasn’t a soft spot anywhere on that mountain of a man.
Tempest made a mental note to never get on his wrong side. These guys probably left a trail of broken hearts in their wake. Not that it mattered to her, since she’d already declared them all off limits—especially Josh. The butterflies in her stomach every time she saw him in uniform were warning enough.
“What about putting down just outside of Zdolnihiv?” Quinn asked. “We’d make better time without having to go through the mountains.”
“We’ll have updated satellite images in about two hours and can take another look then,” Knox replied, but we’re on a tight timeline. We haven’t received any updates on the aid workers. We have no assets locally who could get us any intel.”
“Landing in Zdolnihiv would be optimal, especially if we have casualties to EXFIL. A helo could drop us just outside the city at the edge of the forest. We wouldn’t have to enter Lithuanian territory and it’ll be a quicker in and out,” Quinn said.
“I agree with Quinn,” Josh said, “not to disparage Tempest’s abilities but it won’t be easy making the HALO and hiking through the mountain range. And if time is of the essence…”
“Don’t worry about me,” she said without trying to hide her anger at Josh’s comment. “I can handle a HALO jump and a trek through the mountains. I haven’t been through BUD/S, but I’ve trained for this almost as much as you have.”
The intensity of their combined scrutiny was unnerving and almost made her squirm. Tempest knew better than to show any sign of weakness in front of these men, not if she ever wanted to earn their respect.
Quinn met her gaze and tipped his chin. She nodded her acknowledgment.
“Good to know, Petty Officer,” Quinn said. “I still think we should get close to the city or if possible find a spot where the helo can touch down inside the city limits. Without knowing where the aid workers are holed up, the less time spent reaching them the better.”
Knox nodded in agreement.
“Exactly, closer is always better. Whiskey is authorized to accompany us, correct?” Josh asked.
“Yes, although we won’t have anything to give him for scent,” Knox answered.
Tempest’s heart sped up, and she barely stopped herself from admitting her sister was one of the aid workers that needed to be retrieved. But if losing her spot on the team meant finding her sister, was she willing to give this up? Hell yeah, but that wasn’t her only consideration.
A prickle between her shoulder blades made her turn her head toward Josh. His right eyebrow lifted in question, and he glanced at her lap. She followed his gaze to find herself twisting the thin gold band around her finger. Tempest looked up and hardened her expression and ignored him as Quinn continued to speak.
“We need the same uniforms as the UN group would be wearing. Hopefully the locals will think we’re the team sent to relieve the existing group.” Quinn continued to lay out his plan, and the other members of the team interjected suggestions and comments.
Lucky nodded toward Tempest where she sat across the table. It seemed odd, and she wondered what was going on.
“Nothing personal, Tempest, but why do we need a CTI on this mission?” Lucky asked. “Why take her into a war zone? It feels like we’re missing a piece of the puzzle.”
The rest of the team nodded.
Tempest had expected this to come up and turned toward Knox. He’d have to respond to Lucca because he wasn’t wrong. They were missing a puzzle piece—a huge one—and the reason she needed to be embedded with the Red Falcons. It would probably be enough to keep her on the team even if she was related to Grace.
But that was top secret information.
