Hacking the SEAL (Saving the SEALs Series Book 2) (10 page)

They’d just reached the door when Natalie crumpled before her, a splotch of bright red blossoming near the woman’s right shoulder.

She grabbed Natalie’s arm, then yanked her body toward the open door. A searing hot sensation sliced through Hayley’s left side. Wet, warm, stickiness dribbled through her white cotton shirt. Hayley stared at the growing crimson stain, dazed. Time seemed slow and voices echoed from a long distance away. Funny, how the bullet wound didn’t really hurt. In fact, it all felt like it was happening to someone else. Hayley had been through enough EMT certification classes to know the signs of shock as they set in. Natalie’s dead weight pulled her down and she fell forward, her head striking a large, decorative rock near the side of the gravel.

“Oh, shit! Hayley, baby. Stay with me, baby. Please.” Scotty was by her side, his expression full of concern and stark fear.

She stared up into the cloudy sky above, the glimpses of aqua through the gray. Birds sang and plants bloomed and from somewhere beside her, Natalie moaned. Still alive. The widow was still alive. That’s all that mattered. Hayley had done her job. Life would go on.

Eyes heavy, she blinked slowly up at Scotty, loving the heat of him so close to her, the chiseled lines of his face, the messy spikes of his hair. Loving everything about him, really. He gave her a watery smile and her world tilted on its axis.

She tried to speak, but a drugging fatigue prevented any words from escaping. He ran his thumb over her lips, moisture gathering in his beautiful eyes. “Please, baby. Just stay with me a little longer, okay?”

She wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to. Stay with him. Stay with him forever.

Except, Hayley was so, so tired and now her side felt like it was on fire and it was hard to breath and her head hurt so, so bad. She’d close her eyes, just for a second, just to rest. As consciousness slipped away, Hayley’s last thoughts were of Scotty and the brief times they’d spent together, the unlikely friendship they’d developed, the love she felt for him…

“Hands up!”

The cold barrel of a gun grazed the back of Scotty’s neck and he squeezed his eyes shut. Why the hell had Hayley jeopardized her life like that? It went against all of his training, all of his instincts. The truth reverberated through his head like a clarion call. He’d done it because it was what she wanted, because he’d do anything to make her happy. Because, somehow, in the midst of all this bullshit craziness, he’d fallen hard for his red-haired little spitfire.

“On your feet,” the agent behind him growled. “And don’t even think about trying anything or I’ll bury a bullet in your brain.”

He opened his eyes and stared down at Hayley’s still form, praying silently for some sign she was alive and would be well again. The rise and fall of her chest had grown swallower and her cheeks, normally creamy and pink, were now deathly pale. Dark circles smudged the skin beneath her eyes and there were bits of gravel and leaves stuck in her lovely auburn hair. Blood covered the left side of her ribcage and oozed from the nasty gash on her head.

“Up. Now.” The weapon nudged his nape more forcefully.

“Agent Davis?” Michelle called from somewhere behind them. “Get his ass over here now. We need to be gone by the time the cops arrive. We’ve got the rest of the team restrained. Let’s get them to the docks.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The agent kicked the sole of Scotty’s booted foot hard. “On your feet. Now.”

Scotty did as he was told, still staring at Hayley. One sign. Just one and he’d gladly die a happy man today, knowing she’d be okay. The agent slapped a pair of cuffs on him, but Scotty barely noticed. Even though Natalie moaned on the ground at this side, his attention was focused solely on the woman he loved, her hand curled on the ground.

There.

He frowned and his eyes widened. Did her fingers just twitch or…

Yes!

Hayley’s fingers gave a slight movement. She was still alive. Her eyes squinted open and his heart thumped. Relief and determination washed over him. He didn’t know how or why, all he knew was that he owed the universe, big time. He’d show Hayley just how grateful he was to have her around, once they were all safe and sound and home again. Right now though, he and the rest of his team needed a plan. From the ever-increasing blare of the sirens, the local authorities were close. Beside Hayley, the widow moaned low again. Natalie was okay too. Injured, but okay.

Good. All right then. Maybe things wouldn’t end quite so badly after all.

The guard tugged him away and over toward the rest of the group waiting near the back of the row house. A black van had pulled up to the rear of the building. He didn’t fight the agent, since biding his time now would be the smartest move.

Once they reached the rest of the team, Scotty glanced over at Kyle. Yep. Definitely biding their time. He and Gage and Spencer all traded glances too. Awesome thing about working with the same group of guys for so long. Silent, effective communication. Hell, some missions they completed without a single word spoken on the battlefield.

“Right.” Michelle looked drawn and tight, as if the weight of the world rested on her petite shoulders. From what little Hayley had said about her boss that day on the National Mall, she’d built a nice career for herself at the Bureau. Plus, she had a son who was sick. Didn’t make sense for her to blow all that by hijacking her own case. So what the hell would drive an agent to do something like this? SEAL Team Ten wasn’t exactly on everyone’s most-loved list these days, but no one had had the balls to do something like this. Unless…

He caught Kyle’s gaze again and tilted his head toward the head agent. Scotty gave him a pointed there’s-something-up-with-her stare. Kyle nodded. The air in the row house now smelled of gunpowder and the coppery stench of blood. Scotty craned his neck to see if he could still spot Hayley, to see if she was all right, to see if someone was helping her… The agent behind him nudged him in the back with is gun, forcing him to face front again.

“Why are you really doing this, Agent Harper?” Kyle asked. “You weren’t ever planning to take Natalie to the Bureau were you?”

“Shut up,” she snapped. “You don’t know anything.”

Kyle raised his cuffed wrists and an eyebrow. “These say different.”

Michelle narrowed her dark gaze. “I have my reasons.”

“For your sake, I hope they’re important.” Kyle lowered his hands, his first, middle, and ring fingers extended.

“You have no idea, Matthews. None at all.”

Scotty looked over at Spencer again and flashed the same number three—their signal for listen up and wait. Spence nodded and passed the signal on to Gage, who stood restrained slightly behind the rest of them.

“Let’s get the hell out of here. Leave the widow. Too many people to grab her now,” Michelle called and what was left of her contingent jammed into the back of the waiting van along with their prisoners, the agents taking seats on the benches lining the walls while the team sat on the floor at their feet, guns trained on their heads. The van door slid closed then Michelle climbed into the passenger seat up front. “Green, take us to the docks.”

Gage snorted as they sped off. “Doing some fishing today, Agent Harper?”

“The only thing they’ll be fishing is your carcasses out of the river,” another agent answered. He cuffed Gage on the side of the head with his gun and chuckled. “Not so tough now, are you SEAL?”

“Take off these restraints and we’ll show you just how tough we are,” Scotty snarled. Even knowing Hayley was alive, he still hated to leave her. And these assholes were getting on his last fucking nerve, orders or not.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” The agent with his gun to Scotty’s temple said. “Don’t worry, we’ll make it quick.”

“How kind of you,” Spence said, his tone drenched in sarcasm. “I’ll make sure you suffer extra for that one, dickhead.”

“You know what they call those Quantico grads?” Kyle piped in, stirring the shit. Pissed agents made easier targets.

“You mean besides cowardly assholes?” Scotty asked.

That remark earned him a swift, painful kick to the lower back. Yep. The agent holding him hostage was going to die a painful death really soon. Or at least suffer an excruciating, humiliating ass-kicking in front of his fellow agent buddies.

“Everyone shut up!” Michelle pulled out her cell phone and took a call.

Scotty did his best to identify the person on the other end of the line from her one-sided conversation, but there wasn’t much to go on. Tension rose off of her like fog. Whoever it was, it wasn’t a social acquaintance.

“Yes. Yes, I’ve got them. No. I couldn’t get the widow. No. I’ll take care of it. We had an agreement and I’ll hold up my end. Please, no. I said I’ll handle it and I will.” Her expression looked distraught—frightened. Scotty almost felt sorry for her.

Almost.

“Fine. I’ll call you when it’s over. Yes.”

She ended the call and stuffed the device back into her pocket fast then looked up and caught Scotty’s gaze. Shadows lurked in her dark eyes. She was attractive in a petite, Italian, badass-bitch sort of way, if you liked that sort. He only had eyes for redheads now. One special redhead in particular.

“I did some research on you, Agent Harper. You’re ex-military,” Kyle said.

She sniffed. “Army medic. Why?”

“No reason. Just figured killing innocent men would go against your grain, that’s all.”

“Nice try, Matthews. But you’re hardly innocent, are you?”

“We are.”

“I think your brother’s death says otherwise.”

Kyle flinched and Michelle frowned and Scotty looked away as they bumped down the road in the back of a van headed for the Anacostia River and, quite possibly, their final destination.

After several bitter seconds, Kyle said, “I didn’t kill my brother.”

“My reports say different.” Michelle slumped back in her seat. “Doesn’t matter now anyway.”

“Why?” Kyle’s voice sounded rough. “The truth always matters.”

“No.” Michelle shook her head, her dark brows knitted. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Not anymore. Not for me.”

“Why not?”

Michelle looked up, her gaze haunted. “The truth won’t save what’s important.”

“And what’s important to you, Agent Harper?” Scotty asked.

“Everybody just shut up,” she said, her voice angry. She gestured to the other agents who held their guns to the SEALs heads to be sure they stayed quiet.

*

“Ma’am, please sit still while I get this cleaned for you,” the paramedic said.

Hayley fidgeted inside the back of the ambulance. It was just a flesh wound, thank goodness, the bullet grazing her left ribcage. And she had a bump and cut on her head too, where she’d hit the rock when she’d fallen. That still hurt like hell, but nothing she couldn’t handle. Honestly, it wasn’t nearly as bad as Taser day at the Academy. Now
that
had been painful.

Or Scotty being taken away by force.

That was unbearable.

Outside, EMTs were inserting an IV into Natalie’s arm. She’d taken a hit to the right shoulder, the bullet passing through and leaving a nasty wound behind. She’d be okay too, from what the paramedic told her, but would need to go the hospital.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to take you to the ER, ma’am?” The paramedic paused to toss a wad of bloody gauze into a nearby biohazard bin. “They can do a better job of patching you up there than I can.”

“No. No ER.”

Not yet anyway. First, she needed to get to Scotty and his team.

Michelle’s yell, the one she’d heard while still lying on the ground outside the row house, echoed in her head.

Take us to the docks…

The closest sea port was in Baltimore, nearly an hour away. She doubted Michelle would waste that kind of time in disposing of her victims which meant they were going somewhere closer. But where? She wracked her brain trying to remember bits of memorabilia she’d seen in Michelle’s office. The picture of Michelle and her son on her desk. She’d said it was taken last year at a marina on James Creek. That was closer. Much closer. Only about twenty minutes away, which meant Hayley still had time to catch them, if she hurried.

“I need to speak to the police, please.” She winced as the paramedic dabbed some antibiotic ointment over her wound, then taped on some gauze pads. “Are they outside?”

“Yep. Waiting to speak to you too, actually.” The guy added a few more strips of tape to hold her bandages securely in place, then straightened. “You can borrow one of our T-shirts, if you want, since your clothes are pretty well shot.” He cringed. “Sorry. Bad pun.”

“The worst.” She grinned and took the shirt he handed her. “Thanks for this.”

“No problem.” He jumped out the back and closed the doors to give her some privacy.

She quickly discarded her blood-stained top and tugged the black T-shirt over her head then tied it in a knot around her waist since it seemed at least twelve sizes too large. Finally, she pushed out the back of the ambulance and scanned the crowd of law enforcement for whomever seemed to be in charge. A large, burly guy with salt-and-pepper hair and a Columbo-style trench coat stood directly in front of her. Perfect.

Hayley charged over, shoulders squared. “Agent Stevens, FBI. I need to talk to someone about getting over to James Creek.”

“I know who you are,” the man said. “I need to talk to you too. Mind telling me why the Feds were down here shooting the place up without jurisdiction?”

Good question.
She squinted at the badge pinned to the lapel of his coat. “Your guess is as good as mine, Detective Murphy. But I have a feeling there’s going to be more shootings soon if we don’t get over to the marina right away.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?” He yelled more orders to the crime scene techs who arrived, then focused his attention back on her again. “Listen. I need to question you about what happened.”

“I’m happy to cooperate, officer. But first I need to save my friends. Can you spare one of these squad cars?”

He snorted. “The only ride I’m giving you, lady, is straight to headquarters for interrogation.”

So much for inter-agency teamwork.

Scotty needed her and there was no way in hell she’d let some DC detective stand between her and the life of the man she loved.

Adrenaline pumping, she decided to go for broke. Considering what had happened today, her promotion at the FBI was long gone anyway. She raised herself up to her full five-nine height and poked her index finger into his chest for good measure. “Listen, buddy. My boss just went postal on a bunch of military heroes and I’ll be damned if I stand around and let her kill them. Now are you going to help me or not?”

Detective Murphy scowled. “Your boss did this?”

“Did I stutter?” On a roll now, she kept going. “Four decorated war heroes tried to stop this rogue agent and failed. Now, I’m determined to put an end to whatever the hell she has planned, but a few extra cops by my side wouldn’t be unwelcome. And don’t think for one second I can’t pull rank on you and make sure you spend the rest of your natural born days sweating it out in the evidence room, mister. Now, you in or not?”