Risk Taker (21 page)

Ethan knew where that comment was coming from. He loved Sarah passionately, her flushed face, her emotional voice. Glancing at Hunter, who seemed equally affected by her low, ferocious words, Ethan knew the master chief would have her back. No question.

“Well,” Gil murmured, smiling a little, “your CO can’t stop this even if he wanted to. It’s a Navy commendation. There’s not anything the Army can do to stop it or protest it. Understood?”

“I didn’t know that, sir. Yes, sir. I mean...yes, Master Chief Hunter.”

Gil eased up in his chair, folding his large hands on the desk in front of him. “I think you know Dr. Tisdale at Bagram put you in for a medal when you saved our SEALs?”

“Yes, she told me she was going to do it. She said my CO would have to sign off on it.” Sarah saw the master chief’s eyes go from warm to hard.

Gil said, “My camp spies have informed me that Major Donaldson circular-filed her recommendation that you receive a Bronze Star. He denied it and refused to approve it.”

Sarah heard the growl in the SEAL’s tone; he was clearly upset with her CO’s action. “I’m not surprised,” she said quietly. “I’m not exactly his favorite pilot in his squadron.” Again, she saw carefully banked anger deep in the master chief’s eyes.

“We take a different attitude toward you, Sarah. Courage isn’t predicated on gender. Hawk here has written in his reports that you’re not only a fine pilot, but you take fire and stand your ground. That’s the kind of people the Navy
wants
to support. You’re a lifeline to us, and we know it. What makes you stand out is your coolness under fire and your flight skills.” Then he said, “You’re a SEAL by proxy in that area, Sarah. SEALs run toward a fight, not away from it, and you have the same heart as we do. It should be celebrated and you should be rewarded and supported for it.”

Sarah didn’t know what to say. She leaned back in the chair, her folded hands resting in her lap. “All I want to do is save lives, Master Chief. That’s my reward. It’s all I’ll ever need.”

“Understood.” Hunter stood, took the reports and said, “Now, I think we’re wanted out in the big room.”

Confused, Sarah stood with Ethan. She shot him a questioning look. Ethan gave her a reassuring smile, his hand resting on her back, guiding her out of the door to follow the master chief down the hall.

When Sarah entered the large room, there were thirty-nine SEALs standing around a table that had a huge cake placed in the center of it. They snapped to attention when Sarah appeared. She saw Master Chief Hunter turn, and he held out his hand to her.

“Sarah, would you come over here and stand with me?”

She left Ethan’s side and moved to where Gil Hunter stood on the opposite side of the table. The SEAL platoon was facing them. Three SEAL officers stood with their men, as well. She came to a halt next to Hunter. She was completely confused.

“Men, let’s give Chief Warrant Sarah Benson a big welcome, shall we?” he called out.

Instantly, a huge
“Hooyah”
boomed out of the SEALs and echoed around the room. Sarah was stunned. Every man’s gaze was on her. A fierce look. A look of pride. A look of thank-you for what she’d done for their brothers. And more than anything else, a sense of overwhelming protection toward her.

“At ease, you animals,” Master Chief Hunter drawled, grinning.

The men broke into laughter.

Sarah watched as the SEALs relaxed. Shaken to her core, she realized she’d been set up. Ethan, who joined her, was smiling the most, pride gleaming in his eyes for her alone.

“Would you do us the honors, Sarah?” the master chief asked, handing her a large, vicious-looking KA-BAR knife. “I think these guys are looking for a pretty big piece of your medal cake.”

Sarah looked down and saw a bronze medal with a
V
for valor carefully designed in the enormous cake covered with white frosting.

Her eyes filled with tears. Pursing her lips, she nodded, unable to speak because her throat was tight. Ethan’s hand gently came to rest on her shoulder, and she was glad for his unspoken support in that moment. It gave her the strength to not cry as she stepped forward with the knife carried by many of the SEAL operators. The cake was their way of thanking her. No one had ever celebrated her in this way before.

She turned to Hunter. “Master Chief, do you think this is a big enough knife to cut this cake?”

Snickers rippled through the SEAL platoon, who eagerly waited for her to cut up the cake.

Hunter grinned and chuckled. “SEALs are kinda Texas-size, Sarah. We do everything big or we don’t do it at all. Go big or go home.”

Sarah looked over at the platoon and became solemn. Her voice choked up as she whispered, “You are all heroes in my eyes.” She shyly looked away, focused on the cake and began to cut it into big pieces. Someone took an official picture with a camera and many cell phones flashed as Sarah cut the cake.

Ethan saw every man’s face go soft for a moment over her emotional words. What Sarah didn’t understand was that she was
their
hero. His love for her moved powerfully through him. Stepping forward, he took the paper plates filled with cake and began to pass them out to his brothers.

The officers came over and shook her hand and thanked her. Sarah was then thanked by every man in the platoon, one at a time. They were sincere. Sometimes, their voices were strained with controlled emotion. In a few cases the men’s eyes were suspiciously bright because Sarah had saved their closest friends from dying. She was getting an up-front and close understanding of just how tight the SEAL community was. And how much she was now a part of it. Ethan knew no other military unit on the face of the earth had the unparalleled team power of SEAL camaraderie. They took care of one another. They took care of their own. And now, she was going to realize that they would take care of her here at Bravo.

As he watched her expression as she shook each SEAL’s hand and listened closely to what each had to say, he saw a remarkable change in her demeanor. Ethan sensed it with his highly attuned intuition. Sarah was now, for the first time in her life, experiencing the positive side of male respect. And he knew that it would help heal her fear of men in general, over time. SEAL protectiveness wasn’t just a word or a concept. It was practiced 24/7/365. And to feel the care and sincerity from these men, who were unquestionably grateful that she’d saved their brothers’ lives, was a powerful lesson in humanity between the genders and vividly poignant for Sarah. Someday, she might save one of them. He saw Sarah struggle not to cry.

“And just to be clear about Chief Sarah Benson,” Gil Hunter said as the last SEAL shook her hand and thanked her. “We want her to know that she’s now a part of our platoon. She isn’t a SEAL, but she belongs to a SEAL, and that makes her an extended part of
our
family.” Gil turned toward her, his eyes showing his emotions for the first time. “You’re family now, Sarah. Hawk is a part of us, and now you’ve got a whole bunch of big brothers who will do anything they can to help you. You know so little about us, but you need to also know that if you need anything, you come and ask me. If there’s something bothering you, see me. If I can fix it or make it happen, I’ll do it. When Hawk is out on a patrol, you can always come over here and stay with us if you’re worried or concerned about him. We’ve created a little room here at HQ with a locker and bed for you, just in case. This is your second home here at Camp Bravo if you want it. And, frankly, we’d rather have you staying with us than in that Army tent.”

Tears ran down her cheeks, and there was nothing Sarah could do about it. Ethan stepped over, moving his hand across her shoulders, comforting Sarah.

Sarah struggled to stop the tears. She wiped her cheeks and whispered brokenly, “Master Chief, I’m more than grateful to all of you. T-thank you.”

Ethan felt his chest tighten. He gazed over at his SEAL brothers. “This means a lot to Sarah that you have her back.” He felt a lot of deep emotions well up in him, making his voice husky. “What you guys don’t know is that Sarah has never had a positive male figure in her life. She didn’t have any brothers. I know all of you will treat her like a little sister and be there for her when I can’t be.”

When she looked up through her blurred vision, Sarah noticed how vulnerable the men seemed, no longer hard or unreadable. There was moisture in some of their eyes, too. She felt Ethan’s hand smooth gently across her shoulders, consoling her. “I just want to thank all of you for this—” Her voice cracked. Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes with trembling fingers. She looked to the right, where Gil Hunter stood. His expression was kind, not hard. “You remind me of the father I wish I’d had.” She reached out, taking his hand and squeezing it. “This is just the most mind-blowing day of my life, Master Chief.”

“I’m the father of this platoon,” Hunter told her, gently releasing her fingers. “And I have a lot of sons here, but now, I have a daughter here, too.” He gave his SEALs a stern look. They all nodded in agreement. A master chief ran the platoon, not the officers. They were regarded as a god to the rock bed of the SEAL community. When they spoke, everyone listened, including the officers.

Sarah felt warmth open her heart. “I like being adopted by all of you, Master Chief. Thank you.”

Gil smiled a little. “Why don’t you go check out your new digs, Sarah? The guys here have been working on it for a couple of weeks. We hope you like it. We know you have a ready room at your squadron headquarters, but when you’re not on standby status and you get lonely or want some brotherly company with these animals, come on down and stay with us. We can guarantee you the finest espresso coffee on this base.” He grinned broadly.

“Hoooyyahhhh!”
the SEALs roared, laughing and slapping each other on the back.

* * *

Sarah sat with Ethan in the room the SEALs had all had a hand in building, painting and decorating for her. There was a small wooden table, a chair and a lamp. The bed was a twin with a new thick mattress. She had no idea how they’d gotten one; it was such a rarity. There was a small TV with a recliner in another part of the room. They’d painted the walls a pale pink color for her benefit. Best of all, there was an air-conditioning unit in the room. No tent at Bravo had one, and everyone sweated through the summer nights. Just having cooling air was such an amazing gift to her. Deeply touched, Sarah didn’t know how to begin to thank these men who were so far away from their own homes, their loved ones.

“I’m overwhelmed,” she admitted hoarsely, sitting at the desk, looking at Ethan, who sat on the bed. “I just never thought...” Sarah swallowed hard, her chest tightening once more with emotion.

“I understand,” he whispered, resting his elbows on his thighs, his hands clasped between them. Ethan saw the shock still rolling through her over their surprises for her. “It was the master chief’s idea,” he confided. “He read my reports on those two missions you flew on. Later, he made a call over to Major Donaldson after sending copies of the reports over to him. He asked your CO if he was going to put you up for a medal. When Donaldson said no, Master Chief took things into his own hands. He has ears all over this base and he found out how much the other pilots in your squadron were continually hazing you. It pissed him off. And when you piss off a master chief, you’d better run for cover. He decided you needed another kind of ready room over here, with us. We might be animals, but we don’t eat our own kind.”

“Then he knew about you and me?”

“Nothing escapes the attention of a master chief,” Ethan said, chuckling. “Nothing. They know the military system, how it works, where it can be bent or redirected. And Gil was really pissed off at how you were being treated by your own squadron. He set about rectifying it.”

Rubbing her face, Sarah muttered, “God. Now I hope it doesn’t piss off Major Donaldson.”

“Oh,” Ethan said, raising a brow, “I don’t think the major is going to do anything to you. Master Chief went over and had a closed-door chat with him a week ago. It didn’t go well for your CO,” Ethan said, grinning.

Eyes widening, Sarah whispered, “Oh, no...what happened? Do you know?” She knew Donaldson, who barely tolerated her, could screw her royally on this one. He could get even in so many ways and make her life even more miserable than it was already. Worse, he could subtly end her Army career of flying medevac over time. Her heart began to pound in earnest.

“No worries,” Ethan assured her. He straightened, rubbing his hands on his trousers. “This goes no further than the three of us,” he warned her. “No one knows the power a master chief has in the Navy or among the other military branches. It just so happens that Hunter has lines and favors into all of them. He told Donaldson to sit on the men who were constantly harassing and hazing you. And that if he didn’t stop it, he was going to talk to the Army colonel who runs this medevac squadron, who is a longtime friend of his. Donaldson got the message loud and clear.”

“You went to Gil, then? Told him about it?”

“Yes. I didn’t want you coming off being wounded and coming back into your squadron to get hazed by those guys again, Sarah. Master Chief said he’d take care of it.” Smiling a little, Ethan rubbed his hands together. “Donaldson was told by him that you’re being awarded that medal. He said he wouldn’t protest or try to stop it. In fact, I’d say that in the coming weeks, Sarah, you’ll find the pilots in your squadron being very nice toward you.” Satisfaction in the form of a low growl came out of him.

Sarah shook her head, in shock over all the events.

“Master Chief warned the major that if any pilot gave you crap from this day forward, he’d send one of his SEALs over to talk to that guy behind closed doors. And that it would be the last time that pilot ever played a mean joke on you, harassed you or didn’t treat you with respect and as an equal.”

“My God,” she whispered.

“SEAL power, angel. You don’t screw with our women, pure and simple.” Ethan gave her a wolfish grin, his eyes glittering with love for her. “Donaldson will ensure you will be respected and that the hazing stops immediately. No one likes a SEAL in stealth mode coming over to visit them in the middle of the night.”