Sand and Sin (15 page)

“I’ll get a message over that they have an extra passenger en route.” Harris typed as fast as Jax fired his M-4 on automatic.

“Has anyone called Peri?” Jax asked TJ while the pilot was notified of his hop.

“Above my rank, bro. Besides, if I mention anything, she’ll know there’s a plan, which is against protocol.”

Jax’s chest tightened along with his throat, making it hard to swallow. She’d be pissed if she learned he knew, but even so, he couldn’t reveal the mission. “She’ll probably call me when she gets word.”

Lieutenant Harris pointed to the satellite image on his screen. Then he tapped another keyboard and entered latitude and longitude.

“Just got coordinates on her phone. Sending now.” Jax nodded to the officer. “The bird should be at NAB in Norfolk before dawn. Can you pick me up?”

“You got it, GQ. I hate the reason, but it’s good to have you onboard.”

“Yep, gotta go.” He shoved his phone back in his pocket.

“The location of the signal has been sent, Chief. And the aircraft is waiting.”

“Thanks for everything, lieutenant.” He saluted him on his way out.

“Safe voyage, sir.”

Wolverine had been waiting the whole time. “I’ll drive you over.”

After a quick stop to get his go bag, Wolverine hauled ass back to the airbase, running red lights when there was no traffic.

Jax shook his hand, hopped from the van and rushed for the runway

“Chief.” The copilot acknowledged him as he climbed on board.

“Thanks for waiting.” He saluted and climbed stairs that led to a seated passenger area over the cargo bay. Jax dropped onto a seat and texted Haley.

Game on, Calypso. We’re in play!
She’d understand his cryptic message to stay frosty and help was en route.

Within a minute, she replied with the letter
K.

Relieved, Jax sealed his box of dread and buckled his seatbelt. Over the years, he’d learned to sleep whenever possible. Otherwise, he might never get any shut-eye. It didn’t mean he wasn’t worried for Haley and Peri, but duty called and he had to be on his
A
game. Recon missions were the most difficult, always plagued with uncertainty.

One could never guess humans’ reactions at one hundred percent. This mission would prove to be the hardest in his life thus far, but no one else was better suited for it. He’d rescue Peri’s daughter no matter the cost to him.

Peri tamped the gremlin of doubt eating at her gut as she jogged along the beach in the purple pre-dawn light. At some point, she had to dial down her over-protective nature. Haley probably had a tour planned for every ancient structure in Giza. She’d drag her father though every bazaar until his feet bled. Oh well, life with a teenage girl. Just knowing she’d called Jax in a time of need, even over a silly game, gave her comfort.

She hadn’t communicated with him since she left California. Their goodbye was more or less final unless his assignment changed. Her luck, he’d be wooed by some tanned girl in her twenties ready to start a baseball team.

Years ago, she’d rebounded from the hotshot pilot to an older, more stable Sean. Lingering doubt as to Haley’s true father still plagued Peri. The crescent shaped birthmark on Haley’s left thigh reminded her of a similar mark on her pilot lover. When the pregnancy test showed positive weeks later, Sean assumed the baby belonged to him. She’d never mentioned the pilot. A sin never revealed.

Karma had returned to bite her in the ass.

Sweat rolled down her back as the sun inched over the watery horizon. She resigned herself to the fact if Jax ever managed reassignment to the East Coast and they got back together, he’d be gone more days than he’d be home.

She’d take what she could get. Days with him counted more. Besides his hard body providing out of body experiences, she’d come to know the inner man. His tough exterior hid a wounded son who felt guilty for his father’s death even though he had been across the country. She doubted he would ever forgive his mother’s infidelity. What would Jax think of her if he ever discovered Haley might not be Sean’s?

Her cell rang to a familiar country song as she’d finished her three miles and walked into her driveway.

After a deep breath, she answered, “Hey.”

“Morning, Angel.” Jax’s husky voice gave her goose bumps.

“You sound sleepy.”

“Perceptive. Catching some
Z
s while I can.” He paused.

“You’re back in business?” She wiped the sweat from her brow and leaned against her truck.

“Temporarily. I’ll probably be incommunicado for a few days or so. I know we agreed to chill until my situation changed, but I want you know you’re always in my thoughts and my heart. I’ve got your back even when you don’t know it. Okay, baby?”

What a strange thing to say. “Ahh, okay. Things will work out how they're supposed to. We knew the obstacles beforehand.”

“I promise everything will be okay. I love you. Gotta go.”

“Love you, too,” she whispered. The connection had already died.

Dread twisted in her belly like a knife. His words. His tone. Something was off.

* * * *

Jax slid his phone into his pocket and grabbed his gear. Maybe it was best she didn’t know yet. He’d offered as much as possible without saying anything. Hopefully, she’d understand when she did get the word.

Stepping from the fuselage, the odor of aviation fuel made his stomach swim. Wading through the thick, humid air, he cleared the tarmac and waited by the curb of the main road around the base. Too early for regular traffic.

He scratched his whiskered jaw and wished for coffee. Lots of it. A loud rumble of dual exhaust advertised TJ’s arrival as a jacked-up four-wheel drive truck rolled up.

“Need a ride, Cinderella?”

“Damn, and I fucking forgot my glass slippers.” Jax smirked, threw his bag in the back, and swung into the cab. It would have felt like old times, if not for the severity of what lay before them.

“Haley’s cell phone signal is better than a slipper or a trail of bread crumbs.”

So true, and he prayed the story would end with a happily ever after. “Let’s hope the bad guys don’t find it and battery holds.”

“Sure would help.” He hit the gas, bound for SEAL headquarters.

Inside the team room, TJ introduced him to the other operators. Jax recognized some of the guys from BUD/S and subsequent training. Each man was the best in his specialty.

Inside the armory, a cache of guns and weapons lined the walls. He debated about adding any to his personal collection. He gripped the stock of an M4 as he smoothed along the barrel in a light caress, loving the feel of the cool steel. Back in action. He hated the reason but couldn’t deny the exhilaration of blood rushing through his veins in anticipation.

The team leader, Merlin, issued a mission call sign of GAMER, and after a brief prayer, they packed into a van waiting to take them to the airfield.

With his go bag loaded with additional weaponry, Jax sprinted up the steps of a small jet, ready to rock and roll. Their borrowed ride belonged to an admiral friend of Peri’s ex. Evidently, some held Commander Halstead in high esteem.

He graciously accepted coffee served by a steely-eyed female colonel who outranked all of them. She didn’t bother offering cream or sugar.

The Airstream shot down the runway and lofted with little effort. Within seconds, they cruised over the Atlantic. Caught up on sleep, Jax mentally rehearsed every recon scenario he’d ever executed, read, or heard discussed by other team members. This mission left no room for error.

Their comms operator, Cipher, squatted next to Jax’s seat with his special ops armor-encased laptop. “Her phone is still broadcasting at the same location.”

“Let’s just hope it’s still on her.”

Cipher nodded with sincerity.

“It’s never that easy.” Jax sipped his coffee.

“Only yesterday, Chief.”

So true.

* * * *

Before lunchtime, Peri pulled her truck to the rear entrance of the Trident.

The busted muffler signaled Phil of her arrival. He propped open the back door and grabbed a case of liquor.

Still unsettled by Jax’s call, she checked her phone again, hoping to see a social media post from Haley. They were supposed to be in Giza now.

“Peri.” Phil rushed from the bar. “Phone call inside. The guy says he’s your ex-husband’s superior.”

She all but dropped her phone and ran inside. “This is Peri Halstead.”

“Mrs. Halstead, we have it on several reliable sources that Commander Sean Halstead, along with your daughter and several others, has been taken hostage while on a sightseeing trip in Egypt.”

Taken. The room spun and nearly went black as she held onto the bar. Only terror kept blood pumping to her brain. “By whom?”

“We have some leads. Rest assured we already have people working on it.”

Rest? There’d be no rest, sleep, or anything else until she held Haley again. She resisted the urge to scream at the admiral on the other end of the line. “Who? Delta? SEALs?”

He wasn’t at liberty to say. She’d find out. TJ or some of her other patrons who had top security clearance could find out. She hung up the phone, still unbelieving.

Phil’s face paled under his sun-weathered skin. “Haley and Sean have been abducted?”

She nodded.

His gaze darkened to a deathly stare, contradicting his usual easy countenance. He’d gone into warrior mode. He put a fatherly arm around her. “Whoever they’re sending will get them back.”

Jesus…was Jax being sent?

Peri paced behind the bar like a caged animal. She wanted to jump out of her skin; her nightmare was now a reality. By staying at the Trident, she’d have to maintain some modicum of control. If she went home, she’d go insane.

She always figured Sean cheating on her was payback for not coming clean about Haley’s questionable lineage. Having never found happiness with another man it seemed to Peri that karma had a vendetta. Her fingers trembled as she tapped a message to Jax, praying he could still receive texts.

“You okay, Peri?” Her waitress Maggie stepped up with her tray. “I’ve never seen you so pale.”

The floor seemed to melt beneath her. She leaned against the bar as a wave of nausea swept through her. “Just a little lightheaded. It’s hot this afternoon.” She fanned her face. Jesus, she needed to get a grip.

The rest of the evening, she mixed drinks with an eye on her phone for a reply from Jax. The place emptied at two a.m. Nothing from Jax. He could talk her down. As she hung the last stemmed glass, his words echoed back to her.

I’ll probably be incommunicado for a few days…know we agreed to chill… but you’re always in my thoughts and… my heart. I’ve got your back even when you don’t know it, Angel.

He’d already known about Haley and Sean. If he was a member of the recon team, his mention of having her back made sense.

“Phil?” Her partner had refused to leave her after the call, even though he should have gone home when the after-work crowd arrived.

“What is it?” He left the saltshakers he’d started to fill.

She relayed Jax’s words. The resulting quirk in her partner’s lips confirmed her suspicions.

“Sounds pretty close to what I’d say.” He leaned against the bar as she bound money for the night drop.

Peri wiped her eyes. Now two people she loved and one she used to love were in danger. “I feel like glass.”

He took her hand. The worry lines of his face added to her grief. “You’re like a daughter to me, Peri. Believe in your man and in Haley. Then pray to whatever you believe in. It’s all you can do right now.”

“As a warrior, what do you believe in, Phil?”

He studied the floor. “Before becoming a SEAL, nothing. After surviving Hell Week, I believed in brotherhood. After a mission where I lost one of my brothers, I figured I had an angel on my shoulder.” A shadow fell over his face as he let go of her hand. “Not sure why I made it and he didn’t.”

All this time, she never knew he suffered survivor’s guilt. “You had others to save. Me for one. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

He smiled. “I think fate summoned you.” He glanced toward the entry door of the Trident. “Thanks to your charms and suggestions, the bar is thriving. And Jax Taylor ambled through your doorway so you could save him. Now he’s repaying the favor.”

“I hope he has an angel on his shoulder, Phil. I really do.”

* * * *

The vibration in his pocket stirred Jax awake. He hoped Peri wasn’t calling. It ripped at his gut not to be able to tell her. The screen showed two messages, one from Peri and the other from their target. Peri would have to wait. He opened Haley’s message.

Calypso fishing.

He had to admit, she had a talent for special ops jargon. Cool-headed kid. He’d thought her cocky the first night they’d met. Thankfully, she seemed to be channeling the trait in a constructive manner. Every time Haley used the phone, she risked detection, which was the reason the team waited for her to make contact. He messaged back,
Got my rod and reel.

The floor of the Airstream dipped as he relayed Haley’s communication to Merlin and Cipher. “They’re heading for water. Don’t know how much longer she’ll be able to keep us informed.”

The pilot’s voice came over the intercom in a calm tone, asking them to belt in for landing.

Before taking a seat, the platoon commander approached Jax. “They’ve made contact with Commander Halstead’s superior. They’re demanding a fifteen million dollar ransom, or they’ll kill his daughter.”

Jax’s stomach dropped. For the first time in his career, he feared failure more than death. The fuselage of the plane closed in on him.

“You think they're using her phone? What’s your gut feeling?” He gave Jax a hard squint. “You know the girl well?”

“Well enough. She’s using her gamer name they wouldn’t know. If her phone doesn’t move from the current location after the last text, then they’ve tossed it.”

“True.”

“There’s a bird waiting to take us within a few miles of the harbor in Alexandria, their suspected location.”