SEALed at Midnight (11 page)

Hell, finding Thom in the snow at midnight on Christmas might just have her believing in all sorts of things she’d given up on. Life. Love.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus . . .
and he brought grown up girls some pretty incredible gifts.

Ginny smiled. Merry Christmas to her.

Her cell phone rang from the living room and she ran for it. She saw it was her mother.

Without thinking twice she lifted it and hit to answer. “Merry Christmas!”

CHAPTER 10

The sunlight reflecting off the snow was blinding enough to make Thom wish he had the sunglasses he knew were sitting in the center console of his SUV . . . his likely
totaled
SUV if the tree he recalled spinning toward him before his memory went blank was any indication.

This morning he’d stepped out of the house into a completely different new world compared to last night. The day was clear and warm . . . for December in Massachusetts. The wind had passed with the storm, leaving the air still and calm around him.

The sun was rapidly melting the snow on the unplowed driveway and side road. And the main road had been plowed and was clear and dry making his walk to find his car—and his cell phone—an easy one.

Though he didn’t remember actually walking to get to Ginny’s house, he knew the route he’d driven last night after he’d been diverted off the highway. He had a pretty good idea of where he’d been when he’d crashed.

After he’d woken this morning, while Ginny had been sleeping too peacefully to wake, Thom had checked the GPS on her cell phone. It told him where he was in comparison to where he hoped his vehicle would be.

If he was correct, it wouldn’t be all that far. The short distance was one reason he’d decided to head out on foot, rather than wait for Ginny to wake and drive him.

The other reason he hadn’t waited was he really needed his cell phone. He was on leave, but he still had to be reachable by the command.

He felt naked without his phone. The fact he’d walked away and left it in the car was testament to how hard he’d hit his head.

Then there was the fear nagging in the back of his mind that maybe he’d taken it out of the car with him, and had lost it along the way somewhere.

Either way, his brain wouldn’t let the subject go. He’d feel better once he knew.

The first thing he noticed was a white SUV parked along the edge of the road in the distance. The second thing was a man coming out of the woods.

Suspecting he’d found the site of his accident, Thom broke into a jog.

The man crossed his arms and leaned against the bumper of the SUV, watching Thom’s approach through mirrored sunglasses.

As he closed the distance he recognized who was waiting for him. There was no mistaking Chris. All six-foot and two hundred pounds of him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Thom asked when he was close enough.

Chris grinned. “Checking up on you. I thought you Yankees knew how to drive in the snow. But there seems to be a car that looks an awful lot like yours wrapped around that there tree.”

“I know.” Thom didn’t need the reminder.

“You a’ight?”

“Yup. Healthy as a horse.” Thom thought it was safest to lie.

If he admitted to Chris he had some pretty gaping holes in his memory, that he’d been so disoriented he’d thought he was on a mission in the barn last night, he’d be screwed. Chris would tell his brother Brody, and then Brody would be obligated to tell command.

Then Thom would be right back where he was last month, trying to prove to Medical he was fit for duty.

No, thank you. He was fine—now, anyway. That’s all anyone needed to know.

“Seriously, what are you doing up here?”

“Brody’s been calling you since last night. When you didn’t answer, he got worried. He got called in.” There was more Chris wasn’t saying.

Thom heard the unspoken words between the spoken ones. Something was up. Brody getting called in on Christmas Eve. Him trying to get in touch with Thom. They had to be assembling the team for a mission.

Technically, Chris being retired from the teams meant he couldn’t know details about Brody’s assignments. Realistically, the two brothers lived together and Chris was no dummy after being in the Navy for twenty years.

Brody’s cover story would probably be that he was called in, in the middle of the night on a holiday, for a training mission. Chris would know better. Hell, anyone would.
 

“I need to find my phone.” Tom turned toward the broken trees just off the road.

“Got it.” Chris held out the phone in one hand.

“Thank God.” Thom took it, and found the battery dead. “Shit. Battery’s dead.”

No surprise. It hadn’t been fully charged to begin with, and it had sat all night in freezing weather.

“Get in. You can plug into my car charger.”

As he moved around to the passenger side, Thom was still confused. “Did you drive here from Virginia? And where’s your truck? Whose SUV is this?”

“I flew my plane here. This is a rental.” Chris spoke before he climbed into the driver’s seat.

Thom slid into his own seat and turned to Chris. “You flew all the way from Virginia? Just to find me? What the hell’s going on?”

Chris glanced sideways as he shoved the key into the ignition. “Just call Brody.”

Thom plugged in his phone to the wire sticking out of the dash, but it was so dead, it wouldn’t even power on. He looked at Chris. “Come on. I know you know something. Tell me what’s happening.”

“You didn’t see the news?”

“No. The electric was out from the storm.” And he’d been a little busy getting to know Ginny better.

Ginny
. The note he’d left said he’d be right back. He needed to tell her that he had to leave.

He should have thought to write down her number while he was using the GPS on her cell this morning. He hadn’t even considered that he’d need it.

“ISIS released another video last night.”

Thom let out a curse beneath his breath at Chris’s revelation. “Same as the last ones?”

“Yes and no.” Chris wobbled his head. “I don’t know if they got careless or if it was intentional, but on this one there were landmarks clearly visible in the distance.”

Thom’s eyes widened. “You think they’ve got a bead on where they’re holed up?”

“That’d be my guess. If Brody getting the call is any indication, I’d reckon they’ve got a location and they’re fixin’ to go in and get him.”

Him
being Jihadi John, the mission Thom had been on when they’d been hit with the RPG.

He pushed the power button once more, and this time the phone sprang to life. Adrenaline had his hand shaking as he hit to call Brody.

“Bro, where the fuck you been?” Brody dispensed with the usual greeting and got right to the point.

Thom didn’t blame him. Possibly the biggest mission since Abbottabad was about to go down and Thom was thousands of miles away and not answering his phone.

“I know. Sorry. I had car problems.”

“So answer your damn phone!”

“I had phone issues too. Get over it and tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Did Chris find you?”

“Yeah. I’m with him now. How did he find my car anyway?”

“When you didn’t answer, I had the tech guy locate your phone. When we saw it was in a damn park and not moving, then the signal went dead, I got worried and sent Chris up. He fill you in?”

“Yeah, as much as he could.”

“Get in his plane and get down here ASAP. Word is we’re going wheels up at fifteen-hundred.”

Thom looked to Chris. “Can we make it back to base before fifteen-hundred?”

“Yup.” Chris dipped his head. “If we get moving right now.”

“All right. I’ll be there, Brody.”

“You better be. They’re not gonna hold us up for you.”

“I know. I’ll be there. Gotta go.” Thom said goodbye and disconnected the call.

Chris had shifted into
Drive
and pulled onto the road, heading for the highway and away from Thom’s vehicle.

“Wait. My stuff.”

“Already got it. Your duffle is in the back. Your wallet and sunglasses are in the glove box.”

“Damn. How long were you here for?”

“Long enough. Anything else? Because we’re kinda on the clock here.”

 
“I know. That’s all I need, I guess. Shit. I gotta call my parents. And I have to call a tow truck.”

He needed to say goodbye to Ginny too . . . but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.

“Make your calls now before we get to the airport. Ain’t no signal up in the clouds.”

Didn’t Thom know it.

Being tethered to the dashboard by the charger sucked but there was no fixing that. He hit to dial his parents’ number and drew in a slow breath to calm himself.

“Hello?”

“Dad. Hey, it’s me. I’ve got some bad news. I’m not going to be able to get home today.”

“We had a feeling this call was coming when we saw the news. It’s okay. Really.
 

So much for operational security. “Thanks for understanding, Dad.”

“Of course. Your mom and I are just grateful you weren’t already on the road when they called you back.”

Little did they know
. . .

“Thomas?” His mother’s voice joined his father’s on the line. “You be careful.”

“Always am, Mom. I gotta go but I’ll call you soon and arrange to come up for that visit. Okay?”

“Okay, son. Merry Christmas.”

“I love you,” his mother added.

“Love you too. Merry Christmas.” Thom disconnected and tried not to feel guilty for the fib he’d told. What they didn’t know couldn’t worry them. He’d learned that right after boot camp.

One call down, Thom dialed the number for
Information
to make his next one.

“What listing?”

“Moran Towing in Springfield, Massachusetts.” Lucky for Thom, a guy he’d graduated high school with owned a tow truck. That would make dealing with his wreck and his insurance so much easier.

“I’ll connect you.”

The phone rang twice before he heard, “Moran Towing.”

The voice sounded familiar enough, Thom asked, “Jimmy?”

“Yup.”

“Hey. It’s Thom Grande. From high school.”

“Thom. How you been? You home for the holiday?”

“Yes and no. I got a problem and I need a favor.”

“Sure. Shoot.”

“I was driving up to see my parents when the storm hit. I managed to wrap my SUV around a tree in Bliss Park, just off Laurel Street.”

“Damn. Sure I can send a truck right out. You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine but there’s more. I got called back to duty so I’m already on my way down to Virginia. I don’t want my parents to worry about me, so it’s better if they don’t know about the accident. It’s easier if they don’t even know I made it as far as Massachusetts.”

“No problem. I’ll keep it on the down low. All your info in the car? Insurance card? Registration?”

“Yup. It should be in the glove compartment. And the keys . . .” Thom glanced at Chris.

“In the console,” Chris supplied.

“Keys are inside too,” Thom added.

“All right. I’ll handle it and submit the claim to your insurance company. Hopefully by the time you and your SEAL buddies get back from taking out those ISIS assholes, the claim will be all straightened out.”

Thom paused a beat before recovering. “Uh, yeah, I’m not sure exactly what they’re calling me back for, but thanks for your help. I’ll give you a call as soon as I’m back from the training or whatever they got me doing.”

“Sure, buddy. Talk to you soon.”

Thom disconnected and glanced at Chris. “You do realize OpSec is an absolute joke thanks to the media.”

 
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Chris snorted as he pushed the vehicle a good fifteen miles over the speed limit on the deserted highway.