SEALs of Honor: Dane (6 page)

Still the connection had happened early and fast. And permanent.

He’d watched it happen. Twice. But hadn’t ever expected to come close to something like that himself. The trouble was, he wasn’t sure that was what he was up against now either.

Besides, he had to stay focused. Someone had tried to kill her.

As he leaned against the wall, he caught sight of a Jeep driving into the parking lot. Hawk. Dane detached from the shadows and walked down to meet him.

“The cab driver didn’t make it,” Hawk reported.

“Ah hell.”

Hawk nodded. “He had a wife of forty years, two kids and four grandkids.”

Damn it. It was hard to stay impersonal when these victims became people. It was also the part that kept him doing what he was doing. For the people.

“Anything on the bomb?”

Hawk shrugged. “No idea on the maker. The detonator was on a timer. When it was put on, who knows.”

“The driver started his day over six hours ago. So was the bomb intended for her, for him, or random.”

“For her.” Dane thought about what he knew. “Do we know where he was before this call?”

“Yes.” Hawk pulled out his notebook. “He lives only a few blocks away. Apparently he was eating lunch with his wife.” Hawk glanced a her. “He’s the only cabbie for miles. There was two but one retired.”

“So then if she was looking for a ride home, really the best option was a cab and in this case there was only him.” Dane nodded. “So that was easy enough but how did they know she was taking a cab and how did they know when to have the bomb detonate?”

“Track her cellphone? Bug the house – both houses?”

“As for how to know when to detonate the bomb? Likely a visual confirmation that she was inside Considering there were two houses involved here already, why not a third? Or maybe the fourth house has guards. Or spies.” He shrugged. “Maybe it was to throw us off. Do you trust her?”

Dane nodded. “I do. But it’s hard as I don’t know why.”

“Ah, interesting. Instinct perhaps?”

“Maybe.” Suddenly irritated and needing to move on, Dane asked, “What about eye witnesses?”

“The police are canvassing the neighborhood. If they find anything they’ll let us know.”

The two men shared wry glances. That was the one thing Dane knew wouldn’t happen. Chances were good that some information would be passed over but not all of it. Not what they’d need to deal with this.

As they walked up the outside stairs to the second floor, Hawk motioned to the motel room. “How is she?”

“Head injury but nothing broken. She’ll be fine.”

“Not good on the head injury.”

Dane nodded. He used their smart rap code and after the correct response from inside, entered.

Hawk walked over to Marielle. “Hey, how are you feeling? Sorry today ended up being such a crappy day for you.”

She looked over at him, her eyes drowsy but alert. “There are crappy days, and then there is today.” Her gaze zeroed in on Dane still standing at the doorway. Then she dropped her gaze as if to sleep.

Hawk walked back to Dane. “She’s cognizant.”

“Good, but we do need to keep a close eye on her.”

“We will. We need her. And her research. If nothing else, to make sure it doesn’t fall into anyone else’s hands.”

Chapter 8

S
O THIS IS
what it was like to be watched all the time. She sneezed at one point and the men rushed to her side. All she wanted to do was hold her head against the pain. She collapsed back down, holding up her hand. “It was just a sneeze,” she whimpered. “I’m fine.”

Except for the damn hammer drill working away at the inside of her skull.

She sat up and slowly made her way to the bathroom. Dane separated from the pack and walked with her. She smiled at him. “It’s only ten steps, Dane, I’ll be okay.”

He never said a word but leaned against the wall outside the small room. While washing her hands she contemplated the shower. She’d love one, but the thought of having a half dozen of the most rugged men waiting for her outside was a little unnerving. She decided against it. With her luck she’d accidentally bang against the wall and have them all run in checking on her.

She could save that opportunity for…say never.

Outside again, she walked slowly to the bed. Had almost reached it when her stomach rumbled. She hadn’t eaten much, only the bit of bread and butter and the cheese.

She flushed with embarrassment. “Sorry. Breakfast was a while ago.”

“We’ll take care of it,” Dane said smoothly. “We all have to eat too.”

The men immediately started to scrap over food choices. As they were in Germany, she figured they’d likely end up with sausages on a bun from a neighborhood butcher, but when Mason left and returned with an assortment of different foods, she wasn’t sure what she was to eat. Had they all ordered something different or was he just bringing in food to share? She watched and waited.

Then laughed.

Dane was grabbing two plates full of food. One for her and one for himself.

When he walked toward her, she shifted to lean back against the headboard. “Thank you.”

He nodded, sat down beside her and tucked into his own food. She ate slowly, savoring the food, then realized the men didn’t know what that meant. They were inhaling the meal without appearing to appreciate what they ate. She got the impression food was energy and that was how they ate. As if it didn’t make any bit of difference what the food was.

She settled down to enjoy her mix of potatoes, veggies and of course sausages. Still the fresh bread on the side was welcome. Now a coffee would top this off perfectly.

By the time she was halfway through her plateful, her head and stomach were arguing. And she was afraid her head was winning as the food started to churn. She slowly laid her plate down and sat up, her hand to her belly.

Dane stopped eating. “It’s not staying down?”

She slowly stood up. “I’m not so…” And then she knew. And bolted for the toilet where she lost everything she’d eaten. As hungry as she had been, she was now wishing food never existed. Even the smell was getting to her. She was hesitant to walk back out. Not with that much food around. And as much as she wanted a coffee, that was starting to sound like a bad idea too.

How long was this going to last? Honestly, she felt like shit.

Shaky, she made her way back to bed, all eyes watching her trip. When she curled up facing the wall, she could hear them all move. She closed her eyes and willed them away.

Until there was a harsh knock on the door.

Everyone froze.

She curled up into a tighter ball wishing she could disappear. Go home and forget about Professor Michaels and this trip. Go back to her mother and her research. She hoped Masters would be okay. Then she realized the professor was dead. So who was going to look after Masters?

She heard voices so assumed someone had answered the door. But she didn’t know who it was or why they were here. The men would handle it. She just had to handle herself.

*

D
ANE STOOD IN
the way of anyone from the door being able to see the occupant in the bed. Hawk stood at his side. Both faces, stone hard, stared at the hotel manager. He was upset about the number of people in the room. Dane snorted. Really? In college they’d have had lots more people in a single room. They’d bought two rooms as there was always going to be several men on guard duty outside. There were now. He could just imagine if the manager knew about them.

Mason patted the manager on the shoulder and walked him outside far enough that the others could shut the door and keep Marielle in the shadows.

Dane slipped to the window and peered out. Mason was still talking to the manager and appeared to be handing over more money. Figured. The cash under the table bribe seemed to work in every country. He glanced back at Marielle, not happy at her color. How could they move her if she was seriously hurt? She’d been fine then all of a sudden she wasn’t fine.

Swede walked over. “I just spoke with the doctor. He’s not happy with the change in her condition. He wants her brought in for tests.”

The three men looked at each other then at Marielle who appeared to be finally asleep. “He can’t come here for a second checkup?”

Swede shook his head. “Says that won’t do anything. At the hospital they can run some tests. If there is swelling on the brain then that will need to be carefully monitored.”

“And the food might not have agreed with her.”

Mason walked back in. “Trouble averted for the moment.” He stopped and stared at the men, his gaze narrowing. “What’s up?”

“I called the doctor. He wants to run some tests on Marielle in light of her new symptoms.”

Mason slowly shook his head. “Not a good idea.”

“And if she’s got a serious head injury?” Dane asked. “Then what?”

“We’re supposed to be leaving the country tonight. Going home.”

There was a startled silence as the men studied Mason. “Why?” Shadow asked. “And why now?”

“The dead prof. The attack on Marielle. All point to the company Hyack as we thought. Although based in Germany, they have a factory in China.” He offered a wry smile. “Looks like we’re heading there next.”

They relaxed. “Good. Makes more sense than running around in the dark here.”

“And Marielle, what do we do with her?”

“Do we have her passport?” At Dane’s nod, Mason said, “We’ll take her to San Diego and let the doctors check her over there.”

“Then we need to move fast,” Dane said. “If she goes to the hospital here it will be hours if not days before she’ll be released. We can hardly spring her free if we’re the ones who took her in the first place. And if we take too long, she could end up in serious trouble.”

“I’ll see if I can move that time forward. Departure was originally set for nine pm.”

Dane looked at his watch. “Try to reschedule for…how about right now.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Swede said from the doorway.

Mason headed back outside. “Do you think it’s safe to take her with us? To move her.”

“It think it’s safer than leaving her here unprotected.”

“Good point.”

Chapter 9

M
ARIELLE WAS BUNDLED
up in a blanket and packed out to the SUV like a little child. She woke at the beginning of the process. Her protests about being able to walk fell on deaf ears. Inside the car she watched the others split up into three vehicles and head out convoy style. She didn’t know if she was still considered a suspect or if they were being nice and protecting her or if now she was considered important for their case. She knew something had shifted.

It was hard to be unhappy about it. It appeared she was going to be leaving the country and going home. That suited her.

Then she remembered Masters.

She told Mason that with Professor Michaels gone someone had to help the cat. He just stared at her. “Not our problem.”

She glared at him. “We can’t leave him.”

“We can’t take him.” Final and clear.

“Not good enough. Someone has to know the owner of the house left a cat locked up inside.”

“We’re on a mission. We’re SEALs and that cat is not the mission.”

“You’re men sometimes, not always SEALs,” she snapped, feeling a punch in her gut at hearing they were part of that elite, elusive group. Her comment earned her a hard look. “And protecting those that can’t help themselves
should
be part of that mission, Masters included.”

Mason drove while she fretted. Dane had gone into a different vehicle. She hated that. Finally they pulled into a military base and papers were brought out. Including hers. She sat in the backseat wondering if she’d be allowed to fly. Did anyone know she was even at the house of the dead man? Did they care if she was?

The vehicle pulled forward and headed for a large hanger on the side. Inside was a military looking plane. As in this thing meant serious business. Organized chaos was going on inside. Nothing panicked but serious directed activity. She was good with that.

The vehicle pulled over and her door opened. Mason scooped her out and put her on a small luggage cart. He walked beside but she was driven to the plane. She felt ridiculous.

“Could’ve walked you know,” she muttered. “Feel silly.”

“You look like hell.”

That shut her up.

She was carried to a seat up front and tucked in out of the way. After that she sat and watched. With any luck she’d be stateside in a few hours. Like hell she was leaving home again anytime soon. Her head still boomed, but fatigue was the real problem right now. She just wanted to sleep.

Before long the plane was taxiing down the runway. It stopped for something. She didn’t know what the commotion was but shortly afterward, it geared up those powerful engines. And they were in the air minutes later.

Now that she’d managed to get this far, she curled up in her chair and slept.

Hours later she woke groggy and sore and feeling like a bus had dragged her around the block. She raised a hand to her head. The booming was still going on but in a background noise type of way. Another noise finally penetrated the fog. She shifted so she could look around and found a cat carrier beside her. “Masters!” she cried out softly.

The huge tabby, well-travelled and comfortable in his personal cage, meowed back. She slid several fingers through the holes in the wall and stroked the animal’s silky fur. His diesel engine kicked out the walls of the cage in a distinct hum. She’d loved that cat. She didn’t know if she had legal rights to him or not but was happy to foster him until they could find out.

With a gentle smile on her face she looked over at Mason who sat across from her buried in thoughts. “Thanks, Mason.”

He rolled his head her way, saw her and the cat and shook his head. “Not me. Thank Dane. And he’ll catch hell for it too.”

“Oh no.” That was the last thing she wanted, but it was hard to be upset with the cat’s huge eyes staring so trustingly at her. “Masters and I are old friends. I used to cat sit him at my house when Michaels was still my prof.”