Her Seal Protector. Jillian Burns

By the time they came to a stop, Gabby was soaked in sweat, she was dying of thirst and she really had to relieve herself. But all of that ceased to matter as they dragged her, James and Mr. V into a hut in the middle of nowhere and tied them up.

      Somewhere along the way James had become catatonic. Mr. V still hadn’t regained consciousness. And she wasn’t sure any of them were going to get out of this alive.

      * * *

      “YOU READY?” L.T., Clay’s lieutenant, asked in a low voice.

      Petty Officer Clay Bellamy gave L.T. the thumbs-up, and then waited for the signal to go.

      L.T. radioed to Main that they were going in, asking for confirmation on the extract location.

      Clay’s SEAL team had parachuted into the mountains of Paraguay last night, landed in a clearing, then traveled for miles on foot through a dense jungle to set up position half a click from the target. Their mission: personnel recovery. Three United States civilians held by unknown assailants.

      Intel was sketchy but they didn’t think this was the work of the local cartel. The Americans were bankers, and the international bank they worked for had received a ransom demand via Twitter two days ago. Which, hopefully, meant the civvies were still alive. But hostages were rarely left alive after a ransom was paid. And just because this might not be a cartel didn’t mean that the kidnappers weren’t armed to the teeth.

      Clay’s lieutenant squeezed his shoulder and Clay rose from his squat and sprinted toward the back of the dilapidated hut, staying low.

      L.T. maintained his position hidden in the foliage to communicate with Main, while Bull—positioned at nine o’clock—kept his silenced M40 trained on the two guards by the door of the hut.

      Clay gave the signal that his team was in position. Through his scope, Bull shot both guards. Doughboy and Chipper sped around the corner and caught them as they fell to prevent the thump of dropping bodies from alerting anyone inside. Clay grabbed the guards’ phones and guns, and then gave the signal for a hard entry.

      They burst through the door and Chipper shot the guy sitting at a table just as he aimed his gun.

      Spreading out, they checked the other two rooms, calling out “clear” as each was found empty. Damn. The hostages weren’t here. And where were the rest of the kidnappers? They weren’t hiding outside. His team had been watching the area for hours before dawn and would’ve spotted them.

      If he’d had any, the hair on Clay’s neck would’ve stood up. “Cover me,” he ordered Doughboy and Chipper, then, staying low, ran outside to what he’d assumed was a well. Basically, a two-foot-high wall of adobe surrounding a man-made hole in the ground. But now he realized what seemed off about it.

      As a kid, one of his summer jobs had been cutting grass for all the neighbors and church folks. One old man—a buddy of his stepfather’s—had a well on his property with a similar structure aboveground except it had been made of stones. But it had been built next to a tree and had a long rope tied around the trunk with a pail attached to the other end.

      This well had no rope. No pail.

      As he drew closer, Clay leaned over the adobe structure and called down into the well. “US Navy. Anybody down there?”

      Silence.

      He cursed under his breath and turned to head back to the hut.

      Then, a faint call from below. “We’re here.”

      It was a female voice, hoarse from dehydration no doubt, but...alive. Yes! He spun back. “How many?” He grabbed his flashlight and shone it down into the hole.

      Clay could barely make out a pair of arms moving as they covered a face.

      “Two,” the female called.

      “Can you tell me your names?” The rule was to first verify all captives.

      “Gabriella Diaz and James Pender.”

      Identities confirmed, Clay called it in to L.T. then shouted into the well again. “Anyone need medical attention?”

      The woman called up, “We’re okay. But Mr. Van Horton isn’t here. He was hurt. Do you have him?”

      The woman sounded pretty calm considering what she must’ve gone through. Van Horton. Wounded and missing. Not good. “We’ll get you out. Hold on.”

      “Don’t leave us! You’ve got to get us out of here!” a man cried. Clay shifted the beam of light onto the other, paler hostage.

      “I’m going to throw down a rope. Tie it under your arms and I’ll pull you up one at a time.”

      Clay signaled the team. “One still missing. Search the area.” Doughboy, Chipper and the rest fanned out, heading into the surrounding foliage. Clay leaned his M4 against the adobe wall, took off his pack and pulled out his length of nylon rope. With nothing else nearby to secure it to, he tied it around his waist and then tossed it down, hoping it would be long enough.

      “Me first. I have to go first!” Clay heard the man in the well whine.

      “There’s a body partially buried out here,” Chipper’s voice sounded in Clay’s earbud. “Caucasian. I think it’s one of the hostages.”

      The rope jerked and Clay braced his feet against the adobe, leaned back and pulled the rope hand over hand until a tall, thin, mud-caked man appeared above the edge. His face was streaked with tear tracks as he scrabbled out and clung to Clay, sobbing.

      Clay finally had to force him to let go and relinquish the rope. What kind of coward didn’t let a woman go first?

      Disgusted, Clay tossed the rope back down into the well. “Now you, ma’am.”

      Within a minute the rope tugged and Clay easily lifted the rope until a heart-shaped face appeared above the rim. Her long dark curls were a mass of tangles and her large, dark brown eyes seemed to gaze at him in disbelief. Her wide mouth trembled, though he could see she was trying to keep her lips clamped tightly together. As he pulled her up and over the edge, she landed on her feet, but her knees buckled beneath her. He caught her around the waist and she clung to his shoulders. “Sorry. I...”

      “No worries. We’ll have you home safe in no time.”

      “What about Mr. Van Hort—”

      Shots fired to Clay’s right and he dropped to the dirt, taking the woman with him and covering her. The man screamed and sobbed louder, cowering next to him.

      “Stay here, stay down.” A spray of bullets fired as Clay grabbed his M-4 and peeked over the well wall.

      In his ear, L.T. was barking orders. “Q.R. coming in at one click to the south. Secure the targets and get out.”

      Damn. Quick response. The kidnappers weren’t going to make this easy.

      “Chipper’s down!” Doughboy yelled into his earbud.

      Shorty came hightailing it into the clearing, shooting behind him. His left arm was bleeding. Clay covered him, firing multiple rounds in the direction of the flying bullets.

      As Shorty slid behind the well wall, the male hostage clutched at him. “You gotta get me out of here!”

      The woman crawled over and put her arm around the guy, murmuring soothing words into his ear. Clay had to admit he wasn’t sure he could’ve stayed that calm in her place.

      L.T. barked more orders as all hell broke loose. “Our position’s compromised. Go to secondary extract!”

      Clay signaled to Shorty that he would lay cover while Shorty got the two hostages out. Clay was going back for Doughboy and Chipper.

      Rising from his crouch, he laid down fire while Shorty grabbed the two hostages and ran for L.T.’s position. But the woman stumbled—or the male hostage shoved her as he clung to Shorty, and the fire was too heavy for Shorty to go back for her.