Free SEALs of Honor: Hawk by Dale Mayer

that.”
    “Why?”
    “He prides himself on those.”
    “Shadows or men hiding in the shadows?”
    “Both.”
    She tried to step back and stand on her own two feet but couldn’t quite make it. She slumped against him again, loving the strength that held her so easily. He was a man’s man. And of course that made him a ladies’ man.
    “You’re not quite ready to throw this off just yet.”
    A weird echoing birdcall whistled through the cavern.
    “Good, that’s Swede,” he said.
    “Sending a bird call, isn’t that a little melodramatic.”
    “Efficient. We send different messages back and forth using the calls. Each one means something different.”
    “Cool.” She straightened up and managed to look around. “Does that mean your friends are coming back now?”
    “Yes.”
    Sure enough the men burst through the cavern.
    “Mia, are you all right?” Swede asked, striding over to her.
    She nodded. “I am now, thanks to Hawk.”
    Hawk explained.
    “Do you think he’s on the run or waiting for us up ahead?” Mia asked in a low voice as the men scattered, leaving the two of them behind with Swede.
    “He’s running. They are late for a rendezvous. We lost them on the other tunnel but heard where they are going. And apparently it’s not a US monument that they are after but a bridge instead. The Golden Gate Bridge.”
    A moment of silence filled the air as they each contemplated the concept of the bridge being bombed.
    “Jesus,” she whispered quietly, sagging heavier against Hawk. “We have to go after them.”
    “Shadow is on it. We are going back to the vehicle and will follow.”
    She shook her head. “We’re going to lose them. Let’s go.” And she tried to walk forward but sagged to her knees.
    Swede gave a muffled exclamation and snatched her up into his arms. “Shadow is going to try and hitch a ride up ahead.”
    Hawk led the way back to the vehicle.
    “You should have left me behind,” Mia said. “You could have caught him.”
    They reached the entrance to the cave in time to hear a vehicle driving closer.
    “Damn it, he’s getting away,” Mia cried.
    Only the vehicle was approaching them, not driving away.
    “Or his partners are coming to pick him up.”
    Hawk melted into the bushes. Swede stepped in the shrubbery, keeping her out of harm’s way and watched. She struggled to stand up, but Swede wouldn’t let her. Realizing arguing was fruitless, she relaxed back.
    Shots crackled through the air. The car engine revved then changed as if the vehicle was backing up. And gunned it. It disappeared in the distance, the sounds quickly fading.
    Swede stepped back onto the road and strode quickly forward. They turned around the bend up ahead and she gasped.
    Hawk was squatting beside the body lying on the road.
    He straightened as they approached. “It’s the man who attacked Mia.”
    Swede lowered her to the ground and with Hawk’s help, she walked closer and stood over the man. Now that she was in the natural sunlight, she could see his features. “He was at Dad’s.”
    “Yes, he was.”
    “He’s the one who wanted to keep me. The other guy called him Stan.”
    Both men stared at her. She frowned at them. “I told you, didn’t I? Or maybe you heard it.” She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. “The one wanted to take me with him to keep him warm at night, but the other man said he had no tolerance for rape. And this guy,” she motioned to the dead man, “said he’d make me willing.”
    The matching frowns deepened.
    “You didn’t share that part.”
    “Oh.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now.”
    “But it does as it explains why you didn’t get a bullet when he saw you.”
    She brightened. “Right.”
    “Let’s go,” Hawk said, motioning in the direction of the vehicles. “You need to be checked over and we need to move it.”
    “You’re going after the men?”
    They just turned those flat gazes her way. Of course they were going after