Free Operation Zulu Redemption--Complete Season 1 by Ronie Kendig Page B

you…
ever
?”
    “I… uh, well, never.”
    “Exactly. Because Ashland doesn’t have a computer or e-mail. She told me months ago she didn’t trust what the government could do with them.” Sam wanted to curse, but he’d given that up right along with his career in the SEALs. He’d seen enough and heard enough to last a lifetime.
    “What are you saying?”
    “Ashland was taken.” And the authorities weren’t going to be any help until he made them do their jobs. “I’m going to prove it and find her, if I have to do it myself.”
    “Sammy…” Her warning, whiny tone grated on his last nerve. Sam ended the call and found himself pulling into the parking lot of the Green Dot. He parked and sat staring at the wood deck where he had shared ice cream with Ashland. Many times Jeff had given Sam that “I’ll kill you if you hurt her” look, but they both knew Sam had it bad for Ash. His mind drifted to two nights ago. Had they not been shot at and had she not disappeared, he would’ve called it the best night of his life. She let him into her protected vaults. Not only had she let him kiss her, but she’d responded. He’d known in the heat of that moment that he wanted to marry her.
    Not true—he’d known for months he’d marry the girl if she dropped out of her stealth mode of running past his interference attempts.
    He climbed out and entered the shop.
    Jeff looked up from behind the sandwich station, catching Sam’s gaze through a long line of customers. Sam dropped into a chair near a window. Though Fox News played on the monitor that hung in the upper corner, the volume couldn’t compete with the chatter and laughter in the sub shop. His gaze caught on the ticker scrolling across the bottom.
    …
N ATIONAL PARK —R ANGER C ANDICE R EYNA BRUTALLY MURDERED
…
    Why wasn’t Ash up there?
    Right. Because the cops think she just walked away from the barrage of bullets and kept going. Sam stretched his jaw and rubbed it. What was going on here?
    “You Sam Caliguari?”
    Sam snapped his gaze to the man in the windbreaker with a news logo emblazoned over the left breast. He gave the guy a look that in his Navy SEAL days would’ve had the guy running to change his pants. The last thing he wanted or needed was some nosy, microphone-pushing reporter—
    “Can I talk to you about Ashland Palmieri?”
    Sam eyeballed him. Kept his mouth shut. But the mention of Ashland’s name made the gears of his heart grind down into first.
    The reporter took the silence as an invitation.
    “Look,” Sam finally said. “I’m not in the mood—”
    “Don’t you find it weird that suddenly nobody knows where she is?” He thumbed toward the Green Dot owner. “Mr. Conwell says she hasn’t worked in weeks.”
    Sam shot a scowl at Jeff. Rose to his feet. Crossed the restaurant. He zeroed in on Jeff. “C’we talk?”
    “Sorry,” Jeff said, nodding to the line. “Too busy.”
    But he saw it. Saw
something
scrawled all over Jeff’s face. “What do you know about Ashland?”
    Jeff stuffed a paper-wrapped sub into a bag and handed it to the customer, effectively turning his attention and his back on Sam as he completed the sale.
    Sam waited, but his mind drifted again. Envisioned Ash standing there preparing his sandwich. The night she intentionally accidentally put an olive on his sandwich. Her giggles. Her smile. Her breath. Sam ground his teeth together, trying to push those potent memories aside so he could focus.
    Jeff wasn’t going anywhere. Not with the answers he had. He felt the presence of someone behind him and glanced back. The reporter, who came to Sam’s shoulder, leaned in, apparently wanting to hear the conversation.
    He hated reporters. They’d never gotten stories about his SEAL team right, though they were quick to splash inaccurate facts all over the six o’clock news. But the guy’s questions tugged at the gnawing in Sam that something was really…
off
.
    “What’s your name again?” he