SEAL's Embrace - Makenna Jameison Page 0,65

as well,” their commander said. “It’s believed the two missing women have been located. They’re being held hostage in the mountains of Afghanistan.”

“Fuck that,” Ethan spat out. “They took two American women and thought they could get away with it?”

The commander continued after his outburst. “Signals intelligence has indicated movement in the area, and a source from the village where you first searched for Sayed provided some information on their possible whereabouts. As soon as the location is confirmed, your team will move in to retrieve the hostages.”

Jackson clenched his fists, looking to the commander as he pulled up some imagery on the massive TV screen, and all the men were instantly alert. Grayson shifted in his seat, leaning closer to look intently at the pictures. It was a rougher terrain than they’d searched before, up in the mountains. When they’d been in the village near Bagram, they’d gone door to door hoping to find Sayed. Although they’d eventually nabbed him in the camp on a subsequent mission, this was up in the mountains. It would be rough hiking up there, and they had no clue what condition the injured women would be in. Would they have to physically carry them out? Had the women been beaten or raped? Tortured?

“When do we move in?” Grayson asked.

“As soon as we have confirmation,” their CO said. “The villager is a new source, and we don’t know if he can be trusted.”

“So it could be a goddamn ambush,” Troy said, frowning.

“You know as well as I do that we won’t move in until we have confirmation. In the meantime,” the CO continued, looking to Grayson. “Go and pick up Ms. Fletcher from her office. I don’t like what happened this morning or that her office wasn’t informed about the incident. The rest of the team will continue with training on the water as planned. Dismissed.”

He strode from the room, continuing on to another briefing, and Grayson glanced at his teammates. “Go get your girl,” Blake said, “We’ll update you on the training exercises. If you need backup, call one of us ASAP. We’ll be there no matter what.”

Grayson nodded, looking at his teammates. He may have been the only one authorized to miss the training to go and get Hailey, but he knew his friends would drop what they were doing in a heartbeat if he needed them. Besides, it was only a training exercise. It’s not like they’d be abandoning their mission and going AWOL to help if he needed it.

“I’ll let you know when we’re back at my apartment,” Grayson said. “I plan on calling to get an update from the police as well.”

“This asshole was probably there in Bagram when we were,” Troy said. “We met with the general. It was a busy office, but damn. They were right there under our noses selling out their country.”

“We’ll nab him,” Logan said. “It’s only a matter of time. But I agree with Raptor—get the hell out of here and get your woman.”

Grayson almost cracked a smile, but the gravity of the situation was weighing down on him. The texts had been bad enough, but to know someone was out here looking for Hailey? What if someone else was involved and they were searching for her right now?

Fuck this.

He needed to get to her as soon as possible. Not let her out of his sight. He had a bad feeling about all of it, and he knew he wouldn’t rest until she was safe at his side.

Chapter 18

Hailey sat back in the chair, her hand moving to her ribcage. She’d been sitting here for a few hours going over the processes they used in her new office, and she was stiff and sore. She had to admit she was looking forward to a few days off. Unfortunately, moving into her new apartment had been delayed because of a scheduling error with the movers, but that just meant she and Grayson could relax and spend the weekend at the beach unwinding.

“So, do you have any questions?” the middle-aged woman asked. “I’ve got to meet with HR since this is my last day here. I’ll leave my phone number in case you need to reach me for some reason.”

“That would be great,” Hailey said. “I’m sure I’ll have questions I haven’t thought of yet after you go. And good luck to you in your new position.”

“Thank you. I hope you’re fully healed soon. I’m so sorry about what happened to you overseas.”

“Thanks, I appreciate