Page 5 of Her Devoted HERO

“Yep, I briefed my lieutenant and second-in-command.”

“My guy tried to tell me what was going on when I was driving here, but he kept cutting out. I think I got the gist, and if I did, it changes everything. Let’s go over it, and I’ll tell you what I found out from my inspection of the yacht. It wasn’t good.”

Dex laid out everything the suits in Washington, DC had given him. Then it was Adams’ turn to share.

“Two of the marines were shot point blank in the interior family area. They didn’t have their weapons drawn. It’s my assessment they were the first two assassinated. The third marine, Sergeant Keith was up on the bridge when things went south. Blood splatter showed that he was coming down the stairs when he was shot in the head. Last, Corporal Hernandez was below deck. His weapon was drawn as well, no shots. His body landed on top of an interrupted fucking game of fucking Candyland.” With every word, his voice rose.

Nobody said anything for long moments. Finally, Griffin Porter asked, “how old are the daughters?”

“Four and five,” Dexter answered.

Again silence.

“The crew?” Gray asked.

“According to the manifest, there should have been five men besides the captain. He’s nowhere to be found. Two of the crew were found in the engine room with bullets in their brains, the rest are gone.”

“So, this was definitely an inside job,” Adams stated.

“Weren’t there security cameras?” Dex asked.

“All of the footage has been pulled.”

“That clinches it. It was an inside job,” Gray said.

“Are you telling me that Anders allowed a man to be shot and bleed out in front of his daughters?” Gray said slowly and quietly.

“Everything points to this being an inside job. I hope to God that a father would have protected his girls, but I don’t think he did,” Adams answered.

The rage Dex had felt before that Anders would risk his wife and daughters to sell antiquities morphed into something he could barely contain. He pictured Hernandez sitting cross-legged playing the children’s game with the two little girls and then blood spraying, and the girls screaming.

“Is he doing this supposed kidnapping with or without El Mahdy’s help?” Aiden asked Adams.

“He couldn’t have pulled this off without El Mahdy. The terrorist isn’t a bidder, he’s a supplier.” The Captain’s eyes glittered with anger. “Anders is acting as a middle man for El Mahdy.”

Dex nodded. The captain was right, it made perfect sense.

“Now we just have to do the investigating to prove it,” Adams said. “To me, this looks more like an investigation than a SEAL team operation at this point.”

“Until we get called home, we’re staying,” Gray said quietly. All his men’s heads nodded in agreement.

Adams eventually nodded. It was clear he wasn’t pleased, but he was going to deal with it.

Chapter Two

“I really want a cheeseburger. Maybe pizza. How about a steak?” Dalton said to no one in particular.

“This sitting around and watching Dex play on his computer is boring as shit,” Wyatt complained. “How long is this going to take? We’ve been here eight days.”

Dex looked around at the men who had just come out of the showers. They had spent the last four hours doing physical training in the camp gym, then donned fifty-pound backpacks and ran ten miles in the desert heat. Dex had done the gym time with them but had opted out of the run so that he could coordinate with Langley, but they didn’t have anything new. He agreed with Wyatt, it was boring waiting for something to happen. The only thing that had kept him occupied, besides the physical training, had been Mary Poppins. He re-read his e-mail one last time. It had only taken five days and nine fucking drafts to get it right.

Dear SNMP,

So, you don’t consider yourself Mary Poppins? Well, I’ve got to call you something for now, so how about Poppy until you tell me your real name? Please don’t call me SailorBoy, Boy, Sailor, Popeye, or anything else but my name, which is Dex.

Yep, you looked pretty damn good in the photo, but that’s not the reason I’m responding, so you don’t need to go buy more product. Buckle-up, Buttercup, your appeal is that you made me laugh. A lot. Now that I told you that, I figure you’re probably going to be all paranoid and try to hire a joke writer. I think they’re all on strike, so don’t bother trying to find one. What’s more, your paranoia is part of your charm.

I know you told me not to respond, but Poppy, you made it impossible not to. You told me what does it for you, so let me return the favor. I liked your attitude. I liked your self-deprecation, I liked that your number one priority was your son. Your smile was just the cherry on top.