Code Name: Ghost (A Warrior's Challenge 1) (13 page)

* * * *

As the base became familiar with her, Kayla
became familiar with the regulars. Some days she’d want to mentally
slap the hell out of herself, and this evening’s shift had been one
of those. It wasn’t that she’d made any earth-shattering errors,
but she hated making any. She stuffed her heels in her backpack and
changed into a pair of flats. “See ya tomorrow night, Jake,” she
said, giving her relief a wave.

“Kayla, you’re not walking to the bus stop
by yourself, are you?”

“There’s plenty of street lights. It’s just
a ten minute walk. See ya.”

Stars filled the California heavens as she
walked at a good clip toward the entrance of the base. The sound of
several boots in unison scuffing the pavement caught her attention,
a troop of BUD/S recruits on a midnight run passed her. Their CPO
started a running cadence just as they came abeam of her.

“Hoo-yah, hoo-yah, feeling good, how about
you, fired up, motivated, dedicated, graduate, hoo-yah,” the voices
of the men echoing his words. The CPO led his recruits in a large
arcing circle around her, then tipped his hat to her, before
carrying on down the road.

There might not be any life like it, but
sitting in her new comfy, but quaint condo overlooking the beach
was a better life. She still thanked God for the men who dedicated
their lives to an important cause with so many unacknowledged
successes.

She approached the large parking lot for day
workers, mostly vacant now, a single light post illuminating the
far end. A couple of cars remained, one at the opposite end, the
other to her far right. It would only take a minute or two to cross
and then she’d be at the entrance. Keeping herself alert, she
forged on.

Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the
thud of a heel not far behind her. “Oh, shit,” she hissed.
Don’t
be stupid
, but her pulse started racing. The heels came toward
her fast and she jerked around.

“Hey there.” A guy in jogging pants and
T-shirt clinging to his well-toned torso stopped a few feet away
from her.

She breathed out, and swallowed to dislodge
her heart from her throat. “Evening.” Across the pocket of his
shirt, the words “Navy SEALs” stitched with dark blue thread
revealed his profession, but not his intent.

“You know, you shouldn’t be walking alone.
You’ve seen the posters, haven’t you?” he asked, standing a good
eight feet from her as if not wanting to scare her, but he wasn’t
going away either.

“Out for some exercise?”

“Yeah,” he said, giving her a friendly
smile. “Gotta keep in shape, part of the job.”

“What job is that?”

“SEAL Team Three, demolitions
specialist.”

“Uh, I see. You stay fit to blow things up.”
She watched him carefully as he took a few steps, but didn’t come
any closer.

He pinched his lips together with a grin. “I
do a little more than that. Anyway, are you heading off base?” he
asked.

“To the bus stop,” she said warily, keeping
an eye on him, but taking a few small steps as if she needed to
go.

He surveyed the landscape. “If you don’t
mind, I would feel better if I joined you to the entrance.”

Her heart skipped another beat. Was he
looking to see if anyone else was around? “I’m fine, really.”

“I’m sure you are,” he replied. “But humor
me anyway.”

He didn’t seem very scary, more noble and
courteous, but then again Ted Bundy had a good cover, too. “I
suppose.” As she began walking toward the exit, he kept her stride,
but didn’t get within eight feet of her.

“I think I’ve seen you before in the galley.
Do you work with Captain Redding in the Base Command center?”

“Yes,” she said, darting a quick glance at
his swarthy complexion, dark eyes and incredibly toned upper torso.
She wondered if being a body builder was part of the SOQ of being a
SEAL.

They passed in front of a parked car at the
end of the lot. The engine roared to life and the lights blinded
her. The distance between the SEAL and her vanished in a
millisecond as he hurled her behind him.

“Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to scare
the shit outta ya,” a voice called from the car. The SEAL veered
around the vehicle, towing her along with him.

“Oh, hey, Captain, working late on the old
girl again?” the SEAL said, his arm relaxing around her
shoulder.

Her heart thundered in her chest as she
peered in the car. “Hi, Captain,” she said, giving him a nod.

“You need a ride home, Ms. Banks?” he
asked.

“No, thank you, sir.” She stepped away from
the SEAL, her legs wobbling from the adrenaline coursing through
her.

From the sheath of darkness inside the car,
the Captain waved and then drove off. The audible breath Kayla
released to settle her nerves drew the SEAL’s attention.

“You okay?”

Placing a hand over her heart didn’t help,
but for sure she knew she had one. “Yeah,” she said, continuing to
walk toward the gate, although her legs still shook. They neared
the entrance. “Thanks for the escort. What’s your name, by the
way?”

“Kevin, ma’am. Nice to meet you, Snow
White.” He offered a smile, but kept a respectable distance between
them.

How the hell did he know who she was?
“Thanks again, Kevin.” She was feeling a little stupid for not
seeing that he was a decent guy earlier, but just about every woman
on the base was on edge because of the Blood Shark. Giving Kevin a
wave, she walked toward the bus stop where a few other people
waited. Finding a seat on the bus and panning the darkness, she saw
Kevin wait until the doors closed and the bus pulled away before he
jogged into the night.

* * * *

She wasn’t Einstein, but when a different
guy jogged up to her for five nights straight, reaching her at
exactly the same spot, and escorted her to the gate, all of them
from SEAL Team Three, she knew something was up.

On the sixth night when she heard the pad of
feet behind her she stopped, dropped her pack on the ground and
turned with her hands on her hips. “All right,” she said sternly.
The guy, in his early twenties with mounding shoulder muscles, a
chest like Smokey the Bear and dark hazel eyes halted in front of
her. She stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Kayla. Yes, I’m walking to
the gate by myself. Yes, I work for Captain Redding, and yes, I’m
taking the bus, but I think you know that already, don’t you?”

He stepped back a pace. “Ma’am?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “He told you to
do this, didn’t he?”

“He, ma’am?”

“Don’t you ma’am me, SEAL, Commander Austen.
He set this up, didn’t he?”

The SEAL looked at the ground, scratching
his ear. “Well, kinda, yes.”

She shook her head. “That guy just doesn’t
trust me, does he?”

“He was right, wasn’t he, ma’am?” He gave
her a serious if not reprimanding look. “He said you’d be stubborn
and refuse an escort, but we had orders ma’am, and the option of
failure wasn’t very appetizing.”

“Did he threaten you?” she asked, gaping at
him.

“I wouldn’t call it a threat,” he said, and
then stretched his arm out to prompt her to start walking.

“Okay, so I’ve met Kevin, Dale, Robert,
Frank, and Gabe, so who are you?”

He grinned. “Ross.”

“Hi, Ross,” she said dryly, and gave him her
hand for a shake. “Good thing I don’t work more than six evening
shifts in a row. You guys must be getting tired of
babysitting.”

“Um, it’s coming on day shifts, too,” He
paused, “And your night shifts.”

“Say what?” she spouted.

“Yes, Ma’am, until the Commander
returns.”

“If I told you all to stand down, would
you?”

“No, ma’am,” he said as they reached the
other side of the parking lot near the fenced perimeter of the
base. He tilted his head at her. “He kind of outranks you.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” She stopped and
stretched out her hand. “Thanks again, Ross. I guess you’re going
to stand here until I get on that bus, aren’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You people have got to stop calling me
ma’am. I feel old enough as it is.” She waved at the security
officer and got a quick wave back. Then a thought fired on all
cylinders in her brain. “There isn’t someone on the other end of
this bus, is there?”

Ross crossed his arms over his chest,
causing the muscles to bulge from the cuffs of his T-shirt, and he
scuffed the ground with a toe, somewhat resembling a kid caught
with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar.

“You’re shittin’ me! A two-man patrol?”

He shrugged at her with a good-natured
grin.

“What makes me so special?”

He deliberated for a moment then said,
“We’re wondering the same thing. We thought maybe you were a
relative or something, but now we know you’re not.” Ross tossed his
head. “Your bus is coming, Snow White, you better go.”

That’s great, she’d been interrogated at the
same time! She lifted her hands in the air. “I don’t have an answer
for you, SEAL, but I’m sure as hell going to find out when he gets
his Commander-like ass back here.”

Ross chuckled. “Bye, Kayla.”

“See ya around, Ross.”

Well—if the Commander was going to protect
her, she was going to share the wealth. She called a few
departments, and asked if there were any women working shifts like
her. When her dayshift started, she grinned seeing how many gals
stood hovering around the gate. They were grateful,
and
she
made a few friends. The SEALs didn’t mind either, especially the
single ones. In fact, it wasn’t only one SEAL, a few more joined
the escort. When the women broke away for their offices, one SEAL
always remained with her to the front step of the Command
center.

Strolling down the hall, she shot a look
into Captain Redding’s office as she did every day. On the
thirteenth day, the Commander’s desk was occupied. She didn’t
knock, but instead marched in and stood in front of him with her
hands on her hips. He didn’t look up at her. “Nice to see you
returned with your head attached, sir,” she drawled, and darted a
quick look at Redding, whose brows rose with humor.

“Hello, Ms. Banks, how are you?” the
Commander asked, concentrating on a document lying on his desk.

“Still alive, thanks to you, but before I
figured it out, I had the shit scared out of me at least three
nights in a row.”

A crooked grin crossed his lips, but he kept
his head bowed. When she remained silent, he finally raised his
eyes to hers. “I hear you have company now.”

A full-on horserace began in her chest with
all the hooves pounding through her heart. Warm, crystalline blue
eyes searched hers. He was glad to see her. The thought made her
heart teeter. To hell with the man, she was not going to wither
under his stare just because he was extraordinarily—over-the-top,
without a doubt—
oh shit
he was handsome. She was so relieved
to see he was home and unharmed. Flinging herself across his desk
and hugging him would be totally irrational behavior. “Yes, so I
think you can probably let your men get to bed a little earlier and
rise a little later.”

“SEALs don’t need sleep.”

“Hoo-rah,” and she turned on her heels.
“Thank you,” she blurted before she rounded the corner leaving the
room.

His deep rumble chased her down the hallway.
“It’s Hoo-yah, and you’re welcome.”

Kayla heard the distinctive sound of rolling
casters before someone gently bumped up against the back of her
chair. “Hey Mace, how ya doin’?” she said, not having to look up.
He always wore an enticing aftershave, no doubt expensive and
proven to drive the ladies wild—young ladies.

“So, are ya coming to watch us this
weekend?” he asked, turning her chair to face him.

“Watch you do what?” she asked, thumbing
through a file of afternoon military activity reports she had to
send to the Coast Guard base in Long Beach.

“Jumpin’.”

Tony and Nathan gathered around. “Hi ya,
Snow White,” Tony said, offering up his signature grin.

“Hi, guys.” Turning her attention back on
Mace she asked, “Jumping?”

“Yeah, the big air show in Arizona this
weekend. The SEALs participate every year, doing exercises and
wowin’ the crowd. All the teams take turns being Leap Frogs and…”
Mace’s head jerked back. “Kayla, do you wanna jump?” he asked,
surprise widening his grin.

“What? Nuuuu.” She toed the floor rolling
backwards, but he grabbed the arms of her chair to stop her,
pulling her back and pressing his knees against hers.

“You do. I saw that glint in your eyes.”

“No glint, seriously.” Fox and Caleb
wandered up and she gave them a nod.

Mace grabbed her hand. “Yes you do, I can
see it,” he said, not giving in.

“I might have considered it when I was
younger.” She raised a brow. “Much younger.”

“Kayla, it’s never too late. You can grab a
ride with us. We’re leaving tonight. You’ll be back by Sunday
night. I’ll go over the—”

She held her hand up, and he stopped
gibbering. “Mace, I’ve learned through bitter experience, I never
do anything right the first time. If I jumped out of a perfectly
good aircraft, I’d pull both cords and nothing would happen.”

Tony knelt down on one knee in front of her.
“You wouldn’t be jumping by yourself, Kayla. You could go tandem
with one of us.”

“Not one of us, Tinman—me,” Mace corrected.
“Come on, Kayla, you’d love it.”

Craziness! But, she’d always wondered what
it would be like to skydive. Many times she’d come close, but the
stars just never aligned.

Mace jumped up and grabbed her hands.
“You’re doin’ it. Decision is made.”

“I don’t know Mace—I think I’m too old for
that.”

The other guys didn’t like her answer and
started taunting her.