SEALs of Honor: Cooper (20 page)

“And then,” Cooper prompted.

“I’ve never been married before,” David said. “I’ve been involved in lots of relationships but none that mattered more to me than my work. Until I met Theresa.”

“And did she reciprocate the feeling?”

Sasha listened to Cooper’s questions, but she was trying to reconcile the woman she’d known briefly. This explained the woman’s depression. Her melancholic state. But then why not get a divorce? “Was she going to get a divorce?”

“Yes, she planned to tell him that weekend, but it didn’t work out that way. Then when we returned stateside she acted oddly. I wasn’t sure what was going on. I tried to talk to her but she wouldn’t talk. She just kept saying things were different now.”

“So she wasn’t going to get a divorce now?” The kidnapping had been traumatic. Maybe it had been enough to change her mind, but not necessarily. Sasha had gone through a period of determining what was important in her life. Now she was getting back to living. Hence, Cooper at her side.

“She said she loved me more than anything, and she’d do everything she could to keep me safe. Then she walked out the door.” He shook his head. “I should have questioned her. Pleaded with her to explain. To tell me what was really happening.”

“Then how do you know she was taken?” Cooper studied David’s face. “Maybe she returned to her husband and is breaking contact with you.”

David shook his head. He pulled out his cellphone and slid it across the table.

Cooper opened the phone.

“Look at the last text. It’s from her.”

The text opened up.

“Help me please.”

*

Cooper parked outside
the hanger and with Sasha at his side and David dragging his heels he waited until the truck pulled up beside them. Shadow hopped out with Hawk. Another vehicle pulled up right afterwards. This time Swede exited along with Markus.

Sasha beamed at them all.

David shrunk into his jacket.

“Are they ready for us?” Hawk asked.

“Yeah.” And Cooper ushered David into the hanger where the others who’d been in Turkey waited.

Levi stood, his face cold and hard and so damn dark that Cooper was even feeling it. Levi was above all else a fair man. But this situation was so not normal.

“Local police?” Mason asked from Levi’s side.

“Not yet.” Cooper pulled out a chair for David to sit down. “And you’re right. They are likely the ones to handle this, but I’m not sure. You’ll have to hear the rest. David believes she’s being held on a tanker in international waters out of the bay.”

Levi barked, “Why?”

David waved his hand around as if they’d all go away, then he said, “It’s something she said. Her husband’s brother worked on a tanker. And Harken threatened to take her out and deep six her in the ocean at one point in time when they were fighting.”

“Anything more?” Levi’s tone was low and deep. His gaze was locked on the doctor.

“I said she mentioned having connections. That could have been because her husband worked for the Turkish military,” Sasha said quietly. “I don’t remember her talking about the shipping industry though.”

David twisted so he could look at her. “She didn’t talk much but there was one thing that wasn’t allowed and that was adultery.”

The air filled with the question of why she’d taken that step then…

“So she has an affair, the husband finds out and gets angry and punishes the wife. Makes sense. But then why try to kidnap the other three doctors?” Swede pondered out loud.

But Cooper got it. “Camouflage.” He studied David. “Even better, he could make this into a terrorist hit against the Americans at the same time.”

There were several sighs as everyone fit the pieces together.

“So wait, Ron and I were taken to hide the fact that David here was the target?” Sasha said in outrage.

“And Theresa. She’d have been killed. It’s the only way the husband would be free of her permanently.”

Sasha shook her head. “It’s too elaborate.”

“Why? He had access to the camp, knew he could find someone there like Jamel to help. All Harken needed was a way to arrange your transport after you were picked up.”

“It’s just too…” She didn’t have words.

“David?” She turned to him. “Is this what you think happened?”

He frowned. “I know she was terrified of her husband. Worried what he might do…worried he might have been behind the kidnappings. One of the reasons we’d meshed so well was she went along with my passion for work. She’d be able to travel with me, and we’d be together all the time instead of apart most of the time. But that’s all changed now, she was terrified of leaving the country again,” he admitted. “She’s really traumatized. And not thinking straight.”

Cooper interjected, “When did you last see her and what was the conversation like?”

“It was yesterday,” he admitted. “Late in the afternoon. I’d hoped to spend the night with her, but she got a text from her husband and became very antsy. She told me it was all over and to leave. So I left. But I didn’t go far. I took another room in the same hotel, as I had no place to go, and drank myself silly.” He stared at the men. “When I got up this morning she’d checked out already.”

He handed over his phone and said, “Then I got a text from her.”

Swede picked up the phone and quickly clicked through it.

“So was she just avoiding me all this time,” Sasha asked. “Why set up the meeting with me and not show up.”

“She got cold feet,” David said.

“About what? You’re both adults. If you choose to have an affair that’s between you two.”

“I told her to let you know she was okay, but she was scared as she couldn’t explain her behavior without taking that irrevocable step. She wasn’t sure what to do so did nothing.”

“So I worried when I didn’t need to.”

“That’s not true,” Cooper said. “What about your house?”

“Oh my God, I forgot about that.” Sasha stared at him then slumped in place. “Was I being followed? The house watched? But for what purpose. None. So why vandalize my house?”

“What’s this about your house,” David asked, puzzlement wrinkling his forehead.

Markus quickly explained, adding, “Unless once again her house wasn’t related to this issue.”

“Yet the destruction sent her racing out of the house. Leaving it empty. Where had you planned to go before Cooper stepped in to help?”

“To my mother’s house most likely.” At their nods, she said, “Or a hotel.”

She studied their faces and saw something move behind Cooper’s gaze as he shifted from her to the others. He asked, “So it is him?”

Markus nodded. “He’d be my number one choice.”

“And mine,” Swede said. “We’ve all seen it before.”

“Okay, enough of this talk.” Sasha hopped to her feet, walked over to Cooper and stood in front of him. “Who do you think broke into my house?”

“Greg.”

S
he gasped. “Why
would he do that?”

“Because he figured it would send you back into his arms.”

She shook her head. “I wouldn’t go.”

“But did he know that? How big is his ego? Would he have believed you’d go back to him when you were in need? Didn’t you say he was close to your mother? And your mother wanted you to get back together with him?”

She stared at Cooper, her thoughts moving at lightning speed. “That’s awful.”

“But believable?”

Shadow stepped up. “What is his ego like? Does he think you’d go back to him if you had the chance?”

Her throat closed up. “But he was unfaithful. Why would he think I’d sign up for that again?” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t.”

“Did you love him?” That was from Swede.

She nodded and bit her lip. “I did. But he betrayed me, so obviously he didn’t love me. And if I did give him another chance I could never trust him. In many ways that would be so much worse. I need to know he’d be there for me all the time not just until someone better came along.”

At that she heard the strangled gasp from behind her.

David.

“I’m sorry, David.” She walked over to give him a hug. “That didn’t come out right.”

“No, maybe it’s true though. I don’t know. She was hot and then cold and then… I don’t know.”

“So is she missing or is she just avoiding you?” Levi asked in exasperation.

“Maybe the better question is, is the husband in town?” Swede said, walking over from where he’d gone to look at the computer. “His brother’s ship is out in the bay. He’s registered as being on board.”

There was an awkward silence as everyone turned to look at David. He shrugged. “I can only tell you what she said to me.”

“Would he really kill her because of an indiscretion?” Evan asked.

“Absolutely,” Levi said. “It happens all the time. That truth, however, does not make it a fact in this case. She might have changed her mind and returned to Turkey. I presume that camp was close enough that she could hop back and forth to see her husband, but why then did she leave from the US?”

“We were hired through an organization Ron is associated with. They handle all visas and the agreement covers airfare to and from the US. Maybe she was planning for the future. By signing up from here, she had a guaranteed escape from the camp – and therefore from her husband. That way she could get away in case she needed to.”

“A company here?” Cooper asked. “What’s the name of it?”

She frowned and turned to David. “Do you remember?”

He shook his head. “My contract is different. I work with Ron and he runs so many projects I tend to move from one to the other. Theresa might not have been hired through there either. Her husband is a Turk and quite likely she received priority placement as well.”

“Did you know her before going to the refugee camp?”

He nodded his head. “Yes, I did. Saw her a few times but not in years.”

Sasha stood up. “So we’re getting nowhere again. I’m going to go see Ron. Maybe he can shed some light on this mess.”

“Just so you know,” David stood up, his throat working, “Ron is Theresa’s father.”

“What?” Sasha stared at him in shock. “I didn’t know that. Okay, so this is officially a soap opera.” Sasha sat down hard. “I’m presuming Ron was against her marriage and didn’t like her husband?”

David stared at her in surprise. “No, he didn’t. They couldn’t stand each other. Why?”

It was Cooper who answered. “Because it was Ron who was shot. As if there was something personal behind it.”

“But it could have been any of us,” Sasha murmured, her thoughts flinging backwards to the nightmare as it happened. “
If
her husband was in the group, Theresa didn’t appear to recognize him or anyone.”

“The terrorists might have been primed ahead of time as to who he was. Maybe targeted him for that reason,” Cooper added in a quiet voice.

“Why didn’t she say something,” Sasha asked, tears filling her eyes. “Even when he lay dying, she didn’t let on that Ron was her father,” Sasha cried.

“She was devastated but was afraid of bringing attention to herself.” David flipped his phone back and forth several times. “Her stress level was off the wall. She’d planned to see someone for counseling.”

He studied Sasha. “I would have backed off if she’d told me what was going on. I only wanted to keep her safe. Keep her alive and healthy until we could be together.” His gaze turned hopeful. “Maybe she’s gone into hiding to avoid her husband. If he’s here, he can’t stay indefinitely.”

Sasha had no words of wisdom to offer. There was so much going on. Information they needed and didn’t have available.

“She’s a good doctor,” David said. “Not brilliant, but solid. There are few enough of those out there.”

Sasha stood up abruptly. “I’m going to go see Ron. If anything develops, then please tag me so I’m in the loop.”

“No you won’t, at least not alone,” Cooper said easily. “No being alone until we get to the bottom of this.”

There wasn’t any point in arguing, and truthfully, she was happy to hear that. She nodded abruptly. “Fine, be a hero.”

She smiled at the others. “Good-bye.”

The chorus of farewells had her grinning. Until she got outside and saw the Jeep – and the reminders overwhelmed her. “What will happen with David?”