Expecting the SEAL’s Baby by Katie Knight
Three
Gina eyed the man in the jeans and black polo shirt as she crossed paths with him for the third time at the grocery store. Maybe she was being paranoid, but that struck her as odd. It could be that his shopping list coincided with hers, but she’d noticed that he hadn’t added any items to his cart since she’d first encountered him.
He had a bag of chips and a six-pack of Pepsi. So what was he doing browsing the cereal aisle for a second time? She felt a slight chill go down her spine as she tossed a couple of boxes of oatmeal in her cart, determined to eat better.
She’d resorted to a whole lot of comfort food in the past month since hearing about Blake’s disappearance. Every time her phone rang, she jumped a little in anticipation of getting the bad news that the Navy could confirm his death. Every night when she went to bed, she reminded herself that no news was good news. But it was frustrating not knowing.
And then there was Jeremy. She sighed as she shoved her cart toward the checkout. She’d gotten lucky that he’d visited her mother on a night Gina had stayed home. She wasn’t prepared to see him again. They’d exchanged only a few mundane text messages since making love and that was just as well. Trying to put that in the past was for the best, especially since she had so many other things to worry about.
Like the fact that black polo shirt guy was in the express checkout lane. He’d been headed toward dairy when she’d last seen him and must have doubled back to be at the front of the store at the same time as her. The cold chill returned as he made eye contact with her over the three checkout lanes between them. She took stock of him. Dark hair, sturdy build, late twenties. No identifying marks like a tattoo or scar that she could see. All of that meant he blended in well. He was an everyman.
Gina paid and left the store ahead of him, but she turned back before she reached her car and saw him headed for a vehicle in an adjacent row. Still could be a coincidence, but she’d wait it out just to see. She put her groceries in the trunk and locked herself in her car. She pretended to be going through messages on her phone while she waited for him to leave the parking lot.
There were dozens of texts from work friends and distant relatives expressing their concern about Blake. She hit the icon for voicemails and found even more messages she hadn’t been able to bring herself to listen to. Gina shivered. She couldn’t face them. She scrolled deeper into the messages and stopped cold when she saw one from Blake.
Oh, god. She checked the message’s date. A month ago. Just before his disappearance. How had she missed it? She closed her eyes and thought back to what had been a hectic week at work. She’d kept her usual schedule, plus she’d spent three evenings running a training course on field medicine for her fellow nurses. Gina had plenty of experience with that realm from her time with Doctors without Borders.
But had she been so busy that she’d missed her brother’s call?
She tapped the play button and steeled herself to hear Blake’s voice.
Hey, Gina. It’s your big brother. Hope you’re well. I’m headed out on a mission soon, but I wanted to talk something over with you. There was a pause, and his tone was more serious when he continued. I’m worried. I think someone on my team may be dirty. I’ve got suspicions but no proof. I just wanted to talk it over with someone on the outside. Get a different perspective. Anyway. I don’t mean to worry you. I’ll be home soon. Jeremy and I have leave in a few weeks, so I’ll be bringing your favorite sparring partner with me. Can’t wait to see you. Love ya. Bye.
Gina’s heart sank at the casual certainty in his voice that he’d be home soon. And now, where was he? How was he? Sitting around waiting for someone to give her answers was killing her. She glanced up and saw the man who’d followed her in the grocery store still in his car. Was he waiting for her to move first?
He was probably just a creep, she told herself, and she had bigger problems to deal with. Finding her brother and bringing him home became her goal. She’d been considering taking the risk of going after him directly, but now that she’d heard his voice, she felt that she had to take action. She’d just need a plan before acting…and a partner.
Jeremy. She swallowed, nerves rolling through her stomach. Could she face him and demand his help?
He was the only one she could turn to. Not only did he have experience in tactical extractions, but he also knew his team. Blake had thought someone was dirty—had that someone arranged for Blake’s capture? She stood a much better chance of getting answers with Jeremy than without him. She started the engine and backed out of the parking space to head for Jeremy’s apartment.
To hell with the creeper. He could follow her if he wanted—and find himself face-to-face with a trained Navy SEAL.
* * *
Jeremy yanked a T-shirt on and headed for his front door. He was antsy, full of pent-up energy, tired of doing nothing to help his situation, and pissed off that he was getting nowhere. Jeremy hoped a long run would clear his head. It would at least wear his body out, so he could sleep.
He yanked open the door and came face-to-face with Gina. Damn, she looks good, was his first thought. Her skin was flushed and her eyes bright. His second thought was that she practically simmered with pent up determination.
“Can I come in?” she said and went straight past him into his apartment without waiting for his response.
“Sure.” He closed the door and spun around to face her. “Something wrong?”
“Yeah, something’s wrong. I’m tired of waiting, sick of getting the run around about Blake. How can the U.S. Navy lose a man? How is that even possible?” She demanded as she paced around his living room. “I’m done with being patient. I want to take action.” She paused her motion. “I found a voicemail on my phone I’d missed a month ago. It was from Blake.”
She tapped a button and Blake’s voice came from the phone. Jeremy felt a stab to his heart as Gina’s eyes focused on his face.
When the message ended, Gina put the phone away. “The message proves two things in my mind. One, Blake was on to someone on your team—which may be why he was taken. And two, it couldn’t be you.”
“How do you figure that?” Jeremy asked. He’d fixated on the first point because it gelled with his suspicions. His team had been intentionally led into a trap and he hadn’t understood why. If their attackers were gunning for Blake, knowing that he’d figured something out, that would answer a lot of questions.
She huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Because if he thought you were the guilty party, he wouldn’t have been looking forward to being on leave with you. Duh, Jeremy. It’s so obvious.”
Despite the heaviness of the message and what it suggested, he almost smiled. Gina was her usual self, and that made things feel more normal.
“Okay.” She was pacing again. “So Blake was captured because he was suspicious about someone’s dirty dealings. We just have to figure out who the rat is and what he was up to. That could lead us to where Blake is.”
“Us?” Jeremy questioned.
“Yes. I can’t do it alone, so I’ll need your help. How about you start with a list of all the guys on your team? Let’s write down everything you know about them. Their families, service records, connections, motivations.” She rattled off the list as she moved.
“Wait a minute,” Jeremy said, planting himself in her path and making her come to a stop. “If anyone’s going digging for intel, it’s me. Not you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Now don’t get all he-man on me. My brain works just as well as yours does. And I’m no wimp. I can handle myself.” She flexed her bicep muscles to prove her point.
“Uh-huh.” Jeremy didn’t doubt that she could handle a purse snatcher or a guy hitting on her in a bar, but this was well beyond that. If a SEAL was dirty, he’d be deadly dangerous. Armed, well-trained, and desperate.
Her chin went up, but her dark eyes softened. “He’s my brother, Jeremy. I have to do what I can to help him.”
Damn. Did she have to use that argument? His only defense against it was weak, but he went for it. “Blake would pound me if he knew that I let you put yourself in danger.”
“So let him take a swing at you after we figure out where he is and get him back,” she countered. “Besides, I’m starting to think I’m safer close to you. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but there was this man at the grocery store.”
“What man?” Jeremy was instantly on alert.
“A guy.” She flipped her hands out. “He seemed to be everywhere I was, and I thought he was watching me.”
“Tell me everything,” he insisted, not liking the sound of this. “What did he look like? How often did you see him?”
Jeremy listened as Gina described the encounter in the grocery store and how the man sat in his car in the parking lot, waiting for her to leave first. “Did he follow you on the road?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.” Gina shrugged off the question. “There was a lot of traffic, and I wasn’t paying as much attention because I kept thinking that I needed to see you.”
Jeremy walked to the window and edged aside the blind so he could get a view of the parking lot. He saw Gina’s car and other ones he recognized as belonging to tenants. “What kind of car did he drive?”
“A silver Mazda. I didn’t get close enough to get the license plate,” she said.
Jeremy widened his search to include the street beyond the lot. No car fitting even that vague description was visible. But if he was tailing someone, he’d be parked around the corner, so not spotting the car in plain view was no guarantee that the guy had disappeared.
“Are you listening to me?” She was next to him, poking him in the shoulder.
“I am, but you’ve got me worried now.” He was also impressed at her bravery, but he didn’t say that.
“Which is why we have to figure this out,” she insisted, “by working together.”
Jeremy wanted Blake home as much as she did, and he had the double motivation of clearing his name in the process. And now there was the added complication that Gina might be in danger if she was right about the guy at the grocery store. The situation had to be resolved and quickly. “Okay. We’ll work together.”
She smiled at him, then. A victorious smile. She was being smug because she’d gotten her way, but it still made him want to haul her against him and kiss her.
Before he made that mistake, he turned away from her. “I need to make some calls. Sit tight.”