Second Chance SEAL(117)
Hartley was strong. She was afraid and worried for her family, but she was strong as hell. I knew she wouldn’t do something rash just because that Culver piece of shit intimidated her. She had to be past that. She had to trust me.
Either way, I was going to need to get some backup, even if it was just for show. Fortunately, I had a whole squad of talented and loyal men that I could call on at any given moment. And I happened to know for a fact that they were all fucking free.
I got out my phone and dialed the first number. Gage answered on the second ring.
“Hey, boss,” he said.
I cringed at that. “Not the boss,” I said.
“Whatever. What do you need?”
“Are you busy?”
“Not exactly. I planned on drinking too much and bringing some piece of ass back to my place, but I can be persuaded to postpone that.”
I laughed. That was typical Gage. Tall and broad, he was our hand-to-hand combat expert, and he was damn good with stealth maneuvers. He loved to drink and fuck, like most of the SEALs I knew.
“Listen, I got a job I need help with.”
“This one paying?”
“Maybe, but probably not. Depends on how it goes.”
“Do I get to shoot someone?”
I grinned. “That’s likely.”
“Well shit, boss, I’m bored as hell out here. Where are you?”
“Knoxville, Georgia. I’ll send you coordinates.”
“Roger that. When do you need me?”
“As soon as possible. On your way, can you swing by and grab Flynn?”
“Sure I can. You talk to him yet?”
“Not yet.”
He laughed. “I’d do that first.”
“Why?”
“Flynn is—well, I’ll let you find that out yourself. Just call him.”
“All right. I’ll let you know.”
“Adios, boss.”
I hung up and shook my head. I hated getting my squad mates involved in this shit, but I didn’t have any other choice. They were the only men I trusted in this whole world. The fact that this thing wasn’t exactly legal, though, might not sit well with all of them, which was why I was looking up Flynn and Gage. Of the squad, they had the loosest morals, or at least they wouldn’t mind what I was doing so long as I was helping someone.
I called up Flynn. His number rang and rang, and I was getting ready to hang up on him. Finally, though, someone picked up.
“Yeah?”
It was a woman’s voice.
“I’m looking for Flynn,” I said.
“No kidding. This is his number. Who’s this?”
I shook my head, amazed. “This is Travis. Where’s Flynn?”
“I don’t know a Travis.”
“Can you just—”
“Flynn?” I heard her yell. “Who’s Travis?”
I held back my laughter as I heard some muted conversation, the phone rustling against something. Finally, Flynn came on the line.
“Travis,” he said. “Sorry about that.”
“Who the hell was that?”
“Uh, I don’t want to tell you.”
“She your new woman? You shacked up, Flynn?”
“Not exactly.”
“Don’t make me pull rank.”
I could feel the discomfort down the line. “That was my mom, man.”
I burst out laughing, not able to contain myself. Flynn, the big badass SEAL, was staying with his mother?
“What the hell, man?” I asked.
“Look, she split from my dad, okay? She needed a place to stay. I couldn’t say no. She’s my damn mom.”
“Well aren’t you a great son.”
“Please,” he said softly. “Get me out of here, Travis. Help me.”
“You’re in luck. I have a job.”
“Good. I’ll be there soon.”
“Gage is coming to get you.”
He groaned. “No, please. Don’t send Gage. I’ll meet you anywhere—just don’t send Gage here.”
“Too late, man. See you soon.”
He went to argue, but I hung up the phone, already laughing.
That had gone easier than I’d thought. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, though, since most SEALs got bored as hell when they were on leave. We were built for action, not sitting around taking care of our freshly divorced parents.
I sent the location to Gage and things were moving.
A couple hours and one cab ride later and I was sitting in the back of a smoky bar, my head on a swivel. The place was a well-known dive in the center of town called The Clam, and plenty of locals were milling about. The crowd was half rich and half hill people, which meant rednecks rubbing shoulders with society folks.
Back in the day, it had been my parents’ favorite bar. They came here during game weekends, whenever there was a football game on or some shit. They drank until they couldn’t drink anymore, and my dad would drive them home blind drunk. That was probably where Ray had picked up that bright idea.