Second Chance SEAL(199)

Tara, we’re checking on your parents. Do not leave this room. I will be back soon. Emory.

I left the note on the bed next to her and then silently slipped out of the room.

Travis was leaning up against the second-floor railing as I shut the door behind me.

“How’s the girl?” he asked.

“Sleeping like a fucking baby,” I said.

“Good.” He frowned. “Ready?”

I nodded and followed him down the stairs.

We didn’t bother talking. We both knew what was necessary.

Cooper not answering when Travis had called him was very, very bad. There was no reason why Coop would be out of radio range, let alone not calling back.

It meant he was probably compromised. What had happened to him, we couldn’t guess. He might just be injured somewhere, or possibly chasing down Omar and unable to talk, but we were both assuming the worst.

It was a short drive out to Tara’s place. We did a quick sweep in the car of the neighborhood but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“What do you think?” Travis asked me as we slowed and parked a few houses down.

“I think we go in,” I said. “If it’s a trap, we’ll handle it. Coop might not have much time.”

Travis nodded slowly. “That was my thinking too.”

“Listen, Travis,” I said. “You’ve done a lot already. You don’t need to come with me.”

He snorted. “Fuck you, captain. I’d never abandon a mission.”

I grinned at him. “Yeah, I know. Come on.”

I climbed out of the car, Travis on my heels. We moved together toward the house, trying to keep it casual so as not to draw attention to ourselves. My head was on a swivel as we moved, but I didn’t notice anything unusual at all. As far as I could tell, it was just another normal suburban neighborhood.

We got close to the house and moved up toward the door fast. Travis moved around toward the back of the house, checking the windows as he went. I listened for the signal from him and heard a soft whistle, something that sounded almost like a bird.

I picked the lock in no time and then slowly pushed the door open, moving in.

My gun was out and ready, barrel pointed forward. I stepped into the entryway and shut the door behind me.

Nothing looked different or out of place. Nothing was knocked over or moved at all. The blood in the formal living room was gone, cleaned up by the team Blackfire had sent.

I did a quick sweep of that room and then moved back to the steps and climbed them, staying low and silent. I didn’t hear a single sound from upstairs as I made it to the landing.

I cleared each room, one after the next. Each room looked totally normal, the beds made, everything clean. If something bad had happened in the house, there was no sign of a struggle.

But there was also no sign of Tara’s parents or Coop. Their car was still in the driveway and Coop’s car was parked two streets over, but they were all empty. Once I finished upstairs, I moved back down the steps cautiously.

Travis should have swept the bottom floor, and if anyone was still in the house, we would know by now.

“All clear upstairs,” I called out.

“Captain,” Travis said, and I could hear the pain in his voice. It hit me like a sledgehammer, and I knew. In that instant, I knew. “In here.”

I stepped into the kitchen.

Cooper was propped up against the oven, his throat cut open, a bullet hole in his skull.

I stared down at Coop, my whole body numb. We’d lost comrades before, good men, but Coop was a friend. He was so fucking young, too.

“Looks like it happened in the garage,” Travis said. “I think they cut the throat after they killed him and moved the body here for us to find it.”

“The parents?”

“Nowhere.”

“Fuck.” I could feel the anger washing over me then, replacing the numbness with a fire that threatened to burn the world to ashes. “Fuck. Coop was a good man.”

“Yeah,” Travis said, looking away, “he fucking was.”

“Sweep the place. Take anything that might help. We’ll call Blackfire and have this place cleaned, but we’re going after that.”

“Roger that, cap.” Travis gave Coop one last look and then turned away and left.

I stared down at Coop for another second, anguish and anger rushing through me. Those bastards. I didn’t know how they got the drop on Coop, but he didn’t deserve this. I knelt down and gently shut his eyes.

“Your fight is done, brother,” I whispered.

Then I stood and turned away.

That was the end every SEAL faced at every moment in his job. Every SEAL was trained to face death and to fight on, and I knew that was what Coop had done.

I was going to find Omar and all his men and I was going to kill them, plain and simple. I was going to kill them with my bare hands if I could, and if I couldn’t, I’d use hot steel and explosive powders.