Page 111 of Into the Storm

She let out a heavy sigh. “You’re going to keep hurting yourself until I agree, aren’t you?”

He hadn’t planned to, but now that he knew it would work, he said, “Yep.”

She climbed onto the bed, hanging off the edge, barely touching him.

“Closer,” he said.

“But your ribs—”

“The fractures are all on the left side. Left clavicle. Left shoulder. The left got all the major damage.”

“How very sinister.”

He laughed and nudged her closer with his right arm. Once she was fully on the mattress, he pulled up the rail, locking her in with him.

She settled against his side as he lowered the head of the bed until it was just slightly raised. He wanted her to slide under the blanket with him, but he figured that would push her too far. At least he could feel her breath on his skin.

Somehow, miraculously, we survived.

“What’ve I missed?” he asked.

“A captain and some general came to see you a few hours ago. They’ll be back in the morning.”

“General?”

“Oh. Yeah. Maybe it was an admiral?”

“Probably. Although I’m sure the Army is involved in what’s happening in the park now. They’ve probably got Green Berets and Rangers from Fort Lewis searching the forest.”

“They wouldn’t give me an update. Said we’d both be debriefed tomorrow. After being treated, Cohen was taken to NSWC, and my understanding is George was taken there directly. Between the two of them, they’re giving the Navy all the intel they need to figure out who was in the forest with us and why.”

He nodded. First priority was finding the missing teammates, second was figuring out who the mercenaries were.

“Did Jae tell them about the unruly Russian campers who waylaid him that first night?” Jae had given him the rundown while they waited for Audrey to find them after the mudslide, and they’d all figured it was too much of a coincidence for the campers to not have a connection.

“He said he would. He and Luke were both debriefed once it was clear you were going to be out for a while.”

“Good.” It was likely the RV full of Russian campers was long gone, but if they were still in Forks, they might be able to provide information on the third priority: finding the motive behind the attack.

On one level, it was obvious—an attack on an unarmed group of SEALs on American soil was a power play among enemies and would be useful as a recruiting tool for terrorist organizations. Like the bombing of USS Cole, this story would make headlines around the world if—when—the media got wind of it.

And, like the Cole bombing, it was less important to know who the big players were in the conspiracy than who the ultimate mastermind was. USS Cole had been attacked by al Qaeda under the direction of Osama bin Laden.

This time, the mastermind was undoubtedly a Russian oligarch, but which one, and was this part of a bigger game plan?

And why had the mercenary leader—Mikhail—wanted Xavier, Chris, and Audrey specifically?

Was this about the op to extract the Russian chemist and her son? Or was this a target of convenience, knowing that SEALs were going to be isolated and essentially unarmed in the forest for a week?

“How’s your head?” she asked.

“Better, actually. I think I passed out as much from the pain of my other injuries as from the concussion.”

“Have you had a concussion before?”

He nodded. “Got too close to an explosion once and was tossed through the air. Can’t say I recommend the experience.”

“And yet you went back for more.”