Page 16 of Into the Storm

If a SEAL encountered an ambush similar to what he’d faced on the cliffside trail, he’d assume the attack was part of the training. He wouldn’t fight to the death as Xavier had—or at least hoped he had. The blood on the trail worried him.

He should have called a halt to this exercise the moment he recognized Audrey, should have gone with the instinct that told him something was off. But he’d spent the last three months working toward today.

This was a thousands-of-lives-hang-in-the-balance test run for an op. When it was time for the real mission, they’d only have one shot. This exercise was their best shot at refining the plan before they went wheels up. And after what had happened on Xavier’s last op, he was determined his team would be prepared.

He’d thrown away something special with Audrey to make this day happen. This exercise was crucial, in ways that not even the SEALs about to jump into a frigid lake in winter knew.

He studied the darkened yurt. Everything looked as it should. It was bathed in darkness, no lights to give the SEALs anything to fix on to. They were in full blackout mode for this op.

He circled the structure to the daylight basement door on the side. A few feet from the door, a large power meter was affixed to the exterior. The darkened shape was all wrong, however, and it took a moment for his eyes to register what the dark lump over the meter could be.

Next to him, Audrey let out a sharp gasp, then slapped a hand over her mouth.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her deeper into the cover of the woods. He acted on autopilot as his brain reeled. Only one action made sense in the moment: get Audrey to safety.

Once she was safe, he’d check the body that was slumped over the power meter.