Page 2 of Kai (Alpha Heroes #13)

Skimming over the waves on my surfboard, I was the first to admit the odd source of the info that brought me here.

Thena and Missy had used what most of us at Tracker Team succinctly called “unorthodox methods” to identify the location of their missing sister.

Along the same lines, the women had decided that only one person on the team could retrieve this woman. That person was me.

Only me.

After making such a shocking decision, Thena and Missy had pulled me aside and sat me down in a corner of the lavish library at Astor House—the same space that served as Tracker Team’s headquarters.

They’d briefed me on their missing sister at length.

They told me about her personality, quirks, and obsessions.

She sounded like a tall order and tough as nails. And then, because unorthodox was the way of the Astor sisters, without fanfare or hesitation, they added the oddest thing: they believed their sister and I had some sort of mysterious connection.

Yup. A mysterious connection. That’s what they said.

The revelation would’ve spooked most rational people. Call me a fool, but I’d been around these women for a while now. I was aware of what I called their “gifts.” Instead of spooked, I found myself curious.

And then, because the conversation wasn’t bizarre enough for your average American mutt, they told me they didn’t know what this “connection” entailed. They said it could be anything, but they believed that their sister’s fate and my destiny were somehow interwoven.

I’d kept my Zen face on, but I couldn’t lie. I wavered between a wary “what the fuck?” and a rational “how the hell?” I even wondered if they were pulling my leg.

And yet precedents existed that supported these women’s hunches. I was on the fence about their theory, but I couldn’t say no to those two. There had been so much hope in Missy’s chocolate eyes, so much emotion in Thena’s pearl-gray gaze. Separate, they were both forces of nature, but together?

In-fucking-vincible.

I didn’t have to embrace everything they said to take on the mission.

It was vital to Thena and Missy, to Tracker Team, and to our national security.

So, I said yes. The moment I accepted the mission, I’d heard the roar of a monumental rogue wave echoing in my ears and rumbling deep in my chest, a warning as loud and clear as if I’d been sailing at sea.

The sound in my head gave me pause. It only happened when shit was about to go down. But this rogue wave? It felt inescapable.

Caution and thrill battled it out in my head, a clash of opposing emotions that put my heart and brain instantly at odds.

I was a Marine, logical and mission focused, and yet hunches and gut feelings had saved my life many times on the battlefield.

The sound of that rogue wave announced that change was on its way.

What kind of change? Good? Bad? Catastrophic?

I had no idea, but I’d been on high alert since then.

Tonight was no exception.

I had to admit that it wasn’t the first time words like “fate” and “destiny” had been thrown in my face out of nowhere.

Maybe the beliefs that came with my fifty percent Pacific Islander DNA helped to keep me cool in the face of weirdness.

My life experience reinforced my views. Loss was a bitch, and I’d learned early on there was shit in the universe we humans couldn’t grasp, let alone comprehend.

I blamed my grandmother for that tidbit.

My Tūtū Wahine had been a wisewoman among her people. Her gift had been her intuition. She’d helped me survive the darkest episode of my life. Now, propelling my board through the waves, her gravelly voice echoed in my mind as I remembered the last words she ever spoke to me.

Seek the light, my sweet, wise boy; follow it, fight for it, hold it close to your heart; for there’s a moon to your sun, a win to your losses, a light in the darkness.

Perhaps my grandma’s influence made Thena and Missy’s peculiar wisdom resonate with me. Just in case reason planned to cast shadows on my life’s mysteries, here I was, at oh dark thirty, paddling my way toward… what else?

A lighthouse.

Yup.

A fucking lighthouse.

I lifted my eyes to the sky and smirked at the moon. “Hello there, tūtū . Even for you, this one’s a little on the nose.”

I could almost hear her gruff laughter among the waves.

Tonight, I was the disciplined Marine Raider who destroyed to build.

To me, fate felt like a goal, and destiny was a future waiting to be constructed.

Before I left for the mission, my team and I had turned every detail that Thena and Missy provided into actionable intel.

Satellite images verified that someone was using the abandoned lighthouse.

In the end, I chose to accept this mission to pre-empt the NWO and thwart their plans because it was the right thing to do. I had a job to do, and I would do it. Whatever happened, happened. If it didn’t happen, I was cool with that, too.

At least that’s what I’d told myself.

I’d come a long way from the anguished, guilt-ridden soul I’d once been. I’d searched far and wide for purpose, wisdom, and inner peace. So much so that my teammates liked to tease me, calling me the Chill King and the Zen Master.

When they said shit like that, I just smiled and embraced it as a compliment, hoping they were right and my work on myself had paid off.

This time around, if that cruel bitch called Life offered me a chance at hope, I was ready to move forward.

Provided it was my decision. Opportunity might be a crapshoot, but choice?

It was mine, always mine.

The roar of a set of powerful outboard motors reverberated through the water and caught my attention.

Adjusting my angle, I detoured toward the bay’s narrow mouth.

Once there, I kept low on the surfboard, dug out my binoculars, and activated the thermal function, focusing on the fast boat approaching from the south, hugging the shore at top velocity.

Ah, fuck .

The ocean parted for a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat, an amphibious troop-insertion carrier leaving a wake in its path.

The RHIB’s approach took advantage of the wind to conceal the rumble of the engines, but the old trick didn’t fool me.

I’d learned to swim before I could walk.

Water was my element, and the ocean was my home. It didn’t keep secrets from me.

The lack of markings on the vessel told me I wasn’t dealing with the US Navy, the Coast Guard, or the private island’s security division.

Neither the boat nor the humans on it belonged in these waters.

Adjusting my settings, I spotted the heat signatures of two crew and eight armed assets crammed onto the benches.

What were the odds that the watercraft carried friendlies instead of enemies?

Short answer?

Zero.

The watercraft veered well short of the bay and made landfall several clicks south of my position on a rocky inlet, the only viable landing point along the craggy coast. I had considered the spot as an extraction site but decided against it because of the difficult terrain.

I didn’t wanna put my principal through a grueling trek up the steep hills and down the treacherous canyons to return to the boat.

If Thena and Missy’s sister got hurt, or worse, they’d never forgive me.

As for my boss, Omega would skin me alive.

In no way did I ever want to poke that bear.

As soon as the rubber hull hit the shore, the tangos spilled out of the boat like rats abandoning ship. They disappeared behind the volcanic cliffs. The waves laughed at me, a taunt from the universe itself. Yeah, I got it . Easy had never been in the cards.

Taking into consideration the hazardous topography, and assuming a competent outfit, I had thirty mikes to execute my mission, if that.

Floating atop the swells, I redirected my binos to the lighthouse and surveyed the woman again.

Isolated in her tower and oblivious to the danger, she had no idea that there was more than one storm coming her way.

Surf’s up, Marine .

I put away the binoculars and paddled across at full speed. The tide was coming in, and the swells gave me a good push. It wouldn’t be nearly as easy to get out. Good thing I was equipped for an extraction and had taken the time to set up my contingencies.

The next wave looked like a winner, so I lined up.

As it sucked me out and lifted me up, I paddled and kicked my legs, gaining speed.

I kept my body aligned with the stringer line and pressed my chest down to ensure my board angled to the curve of the wave.

Then, I laid my palms flat and pushed up with my shoulders, arms, and chest. Bringing my back foot forward, I parked it on the traction pad, right before I popped up.

Avoiding the breaker’s churn and keeping my lower body compact and my knees bent, I glided into the shallows and rode my board to shore. I’d found the missing sister. Now came the hard part. I had to get Cece Astor out of the lighthouse before it became her tomb.