Page 32 of Protecting Clove (Loved by the SEAL #5)

Qthought the only problem with being a SEAL was he had to live close to Coronado, which meant he had to live in a city.

He was saving his money so he could eventually end up owning land out in the middle of nowhere.

He didn’t want one or two acres. He needed more.

A small plot of land wouldn’t do for him.

He needed space to wander around and clear his head.

He wanted at least two hundred, maybe five.

Somewhere with trees to block the view of the neighbors because the last thing he wanted was to see anyone else.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, loving the fresh clean air. Being on leave was his best opportunity to get out into nature. Other guys traveled to Europe or went home to family. This was his happy place. Maybe not this exact place, but out in nature.

He still had a few days before he had to go back to civilization.

He’d only been out here a week because he had to finish up a project on his house that had run long.

The back patio he’d had put in would give him shade and a place to store his grill.

Though he was in the middle of the city, having a patio where he could sit outside was better than being inside all the time.

The sound of birds in the trees stopped and he opened his eyes, searching for the reason the birds had stopped chirping. His campsite wasn’t totally in the open, but he also wasn’t fully hidden. He was out in the middle of nowhere, but not so far from civilization no one would find him.

He slowly turned around, scanning the trees for any movement. He had almost made it all the way around when he heard someone crashing through the bushes. He lowered, hiding behind a tree, preparing himself for anything.

The crashing didn’t sound like an animal. It was wilder, like an out-of-control human running through the trees. Bears didn’t sound so scattered, and if one was running toward him, he would hear their huffing breath. No question, this didn’t sound like an animal.

Q’s hand instinctively rested on the butt of his gun.

He wasn’t on a mission, so he couldn’t just fire at whoever was crashing through the forest. He would have to wait and measure the threat before he took action.

If it really was a person, they might not stop, and he wouldn’t have to deal with them at all.

The sound of leaves crunching underfoot grew louder and he slowed his breathing, forcing calm though chaos wanted to take over. He had maybe ten seconds before whoever was running at him revealed themselves. His muscles clenched and he got ready to spring into action.

The sounds grew louder and then the person was in the clearing.

It was human, he hadn’t been wrong about that, but mud and dirt covered their body.

Lots of dirt. He watched as they paused, their wide-eyed gaze taking in his campsite as he studied them.

Under all the dirt and mud he could see it was a woman, and she was naked.

She grabbed one of his bottles of water and cracked it open. Water spilled from the sides of her mouth as she drank, clearing some of the mud from her pale skin. Her matted hair looked dark but not black. Maybe it was just the mud that made it look dark.

He watched for a long moment, noting she had no weapons. She wasn’t a threat to him, though she reeked of desperation and fear.

If he stayed hidden, she would run off, but what danger was she in?

The haunted look in her eyes made him shiver.

What would make her look that way and be such a mess?

He’d heard of sick games some men played and wondered if she was being hunted.

Letting her go without the offer of help would be wrong.

Though a part of him wanted to stay hidden, he stepped out from his hiding spot, moving slowly so he didn’t frighten her off. It took her a few seconds to realize he was there. She jerked her head around, her eyes filled with fear.

“Hey, it’s okay. Do you want some food? I have meat that needs to be cooked, but I also have crackers and bread. Soup, too. I could heat some soup if you want that.”

She took a step back, her eyes darting from one side of the clearing to the other.

He feared she would take off and she had no clothes.

Nothing good would happen if she stayed out in the woods without clothes.

Tonight, the temperatures would dip to around forty, which was too cold for her to survive.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I have clothes you can have. I don’t have a shower for you to clean up, but you will be cold tonight if you don’t have something to wear.”

Her gaze stayed on him, wariness not leaving her eyes. He moved to the bag of food, pulling out a package of peanut butter crackers he’d packed to eat on his hikes. Instead of moving to her, he put the package on the top of the small camp table he’d brought with him then stepped back.

“Eat. You need food.”

She grabbed the crackers, opening them with shaky hands. The first one she stuffed in her mouth and moaned as she chewed. She drank some water, and a little of the food slipped from her mouth.

He saw this kind of behavior in impoverished areas where people were held captive. This woman wasn’t just someone out on a run through the trails. No, this wasn’t normal at all. Desperation and fear leaked from her. Someone had hurt her. Maybe he could help.

“Is there someone I can call to help you? Maybe your family?”

She shook her head. “No, not family. Never family.”

That wasn’t what he expected. Was her family responsible for this? He knew from his experiences as a SEAL that monsters existed.

“Can I drive you somewhere?”

Something moved in the forest behind them, and her head whipped around as her gaze swung in the direction of the noise. It was a bird. They were chirping now and flitting around the branches.

She shook her head before going back to eating the crackers. He grabbed a candy bar from his pack and put it on the table.

“In case you want more.”

She grabbed it and opened the package, taking a small bite. Her eyes went wide, and she took another bite. “What is this?”

“It’s a candy bar. It’s full of fat and sugar, but it will give you fast energy.”

“What is that taste? It’s the stuff on the outside. What is that?”

Q had met loads of people after joining the Navy. They’d done a humanitarian relief thing when he lived on a ship before he became a SEAL. Every man, woman, and child he’d run into had known what chocolate was. How did this woman in the USA not know about chocolate candy bars?

Something was wrong, something terrible, and he couldn’t let her just wander off. He had to do something to help, but what?