Page 45 of Single Mom’s Navy Seals (Claimed by the Alphas #2)

JAX

I stare out the car window, the harsh Nevada landscape blurring past. Liam’s driving, like always, hands gripping the wheel with a controlled calm that only shows up when things go completely sideways.

Cole sits rigidly beside him, eyes narrowed at the road ahead.

The tension in the car is heavy, pressing down on all of us like lead.

It’s been two hours—two entire hours—since Ava got the jump on me, grabbed Eli, and disappeared.

Two hours since I watched her eyes, wide with panic, vanish down the dusty road through the rearview mirror.

I clench my jaw hard, frustration and self-loathing boiling through me.

How the hell did I let this happen? I’m a trained fucking Navy SEAL, security and strategy are literally what I do best. But one woman, barely trained in anything beyond raising a five-year-old, managed to play me like a rookie.

I knew something was off when I heard the old car engine rumble to life, knew in my gut that something had gone very wrong.

By the time I’d run outside, it was already too late.

The car had disappeared down the road, and with it, my chance to stop her.

Cole and Liam came back just minutes later, and it took us about half an hour to find my phone battery hidden behind some dusty cans in the kitchen cabinet.

Ava was smarter and quicker than I’d ever given her credit for, and now we were paying the price.

My mind races with unanswered questions.

Why would she run? After everything we shared, after building trust and something solid together, why vanish like we were the enemy?

My heart twists uncomfortably as guilt and confusion swirl within me.

I can tell from Liam’s rigid posture and Cole’s clenched jaw that they’re feeling the same frustration and self-blame.

None of us says it aloud, but it’s screaming in our heads: we failed her.

The uneasy silence fills the car as we speed along the empty highway, tracking the car via the tracker Liam had the foresight to place on the old vehicle, just like the one already placed on our main car.

A small victory, sure, but it’s not enough to ease the tension filling my chest. I glance down at my phone, scrolling uselessly through messages I missed in those crucial minutes.

Nothing from Ava, obviously. Nothing but a trail gone cold and our own self-recrimination.

The sudden, sharp ringing of Liam’s phone cuts harshly through the silence. Liam’s eyes flick to the phone, then to Cole.

“Answer it,” Liam instructs. “Put it on speaker.”

Cole picks it up, hitting the answer button. “Hello?”

Roger’s voice fills the car immediately, clipped and authoritative. “Where are Ava and Eli?”

We exchange quick, uneasy glances. It hasn’t been long since Ava fled. How could Roger possibly know already?

Cole speaks, keeping his voice controlled. “We’re all together. Everything’s fine.”

A pause stretches too long, and then Roger’s voice comes again, cold and suspicious. “If that’s the case, why’d she call Morales claiming she’s at a motel?”

My stomach drops, realization settling heavily. She contacted Morales directly. My fists clench, knuckles turning white. Liam’s jaw tightens as he forces calm into his voice.

“What motel?”

Roger scoffs quietly. “She didn’t say. Morales couldn’t get it out of her, and now she’s gone silent. You’d better figure out where she is and quickly. She’s making everything more complicated.”

Liam smoothly shifts his voice to sound irritated, maintaining our cover.

“She took off,” he admits bitterly, playing the disgruntled partner perfectly. “We had everything lined up, and she bolted. We’re on it, but we have no idea where she went.”

Roger’s mask seems to slip momentarily. His voice drops, irritation leaking into every syllable. “Typical. That woman has been more trouble than she’s worth from day one.”

Liam’s eyes flare dangerously at Roger’s callous tone, his jaw tightening. Before Liam can snap something sharp, I jump into the conversation, smoothly guiding it back into our favor.

“Relax, Roger,” I say, my tone steady. “We’ll find her. She’s emotional, impulsive. She won’t have planned this well.”

Roger hesitates, then speaks again, calmer. “You’re probably right. Find her fast and keep us informed.”

“Understood,” Liam says coldly, ending the call abruptly. Silence settles heavily in the car again as we all exchange quick, tense looks.

Cole’s voice finally breaks the silence. “Do you think Ben set us up? Or set Ava up?”

Liam shakes his head, frowning deeply. “Ben is cold, calculating, but he isn’t evil. He wouldn’t turn on us, not without getting something substantial out of it. And if he did betray us, to whom exactly?”

We fall silent again, considering. My mind drifts back to Ava’s behavior yesterday. She’d seemed off, tense. Could she have known even then?

“You think that’s why she ran?” I ask, meeting Liam’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “Maybe she saw something she shouldn’t have.”

Liam’s eyes narrow thoughtfully. “Actually, when I got back yesterday from my run, my phone had missed calls and texts. The notifications were cleared, though. At the time, I didn’t think much about it. I was distracted.”

Cole glances toward Liam, tension tightening his jaw. “You think Ava saw your phone?”

Liam exhales. “It would explain a lot.”

Just then, my phone vibrates in my hand. I glance down, eyebrows shooting up in surprise as a notification flashes across the screen. My mouth curves into an unwilling, proud smile. “Our girl is smarter than we gave her credit for. She just pulled ten thousand off my Amex.”

Liam and Cole exchange quick, appreciative glances. Cole chuckles, shaking his head. “How’d she know your PIN?”

I grin, shrugging. “I told her weeks ago. I never remember PIN numbers, so mine’s always 1234.”

Cole snorts, Liam’s mouth quirking upward despite the situation. Pride briefly softens the tension in the car. Ava’s quick thinking is impressing all of us.

Still, reality returns. Liam’s expression hardens again, focused on the road ahead. “We have to find her. Wherever she’s headed, Randy or Roger won’t be far behind. She’s smart, but not trained. If they find her first?—”

He doesn’t need to finish that sentence. We all understand the stakes clearly. I clench my fists, resolve settling deep into my bones.

“We won’t let them,” I say firmly, voice steady and determined. “We find her first, explain everything, and keep her safe. If she lets us.”

Cole nods quietly. “She probably thinks we betrayed her. She must’ve misunderstood something she saw or read. If we can reach her, talk her through this?—”

Liam’s voice remains calm and certain, cutting smoothly through Cole’s worry. “Then we get the chance to make it right. First things first, we get to her and our son.”

None of us reacts to Liam’s words, but I feel a jolt at his claim over Eli, and not because it doesn’t fit.

The opposite, actually. Hearing him be called mine for the first time truly solidifies what I already knew, that woman and that child are ours.

They are ours to protect, ours to care for, and ours to keep safe.

I’ll raze down a million Rogers before I let anyone harm a hair on either of their heads.