Page 44 of Valiant
“Stationary for five minutes,” David’s words interrupted Cole’s thoughts. “I’d say they’ve reached a destination.”
“Where?” Cole asked, leaning to see the screen.
“A marina.” David gave him the coordinates, and Cole pointed his truck in that direction. They’d stayed fairly far back, not wanting to crowd Dobson or tip him off that he was being followed, but they were still only a few miles behind him. They’d reach the marina soon. “We should be able to do some recon from the nearby beach. I just googled the place. Looks like he parked himself at a high-end marina. Fancy-ass yachts. Commander Reeves must be on a boat docked there. Either that, or Dobson made him strip and threw his clothes overboard.”
Cole’s heart sank as he realized that there was a third possibility. Edwin’s belt might have been thrown overboard…with Edwin still wearing it. If he was in the water, it probably meant that he was already dead, and that Dobson had brought him to the marina to dispose of the body. Cole put his foot down harder on the accelerator as he pushed away the negative thoughts and kept his mind on the mission.
“Does the marina have security?”
“I’m doing some quick research. Go to Silver Strand Beach. That should give us a good vantage point.” David’s eyes were focused on the screen as his fingers moved quickly over the keys.
Cole drove to the public beach and parked in an isolated area where he and Kelsey had often gone when they were dating. He pulled binoculars from his bag and studied the marina David pointed out. “Which boat is he on?” Several luxury yachts, the kind that are a couple hundred feet long, were moored there.
“Second slip from the left,” David said, looking from the screen to the view out the windshield. “The one with the dark blue hull and the helipad on the stern.”
“I see it. No activity on deck.” Cole focused on the transom, bringing the boat’s name into focus. “It’s called theEasy Day.”
“The only easy day was yesterday,” David quoted the SEALs’ motto. “Dobson’s got some balls. I’ll give him that.”
“I want to bring him down.” In truth, Cole wanted to dismantle Dobson piece by piece for what he’d done to their fellow SEALs and Edwin and Kelsey.
“Keep it in check. Don’t get emotional,” David cautioned.
“I owe this to Kelsey,” Cole said. She’d told him to make it right, so he was going to put all his effort into doing exactly that. Edwin Reeves was going home to his daughter and grandson no matter what. If that was emotional, so be it.
“You know better than to let your personal feelings get in the way of a mission,” David said. “You’re too caught up in this. Take a step back.”
“Not possible.” David’s command was easily said, but impossible to achieve. Cole was in this up to his neck, and he could no more turn off his feelings than he could turn off his lungs. His baby boy’s grandfather and the father of the woman he loved was in a life-threatening situation, and it was up to Cole to save him. Yeah, no pressure there, and there was no taking a step back.
“All right, at least get us support in case we need to board the yacht,” David said. “We’ve got no idea what we’re up against.”
“Other than you and Raymond, there’s no one I trust. Not with this. And Raymond’s already exactly where I need him to be.” Cole had other buddies in the SEALs who were probably reliable and loyal to Edwin, but he couldn’t know that for sure. Dobson probably had a number of people loyal to him scattered through the ranks, and Cole couldn’t risk him getting tipped off.
“Think clearly. We need intel and backup,” David argued. “We don’t know who’s on that yacht.”
“Looks like nobody’s on the freakin’ boat.” Not one person had shown himself on deck since they’d been watching. Edwin’s tracker hadn’t moved, but the boat looked deserted. “What’s your research show?”
“Minimal security at the marina. Cameras and one guard on duty around the clock,” David said. “Nothing of interest pops about the yacht either. No boardings by the Coast Guard, no citations. It’s squeaky clean. Appears to have been purchased by its current owner about six months ago.”
Cole wasn’t surprised by the amount of information David had gotten in a few minutes. “Who’s listed as the owner?”
“An LLC. I’m digging to get detail on it, but I’m betting Dobson was smart enough to make the paper trail complicated. The LLC is probably a shell company.”
“Bastard,” Cole muttered.
“Focus on the job, dude. Get your head off Kelsey and what this means to her,” David said, making Cole lower his binoculars and swing his gaze to David. “You’re not yourself. I’ve never seen you this on edge.”
“Have I ever let my team down on a mission?” Cole demanded, knowing damn well that he hadn’t.
“No, but you’re different this time. You’re a man in love who’s out to prove something.”
Cole scoffed aloud, but he knew that David was right. He couldn’t keep his mind off Kelsey and their fight and what it meant for their future. Was he in love with her? Hell, yeah. But that didn’t fix their problems. It didn’t make her trust him.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” David said.
Cole wanted to tell him to go to hell and mind his own business, but David was his buddy from way back. He was putting his life and his career on the line just to have Cole’s back here. The least he deserved was the truth. “It’s over between me and Kelsey. She’s not going to forgive me for letting her dad get himself captured and leaving her when she was pregnant last year. It’ll all wrecked now—beyond fixing.”
“I don’t buy that,” David said, as he shifted his attention back to the yacht. “We’ll get Commander Reeves out of this, and then you can talk to her. She’s mad at you, but that’ll pass. You’ll find a way to get her back.”