Page 24 of Finding Elodie
“She did. Saved our asses. He was hunkered down where we’d left Rachel, and we would’ve walked right into him if she hadn’t taken him out. Guys, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is the rest of my team. Aleck, Pid, Jag, and Slate.”
Elodie nodded at the men. They were standing right under an emergency light at the front of the ship. There were large hydraulic mooring winches around them, and the containers were stacked high above their heads. She’d been up here more times than she could count, but never at night, and never with only the emergency lights on. It seemed surreal, like a different planet.
Especially when she was standing with these six men, all looking at her as if she was something special.
It was hard to tell the guys apart, since they were all wearing black clothes and bulletproof vests. Scott was the only one with a full beard, and she liked how it made him stand out from the rest of the team.
Not really liking being the center of attention, Elodie said softly, “Hi.”
All six men grinned at her, and she immediately had a feeling she was missing something.
“She doesn’t look badass enough to have saved your worthless hides,” Slate stated.
Elodie couldn’t help but frown at him.
The others all chuckled.
“She ready?” a voice asked from behind her.
Again, Elodie startled badly. She had a feeling she’d never like being snuck up on again after this experience. She turned to see another group of men standing on the back deck.
“Yeah,” Scott answered for her.
“Ready for what?” Elodie asked.
“Rocco and his SEAL team are going to escort you to the bridge, where we know you’ll be safe while we head back below deck to secure the ship once and for all,” Scott told her.
Elodie looked from Scott to the other men, then back at Scott. “You’re going down there again?”
“Yeah. We need to finish this.”
They stared at each other for a long moment. Elodie wanted to tell him not to go. To stay here and let the other SEAL team hunt the last terrorist, but that would be rude…and not very nice to admit she’d rather put the men she didn’t know in danger, rather than Scott and his team.
Scott took a step closer, seeming to put them in a private bubble. “You’ll be safe with them,” he told her. “They’re among the Navy’s best, stationed in California. They won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Is that where you’re from?” she asked, knowing she was deliberately trying to postpone the inevitable.
Scott smiled. “No. My team and I are stationed in Hawaii. Honolulu.”
“I’ve always wanted to go there. I bet it’s nice.”
“It’s Hawaii, Rachel, of course it’s nice.” He grinned wider.
Hearing the fake name on his lips brought Elodie back to the present. What was she doing? Flirting with the man? In the middle of a hijack situation? Nothing could happen between them. She was on the run and he was a respected Navy SEAL.
She took a step back. “Right, I’m ready. The sooner you guys can find the pirates, the sooner we can all get back to our lives.”
She hated the look of disappointment on Scott’s face, but she ignored it, giving him a small smile and waving to his teammates, who were standing behind him. Then she turned her back on them and headed toward the other SEAL team.
“Rachel…”
“Rachel!”
Once again, Elodie remembered too late that was the name she was going by, and she turned. Scott was frowning at her, but when he saw that he had her attention, he said, “I’ll make sure you’re all right before we leave.”
She wanted to thank him, to smile in her obvious relief. But the sooner she got it through her thick skull that she was destined to be alone, the better. She wouldn’t drag someone down into the goatscrew that was her life. She wouldn’t put anyone in danger. Paul Columbus would find her one day and kill her. She knew that for certain.
So she simply nodded and turned her back on Scott once more as she joined the second SEAL team. They surrounded her and began the long walk down the deck toward the bridge.
