SEALs of Honor: Cooper by Dale Mayer Page A

gone to Hawaii to scuba dive with her sister and had drowned on their second dive. He winced. “Yeah, he does. He’s come a long way.” Markus had been so dark and morose before but had apparently found some measure of peace.
    “We’ll need to see if we can hook him up,” Cooper said speculatively.
    “Ha, he’s only interested if you’ve got some of The Keepers type of magic. He’s looking for what Mason and Swede have.”
    “Aren’t we all?” Cooper shook his head. “And it’s not just those two, it’s all five of them. I’m starting to feel like there’s something wrong with me, and I’ll never get the same chance.”
    Evan snorted. “I saw her cling to you.” He tapped the cellphone in Cooper’s hands. “This is your chance.” And he walked away too.
    Levi nodded. “Don’t mess it up or else a few of us will step up and try our hand.”
    Evan was single. Levi was divorced. Same as Sasha. Cooper had avoided that pain by avoiding getting married. The trauma hurt. At least that’s what he told himself. In truth he hadn’t met anyone he wanted to go that distance with. Cooper had had several long-term relationships, but that was before he joined the SEALs and way before his injury.
    He was staring at his friends when his phone rang in his hand.
    Dr. Sasha.
    “Sasha?” he asked. “Are you okay?”
    “No,” she whispered. “I’m afraid not.”

Chapter 14

    S he shouldn’t have called him back. She knew that but she hadn’t been able to resist. He’d been good to her so far. Then she hadn’t asked anything of him personally.
    “I…” and she fell silent. “Damn it. I shouldn’t have called you.”
    “I’m glad you did,” he rushed to say, his voice just concerned enough but not over the top. “Is something wrong?”
    She could see his frown in her mind. Hear the worry in his voice. “Maybe.”
    “Maybe?” His tone rose. “What do you mean maybe?”
    She took a shaky breath, trying to calm down the panic and fear inside. “I might be just overreacting.”
    “Overreacting to what?” Still sharp but now there was a direct business manner to it. That dependable can handle anything attitude. And it helped to stabilize the roller coaster of emotions roiling inside her.
    “Okay, first off…” She took a deep breath and said, “Maybe this is all unrelated and maybe not. Let me explain.” She started and once she didn’t hear any sense of disbelief coming through the phone, she explained about feeling like she was being followed, then the restaurant meeting today and going home to the house and making her sandwich. When she finally wound down, she could feel the weight slide off her shoulders.
    “I’m making too much of this, aren’t I?” Lord, she was such a fool.
    “I’m not saying that,” he said cautiously. “Have you contacted Theresa since leaving the restaurant? Have you heard from her?”
    “No. Not at all. I only have her cell number but she hasn’t answered.”
    “And who were you meeting from the base?”
    “I don’t know his name. She just wanted my permission to rearrange the meeting so I agreed. She texted me the new arrangements, and I showed up there as planned.”
    “But neither of the other two people showed,” he asked in surprise.
    “Not that I could see. And I waited for an hour.”
    “And it was the right time?”
    “Yes,” she said tiredly, rubbing her temple as she slumped down in the car. “I checked and double checked. The right place at the right time.”
    “Then she’s the one we need to check on first.”
    “Fine, but I’m not going back into my house. I’ll go find a hotel or something for the night. I can’t force myself to step back inside.”
    “Don’t go anywhere close to your house,” he snapped. “I’m in my vehicle. I’ll be out your way in a few minutes. Stay in the car.”
    She stared down at her dead phone. “Wait. You don’t know where I live.”
    But of course he didn’t answer. He was already