Troy’s lips quirked. “She was beautiful. Sweet, too. I felt bad she was on those damn crutches. I can’t say I exactly minded carrying her up and down the stairs on the beach. She wouldn’t give me her number though. And I rolled out of there so quickly after the CO called, I didn’t even get her name.”
Blake chuckled. “That’s not like you.”
“Yeah, well, believe me I asked. She seemed a little shy. Or maybe she was just reluctant to tell me. She’s an event planner and was there with a bride scouting out wedding locations. I did give her my cell number though.”
“Then I hope she calls you, man,” Blake said with a smirk.
Troy nodded as their CO came down the hallway to talk to Blake and headed into the bullpen alone. Hell. It felt like half of his teammates were getting married soon. Most of them were in relationships. Blake and Clarissa would have a beach wedding this summer. Grayson and Hailey were expecting a baby. They’d probably get married immediately if Ghost had his way. Not that Hailey seemed opposed to the idea.
Meanwhile, Troy was perpetually stuck in first date hell. He wasn’t into one-night-stands anymore, preferring to actually know something about a woman before he took her to bed. He’d date a woman for a few weeks, attempt to wine and dine her, and then things wouldn’t work out for one reason or another. How many ladies had he introduced his teammates to over the past year? Too damn many. It felt like a steady stream of women on his arm, and things went exactly nowhere with all of them.
It’s not like he was looking to rush down the aisle or something, but he sure wouldn’t mind having someone to come home to. Or to go to bed with every night. Damn. It wasn’t like him to feel so unsettled. Having his teammates in happy relationships just reminded him of what he was missing.
He nodded at Ethan “Everglades” Flannigan as he come striding into the bullpen. “Where’s the CO?” Ethan asked, grabbing a chair.
“With Raptor. Hell. I don’t know what this is about, but I’ve got a bad feeling. He wanted to talk to Raptor before he briefs the rest of us.”
“Damn,” Ethan said with a frown. “Usually, we have a clue if something is on the horizon. And it’s not like he said we’re heading out tomorrow. I wonder what’s up.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Troy said.
The rest of the men came filing in, followed by Blake and Commander Slate Hutchinson. Older than Troy and his teammates, he still looked like he could hold his own in a fight. He was in his early forties and fit. At six feet, he was shorter than some of the guys—if six feet could be considered short. He intimidated the hell out of half the people on base, but the team was used to his gruff ways.
Logan was the last one to arrive, but since he’d been walking on the beach with the women, Troy wasn’t surprised. He’d needed to get back to the parking lot and then drive all the way here.
Their commander looked around the room, his green eyes alert as he took in the men seated at the table. “We’ve got a few things on the horizon that have come up in the past twenty-four hours,” he said, his voice terse. “The first is an op that you’ll be heading out on this week. There’s a high value target that’s sprung up on the radar, and the Pentagon has asked us to move in. He’s been located in Somalia, and I’ll be briefing you on the situation shortly. We’re waiting for final confirmation of his location before you’re sent out. The other more pressing issue is we’ve received some information that the admiral is being threatened. NCIS is fully aware of the situation and investigating. However, we need to be vigilant.”
“Shit,” Ethan muttered. “Threatened?”
The commander eyed him. “He’s received some threatening mail and a suspicious package at his private residence.”
“At his private residence,” Blake echoed, letting out a low whistle. “God damn. What were the threats?”
“Someone is attempting to blackmail him. They’re demanding classified information and threatening to release some private info and photographs.”
Troy scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “That’s bullshit.”
Their CO’s lips quirked. “You know that, and I know that, but someone thinks they have something on him. They’re going to extreme lengths to intimidate and extort the admiral.”
“So let them release it,” Ethan said with a shrug. “The photos. If it’s nothing, can’t he just ignore it?”
Their commander nodded. “To some extent. And if it just involved him, no doubt he would. But his wife and children were mentioned as well, and we have to take that seriously. Despite the admiral and his wife being older, they do have a young child. A teenage daughter as well. He’s not going to let someone threaten to release private details about his family or harm any of them. The photos were the first item mentioned, but if he still doesn’t comply, they’ve implied that they will come after his family.”
“Hell,” Jackson said, his eyes flashing in anger. His girlfriend Taryn had been stalked by her ex-husband, and Troy knew he didn’t take a threat against a woman lightly. “I assume security has been beefed up around his home?”
“Affirmative. The Navy has a protective detail on both him and his family.”
“What type of information do they want?” Blake asked. “That’s a hell of a vague request.”
“Codes to access the nuclear warheads. They’re blackmailing him. They seem to think he’ll give up the intel because of whatever information they have on him.”
“So how
