Prologue
The Naval Amphibious Base
Coronado, San Diego, California
“What kind of trouble have you gotten into?”
David Holloway, known to his Navy SEAL teammates as Flipper, glanced at the four men surrounding him. They were like brothers to him. More than once they’d risked their lives for each other and they would continue to have each other’s backs, on duty or off. That bond was what accounted for the concerned looks on their faces. He wondered how they’d known he’d been summoned to the admiral’s office.
“Let’s hope I’m not in any trouble, Mac,” Flipper said, rubbing a hand down his face.
He had to admit he was wondering what was going on, just like they were. Usually, you were only summoned to a meeting with the admiral when you were getting reprimanded for some reason, and he never got into trouble. At least he rarely did. As the son of a retired SEALs commanding officer and the youngest of five brothers—all Navy SEALs—he knew better.
“Maybe there’s an event on the base and he wants you to escort his daughter now that you’re the single one among us,” Coop said, grinning.
Flipper didn’t grin back. They’d seen Georgianna Martin, the admiral’s twenty-three-year-old daughter. She was beautiful, but they’d heard the horror stories from other teammates who’d been ordered to take her out on dates. According to them, those evenings had been the dates from hell. The young woman was spoiled rotten, selfish as sin and had an attitude that sucked. That’s why Flipper didn’t find Coop’s comment at all amusing. He hoped that wasn’t why the admiral wanted to see him.
It didn’t surprise Flipper that it was Mac who’d asked if Flipper had gotten into trouble. Thurston McRoy—code name Mac—was older than the other four men on the team, who had all started their careers as SEALs around the same time. Mac had been a SEAL five years before the rest of them. Mac seemed to like to think he was the big brother looking out for them, almost like he figured they couldn’t take care of themselves. He was forever giving them advice—even when they didn’t ask for it.
In addition to Mac and Flipper, their SEAL team included Brisbane Westmoreland, code name Bane; Gavin Blake, whose code name was Viper; and Laramie Cooper, whose code name was Coop.
Flipper checked his watch. “Since I have a couple of hours to spare before meeting with the admiral, let’s grab something to eat,” he suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” Bane said.
Less than an hour later, Flipper and his four teammates shared burgers, fries and milkshakes at one of the most popular eating places on base. They decided to sit outside at one of the café tables in the front instead of inside where it was crowded since it was such a beautiful May day.
No one brought up his meeting with the admiral again or the notion of him taking the admiral’s daughter on a date. He was glad. Instead, the guys had more important things to talk about, namely their families.
Bane’s wife, Crystal, had given birth to triplets last year and he had new photos to share, so they passed Bane’s cell phone around.
Viper’s wife, Layla, was expecting with only a few months to go before Gavin Blake IV would be born. Viper was excited about becoming a father, of course.
Like Bane, Mac had plenty of photos to share; he was married and the father of four.
And Coop had a two-year-old son he hadn’t known about until he’d run into his old girlfriend about six months ago. They’d reconnected, gotten married and were now a happy family.
Earlier in the week, the teammates had gotten word from their commanding officer that next week was the start of a four-month leave. For Flipper, that meant heading home to Dallas and he couldn’t wait. His mother had a birthday coming up and he was glad he would be home to celebrate.
“I don’t care what plans you all are making for your leave, just as long as you remember my mom’s birthday celebration. I understand you not showing up, Viper, with a baby on the way. The rest of you guys, no excuses.”
“We hear you,” Bane said, grinning. “And we will be there.”
When Viper ordered another hamburger, everyone teased him about being the one to eat for two instead of his wife. And then everyone talked about what they planned to do with their four months off.
It was two hours later when Flipper walked into the admiral’s office. He was surprised to find Commanding Officer Shields there as well. Flipper saluted both men.
“At ease. Please have a seat, Lieutenant Holloway.”
“Thank you, sir,” he said, sitting down. He was used to being under his commanding officer’s intense scrutiny, but there was something in the sharp green eyes of Admiral Norris Martin that was making him feel uncomfortable.
“You come highly recommended by your commanding officer here, Lieutenant Holloway. And the reason I asked to meet with you is that we need you. Your country needs you.”
Flipper was happy to step up. He was a Navy SEAL, and the reason he’d enlisted, like his father and brothers, was to protect his country. “And what am I needed to do, sir?” he asked.
“Our investigators have provided intelligence and a preliminary report that says acts of espionage are happening in Key West. Someone is trading valuable government secrets to China.”
Flipper didn’t respond immediately.
The one thing he hated was a traitor, but he’d discovered that for the right price, a number of American citizens would perform acts of treason. He understood that. However, what he didn’t understand was why he’d been singled out for this meeting. He was part of a SEAL team. He didn’t work in naval intelligence.
Confusion must have shown on his face because Admiral Martin continued, “The report was given to me, but I don’t believe it.”
Flipper raised a brow. “You don’t believe a report that classified documents are being traded in Key West, sir?”
“Oh, I believe all that, but what I refuse to believe is that this suspect is guilty of anything.”
“Is there a reason why, sir?”
“Here is the information,” said Commanding Officer Shields, speaking for the first time as he handed Flipper a folder.
Flipper opened it to find a picture of a very beautiful woman. She looked to be around twenty-four, with dark, sultry eyes and full, shapely lips. Then there was her mass of copper-brown spiral curls that flowed to her shoulders, crowning a cocoa-colored face. A pair of dangling gold earrings hung from her ears and a golden pendant necklace hung around her neck.
He knew he was spending too much time studying her features, but it couldn’t be helped. The woman was strikingly beautiful.
Reluctantly he moved his gaze away from her face to check out the background of the photo. From the tropical vegetation captured by the photographer, she seemed to be on an island somewhere. She stood near a body of water that showed in the corner of the eight-by-ten photo. Scribbled across the bottom were the words:
Miss you, Godpop 1
Love, Swan
Swan? It was an unusual name, but it fit.
He moved to the next document in the file. Attached to it was a small family photo that showed a tall Caucasian man with sandy-brown hair and brown eyes standing beside a beautiful woman who closely resembled Swan. Her mother. In front of the couple was a beautiful little girl who looked to be around eight.
Flipper studied the child’s face and knew that child had grown up to be the gorgeous woman in the first photo. The shape of her face was the same, as were her eyes. Even as a child, she’d had long curly hair.
The family photo was clipped to a profile of the young woman. As he’d guessed, she was twenty-four. Her name was Swan Jamison. She was an American, born in Key West. Presently, she owned a jewelry store on the island. That was all the information the document provided.
Flipper lifted his gaze to find his commanding officer and the admiral staring at him. “I assume this is the person naval intelligence believes is the traitor.”
“Yes,” Admiral Martin said. “She’s my goddaughter. I am Godpop 1.”
“She’s my goddaughter as well,” added Commanding Officer Shields. “I am Godpop 2.”
Flipper’s gaze moved from one man to the other. “I see, sirs.”
Admiral Martin nodded. “Her father was part of our SEAL team and our best friend. His name was Andrew Jamison.”
Flipper had heard that Commanding Officer Shields and Admiral Martin were part of the same SEAL team a number of years ago.
“Andrew was the best. He lost his life saving ours,” said Commanding Officer Shields. “He didn’t die immediately, and before he died, he made us promise to look after his wife, Leigh, and his daughter, Swan.” The man paused and then said, “Over twenty-eight years ago, when we were taking some R & R in Jamaica, Andrew met Leigh, who was a Jamaican model. They married a year later, and he moved her to Key West, where our team was stationed. After Andrew was killed, Leigh returned to Jamaica. When Swan graduated from high school, she returned to the Keys and moved into her parents’ home.”
“How old was she when her father was killed?” Flipper asked.
“She was fifteen,” Admiral Martin said. “Swan was close to her dad. Leigh was so broken up over Andrew’s death that she didn’t want to live in the States without him, which was why she returned to Jamaica. She passed away two years ago.”
Flipper’s commanding officer then took up the tale. “Leigh sent for us before she died of stomach cancer, asking us to look out for Swan after she was gone. We would have done that anyway, since we always kept in touch with both Leigh and Swan. In fact, Swan rotated summers with us and our families even after Leigh returned to Jamaica. We took our roles as godfathers seriously. We were even there when Swan graduated from high school and college.”
“Did Swan have any American grandparents?” Flipper asked.
He saw both men’s lips tighten into frowns. “Yes. However, her paternal grandparents didn’t approve of their son’s marriage to Leigh,” said Commanding Officer Shields.
“So they never accepted their granddaughter.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“No, they never did,” Admiral Martin confirmed. As if it was a topic he’d rather change, the man added, “We’ve been given some time to find out the truth, but not much. Luckily, Swan’s Godpop 3 has a high-level position at naval intelligence. Otherwise, we wouldn’t know about the investigation. We have thirty days to prove Swan is not a traitor and identify the person who is. That’s where we need your help. Instead of releasing you to go home as we’re doing for the other members of your team, we are assigning you to a special mission, Lieutenant Holloway. You are being sent to Key West.”