Riya’s eyes were alight with pleasure, as they wound their way around the motel swimming pool, past the Tiki bar. Gray couldn’t have asked for anything better, except maybe not so many men staring at her. He’d told her to wear something warm since they were going to be outside at night, so she was wearing a pink angora sweater and black jeans. He’d almost swallowed his tongue when he’d gone to pick her up.

“How did you find out about this place? I mean a drive-in movie, sure. But a pool party movie at a sixties-style motel?” She continued to turn her head every which way, trying to take everything in.

Gray sat down first in the double-seated plush papasan chair, then he reached for Riya so he could arrange her close to him.

“Gray, people are actually swimming,” she whispered into his ear.

“Riya, the pool is heated,” he whispered back to her. Damn, she was cute. It was the fourth date he’d taken her on, and he found himself enjoying their time together more and more. The woman had a heart as big as all outdoors. She considered herself an outsider because of her intelligence, but she really wasn’t. If he had to guess, the way she was raised and educated hadn’t allowed her to socialize as much as most people so she struggled a little more. But when she caught onto something, look out.

“You still haven’t told me what movie we’re going to see.”

“It’s a surprise.”

As they’d walked through the motel lobby, he watched as she looked for some kind of indication as to what the movie was. Surprises were not high on his little scientist’s list. She liked to figure everything out. That was part of the reason he’d chosen such a silly movie for them to watch. Okay, maybe not silly, it was one of his favorites after all.

The waiter came over with the drinks and appetizers that he'd pre-ordered.

"Do you need a blanket?" the young man asked.

"I brought one," Gray answered.

"Boy scout," Riya accused with a whisper.

Gray chuckled. "Nope, you got it all wrong. I was an Eagle Scout."

She rolled her eyes. The waiter set the food on the ottoman in front of them. "Oh my God, this looks phenomenal. She eyed the little teriyaki shrimp, and popped one in her mouth. “What kind of drinks are these?" She picked up the coconut with the straw and umbrella.

"They're Mai-Tais."

"I'm going to like this," Riya curled her legs under her, and leaned into him. "This is the life. Just please tell me we aren't watching something scary."

"You don't like scary movies? I would have thought they would be up your alley. You could spend the entire time figuring out who the bad guy is."

"One time Annika was taking care of all of us when my parents went out to dinner. They stayed out really late, and she let us stay up and watch the Exorcist. I had bad dreams for years afterwards."

"How old were you?" Gray frowned.

"I was probably four or five. It was before I started kindergarten. I have never heard my Dad yell like that. He is one of the most easy-going people in the world. He's a surgeon, but people say he has a wonderful bedside manner. Annika was grounded for weeks."

Gray put his arm around her, loving the way she snuggled up close to him. "You have nothing to worry about, even the scary parts are funny."

"Thank you." She took another sip of her Mai-Tai. "How's your beer?"

"Good."

They watched as more people came in and took their places around the pool. He liked seeing how intently Riya observed every little thing around her. Then she frowned, and opened and closed her mouth twice.

"Spit it out, Honey."

"Do you see that couple?" She pointed surreptitiously at a couple who were easily in their mid-seventies sitting in a cabana.

Yeah, like he'd missed that show.

"They have to be my grandparents’ age. And I think he has his hand up her skirt."

"Yep, I think management is going to close the flaps on that cabana pretty soon, or ask them to go up to their room."

He was trying to decipher how she felt about this. There was definite shock.

"My parents have never been this demonstrative. I've only seen them kiss when Dad's given Mom a present or something."

Gray just waited.

"I think I like that better. Well, maybe not the public exhibitionism, but definitely the idea that they are so into one another at that age. But is that really possible?"

"I told you I ended up almost living at the Conway's house when I was growing up. I go over and visit Mr. and Mrs. Conway every time I go to Springfield. They've been together forty years and they’re always sitting right next to one another on the couch. I can't imagine not seeing Mr. Conway's arm around his wife."

"That would be wonderful." Her tone was wistful.

It would. He'd never realized it, but the Conway's marriage had always been his absolute idea of perfection.

A server came with a tray of food. “We have the Caesar salad, pumpkin ravioli and beef medallions,” he said.

"You ordered?" Riya asked Gray.

"They had two choices for dinner. One was vegetarian, but after watching you with that meat lovers pizza, I figured the fillet would be fine.”

"You thought right."

"Do you want to put out the blanket, before I set down the tray?" the waiter asked.

"Riya?" Gray queried. When she nodded, he snapped out the blanket and covered both of them. He liked how she snuggled even closer to him. It was a Thursday night, which was the only night The Princess Bride was playing. So he had to get Dr. Patel home as soon as the movie was over, or her carriage would turn into a pumpkin.

"The movie is going to start in five minutes, we'll come by with flashlights to clear your plates. Don't worry, we'll be quiet," the server said with a grin.

Gray watched Riya's eyes dart over to the cabana, which had been blocked while they'd been served. The older couple were no longer there. Even in the evening light, Gray couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or relieved.

All of the lights around the pool were shut off, which just left the blue lights within the pool glowing. Then the movie started playing against the wall high in front of them. Gray waited to see if Riya would recognize the music, but she didn't. Finally the name of the movie appeared and she clapped her hands.

"I've heard of The Princess Bride." She pulled to the side and turned so she could get a good look at Gray. "But why would you want to watch something like this? Isn't it just a fairytale for little girls?"

"I'll tell you what, you watch it, and then tell me what parts I liked."

"That'll be easy," she scoffed.

He remembered the first time he’d watched the movie. He’d been seven years old, Aunt Kristie and Aunt Jeannine had taken him to the theatre in town. He’d gotten his own tub of popcorn, but he forgot about it as soon as Buttercup came on screen. He’d fallen in love. He loved the sword fight, been scared of the monsters, hid at the torture scene, and laughed himself silly over the silly little man. But it was always Buttercup he remembered.

Years later his aunts had purchased the DVD, and he found that he liked the movie even more. There were so many nuances to it. But it also made him sad, there he had been at seven falling in love, believing in love, and there he was at thirty-one, settling. His relationship with Felicia didn’t last much longer after that trip to Springfield.

By the time the waiter arrived to take away their meal, Riya was totally entranced by the movie, and Gray didn't think she even noticed that their food had been removed. She had a wonderful laugh, and he wasn't surprised to see her eyes shimmer with tears as the movie progressed. What did surprise him was how often he found her looking at him. She was good at it too. Half the time he didn't notice her doing it, instead he just felt her eyes on him, and he would turn his head and catch her.

"Oh, Gray," she whispered, as the movie came close to the end. "This is so poignant. It's very funny, but it's really loving."

"Are you sure it's not the two Mai-Tais talking?" he teased. The lights came on. People were all standing up and stretching. He didn't want to leave, Riya was perfectly placed against him. It had taken all of his restraint to not do more than cuddle her, but she had been so engrossed in the movie, he didn't want her to miss a moment of it.

As people began to leave the venue, and get out of the pool, Riya looked questioningly at him. "Shall we go?"

"I should have said you needed to bring a jacket."

"I'll be fine."

Gray moved the blanket and then stood up. He held out his hand. Riya took it and stood up as well. He then wrapped the blanket around her.

"Gray, this is overkill."

"Live with it, Lady."

She rolled her eyes for the second time that night.

Little did she know he was damned tempted to carry her to his vehicle. He hadn't realized just how thin that sweater was, he'd been too busy ogling her in it.

Dammit, it was a rookie mistake.

"Gray, why are you frowning. Are you mad at me?" He realized she was having to walk two steps for his every one, and he was frowning.

Great job, Tyler.

"Honey, let me get you into the lobby of the motel, okay?"

She looked sad. He couldn't stand it, so he stopped. He hated it when he made it hard for her to read him. He put his hands on her shoulders and started to rub them up and down along her arms, trying to get the blood moving. He rested his forehead against hers and smiled.

"I'm mad at myself for not realizing how cold it was going to be at midnight and not insisting you bring a coat. I just want to get you onto those seat warmers as quickly as possible, that's all."

"Seriously?"

"Cross my heart."

She let out a deep breath, her smile huge.

He put his arm around her shoulders, and they walked at a more sedate rate out to his car.

By the time they got buckled into their seats and Gray had them on the eight-oh-five heading North, Riya had yawned twice.

"Have you been working long hours?" he asked.

"Probably fewer hours than you. Wanna compare?"

He chuckled.

"Nope. I've played this game with you before. Why don’t you rest? We’ll be at your house in thirty minutes.”

“But I have some ideas on why you like the movie,” she protested. Then she ruined it by yawning again. “Maybe I’ll rest my eyes for just a minute.”

“You do that, Honey.”

She put her hand on the console between the seats and Gray took hold of it. His girl worked too hard.

The next day, Susan handed Riya her caramel macchiato latte. She had a huge grin on her face.

“Please tell me that smile is because you and Mike discovered some fantastic new sex position while you were on your honeymoon that you need me to write up in Dr. Kennedy’s study,” Riya begged.

Miranda laughed. “You should be so lucky. Susan’s smile was definitely directed your way.”

Susan laughed as she sat down next to Miranda on the small office couch. Both women started sipping their coffee drinks, trying not to smirk.

“I saw that!” Miranda crowed. “You smiled.”

“Yep, I saw it too,” Susan concurred. “It was a dreamy smile. It was all man-smarmy.”

“It was not,” Riya denied. “It was the kick of caffeine.”

“Bullshit. You were thinking of Gray,” Miranda said. “How many dates have you been on now?”

Riya cleared a tiny spot on her desk where she could rest her coffee. The desk was covered in in binders, with precise tabs. They were all live projects, otherwise they would be in the overflowing bookcase.

“Come on, ‘fess up,” Susan pleaded. “I was out of the loop while Mike and I were in Cancun, and then I was stuck playing catch-up. I want all the dirt on you and Gray.”

“Didn’t you hear? Gray and I broke up after he and three of his team members came over and installed an alarm system without my permission.”

Miranda let out a big laugh.

Susan looked between the two of them, confused.

“Don’t let her bullshit you. That was a couple of weeks ago. She might have been pissed, but she continues to go out with Gray. I believe their latest date was last night,” Miranda said smugly.

“Anyway, Griff told me how unsecure your place was. He would have done the same thing if it had been me,” Miranda said.

“So this is getting serious?” Miranda asked gently. It was unlike her, usually she was the more in-you-face type of girl.

“Five,” Riya smiled.

“Have you done the deed?” Susan asked point blank.

“Last week he mentioned that he would really like to show me Northern California, maybe take me for a weekend up in Sonoma.” She squirmed in her seat just thinking about it.

“He sounds like Griff, he’s taking it slow because you matter.” Miranda gave a knowing nod.

Susan gave a long-suffering sigh. “Dammit, Mike was the same way. What is with these men?”

“I thought I was just giving off the vibe that I wasn’t all that experienced, so he was taking it slow.”

“Just how experienced are you? I thought you were a virgin.” Susan said.

“I’m not the most experienced girl in the world, but no, I’m not a virgin,” Riya defended herself. Dammit, she was blushing.

Susan opened her mouth to ask another question, but Miranda cut her off. “Enough, if she wanted to share, she’d share.” Miranda paused. “How do you feel about him?”

“I’ve never had someone so attentive. He opens doors. He always helps me into my coat. He even holds out the chair for me at dinner. He told me it was a Southern thing.”

“Oh no, it’s a Military thing,” Susan said. “But Mike doesn’t hold the chair out for me at dinner.”

“Neither does Griffin,” Miranda said. “But I never get to go down the stairs first. He always worries about my safety, so he wants to make sure that if I lose my footing he’ll be able to catch me.”

Riya’s eyes widened. “I noticed that Gray did that, but I never realized why.”

Miranda’s mobile phone chirped and she frowned. “It’s the director’s ringtone. Gotta go.” She took the additional napkins that Susan proffered and started out of Riya’s office as she answered her phone.

“So, are you going to go up to Sonoma with him?” Susan asked Riya.

Riya’s cell phone rang. She looked down at the display. She recognized it as a number from the Pentagon. “Susan, I need to take this. Let’s talk later, okay?”

“Understood,” her friend smiled as she left her office.

“Hello, this is Dr. Patel,” Riya answered.

“Dr. Patel, this is Colonel Lockhart. We have a situation. We need you in a briefing tomorrow morning here in Washington.”

The lights were off in the room and all of the members of Black Dawn were looking at the photograph of a young woman with clear hazel eyes and brown hair pulled tightly back from her face. Gray wondered what she would have looked like if she’d smiled.

“Brief us,” Gray commanded his youngest team member, Wyatt Leeds.

“This is Emily Hoag, she’s twenty-four and the youngest daughter of Leland Hoag, the American Ambassador to Oman. She’s been the tutor to two minor Saudi princes for the last nine months.”

Another slide came up, and a dazzling blond woman appeared on screen. She could easily have been a super model or movie star.

“This is Chantelle Briggs, she has been the mistress of Prince Khalid bin Al Halabi for the last two years. He’s in charge of the Greater Dammam Investment Bank,” Wyatt explained.

“Define ‘in charge’,” Dex demanded.

Gray was interested to see how Wyatt would handle this question considering Dex was normally in charge of gathering all the intelligence for Black Dawn. With Wyatt’s injury on one of the last missions, Dex had been training him on intel and communications. Gray knew Dex was now putting Wyatt through his paces.

“Khalid bin Al Halabi is a minor prince and a distant cousin to the ruling Saudi king,” Wyatt said. “Therefore he gets to run the day-to-day operation, but the Saudi royal family owns the bank, and that’s who bin Al Halabi reports to.”

“So break down what happened,” Gray requested.

“Three days ago, bin Al Halabi and his two sons who are fourteen and sixteen years old, and two bodyguards were rushed to a private hospital of the royal family in Al Khobar. The fourteen-year-old, Mohammed, was close to death. His older brother wasn’t doing much better. Khalid was in and out of consciousness.” Wyatt projected a picture of an Arab man with his arm around two teenage boys who looked remarkably like him.

“The five males, Ms. Hoag and Ms. Briggs were all staying at the royal villa at the Al Khobar Beach Resort. We know this because one of the doctors at the private hospital is Australian, and he has been secretly providing the United States Saudi Ambassador with information. All five of the Saudis were suffering from what looked like late stages of meningitis. In the notes that the Australian doctor provided, it said that Ms. Hoag told the emergency crew the symptoms came on suddenly. Poisoning was suspected. All of the food in the suite was inspected.”

“The women weren’t affected?” Aiden O’Malley asked the obvious question. He was Gray’s second-in-command.

“Not according to what our source was told.” Wyatt answered. “The women haven’t been seen or heard from since the bin Al Halabis and his men were hospitalized. Emily’s father hasn’t brought in the media at this point. He knows the drill.”

“So the Saudis are just assuming that the women were responsible?” Hunter Diaz asked Wyatt.

Gray watched as Wyatt hesitated. He also saw Dex stop himself from jumping in to answer.

Good.

He wanted to see Wyatt stand up on his own in the communication’s role. It was important that he prove to himself that he could bring something of value to the team until his leg healed. Gray was in no doubt that Wyatt would eventually make a full recovery, but in the meantime the young SEAL needed to pull his weight in other ways.

“Hunter, I was informed that the US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia has talked to the Saudi king, but as far as I know, the Saudis haven’t come out and said that they think the women are responsible.”

“But they’ve got the women locked up,” Hunter pressed.

“I was briefed by the CIA. They told me that right now we’re being stonewalled. The Saudi Kingdom is saying the women are being detained for their safety. Our people think that the women are being held by Khalid bin Al Halabi’s people and awaiting instruction from him when he recovers.”

“Bullshit, they’re being ‘questioned’,” Aiden O’Malley said with air quotes.

“That was my CIA liaison’s take as well,” Wyatt agreed. “We’ve got to get them the hell out of there. ASAP.” Wyatt was pressing down on the top of his leg. Gray wondered if it was real pain, or if it was a way for him to cope with anxiety.

“So these women have had three days of special attention. Is it likely that either one of them is responsible for the poisoning?” Aiden asked.

“Langley has been through their backgrounds with a fine-toothed comb and came up empty. There’s nothing,” Wyatt answered.

“I’m not saying it matters, we’ll deal with it when we get them out of there,” Aiden continued.

“Now I’m up,” Gray said. He began to man the projector. A map of the Middle East appeared. “We’re heading to Bahrain,” he said.

“NSA Bahrain? The Fifth Fleet? I’m taking extra MRE’s with me,” Dalton Sullivan grumbled. Gray knew Dalton was trying to lighten the mood a little after thinking about the women being tortured.

Dex laughed. “Considering we’ve eaten rats, snakes and bugs to stay alive, it amazes me you’re still freaked out that they served you camel.”

“We’ve had to ride camels. It’d be like eating a horse. No thank you.” Dalton shook his head. “I’m sticking to the MRE’s.”

“You’ve turned into a pansy ass. If you were married to Evie that wouldn’t have happened,” Aiden said, shaking his head sadly.

“Ah hell, Mr. Health Food was like that even before Aurora fell at his feet,” Dex laughed.

“Listen up,” Gray pointed to the map projected up on the wall. “We’re not going to have time for a meal at the air base, so problem solved. We’re getting our asses over to Um Al Nasan as soon as we touch down. We’ve got lots of opportunities for things to go sideways, if you catch my meaning.” He looked around the room and his men nodded. They all knew that this was not going to be an easy mission.

Gray really wished that he’d worked with any of the leadership at NSA Bahrain. He hated it when he had to rely on people he didn’t personally know, especially on a mission that was going to be so fucking complicated. He brought up a satellite image that encompassed the coast of Bahrain and the coastal city of Al Khobar.

“We need to cross this bridge.” He pointed to King Fahd Causeway.

He looked at his men. They all had their game faces on.

“Do we have a plan?” Aiden finally asked.

“The commander master chief at NSA Bahrain got his trident twenty-five years ago.”

“He must be ancient,” Wyatt mumbled.

“For God’s sake Leeds, thank fuck you’re not going with us. You’d get your ass kicked for sure.” Dex shook his head.

“As I was saying, our brother SEAL, Command Master Chief Baker is working on a plan to get us over to Al Khobar. Meanwhile, the diplomatic corps in Saudi Arabia is doing their best to determine if the women are still being held at the Al Khobar Beach Resort, or if they’ve been moved.”

“What is the status on the boys, are they going to live?” Aiden asked.

It was a damn good question. If they died, there was a good chance that they would stop questioning the women and would kill them instead.

“According to Langley, there has been improvement every day, and the fact that their father is regaining consciousness was a great sign for the boys,” Wyatt answered.

“Our transport will be taking off in forty-five minutes. I know you brought your go-bags. Make your phone calls, stock up on gear, and have your asses on the plane in forty.”

Gray watched as each man left.

Of course Aiden stayed behind.

“Shouldn’t you be calling Evie?” Gray asked.

“Already did,” Aiden said.

“What are you? Psychic?” He was only partially kidding. When it came to his wife, Aiden was eerily connected to her.

Aiden rested against the desk where the projector sat. They looked at each other in the dim room.

Aiden arched his eyebrow. “Are you calling Riya?”

“Why would I do that?”

“It goes like this,” Aiden enunciated slowly. “When a boy starts dating a girl, sometimes he has to leave town. When that happens, he does not leave the girl hanging so that she imagines he has lost interest, or God forbid, he has started dating someone else.”

“Or that he is an asshole who has blown her off.” Gray said sarcastically.

Gray hid a grin as Aiden winced.

“Yeah, definitely don’t follow in my footsteps. I was a total fuck-up,” Aiden admitted. “There’s one other reason you need to call Riya.”

“Do tell.” Gray crossed his arms over his chest.

“I hate it when we don’t have total control over a mission. We’re having to depend too much on the higher-ups in Bahrain. I don’t want your focus split.”

Most of the time Gray forgot that Aiden was a year older than him, and that he had lived a much harder life. It was at times like these that it shone through. It was the reason he had made him his second-in-command.

“Is there anything else, Mom?” Gray asked.

“Nope, that’s it.”

“Then gather your shit together, and get to the plane. I have a call to make.” Gray pulled out his cell phone and watched Aiden walk out of the briefing room.

He smiled as he got ready to press Riya’s number. He even had her picture next to it.

Face it, you’re totally gone.

He’d snapped the photo on their third date. She hadn’t noticed because she was fighting with her cat. Gray loved Einstein, that cat was the only thing that put her off her game. Riya always knew where everything was, except when Einstein decided to hide things from her. Then she was up shit creek. So Gray had a picture of her trying to pull a business card out of Einstein’s mouth. Riya was torn between frustration and laughter as she fought, and Gray had a perfect pic for his phone.

Riya picked up on the second ring. “This must be special if I’m getting a call during office hours.”

“You’re just as bad,” Gray countered.

“Hey, I sent you a text yesterday,” Riya sputtered.

“Telling me that traffic’s bad on The Five and that I should take the Eight-Oh-Five instead, is not what I would consider real live communication.”

“It got you to call me back,” she snickered.

“It did at that.” Gray fell silent.

“Uh-oh. That silence is not sounding good. Well not that it’s making a sound, but you get my meaning.”

“Yes I do. Everything’s fine. It’s just that the team and I have to go wheels up in a half hour.”

This time the silence was on her end. Finally she said, “This is the scary stuff, isn’t it?”

“Not really, this is the stuff I’m trained to do.”

“That’s right. That’s exactly what I’ve read. For goodness sakes, you’re worth six hundred and fifty thousand dollars in Navy training aren’t you?”

“Nah, that’s Griff, I’m worth more,” Gray relaxed.

“I wasn’t sure. Yeah, you might have a longer period of time in the field, but there’s also depreciation because you’re old…”

“Woman, you are going to be in trouble the next time I see you,” Gray rumbled.

Riya’s laughter was a balm to his soul. “Promises. Promises.”

After her giggles stopped she said quietly into the phone. “You can’t promise when you’ll be back, can you?”

“No, Honey, I can’t.”

“Stay safe, Gray. I figured out why you like The Princess Bride, so I need you back home soon so I can tell you.”

“This I gotta hear.” He liked it that she was trying to end the call on a positive note. “I’ll miss you, and please for God’s sake stay out of trouble.”

“I’ll stay out of trouble, if you keep your head down, is it a deal?” she asked softly.

“As you wish.”

It was hotter than fuck.

Who in their right mind would give a briefing in the back of a truck when they could have done it in the comfort of a conference room back at CENTCOM? Oh yeah, this guy.

Gray hid his disgust as he looked at the acting commander.

Where in the hell had they dug up this dumble-dick, and why had they put him in charge of this op?

Acting Commander Harry Morris had decided to brief the five members of Black Dawn, the six enlisted men from the fifth fleet, and Command Master Chief Baker in the sweltering back of a tarp-covered truck. What kind of stupid-ass move was that? Fucker even had a laser pointer to highlight routes on the map of the King Fahd Causeway. Just how many men had the pompous asshole gotten killed over the years?

“Tyler, you and your men are going to hide in the refrigerated truck that Stark drove over here from Manama,” Morris said. “At one-fifty-five a.m., Paris and Slokovich will create a diversion by sideswiping one another on the causeway. At two-oh-five a.m. our man at customs will be expecting the refrigerated truck to be passing through, so they will turn off the x-ray machine, and you will be able to go through customs undetected.”

Morris was very pleased with himself.

Tyler glanced over at Baker. The high-level enlisted man might lack expression, but he’d been on the SEAL teams for years and Gray knew that he was pissed off. Baker was the man who was supposed to have designed and led this mission. It had to be a big, hairy political mess over at NSA Bahrain for command to have given the op to this this acting dumbfuck, who wasn’t acting.

“I’ll go in place of Slokovich,” Baker said in a deferential voice. Gray saw Slokovich’s look of relief.

Morris frowned. “That isn’t the plan. Slokovich will drive one of the vehicles.”

Baker opened his mouth again.

“I will write you up for insubordination if you persist in countermanding my authority.” Morris’ face turned red. Baker closed his mouth and nodded.

Gray looked around to his team members. They all looked calm and comfortable and he appreciated it. That’s because they knew he had their back.

“We’re going to need to make some alterations to the plan,” Gray said quietly.

“What are you talking about? I’ve determined the course of action.” Morris’s voice was sharp.

“We’re not going to travel in a refrigerated truck. If someone opens it, we can be picked off like sitting ducks. We’ll use one of these tarped trucks.” Gray looked at the acting commander straight in the eye.

“That’s unacceptable. You’ll be seen.”

“No we won’t. You said you had someone manning the customs crossing. If we had a proper diversion. Something big. Then we won’t be noticed.”

“And just what would you suggest? We bomb the bridge? We have twenty women do a striptease on the bridge?” One of the men from the fifth fleet laughed. “This is not a laughing matter,” Morris shouted at the man.

“Nothing of the sort.” Gray kept his voice calm. “I’m suggesting that we fill the refrigerated truck with a small amount of explosives and have it ram into the side of the bridge, approximately thirty meters in front of the customs point. This should be done when we’re ready to go into the x-ray machine. The subsequent fire will be just the sort of distraction we need to get us across.”

“And who is going to want to do this suicide mission with the refrigerated truck?”

“It’s not a suicide mission,” Baker said. “Not if it’s done right. What’s more, I should be able to arrange it so the cab of the truck goes over the side of the bridge and I’ll just dive into the Gulf. It’ll be perfect.” Finally, Baker was showing some enthusiasm.

“I don’t like it, we’re doing it my way.” Morris said.

Gray didn’t take his eyes off the acting commander, but he felt each and every one of his men sit a little straighter.

“Commander, can we step outside?” Gray asked.

“No. We cannot.” The man turned to Gray’s team. “I will take command of you men, if your Lieutenant is unwilling to follow orders. Are we clear?”

“We understand the situation perfectly Commander,” Aiden O’Malley said. “I suggest you step out of the truck with our Lieutenant.” Hunter, Dex, Griff and Dalton all nodded in agreement.

Gray got out of the truck and waited for Morris to follow.

When Morris jumped out of the truck, he hot-footed it over to Gray and shoved his face into Gray’s so their noses were almost touching. “You’re going too far.” His voice was shrill. “I will be informing my Captain, and he will be speaking to your Commander and Captain as well.”

“As long as I’m alive to hear about it, that’s fine by me.” Gray didn’t raise his voice, but he didn’t whisper.

Morris shoved Gray, who didn’t move. “You and Baker think you’re hot shit because you’re SEAL’s. You’re nothing. I can make and break you all day long. We’re doing things my way, or you’ll be out of the Navy.”

“Again, as long as my men live to see another day, everything is good by me.” Gray could see Dex over Morris’s shoulder. He had his phone pointed at them. He knew that Dex had done some kind of wizard-trick so the thing could record conversations at a long-distance. He’d been recording everything, starting with the grabtastic plan that Morris had laid out to begin with. Dex always wanted to have the team’s collective ass covered. Gray liked that about his communications guy.

It was time to egg the asshole on. More fodder for Dex to film.

“You don’t have the power to break me, I have friends in high places,” Gray taunted.

“You don’t have dick.” Morris’ grin turned sly. “Unless your uncle owns a Senator from Kentucky, you can’t do shit. It’s great to come from money, you should try it some time. So we’re going to do things my way. You got it?”

“Nope, I don’t got it. I’ve decided people are going to live, and then you can go sniveling to Uncle Moneybags about how the SEAL’s didn’t do what you wanted. I have one question for you though, because I’m curious. Did you even make it through even one day of BUD/S?”

Morris’ face turned red, then he spat on Gray’s boots. “You SEAL’s are pussies.”

By the time Morris turned around, Dex had disappeared from the opening of the truck.