Chapter 61

Chapter Sixty-One

C hris was feeling itchy. The display had started five minutes ago, and everything was going smoothly. The pyrotechnician who'd altered the sequence had been arrested. It wasn't the man on the barge manually running the show. No, it was one of the men from Malta, who'd been seamlessly integrated into the team of experts sent to consult on the display by the generous anonymous donor.

The man had tried to flee, but between SEALs and Coast Guardsmen, he'd been contained and handed over to the FBI.

This was a win. They'd found all the explosives and replaced them with time to spare. Only one conspirator remained at large. They'd get him. He was probably trapped on base.

Still, something felt very wrong.

A year and a half ago, the attack on the Lake Olympus Lodge Exercise had been personal. Laskin had a mole who ensured that Xavier and Chris were both in the forest that night.

Laskin hated SEALs, but he especially hated the two who'd survived when his daughter had died.

Xavier and Chris.

Xavier Rivera was no longer a SEAL. He'd done his best to legally disappear. His home was in his wife's name. They were vigilant about staying out of the news and internet searches. Audrey didn't post photos online or speak of her marriage to Xavier, and all their friends knew the risks and protected their privacy.

Chris had stayed out of the news when Diana was in the headlines. There were no photos of them together in the news reports. It had been as important to keep him and Rand hidden because they were active duty SEALs as it was to protect Diana when she became the center of billionaire-worshipping sycophants who targeted the woman who brought their hero down.

Chris would never understand fools on social media.

But Chris could only be so careful. There were only two bases in the US that were publicly known to be the home of SEALs. Chris had previously been at Coronado. He was coming up on his one-year anniversary at Little Creek in about a month.

It was possible—even probable—Laskin had personally targeted him a second time.

The only remaining terrorist was a man who'd worked for Laskin for decades. He'd been held personally responsible for the failure at the lodge and had fled his boss, abandoning his daughter, according to what Teague had been able to find out.

Maxim Voronov couldn't fail again. He'd need to deliver at least one of the two SEALs. His daughter's marriage to Aleksandr was even a reasonable reward for success.

He sprang to his feet. "I need to go home. Now."

"You can't. The base is locked down and the show's started," Commander Gleeson said.

"I think I know where Voronov is." He pointed to three men from his team. "Collins, Kramer, and Burns. You're with me." To his commander, he said, "Tell the gate to clear the way. Let me through. Diana is in danger."