Chapter 38

Griz woke them about two hours away from landing to go over the plan. They were headed to South America, where a tanker had been attacked and boarded by pirates. The crew needed to be rescued, and the ship saved. If the pirates were allowed to operate without consequences, they would become bolder, and that wasn't acceptable.

"We'll have about thirty minutes on the ground. Do whatever you need to do before we load onto the helicopter and head out to the ship. We'll be dropping to the Lawerence and will deploy from there."

Jay tapped his chin. "How far are they from the freighter?"

"Good question. I've been told it will take about twenty minutes once we're set for them to get close enough that we can act."

Shine's lips twisted up to the side. "So they're close."

"We won't have much time. We have to jump on this and move. The terrorists are threatening to kill more crew if they don't get what they want. They have guns and aren't afraid to use them. "

Sharp nodded. "We've got this. I'll be going up first with Squat."

Apple wiggled his fingers. "I'm following with Shine on my tail."

"Right," Griz said. "And Jay is with me. Move fast and smooth. You've got the layout of the ship. Don't get lost."

They spent the rest of the flight studying the plans and making sure they had everything they needed. They would be moving fast once they hit the ground.

After the brief stop where they transferred to a helicopter, Sharp had to focus his breathing so his emotions didn't override his good senses. He could do this. It wasn't his first mission. There'd been hundreds of times he'd gone out and done missions, taking down the enemy in worse situations. However, boarding a ship with hostiles aboard wasn't the best circumstance. They were here to work, and he would make sure they all came home.

They had a reduced pack and were wearing their wetsuits. Once they were close enough, he moved to the door of the helicopter and put his flippers on. Again, his heart started pounding. He had to calm the fuck down. His last mission had gone sideways, but this one wouldn't.

"Hey," Griz tapped him on the shoulder.

He glanced over and nodded. "Yeah."

"You've got this."

Sharp blew out a breath before he pulled his goggles down and placed the mouthpiece for his breather in. This was it. He had to be successful, not just for himself and the guys on his team, but also for Danika.

Dropping into the ocean was always exciting. He loved the feel of the water enveloping him. It was like coming home after a long day. Once they were all in, they swam the distance fast, climbing aboard the destroyer quickly.

They packed away their amphibious equipment and headed into the commander's ready room to make sure nothing had changed since they landed at the airfield.

The man was older, maybe in his late forties or early fifties. He didn't waste time with chitchat and gave them a rundown of what was known. Sharp could tell that the ship they were on had sped up. They were closing distance and would be in the water on one of the raiding crafts soon. The man piloting the raiding craft joined them. His name was Steve.

"I'll deliver you all and get you all home. We'll be ready in five minutes," Steve said. The young man looked confident in his skills, and Sharp appreciated that.

Griz shook Steve's hand. "Thank you, Steve. I'm Griz. I'll be in contact with you once we're done."

The commander had another group of men ready to board the freighter once the SEAL team cleared it. They would escort the ship to a safe port, making sure no one else got any bright ideas.

The mission moved fast, not giving him too much time to worry. He pushed thoughts of Danika out of his mind as he prepared for this mission to start.

Times like this, minutes passed quickly. They were on the raiding craft so fast he didn't think any time had passed. Then, they were climbing up the side of the ship, sneaking onto the rusty walkways. He and Squat headed across the ship and up the path toward the bridge. They hadn't been seen, which meant the terrorists who had come on board and attacked the crew either weren't paying attention, or they sucked at keeping watch.

Griz spoke over coms. "Ready to breach."

"In position," Apple said.

Sharp sucked in air, trying to get his breathing under control. This was the point where it could all go to shit if they weren't careful .

He moved to the stairs on the port side, and he and Squat began moving. "We're in position on the port side."

"Go, go, go," Griz said seconds before he heard a flashbang fire.

Squat followed Sharp in on the port side of the ship. A man ran down the stairs, but he didn't look like any of the crew. Sharp fired, taking him out. They moved fast through the rooms and into an office where six crew members were being held.

Sharp moved to the first man and cut the bindings on his wrists. "Get the other men free. Don't leave this space, though. We'll tell you when it's clear."

"Yes, sir."

Sharp was glad the men didn't want to play Rambo and were happy to stay out of the way. He and Squat checked the next room, finding it empty. He heard shots fired on a deck below. Jay said over coms that he and Griz had it covered.

They climbed the stairs to the next level, his senses on high alert as he watched for an ambush. Jay and Griz were still going down to other levels while Apple and Shine were catching up to them.

Their current position was tenuous at best. There were nine terrorists who'd taken over the ship. Two were down. That left seven more to go.

The door to his right pushed open, and Sharp backed up, ready to take out the guy if he wasn't a crew member. The ship had a crew of twenty-one, and with the men who'd been killed, along with the ones his team members had found, they had accounted for twelve of them.

He held his breath, waiting for the person to step out. This part of missions he hated. Making that split decision to end a life versus saving a hostage was harrowing at best, but it was something he did well .

"Crew, we're crew," the man held up his hands, his eyes wide. "Four of us in here."

"Need to check the room," Sharp motioned for the man to step back before he entered, checking to make sure no one else was in the room.

This crew had female members, and the woman met his gaze and held it, then motioned with her eyes that someone was behind a door. She was the only one brave enough to warn him, and he was thankful for her warning.

He motioned to Squat to open the door. The seconds between when he knew someone was hiding and when the person was revealed felt like he was in a bubble where nothing else existed.

Squat pulled the door open. Two men, both of them young enough to be boys, stood with their hands on their heads and tears in their eyes. One of them kept repeating no over and over again.

Squat yanked them out and applied zip strips to their wrists and ankles. He pushed them to the corner and informed the group that they had captured two of the terrorists. They were fairly sure there were nine on board, but they would clear every room and closet because having a surprise wasn't good in their line of work.

They told this group of crew to stay still and not wander around until they sounded the all-clear. If the woman hadn't told them about the person behind the door, the results might not have gone the same way. He was thankful for her help.

It took another fifteen minutes to open every door and ensure every space had been cleared. Griz met back up with them, and they went in pairs with ship officers to search again, really ensuring every space had been cleared. It went much faster this time because no one tried to fire on them, and the ship's crew knew every inch of the vessel .

The captain of the freighter was on the bridge when the sailors the Navy sent over entered the bridge. He knew the captain would probably not be happy, but the Navy was in command now, and they would sail the ship back to a safe harbor.

Sharp and his team were done. This was now a standard naval operation, and their specific set of skills wasn't needed. As they packed their gear on the destroyer, one of the communications officers came in and told them they were being flown to Colombia and would be briefed on the operation while they were in the air.

Getting orders while on a mission didn't happen often, but it was part of the drill. He might have been disappointed, but he knew this could happen. For Danika, it would just seem like one mission, but for his team, they were being called up to act after their primary mission.

"We'll sleep on the flight," Griz said. "Grab food before you go."

They all grunted as they finished packing. Sharp grabbed a shower and ate in the hour they had before being picked up by a helicopter. They'd had an easy mission, much easier than he'd suspected it would be, but now they were walking into the unknown. He hated missions like this. They had no clue what the objective was or what they'd be called upon to do. Everything had gone well on the first mission. He just hoped the next part of this trip would run as smoothly.