Chapter 17

Austin swiped a hand over his brow, sweat dripping down his forehead as the team hauled their gear up the ramp onto the C-17 cargo plane. The past week had been brutal, trekking around the desert as they tracked down their HVT. When he’d been at the training camp, he’d been surrounded by other insurgents. The Pentagon wanted the man alive, so the team couldn’t simply take a kill shot. And eliminating the other terrorists would’ve tipped everyone off that they were there. It had felt like a game of cat and mouse as they’d tightened their ranks, moving in, their target none the wiser. At long last, they’d grabbed him in the early hours of morning, handing him over to intelligence officers for interrogation. Whatever happened next wasn’t their call, but after some days spent in the desert, pitching tents and dining on MREs, Austin was more than ready to get home.

“I got an update from the CO,” Wyatt said as he approached. Stubble covered his jaw, and dust clung to the sweat on his face. Austin knew he looked similar. They’d clean up once they were home, but at the moment, the men were sweaty, dirty, and tired.

“What’d he say?” Austin asked with a frown, dropping his rucksack onto an empty seat on the plane. The other men continued moving around them, preparing to depart shortly.

“Duke landed in Honolulu yesterday,” Wyatt said in a low voice.

“What?” Austin asked, adrenaline spiking through his blood. He blinked, his gaze focusing only on Wyatt as everything else around him faded into the background. Logically, he knew it was unlikely Duke would land and rush straight to Alexa’s apartment, but worry churned through his gut. If the guy for some reason did try to track her down right then, because of his beef with her father, Austin wasn’t home to protect her. He wasn’t in the sunny Hawaiian Islands. He was in the damn desert halfway around the world.

Wyatt nodded, the concern evident on his face. “He was in San Diego as believed for the past week but flew home. He arrived at Honolulu International Airport at twenty hundred last night.”

“Shit,” Austin muttered. “I was hoping he’d decide to stay in California. At least the CO gave us a head’s up. I’ll have to let Alexa know as soon as we get back.”

“He did reach out to her as a courtesy. She knows to be aware of her surroundings now that he’s back in Oahu.”

“Damn it. I’m not even home to watch out for her.” He shook his head. While he wanted her to be cautious, he didn’t want her to be frightened.

“She’ll be all right,” Wyatt said. “This guy’s been goading your father for a while. The likelihood is slim that he’d suddenly track her down just because her dad made her aware of the situation.”

“I don’t know,” Austin said, shaking his head. “The threats were escalating, according to him. I’ll speak with Admiral Rhinehart myself when we return. Just because he didn’t want to share the details with Alexa doesn’t mean he has a damn right to keep that information to himself—not when it involves his daughter.”

Wyatt pressed his lips together. “It’s odd he wouldn’t tell you.”

“The guys got a stick up his ass,” Austin muttered. “He was pissed that Alexa was dating me. Hell. I’d probably be mad, too. He’s never met me, knows nothing about me, but shows up to find out I got his daughter pregnant.”

“She’s an adult who made her own decisions,” Wyatt pointed out.

“Yep. Doesn’t mean he agreed with them.”

Wyatt huffed out a breath. Sawyer briefly interrupted, advising that the pilot told him they were going wheels up soon. The men hustled back down the ramp to gather their remaining gear. “I was asking around before we left,” Wyatt said. “Some other servicemembers were quite familiar with Duke. The guy’s got a real temper. It sounds like he got into arguments frequently. Anyone who he thought slighted him ended up on his shit list.”

“He needs to stay the hell away from Alexa.”

Wyatt clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ve got your back. We’ll all be on alert when we get home. There’s got to be additional info we can learn even if her father doesn’t want to share what he knows.”

“It’s not when we return that I’m worried about. Duke’s not going to come near her if I’m there. But how long before we’re sent out again?”