Lock and Load (SEAL EXtreme Team) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Lock and Load

  Copyright

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Other titles by Kimberley Troutte

  COMING IN HOT

  DOWN AND DIRTY

  LOCK AND LOAD

  SEAL EXtreme Team – Book 2

  Kimberley Troutte

  www.kimberleytroutte.com

  Sign up for newsletter

  Lock and Load

  COPYRIGHT © 2014 by Kimberley Troutte

  Digital Edition

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning to a computer disk without prior written permission by the copyright owner of this book.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious with the exception of the brief mention of historical figures woven into the story fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, whether living or dead, is strictly coincidental and not intended by the author. The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission.

  Cover by The Killion Group

  Icon made Icomoon by flaticon.com

  Dedicated to the men and women who courageously serve and protect the United States of America. You and your families are in my prayers. Bless you and stay safe.

  Table of Contents

  Lock and Load

  Copyright

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Other titles by Kimberley Troutte

  COMING IN HOT

  DOWN AND DIRTY

  CHAPTER ONE

  Communications Expert Charlie Handly checked for messages on his cellular watch. Still no orders. When would his Commanding Officer stop shooting fire out his ass and let them get back to work? It was a lousy thing to bench the whole team for the night Charlie and his brother, Willy, partied with the man’s daughter. Together. In the C.O.’s bed. He grimaced. It was a mistake, but to be fair, why would they ask a sexy lady at a bar who her father was?

  He couldn’t live like this. Sure, he was in Oahu, surfing whenever he felt like it, sleeping in a soft bed instead of some dirty overlook, and eating real food instead of crappy MREs, but it wasn’t living. He wasn’t calling in the rain, studying satellites, or fighting with his brother. He was just…relaxing. Extended leave was a pain in the ass.

  He gripped the bar he’d installed across his balcony, hammered out forty pull-ups, and dropped to the soft sand to pound out a fast set of push-ups. He had to keep in shape mentally and physically. He wiped his hands on his shorts and let the sun dry the sweat on his bare chest. Warm sea breezes drifted across the island like a woman’s fingers playing with his long blond hair. Cutting his hair was the only thing he wasn’t excited about, but he’d gladly shave his entire body if the C.O. ordered him to.

  Checking his messages again, he slammed his palm on the wood post. Call already!

  He sat at the wicker table on his balcony and opened his laptop. Any wars start up overnight? Insurgents who needed taken out? He checked his top secret satellite scans. Nothing new. Damn.

  Technically, he did have an on-the-side job for a computer gaming company that filled some of his downtime and kept him from going stark raving crazy. He’d consulted on a project that created the world’s first guided long-range integrated firearm system to be used with an iPad. The system was selling well in targeted markets and he’d had plenty of money to purchase the beach house in Hawaii. These days, he tested war games for the company. His expertise helped create realistic settings so gamers could believe they were defending themselves in war-torn Bagdad, or the Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

  Shit, they had no idea. Games were nothing like the real thing. Even if he worked his ass off to make the situation seem real, something was always missing—the gagging smell of blood, skin burning off your body, smoke searing your eyes, bombs and gunfire exploding all around you, and your buddy’s screams ripping through your ears. Nothing compared to the real thing.

  Only one person beat him at his own games and she did it with brutal ease. Every frickin' time. He smiled at the thought. Hot Girl. He had no idea who she was, but he’d developed a crush on his online nemesis. He’d been playing with her for about a year now. Today would be no different. Scanning the games, he looked for her smokin’ hot avatar, which was a cross between Jessica Rabbit and Lara Croft. The single good thing about being benched for the last two months was he had more time to play with Hot Girl. She was a hardcore competitor and loved a challenge as much as he did.

  He grinned. “I see you, sweetheart.”

  Her avatar was sauntering into the Battle in Bagdad. Good game, he’d worked on this one. With any luck, he could beat her this time. He rubbed his hands together and began.

  Charlie, or rather his animated avatar, was the only guy in the field who didn’t look like he belonged there. Not wanting to advertise that he was a real Navy SEAL, he’d taken on the persona of the Black Pirate—a secret code name for the SEAL Team Six communication experts—and created an avatar that was a pirate/ninja.

  The Black Pirate flattened himself on his belly behind a low cement wall and propped his weapon into a crack for stability and a clear shot. He waited. Most players didn’t understand how to be patient. Many hours in real battle were spent creating a concealed overwatch to study the enemy, the deadly surroundings, and to calculate the risks. Looking through his scope, he focused on a store window. Hostiles would be inside, hunching down, waiting for the right time to rise up and take their shots.

  Most of the newbie gamers surrounded the building, hiding behind trashcans and other useless shit that couldn’t protect a fly, and would rush in too soon. The Black Pirate was still. Watching. Waiting. Silent.

  Enter an idiot. Completely decked out in hundreds of pounds of military garb, the newbie let out a banshee yell, stood up and raced toward the door. He was gunned down before the yell stopped ringing in Charlie’s ears.

  “Game over,” Charlie mumbled.

  “Total prickhead,” a woman’s voice said behind him. The gaming company allowed the players to record their own voices. Hers was husky and reminded him of warm brandy.

  Hot Girl.

  Her sexy avatar lay down on her belly beside his. “I thought you’d be here Black Pirate. The hostiles are all inside the store, right?”

  How’d she know? She’d just arrived. “Maybe.”

  She laughed. “Come on. I know you. You’re stealthy, strong, and supremely patient. You’ve already figured out where the hostiles are. So that would be a yes. You never waste ammo. When you take a shot it counts.”

  Hell yeah, he knew where the hostiles were hiding, but he couldn’t admit it. Besid
es, his ears were still buzzing on the compliments.

  “Got any grenades to trade? I’ve got twenty bonus points. I really, really need to blow something up,” she said.

  He heard sadness in her voice. “Rough day?”

  “You have no idea.” She took the game grenades he offered and lobbed them at the store front. She missed, but the explosion was satisfying when a few of the newbies ran for cover.

  “Tell me about it. I’m a good listener.”

  She sighed. “Yes. You are. It’s one of the things I like about you.”

  One of the things?

  “I have a small security company. Very small, just me. Companies hire me for pen duty, as in penetration. I’m a certificed ethical hacker. Basically, I hack into their computer systems to find vulnerable areas and security holes. I plug the holes before crooks, competitors, and other creeps break in.”

  A hacker. No wonder she beat him at his games. “Go on.”

  “A month ago, a rich guy contacted me with a sad sob story that his bookkeeper was ripping him off. He knew she was skimming, but didn’t know how. He had me hack into her system to keep an eye on her. A real close eye. I activated the camera on her own computer in order to nab her in the act.” She blew a disgusted breath. “I can’t believe I fell for his B.S., but I did. Hook line and sinker.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Today I found out the bookkeeper is a single-mom with a small house, no yard. Why would she steal from anyone? She needed that job to support her family. During the day she took care of her babies and did bookkeeping at night. The computer was on, my software running, around the clock at a tiny desk in her bedroom. Rich guy used me to spy on her. He took naked pictures of her without her knowledge and got off on his sicko fantasies while her babies slept.”

  “The bastard!”

  “Bastard doesn’t begin to describe him.” She growled. “The Feds caught him on a child pornography sting and he spilled his guts. The authorities paid me a little visit today.”

  That didn’t sound good. “Are you in trouble? Anything I can do to help?”

  “I’m not worried about me, but that poor lady. She must feel so violated. Imagine the Feds showing up at her door with the pictures…” Her voice hitched and he longed to touch her, pull her into his arms. “…Crapcrapcrap. This is so bad. Give me another grenade, please. I need to destroy something.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “Every time I trust people to do the right thing, this happens.”

  He heard the soft sound of her blowing her nose. Was she crying? “Shit, my mom was a single mother too. She took all sorts of crap jobs to raise my brother and me. If I found out someone did that to her? There’d be no place the bastard could hide.”

  They both tossed grenades—his hit the store bringing his kill rate up, hers missed by a mile.

  “That’s it,” she said softly, as if she was speaking to herself. “No more hacking. You’d think I would’ve learned after what happened to my best friend in high school. You can’t trust people, Pirate. They’ll screw you every time.”

  She blew up the trash bin with his last virtual grenade. Luckily, the newbies had already moved on.

  God, he felt for her. Someone had hurt her before and apparently her best friend. Who? He wanted names, addresses. “You can trust me. Tell me how I can help you and it’s done.”

  She was silent for a long beat. He wasn’t sure she heard him.

  “Trust me,” he said louder.

  “I do,” she said softly. “You’re one of a kind, Black Pirate.”

  His heart beat picked up a notch. “Let’s get out of here. Go somewhere quiet. I’ll hold you close and we can dance the ugly day away.”

  “Online dancing? That’s a new one.”

  “Real dancing. Cheek-to-cheek. You can wear those thigh high boots you told me about. I’d love to see those on you.”

  “Wait a minute. Are you trying to distract me so you get the best shot? You almost beat me yesterday.”

  Deflecting. That wasn’t a good sign, but he pressed on. “I don’t give a shit about the shot.” He wanted to play a different thrilling game with the real girl, not an online persona. “Let’s get out of here, Hot Girl. We don’t have to dance. Meet me for drinks.”

  “Belgian beer and pretzels?”

  She remembered? He’d mentioned his favorite beer about six months ago. Her avatar looked at him, but her expression didn’t change. It couldn’t. He wanted to see her real face.

  “For you, pale ale and large bag of Cheetos.” His real heart pounded harder, but the Black Pirate continued his steely-eyed stare. “A real date. Face-to-face. Up close and personal.”

  “You don’t know where I am. What if you’re on the other side of the planet?”

  “I’ll find you.”

  “Really? Just like that?” Her avatar went back to watching the store front in Bagdad. “I don’t really look like this, you know. I could be ugly.”

  “You’re not ugly. I can tell.”

  She chuckled. “By my voice? I suppose you think all those sex-call women are gorgeous too. Okay, let’s say I’m every pirate’s wet dream but I’m not attracted to you in person.”

  In person. Was she attracted to him online? “Hell, I could look better than my avatar. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  She took aim and eliminated one of the hostiles escaping out the backdoor. Damn, she was faster than he was.

  “It’s just a drink in a public place. You pick the spot. Come on, give a guy a chance,” he said.

  “Why?”

  Because he’d been dying to meet her in person for months. “You intrigue me, Hot Girl. I love the way your mind works. Smart women are sexy.”

  “Good answer.” Her voice electrified his senses. She was smiling.

  He was winning her over. “I won’t let you down. Give me a chance to prove myself.”

  “Just drinks?”

  “At first. Until you get to know how great I am.”

  “Trustworthy and modest.” She took another shot, eliminating the hostile behind the tree.

  “They say I’m handsome too.”

  “Who says?”

  “My mama, grandma, Aunt Lu, pretty much all the women in my family. You should listen to my mama. She wouldn’t lie to you.”

  She paused. “I’ll think about it.”

  “Good. I’ll give you until Thursday.”

  “Thursday?”

  “Take-down in Tangi Valley releases then. Join me in the ‘virtual battle of the century.’ And after I beat you soundly, we’ll make plans for our date.” He knew she’d love this game. He had her in mind when he helped the designer create it. She’d beat the hell out of him.

  She paused, thinking. “Okay.”

  “Hoo-ya!”

  “Duck,” she said and shot over his head, taking out the enemy.

  Oh yeah, in his excitement he’d forgot about that guy sneaking up the embankment.

  Together they took out the last two hostiles inside the store. The Battle in Bagdad ended and the Black Pirate and Hot Girl had tied.

  Game over.

  He couldn’t show up to play Take-down in Tangi Valley on Thursday as planned. Lieutenant Commander Mack Riley called him for a job off-book in Colombia. A billionaire and his family had been taken hostage by guerrillas in Colombia. This was a private gig, hired by the eXtreme Adventures travel agency who lost the family. Since Charlie’s C.O. still wasn’t putting them back in the field for the Navy, Charlie jumped at the chance to do what he loved. SEAL work.

  He felt bad about standing up Hot Girl, but his team needed him. The SEALs were more than a job. They were his brothers. He had their backs, they had his. He hoped she’d understand, even if he couldn’t tell her about it.

  He inserted a robot avatar to stand at the gate of Take-down in Tangi Valley. No one could go in without seeing the robot with a big “For Hot Girl” sign around its neck, virtual flowers in one hand a
nd a card in the other.

  When the card opened his voice played, “Hey, beautiful. I’m sorry I can’t be here to enjoy the virtual battle of the century with you today. I’ve been called out of town on emergency business. I owe you both drinks and dancing now. Call me at the number on the bottom of this card. Give me the time and place to meet next week. Thinking about you. Your Pirate. P.S. Watch your back in Tangi. Hostiles behind the burning truck.”

  The robot was programmed to ping him if someone took the message. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to check his pings or texts until after Colombia. When he got home, he saw that she had texted him to say, “No worries. We’ll talk when you get back. Hey, I have a job interview today! Legit. No more hacking.”

  The job sounded promising, the lack of directions to a bar did not.

  “I’m home. Where am I meeting you?” he typed.

  He waited all day for her answer. Nothing. He popped in to play Take-down in Tangi Valley next day, hoping that she’d return. No dice. A full week later he was monitoring the system when saw Hot Girl’s avatar lined up to enter the gates of Tangi Valley. She didn’t go in. Why? It was against all company policy, but he tracked down her IP address to locate her. He was dismayed that the IP address chase had him bouncing all over the globe—China, Qatar, Mongolia. Damn, she really didn’t want to be found.

  He knew her. No way would she miss playing the game of the century. There were no pings. After searching the registry, he saw that she never went in.

  Charlie sat in his beach house and stared at the blue screen, wishing he could hear her voice again. Had he scared her away? Doubtful. He ran his fingers through his hair.

  Where are you, Hot Girl?

  What happened?

  He missed her. Hell that sounded weird. He didn’t know her, and yet, he did. They’d developed a close bond while playing video games. The anonymity had allowed him to share personal stories with her, like how he dreamed of being a real pirate when he was a kid so that he could sail away from home. His dad was a jerk and the kids at school bullied him until Willy taught him how to defend himself.