Read Shooting the SEAL (Saving the SEALs Series Book 1) for Free Online

the dinner they’d had together.
     
    He was about to start another round on the punching bag, but a towel wrapped around his neck. Grabbing it, he turned around.
     
    Scotty wagged a six-pack at him. “Take a break?”
     
    Nodding, Gage wiped the sweat off his neck and face. They headed out of the exercise room and took the elevator up to Gage’s room. He’d booked into The Jefferson, more for the discreet service than the luxury. Settling on the balcony, Scotty pulled out two beers and handed one to Gage. Twisting the cap off, he took a long draw. It felt good on his sore throat—leftovers from yesterday. Finishing the bottle, he popped it back into the carrier and reached for a second.
     
    “Hey, slow down,” Scotty cautioned. “And tell me, how was your date?”
     
    “Fine.”
     
    “Fine?” Scotty lifted an eyebrow. The man liked to share and expected everyone else to do the same. Women to him were just another notch on his belt, and Gage couldn’t wait for the day Scotty met a woman who’d give him more grief than Scotty had ever given any female.
     
    Gage shrugged. “Good. Normal.” He didn’t want to talk about Anna. He didn’t want her to be mixed up in anything bad. She was a good kid—or that was his take on her. He liked how when she smiled her eyes would light up and her nose would crinkle. But he was having a hard time trying to figure out just what the hell was going on at her company. Who’d set that explosion—and why? And why trash Williams’ office? There was something rotten about that company—and Gage was afraid Anna was mixed up in it big time.
     
    Scotty sipped his beer and asked, “What? You cranky from not getting any?”
     
    “She’s not like that.”
     
    Scotty shrugged. “She’s female—meaning trouble on two legs. You ought to know that, my man. Did you happen to bring up the fact that we’re looking for Nick’s widow, who we suspect was an author at her publishing house?”
     
    “I asked. Natalie’s name didn’t ring any bells.”
     
    Scotty frowned. “Spencer and I didn’t find anything either. It’s like Natalie never existed, which is damn suspicious. Either she’s pro at covering her tracks, or…”
     
    “Or she never did exist—she was a cover for someone.” Gage leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “Spencer have any luck getting his ex to see if there’s a file on her with NSA?”
     
    Scotty gave a laugh. “That one? The ex wasn’t particularly cooperative. Evidently, Spence and his wife didn’t part on the best of terms. So what’s next? Kyle’s still MIA. We’re going to be AWOL soon. And we’ve got zip to show for our troubles.” He sank back in his chair. “This is not going well.”
     
    Gage dropped his empty beer bottle into the carton. “That’s your trouble, Scotty. You’re not playing the long game. Something bad is going down at that publishing company—the place wouldn’t have been on fire and trashed otherwise.”
     
    Scotty glanced at him. “You sure that was whole thing was staged?”
     
    Gage nodded. “Not only staged, but I’d say whoever pulled it off was a pro. That helio waiting was just on time—the whole thing had the feel of a first-class op pulled off with to an exact timetable.”
     
    Frowning, Scotty asked, “You hear anything on what caused the explosion?”
     
    “No—not likely to, unless we can work some connections with local PD. Since we’re officially not supposed to be reachable, that’s going to be hard.”
     
    Looking out over the balcony, Scotty said. “I hate to say it, but the damn thing sounds like a military op. What does a CEO of a publishing house have that’s so important that someone would be willing to kill for it?” He glanced at Gage. “You going to use Anna to get us more intel?”
     
    Gage pressed his lips tight. Then he nodded. “I’m going to use whoever I need to—we’re going to find out who killed Nick and why, if I have to rip that