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

publishing company apart myself.”
     

Chapter 7
    “In other news, there is still no word on the whereabouts of billionaire Coran Williams. An early adopter of new technology, Williams made his money in the defense industry before retiring to found a successful publishing house.
     
    Tragedy struck the Williams family three years ago when his son struck another motorist while driving drunk, killing both of them, and again yesterday when a fire broke out in Williams’ D.C.-based publishing company.
     
    Five people were hospitalized with injuries, but officials have not yet determined the cause of the fire, and no one has been able to reach Mr. Williams for comment.”
     
    Anna sipped a glass of Chardonnay and stared at the television screen. She couldn’t believe that there was still no news on the whereabouts of Coran. How could he have simply disappeared like that? He was supposed to have gone golfing yesterday—how did anyone vanish from a golf course?
     
    The police had been reluctant to allow her back into the offices this morning, but they had needed an accounting of what might be missing. As far as Anna could tell, nothing had been taken, but whoever had been there had sure made a mess of things. The company’s files were digitized with an offsite backup. With the exception of some of Coran’s notes, which he still insisted on writing out longhand in notebooks, the company could keep doing business—they just had to condense office space.
     
    Anna always wondered why Coran was so resistant to using technology when he’d made his money on innovation.
     
    She spent most of the day packing up her office—she was going to have to move downstairs. In just a couple of years, she had managed to accumulate more stuff than she knew what to do with. She liked to keep hard copy of all her photos—and then there were the books.
     
    She relocated down to the sixth floor—accounting had to make room for her and half of marketing. Setting up in a corner space that needed better light, she put out her musical carousel, a relic from her mother’s early life, on the corner of her desk. Anna had rescued the carousel from her mom’s last move—it had been an anniversary gift from Anna’s father. Each time she looked at it, Anna was reminded of happier times. But those were all long, long ago.
     
    She’d also downloaded the latest books from the marketing department onto her tablet. She liked to read the early copies to get cover ideas for the shoots, and she’d heard two new books had just come in yesterday morning.
     
    Now, back in her apartment, she stared at the television, which was showing footage of the explosion and fire from yesterday. Anna rubbed absently at her cheek. It could have been her in the hospital—she’d heard from Linda, and she was due for release in a day or two, but everyone in the basement had had more than a close brush with death. The smoke in the lower parts of the building had been worse, and there’d been chemicals in the air.
     
    She startled when her cat jumped up onto the kitchen counter. “Oh, no you don’t, Romeo!” She grabbed the fluffy gray cat and put him back down on the floor. After feeding him, she flicked off the news and curled up on the couch. She was looking forward to a quiet evening—and she had books to read.
     
    Oddly, there were three new files on her tablet—she could have sworn she’d only put two on here this morning, but maybe someone had sent her an extra file yesterday. Coran often sent her files or simply installed files if he had a book he wasn’t sure about buying—she was happy to be an early reader, and she liked it that he sometimes trusted her judgment.
     
    A couple of times, she’d even found new books sent to her by Linda. Those were always something the marketing department had passed on—and how Linda got the files, Anna wasn’t asking. But Linda knew Anna’s tastes and grabbed her odd books she thought Anna might like.
     
    Anna