Finding Carly (SEAL Team Hawaii #5)

Finding Carly (SEAL Team Hawaii #5)

Susan Stoker




On one unforgettable afternoon, a simple fluke kept Carly Stewart out of her crazy ex’s reach…landing her best friend in his clutches instead. It’s been months since the events of that day, when her friend was rescued and her ex, Shawn, died, yet the police are no closer to discovering who his accomplice was. And Carly is no closer to reclaiming her life, hiding in her apartment in distress, flinching at every noise and shadow. Her only saving grace is Jag. The Navy SEAL who’s kept her from completely losing herself to the terror.

Jagger Bennett will never give up on Carly. He understands what she’s going through better than most. He also knows she won’t let her ex control her from the grave for much longer, especially when he sees the first spark of anger peeking through her fear. He’ll help her defeat her demons, regain her confidence, get back to the person she was before Shawn Keyes…and in return, she could be the one woman who can help Jag conquer his past. If he’s able to put his own torment to rest, he’ll claim Carly for his own.

Shawn Keyes was my friend. My mentor. Now he’s gone. And I have no one. It’s all her fault. Carly Stewart. She’ll pay for everything she did to Shawn…to me…and she’ll pay soon. Before she can ruin another man’s life.

**Finding Carly is the 5th book in the SEAL Team Hawaii Series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings.





This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Copyright ? 2022 by Susan Stoker No part of this work may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Edited by Kelli Collins

Cover Design by AURA Design Group Manufactured in the United States





CHAPTER ONE





Carly Stewart sat with her back against the wall in the corner of her bedroom. She’d heard a noise in the hallway earlier and it sent her into another panic attack. She’d hidden under her bed like a five-year-old for a while, then finally scooted out and was currently clutching her knees to her chest, trying to breathe.

A funny thing was happening though. Something new. Something that hadn’t happened since the evening Kenna had been kidnapped by Carly’s ex-boyfriend and almost blown to pieces by the bomb Shawn had strapped to his chest.

In addition to the paralyzing fear she’d experienced almost every day since, Carly felt anger boiling deep within her.

Neither emotion was common for her. She wasn’t the kind of woman who stressed over every little thing. She was generally a happy person…or at least she used to be.

Dating Shawn had been good at first. He was older than she was, by two decades, but that hadn’t bothered them. But it wasn’t long before he’d changed from the kind, romantic man she’d thought she knew into a controlling abuser.

It had taken Carly far too long to finally come to her senses. She was just thankful she’d never moved in with him like he’d begged her to.

But he’d refused to accept their breakup, which was crazy. He began stalking her, making her life a living hell. She’d taken out a protective order against him, and even though she knew he wouldn’t like that, she’d never expected he’d want to kill her.

She’d gone home early from work the evening he’d shown up at the restaurant, bomb strapped to his chest, prepared to kidnap and do who-the-hell-knew-what to her. He’d ultimately kidnapped her friend, Kenna, then blew himself up.

That should’ve been the end of it. But instead, it was just the beginning of her nightmare.

It was one thing knowing who to look out for, to know who hated you. But it was another to realize someone had been working with Shawn that night. Someone willing to aid in her torture…and not know who that person was for sure.

Carly and the cops were fairly certain it was Shawn’s son, Luke. He’d hated her from the second they’d met, and hadn’t been afraid to show it. During the kidnapping, Shawn had inferred someone was out in the ocean in a boat, ready to pick him up from the beach outside of Duke’s restaurant. But the police couldn’t find proof of Luke’s involvement…or that anyone else had been working with Shawn.

Ever since that night, Carly had been paranoid. Scared out of her mind. Terrified that whoever was working with Shawn would finish what he’d started. She’d quit her job, stopped seeing her friends, and become a shell of the woman she used to be.

She would’ve become a complete recluse if it hadn’t been for Jag.

Jagger Bennett was a Navy SEAL. She knew him through Kenna, her friend and fellow waitress at Duke’s, who was dating Jag’s teammate.

Jag literally wouldn’t leave her alone. He texted and called and even came by to check on her. He was annoying, persistent, bossy…and Carly didn’t know how she would’ve made it through the last couple of months without him.