Finding Carly (SEAL Team Hawaii #5)(16)

Even though Detective Lee had told her he thought she was likely safe, she didn’t feel that way. Glancing up at Jag made her feel marginally better. His head was on a constant swivel, watching for anyone or anything out of place.

Jag opened the passenger door without a word and Carly got in. She kept her eyes on him as he walked around to his side. After closing his door, Jag gripped the steering wheel tightly and stared straight ahead.

“Jag?” Carly asked softly.

“Give me a minute,” he replied between clenched teeth.

Seeing him so upset unsettled her. In all the time she’d known him, he’d been even-keeled. But right now, it seemed as if he was on the verge of completely losing it.

Carly swallowed hard and stayed as quiet as she could. She barely breathed, not wanting to do anything that might make him even more upset than he obviously already was. But she wasn’t scared of him. Not like she’d been of Shawn when he’d gotten overwhelmed with anger. No, Jag would never hurt her. He wasn’t mad at her, just obviously frustrated with the situation and all the unanswered questions talking with the detective had brought up.

She reached over and put her hand on his arm, and he immediately turned toward her. He shifted and took her hand in his and brought it up to his lips. He kissed her fingers gently and sighed.

“I’m sorry. I’m being an ass,” he said.

“It’s okay,” Carly said immediately.

“It’s not. I usually have better control over my emotions. But I’m not happy about the fact the cops don’t have any persons of interest. And that they’re thinking no one was working with Shawn in the first place.”

“Maybe there wasn’t,” Carly said with a shrug.

He looked at her. “There was,” he said firmly.

“How do you know? Maybe I’m just paranoid.”

“You aren’t. I know that without a doubt. There’ve been many missions where we’ve gotten a sixth sense that something wasn’t right. Call it foresight or whatever you want, but I’ve been trained never to discount those feelings. And you haven’t been hiding away from the world for nothing. If you’ve sensed someone is watching you, someone is watching you.” He paused for a moment. “Did I scare you?”

Carly blinked. “Scare me?”

“I never want to do anything that might remind you of that asshole you dated. I’ll never hurt you physically, and I will try damn hard not to hurt you emotionally. If I need time to process something, you shouldn’t be afraid I’ll take whatever is going on out on you. Okay?”

“Okay,” Carly said immediately.

He kissed her fingers again, then lowered her hand so it was resting on his thigh, his hand still clutching hers. “The detective might think this is over, but I won’t be satisfied until Baker talks to each and every one of Shawn’s acquaintances and friends himself. And until that happens, and Baker tells me he’s cleared them, I want you to stay with me.”

The emotion swirling in his chocolate-brown eyes nearly hypnotized Carly, freezing her in place. “All right.”

What else could she say? She certainly didn’t want to go back to her apartment, especially not after learning the police weren’t actively looking at anyone at the moment.

It finally sank in that they truly didn’t believe Luke was involved. She’d given Detective Lee all those names because he’d insisted on knowing about anyone Shawn was friendly with, but she’d never really believed any of them had anything to do with his insane plot to kidnap and torture her.

But if Luke wasn’t the person waiting in the ocean, ready to pick up his father…who could it have been? Were the police right? Was Shawn delusional and only thought someone would be coming for him? It didn’t seem likely.

“Stop,” Jag said, untangling their fingers and gently wrapping his hand around the back of her neck. He wasn’t squeezing, wasn’t hurting her, but his touch pulled her back from the panic attack that had begun to creep in. “Take a breath, angel.”

She did.

“Good. Another.”

Carly inhaled deeply, hating the feeling of vulnerability that washed over her.

“I’m gonna talk to Baker, let him know what the detective said. He’s not going to just blindly trust him; the man doesn’t trust anyone. He’ll find Luke and talk to him. He’ll also track down all the others the detective mentioned as well. If one of them was working with Shawn, he’ll find out.”

“Is he gonna…torture them?”

Jag looked surprised for a moment, then surprisingly, he grinned. Some of the emotion in his expression faded. “No. He’s a badass, but he won’t go that far. He won’t need to. He’s got a way of making people be honest with him.”

Carly tried to relax her hunched shoulders and the rest of her muscles. “All right.”

“You were right in asking me to wait until after the meeting to decide what our plans would be for the rest of the day. I have no desire to be social right now. You?”

She shook her head.

“Good. So how about a walk on the beach?”

The effort she’d made to relax her muscles was wasted as she immediately tensed once more.

“A short one,” Jag said. “Over at Barbers Point.”