Finding Carly (SEAL Team Hawaii #5)(40)

It was only a matter of time before he’d have Carly exactly where he and Shawn had wanted her.

At his mercy.

But this time, he wouldn’t risk her getting away. He’d kill her and be done with it. Feed her body to the fish. She’d disappear and no one would be the wiser. No one would suspect him. He’d make sure of it.

Grinning to himself, the man straightened and headed for his car, which he’d parked a few blocks over…just in case.





CHAPTER ELEVEN





Carly winced as her muscles protested when she reached to the top shelf in the grocery aisle. Senior Chief Petty Officer Albertson—Elizabeth—had no mercy for her or the others. She’d pushed them hard, insisting that if someone tried to mug them or take them hostage—which wasn’t outside the realm of possibility, since they were with decorated Navy SEALs who had many enemies—they’d need to be ready to fight for their lives.

Despite the difficulty, Carly had loved yesterday’s first self-defense lesson. She’d felt extremely powerful after the hour-long session. Even though she was sore, she couldn’t wait to go again. After Jag had driven them home, she’d demonstrated what she’d learned and had actually managed to escape his hold when he grabbed her from behind. Carly suspected he knew exactly what she was going to do to get away, but appreciated him letting her succeed all the same.

“Good lord, I’m sore,” Kenna groaned from next to her.

Carly couldn’t help but chuckle as she put a box of noodles into the cart. This was the first time she’d been out anywhere without Jag. Riding to Duke’s with Kenna didn’t really count, as her friend had told her the driver Aleck hired used to be a Marine, and he looked more than capable of taking care of any threat that might come their way.

Surprisingly, Carly was feeling all right about the outing. Kenna had called after lunch and asked if she wanted to go to the store with her. And while Carly had been hesitant at first, she’d straightened her spine and agreed. She needed to start getting out on her own. And being with Kenna seemed like a good compromise to start.

She’d had a small moment of panic when they’d arrived at the store, but she’d gotten control over her emotions and carried on, which she was extremely proud of. Some people might not think going to the grocery store, with a friend at that, was very impressive, but after spending months in her apartment, too scared to even go outside to check her mail, going to the grocery store seemed like a major victory.

“So…how’re things between you and Jag going?” Kenna asked as they strolled down the aisles.

“Good. He’s different than I thought he’d be,” Carly said.

“In what way?”

“It’s hard to explain. I guess when you first started going out with Aleck, I figured his friends would be kind of conceited hard-asses. But even from that first dinner at Duke’s, they seemed pretty down-to-earth. You know I wasn’t ready for any kind of relationship, not after Shawn, but Jag kind of snuck up on me.”

Kenna chuckled. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Do you think this’ll be a long-term thing?”

“I have no idea,” she said with a shrug. “I mean, I’m not counting on him getting down on one knee anytime soon. And honestly? I think he’s got a savior-complex thing going on. We didn’t really get a chance to know each other very well before everything with Shawn happened. And since then, he’s been more of a caretaker for me than anything else.”

“Do you seriously think that?” Kenna asked, stopping in the middle of the aisle.

“Well, yeah,” Carly admitted.

“You’re wrong,” her friend replied, somewhat forcefully. “Jag isn’t the sort of man to spend so much time making sure you’re all right simply out of the kindness of his heart. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good man. But he wouldn’t have done what he did in the months after Shawn lost his fucking mind if he wasn’t interested in having more than a friendship with you.”

Carly swallowed hard. She knew that. Somehow, deep down, she’d always known that Jag wasn’t just checking up on her because his friend was dating Kenna. She’d felt a connection to him from the first moment they’d met at Duke’s. She just didn’t want to admit it at the time.

“I don’t know what I would’ve done without him,” Carly said softly. “How do I know my attraction toward him isn’t just because of some damsel-in-distress syndrome?”

“I know a lot of people poo-poo the damsel-in-distress thing, and it pisses me off,” Kenna said. She didn’t seem concerned in the least that they were completely blocking the grocery aisle to have this intense conversation next to the pickles and condiments. “But here’s the thing—there’s nothing wrong with needing a helping hand sometimes. When, exactly, society decided that was a bad thing, I have no idea. But whatever. And even though our men are badasses, they need us just as much as we need them. That’s how relationships work, Carly. No, we probably won’t be hanging out of helicopters and swooping in to save our men from red-hot lava like Pid did for Monica, but that doesn’t mean we don’t make their lives better, more complete. So what if you leaned on Jag recently? You shouldn’t be ashamed of that. It’s what couples do.”