Finding Carly (SEAL Team Hawaii #5)(84)

That didn’t mean she would be stupid. Taking her phone out of her purse, Carly sent a quick text to Jag. She knew he was in meetings all day—very serious meetings, if the little he’d told her about what was going on was any indication. Carly didn’t know the details, but it was looking more and more likely that he and his team would be going on a mission soon. Still, the last thing she wanted to do was leave the apartment without telling anyone.



Carly: I’m headed out for a bit to do a favor for Alani. Don’t worry, I’ve got my pepper spray and my knife. I’ll text when I get home. Love you.



Shoving her phone back into her purse and putting the car in reverse, she backed out of the space and headed out.





He couldn’t believe Carly was actually leaving…by herself!

He’d waited so long for this moment, and it was finally happening. She didn’t have her boyfriend with her and none of her fucking girlfriends were here.

It was time. Time to get this done. He was ready, had been for weeks. He had all the supplies and the boat was on standby. Even better, it was supposed to storm later. Everything was setting up perfectly for him to finally finish what Shawn had started.

All he had to do was follow her and wait for an opportunity to make his move. And he had no doubt it would work. It had to.

“It’s happening, buddy,” he said out loud as he followed the bitch from a discreet distance. “She’s finally gonna pay for everything she did to you.”

Anticipation flowed through his veins. He could barely contain his excitement. This was going down. Today. Now.

Carly Stewart was going to die—and he couldn’t fucking wait to see her face when she realized what was about to happen.





Picking up the extra produce had gone smoothly. Carly had called Alani to tell her she was in the area and when she arrived at the Outrigger Hotel, Alani had been waiting. She had a cart holding three large boxes, and they quickly got them loaded into Carly’s car. One box fit in the trunk and the other two went on the back seat. Alani had hugged her tightly and thanked her profusely once again. Then Carly had headed downtown to Food For All.

She hadn’t counted on there being some sort of event going on in the area. Even though it was early, there were people everywhere. Vendors were lined up on the sidewalks and some streets were even blocked off.

Swearing because she wouldn’t be able to simply pull up outside the food pantry and quickly drop off the boxes, Carly headed for the closest parking garage. She was going to have to make three trips in order to deliver all the food. The thought of walking back and forth, amongst the hundreds of other people on the streets, made her break out in a cold sweat.

For a moment, Carly thought about going home and texting Lexie to tell her she had the food donations, and ask if maybe she could pick them up. But the second she had the idea, she dismissed it. First of all, Lexie was busy at a Food For All booth. Carly hadn’t thought to ask if there was an actual event in conjunction with her friends being downtown today.

Secondly, there wasn’t room in the fridge at Jag’s apartment for all the food, and if she left it in her car all afternoon, in the blazing sun, it would wilt and probably go bad. The thought of wasting all that food didn’t sit well with Carly. Not with the number of people who could use a healthy meal.

So she sucked it up and pulled into a parking space in the garage. She’d had to go all the way up to the top floor to find a spot, as there were so many people downtown for the festival, not to mention those here for their normal workday.

Carly sat in her car, gripping the steering wheel for a full five minutes, trying to work up the courage to get out and head down the stairs to the food pantry. She had no doubt they were busy and might not be able to spare anyone to come help her, but…she’d go find out.

The sooner she got out of her car, the sooner she’d be done with this and on her way home.

Hating how weak she felt when just this morning, she’d congratulated herself for her bravery, Carly took a deep breath and pushed open the car door. She could do this. It was crazy to think someone was going to jump out and kidnap her at any second.

She’d taken two steps away from the car when a man appeared out of nowhere.

Carly yelped in surprise and took a few stumbling steps backward.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you,” the man said.

When she recovered, she realized she knew him.

“Gideon…What are you doing here?” It was Shawn’s friend. The one who worked at the zoo. She’d seen him a few times in recent months, and hadn’t gotten any negative vibes from him…but she was still cautious. What were the odds he would be here, now, in this parking garage?

He wore his familiar tan overalls. She wondered if he had any other clothes, because it had been a long time since she’d seen him in anything other than the zoo uniform he always seemed to wear.

“The zoo has a booth at the festival,” he said with a shrug. “I’m coming to do a shift, but didn’t realize how crowded things would be. I just parked over there,” he said, gesturing over his shoulder vaguely with a thumb.

Carly relaxed a fraction. “Oh, yeah. It’s crazy.”

“What are you doing here? You going to the festival?”

“No,” she said a little too loudly. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Carly explained, “I’m dropping off a donation to Food For All, but like you, I didn’t know it would be this crowded so early. I couldn’t get to the actual building, so I had to park. I’ve got three boxes I need to bring down there, but thought I’d go ask for help.”