The Military Wife (A Heart of a Hero, #1)(24)

“I’m sorry, man.” Noah’s hand on Bennett’s shoulder imparted a sympathy Bennett hadn’t asked for or needed, yet he was grateful nonetheless.

“It was a long time ago.” The years felt more like weeks in that moment, and he stared into the darkness over the water.

“Have you been back? To Mississippi, I mean.”

A honk came from behind them, saving Bennett from giving Noah a big “hell no.”

A cab waited at the curb. Bennett grabbed Hollis by the upper arm and maneuvered him into the car. Noah did the same with Carter. Bennet took the front seat and prayed no one puked again.

The cabbie was already on the road, knowing where they were headed based on their uniforms.

“Yo, Caldwell,” Hollis said.

“What?” Bennett turned.

Hollis grinned, blood smeared on his teeth from a split lip. “I can’t believe you waded into that fight. Thought for sure you’d desert us. You came in roaring like a grizzly bear. Scared the shit out of me until I realized you were on our side.”

“Yeah, well. You might be an asshole, but you’re our asshole. Noah and I couldn’t leave you hanging.”

Hollis’s head lolled on the headrest. “Thanks, Peaches.”

Bennett met Noah’s eyes, and they both smiled. Their friendship had set deep roots. Bennett’s mission was still about getting himself through BUD/S, but he would do what he could to make sure Noah got through, too.





Chapter 7


Present Day

Harper had done a very bad thing. Misleading, dishonest, manipulative. Her accounting job required scrupulous honesty, and she did her best daily to set a good example for Ben. That hadn’t stopped her from calling Caldwell Survival School and booking a weekend one-on-one survival lesson with Bennett under her mom’s name.

Various scenarios had unspooled through her mind before landing on this one. If she called him, then he could hang up and once he had her number he’d ignore her. If she showed up at the survival school unannounced, privacy was an issue. Plus, he could sic Jack London on her. Although the dog looked more likely to lick her to death than bite. Booking Bennett for a weekend seemed the best option.

Now that the hour was upon her, though, doubts crumbled the logic of her decision. She checked the GPS in her car. He had sent instructions to meet him at a ranger station on the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp. She’d hoped it had gained the name like a big man earned the nickname Tiny, but the farther she traveled on the two-lane road, the denser the trees grew, lending a sinister feel.

Or maybe that was her guilt over the deception. No doubt Bennett was not going to be happy to see her. His last words to her couldn’t be interpreted as anything but a warning. Yet here she was.

The small brown cabin blended into the backdrop of forest, and she almost missed it. Braking hard, she took the turn too fast, fishtailing in the gravel. She recognized the black truck as the one in front of his log cabin survival school. Judgment was minutes away.

She’d spent a small fortune on her evil plans. Not only paying Bennett for his services but also outfitting herself. “Outdoorsy” wasn’t a word that described her wardrobe. Lying out on the beach had never held any allure, and while the inlets were pretty, she’d never had the urge to explore farther than the dock. She preferred to hole up in her room for hours with stacks of books. The hazard of being a librarian’s kid.

She parked next to his truck and gathered her courage. With the car off, it didn’t take long for the cold to seep through cracks, driven by the whistling wind. Spending the night outside might not be bad if there was a fire to huddle next to. Or would it be like the one miserable camping trip she went on in Girl Scouts? Cookies be damned, she’d dropped out after the trip.

Her new water-resistant hiking boots squeaked as she got out of the car, pulled a backpack over the console, and swung it over one shoulder. His email—to her mom’s email address, which had been fun to explain—had laid out exactly what she’d needed to bring. A tent hadn’t been included.

The wind cut through her layers of clothes in the short walk to the door. She debated the merits of turning around. A woof at the window ruined her retreat. The door opened and a stranger in a brown park ranger uniform greeted her warmly.

“You must be Gail Frazier. I’m Seth. Bennett will be right out. Come on in.”

A smile was difficult in the face of her mom’s name. Denials and excuses would be upon her soon enough, so she took Seth’s hand in a shake.

“Hey, Jack.” The dog’s tail whipped back and forth as he bumped her hand for a pat. The dog was way friendlier than his owner, that’s for sure.

“Ah, you’ve met the beast.” Seth gestured toward a small kitchen. “Can I get you some hot tea or coffee before you head out into the wilderness?”

“Coffee would be great. Black is fine.”

He poured from a stained pot into a chipped mug with The Great Dismal Swamp written across the side in fancy script. She thanked him on the handoff. “Have you been the ranger here long?”

“Two years.” He had a thick beard a few shades darker than his hair, which made it difficult to pin an age to him, but unlike Bennett, no gray hairs peeked out. The twinkling good humor in his eyes landed him in his midtwenties at a guess. “I couldn’t ask for a better gig. It’s less about public relations and more about science collection. Marshes and swamps like the Dismal have amazingly diverse ecosystems. Big predators and—”