Page 35 of Her Captivated Hero

Gray heard Griff and Dalton smother their laughter, which is just what Aiden had been aiming for. Tension had been high as they had slowly headed North toward the King Abdulaziz Seaport for a good part of the day, only to find out they were headed in the wrong direction. Thank God Dex had been able to ferret out where the Golden Tulip was actually docked.

“I still can’t believe they’ve named the place Dana Beach on Half Moon Bay. Do they like California much?” Griff asked.

“Who gives a shit what they call it, as long as we’re finally here,” Hunter said. Gray could tell his patience was shot. But then he heard Hunter take a deep breath. Good man.

Gray watched as Hunter’s lip ticked up. “You know, I just took Aliana to a jazz concert at Dana Point about three weeks ago.” He waved his hand to gesture across at the gated four-star resort that looked like a dilapidated Holiday Inn in the middle of the Mojave Desert. “Even she would burst out laughing if she were to compare the two places.”

“So how good is the intel?” Dalton asked Dex.

“That’s definitely the Golden Tulip,” Dex pointed to a yacht that was out past the harbor. It wasn’t in sniper range. “It belongs to Prince Khalid bin Al Halabi’s brother-in-law.”

“How are they related?”

“His wife’s brother,” Dex answered Dalton.

“That takes balls.” Hunter shook his head. “This guy really arranged to hold his mistress hostage on his wife’s brother’s yacht?”

“From what our friend Kane told me, Faizon, the brother-in-law, is one twisted fuck. Not only would he be happy that his sister’s rival is being hurt on his turf, he’d also like to be in on it.”

“You called McNamara?” Gray asked. He was surprised that Dex would have reached out to the communications expert on the Night Storm SEAL team, since they’d only worked together once before.

“Nope, Wyatt did,” Dex answered with a shit-eating grin. “Wyatt got Kane doing a lot of the deep background research for him ever since I pinpointed the yacht,” Dex’s voice full of admiration. “My little boy is growing up. He figured out a way to get someone else to do his work for him.” Dex pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

“Can the shit,” Gray grimaced. “We get it, Wyatt did good.”

“Damn right he did,” Dex said. “Kane is fucking connected, he sure knows how to forage for gossip.”

“I don’t know, I still think you’re the biggest gossip in the fifth fleet,” Dalton drawled.

Dex shot him the bird.

Gray snorted, Dalton was right. It was like the pot calling the kettle black. If the situation weren’t so hellish, it would be fun to see Dex so jazzed. He had schematics, gossip and was ready to grip a knife in his teeth and swim out in the harbor and rescue the two women.

Gray took a moment to look around at the rest of his men. Griff was the perfect SEAL, he was anything Gray needed him to be. There wasn’t a damn area he didn’t excel in, but water was his home. He’d definitely be going out to the yacht.

Hunter was trying to keep it low-key, but his need for retribution was second only to Aiden. The man was off-the-charts protective. Gray shifted his attention to his second-in-command. He’d been damn near mute since finding the evidence of torture in the bathroom. Gray thought back to when Aiden’s wife Evie had been captured in Turkey. It had been through sheer force of will that he’d kept it together and saved his woman, but he’d done it. Yep, Aiden had managed a miracle and tonight wouldn’t be any different. His whole team were going to work miracles for these two women.

“Gather round children, I have a plan,” Gray smiled.

* * *

Gray had driventhe truck a mile south of the Dana Beach Resort and hid their truck behind an abandoned house. Dex had somehow scoped out a dock that they were going to eventually bring the women back to. This was where the plan got a little…flexible.

Kane had tracked down the former captain of the Golden Tulip. The man had only lasted seven weeks after Faizon bought the yacht, but it was enough time for the older Saudi to have intel regarding the security setup. He was also the one who gave Kane the scoop on just what a sick and paranoid fuck Faizon was.

“Here’s where they’re weak,” Dex pointed to the stern of the yacht. “Four open decks for people to get skin cancer, and for us climb aboard. According to the captain, they only ever had guards on the lower and main decks, never on the upper deck. Doubt it’s changed.”

“What kind of artillery are the men using?” Aiden asked.

“Kane said that from the description they were submachine guns. More than likely MP5K’s. The captain said that Faizon always travels with a security detail of twelve. They’re all former military, tough sons of bitches.”

“So the captain saw them in action?”

“Yep. They took down two boats of Somali pirates. That wasn’t the problem. It was when there was a party on board, and the Cap realized that some of the female guests weren’t allowed to leave. A girl jumped overboard in the Mediterranean Sea. One of the guards gunned her down. The captain hid. He didn’t want anyone to realize that he had witnessed the killing.” Everyone stared at Dex in silence.

“I know, harsh shit, isn’t it?” Dex said quietly.

“What about the other girls?” Hunter finally asked.