SEALs of Honor: Hale by Dale Mayer

Author:Dale Mayer [Mayer, Dale]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Military, Romance
Publisher: Valley Publishing Ltd.
Published: 2023-01-23T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Marsha woke to the sounds of birds, then bolted upright to see Hale snoozing beside her. “What the hell?” she muttered, then grabbed her cell phone, noting the battery charge was almost gone, and it was only 4:30 a.m. “Jesus, morning comes early up here.”

“It does,” he replied, “which means that the rest of the world is up too.”

“Great. Did you see anything last night?”

“No, and Whiskey has been on duty.”

“Jesus, is he part of our team now?”

“Either add him to our team or have him running loose on his own.”

“Right, so we really have no choice, do we?”

“No, sure don’t,” Hale muttered, as he sat up.

She saw the five-o’clock shadow on his chin and the fatigue in his eyes. “Did you get much sleep?”

“I got four hours. That’s good enough.”

“Jesus.” She yawned, then reached for a T-shirt, pulled it over her shoulders and the camisole that she wore, then hopped up and said, “I’m heading to the outhouse.”

“I’ll come with you,” he noted.

She stared at him.

He shrugged. “I don’t know where Whiskey is or if he saw anything yet, so let’s just stay smart.”

She sighed and waited until he grabbed his jeans and put them on, while she slipped into hers. Outside on the porch, she sniffed. “Is that what morning smells like?” she whispered.

He chuckled, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugged her up close, and whispered back, “That’s what an outdoor morning smells like. No car fumes, no exhaust, no pollution or buildup from the nightlife.” He studied her curiously. “This is fresh, like truly unadulterated fresh air.”

“Something very addicting about it,” she noted. “Maybe, when this is over, I need to come back—or at least find another place to go and spend some time, remembering that there are other things in life than hunting this asshole.”

“Especially since you said it was your last case.”

“Yeah, and it needs to be,” she confirmed. “Guys like these? They’re hard on us.”

“They sure are,” Hale agreed, “but I’m sure tons of jobs are available with your skill set that wouldn’t require such direct work like this.”

“It’s not even the field that I have a problem with,” she noted. “It’s the hunt. You give it your all, and sometimes it bears fruit, and sometimes it doesn’t, but the end result is that you’re always exhausted. Sometimes with a good feeling, sometimes with complete defeat.” She shook her head. “And every single time it takes something out of you. Whether you have anything more to lose or not, you just don’t have a choice anymore. It’s taken from you, stripped clean from your bones and your soul, leaving you empty.”

“Not always,” he said. “Sometimes your soul is rejuvenated because bits and pieces of goodness are also out there, like when you succeed.”

“Sure,” she admitted. “And usually they come after a history of studying their successes, which, for anybody else in this world, means pain and suffering for so many more.”

“Come on,” he murmured. “Time to change the subject.”

“The only thing I need to change,” she replied, “is the location because I really need to pee.

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