Code Name: Ghost (A Warrior's Challenge 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Special Reconnaissance training
brought men who wanted to broaden their experience and test their
metal to Coronado. Some were straight from boot camp and some had
earned their stripes in the dust already.
    “Look at those guys. They look lean, mean
and about as bad as we did in BUD/S,” Clay said, eyeing the men as
they fell in line for the serving counter behind Kayla. Clay
grinned at him. “Maybe one of them will get lucky, and then you’re
outta luck, Mace.”
    The Commander scanned the Marines, but
returned to his conversation with Captain Redding without
concern.
    Lieutenant Cobbs scoured the group as well,
and then a gust of air escaped his lungs. “Jesus, I don’t believe
it, did you see that?”
    Now they had the Commander and the Captain’s
attention, and they both saw the guy behind Kayla brush his hand
across her ass. The Commander tensed, the look in his eyes becoming
predatory.
    “She probably doesn’t know she could court
martial his ass. I’m going up there,” Mace said, rising to his
feet. “Maybe they’d like to eat a little dirt for lunch.”
    “Don’t worry about it, Mace,” Redding said,
“Watch.”
    Kayla slowly turned, but didn’t look at
them, still concentrating on her cell phone. She said something,
and the two closest men took a step back.
    “Sorry ma’am,” floated across to their
table.
    “What the hell did she say?” Tony asked the
Commander.
    They all knew he could read lips. It came in
handy running silent ops out in the field.
    The Commander’s mouth quirked as he shook
his head. “Brave little thing, isn’t she?”
    “What did she say, Ghost?” the Captain
asked, using his old team name.
    None of them used that name, he was
“Commander” to them, but the Captain had been his lieutenant once
upon a time, and they’d had plenty of missions together over the
years.
    “She said, ‘Do it again and you’ll wake up
with a grenade between your thighs, sans a pin.’” The Commander
barked with laughter. All eyes turned on him. He scanned his men
swiftly, cleared his throat then put his attention on his meal.
    “We can find another chair,” Tony suggested.
“Invite her over here, Captain.”
    “Sorry, fellows, she’s all business and she
keeps to herself. Besides I don’t think you boys could handle
her.”
    “I’d have no problem learning something from
her,” Mace said, and glanced over his shoulder, but when he turned
around the Commander was glaring at him. He knew that look, and it
meant stop now or else. There was a distinct, harsh line when it
came to the Commander. For some reason he’d just crossed it.
Immediately, he dropped his gaze to the table.
     
    * * * *
     
    After lunch, the team convened in Captain
Redding and the Commander’s office for the mission debrief. Tinman
and Fox grabbed the empty chairs first, Mace and the rest of the
team found a wall to lean against.
    “Any questions?” the Commander asked,
looking at them once he’d finished.
    Mace replayed the scene in his head. There
wasn’t much to say after the Commander busted their chops for being
sloppy on their last exit. They had to go out hot. It happened, a
lot, but it put everyone in danger. Bullets flew like a swarm of
locusts on both sides after they’d grabbed Faron’s brother, the
second in charge of the Serpiente family drug cartel in Panama
City. It was uncontrolled chaos, a fast and furious exit.
    “Any word of a new deploy?” Caleb asked,
turning his red bristled head toward the Lieutenant. “Naomi’s just
about ready to have the baby, and—”
    The room erupted with congratulations and
everyone clapped Caleb on the back.
    Lieutenant Cobbs rose to stand next to the
Commander. Only an inch apart in size, both were warriors that any
man would think twice about taking on. Together they had more
medals and service awards than the entire West Coast teams put
together. They’d been swim buddies, BUD/S recruits together, and
though as different in personality as two