Gone Too Far Read Online Free PDF Page B

got plans for you today.” He smoothed down his hair as he headed for the front door. A quick glimpse of himself in the mirror in the hall revealed that there was no question about it. He looked as if he’d just been having sex with his incredibly hot wife-to-be in his kitchen.
    Wife. Man, he loved that word. Today was the day he was going to talk her into getting this thing done.
    He opened the door. “What seems to be the problem, gentlemen?”
    Damn, it was the shore patrol, the Navy’s version of military police. The two ensigns who stood there were impossibly young and incredibly grim-looking.
    “Lieutenant Commander Thomas Paoletti?”
    “Yes. Who’s in trouble?” Tom asked. Most of Team Sixteen had gone out of the country. But Sam Starrett had taken a few days of leave in order to finalize his divorce and visit his daughter in Florida. Petty Officer Danny Gillman had stayed behind after spraining his ankle yesterday during a routine jump. And Petty Officer Cosmo Richter was also in town, studying for his chief’s exam.
    Out of those three, Tom would bet his money that Gillman was in trouble. Nicknamed Gilligan, he was even younger than these ensigns and still prone to moments of complete boneheaded idiocy.
    “Sir, we’ve been ordered to escort you to the naval base,” the ensign on the left informed him. “Please come with us.”
    Ordered to . . . ? “What’s this about?”
    “We’re not at liberty to say, sir,” the ensign on the right said.
    “Well, see, here’s the thing, Ensigns .” Tom stressed their significantly lower rank, but still kept his voice even and easygoing. “I’ve got something very important planned for this afternoon, so unless you can be specific about why I’m needed on base today—where I haven’t exactly been needed in the past six months—I’m going to have to decline your invitation.”
    “It’s not an invitation, Paoletti. It’s an order.”
    Tom looked up to see none other than Rear Admiral Larry Tucker, the base commander and the bane of his existence, coming around the side of his house. No doubt Tucker had been the door banger in the back. And it had taken him long enough to return to the front. Tom would bet big money that the sleezebag had found a crack in the vertical blinds and had hung back in order to watch Kelly get dressed. Son of a bitch.
    She was standing now, in her nightgown, her hair back up in a ponytail, at the end of the hall, where only Tom could see her.
    “What’s going on?” she whispered.
    He met her eyes briefly, slightly shaking his head before turning to Tucker, forcing his mouth into a smile. “What’s the problem, Admiral?”
    “You’re needed on base,” Tucker told him.
    “I understand that, sir,” Tom said easily. “My question is why now? As I was telling the ensigns here, I’m a little busy today and—”
    “You’re in trouble, Commander. Isn’t that obvious enough?”
    Kelly moved closer.
    Tom laughed, but on the inside, his stomach had gone into an instant knot. No. This couldn’t be happening. Not today . . .
    But why not today? And, of course, Admiral Tucker would choose to be present at this humiliation. From the moment Tom had been assigned to command SEAL Team Sixteen, Tucker had had it in for him.
    Hauling the shore patrol out here to escort Tom onto the base . . . It was so unnecessary. A phone call would have brought him in.
    “Actually, no, Admiral, it’s not obvious,” Tom said, with more of an edge to his voice than he intended. “Since I haven’t done anything wrong, it never crossed my mind that I might be in any kind of trouble. If I’m being arrested, sir, I deserve to know the charges being brought against me. What is it that I’ve allegedly done?”
    “You’re not being arrested, Commander,” Tucker said. “At least not yet. You’re being brought in for questioning.”
    Not yet . “If this is about the assassination attempt in Coronado six months ago, I’ve said everything I can