HOT SEAL Rescue (HOT SEAL Team - Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

didn’t want to call Badger with him sitting right there, but what choice did she have?
    She ripped the plastic packaging apart, powered up the phone, and plugged it into the battery backup that was also inside the bag. After she set the phone to block the number she was calling from, she dialed the number imprinted on her brain.
    Badger picked up on the second ring. “Yes?”
    “It’s me.”
    “Mandy? How did it go? You okay?”
    She blew out a breath and ran a hand through her hair, tossing the long blond strands over her shoulders. What she wouldn’t give for a ponytail holder right about now.
    “I’m okay. But the mission is a bust. He knew my identity.”
    There was silence on the other end of the phone. And then Badger swore long and hard. “Where are you? I’ll send help.”
    Miranda glanced at Cody. He’d eased the truck onto the highway, but of course he was listening. “I have help.”
    “You do?” Badger sounded shocked.
    “Yes. For now.”
    “You need to come in,” he said, his voice sounding a little strained. “It’s critical we get you into protection.”
    She knew it was, and yet there was something holding her back. Something not quite right about the entire situation. How had Conti known who she was? How?
    Until she figured that out, she wasn’t safe.
    “I’m not ready to come in,” she said, shocking herself and Badger too if the way he sucked in a breath was any indication. Until that moment, she hadn’t really known she wouldn’t obey protocol and go in.
    “Mandy—”
    “No. Listen. I’ve been compromised. The mission has been compromised. There’s a leak. How else could he have found out who I was?”
    “You’re right,” Badger said very quietly. “Of course you’re right. I should have never sent you. We should have found another way.”
    Because they’d both wanted to find Mark’s killer and bring him—or her—to justice.
    “There wasn’t another way. Besides, if I’d found the information we wanted, it would have been worth it.”
    “Yes, it would have.”
    She glanced at Cody. The light from the dash illuminated a strong, chiseled jaw and sculpted nose. How was it possible to look that good and not be a movie star?
    “I’ll call you again in a couple of hours.”
    “Tell me where you are at least. Still in Nevada?”
    “’Bye, Badger.” She clicked off the line before he could chastise her.
    “Badger wasn’t happy with you, I take it.”
    It wasn’t a question. She tried not to be annoyed that Cody used Badger’s name so casually, but then she’d said the name in his hearing. It didn’t matter though, because Badger was a code name, not a real name. She knew Badger’s real name. But that was irrelevant right now.
    “Not really.” She ran a hand over her head, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I don’t think either one of us can quite believe I’m not going in.”
    “Something doesn’t feel right or you would. Am I right?”
    Miranda let out a shaky sigh and turned to look at his profile. His ridiculously handsome profile. “Yes.”
    “Care to talk about it?”
    She closed her eyes and wished she had a cigarette. But she’d given those up years ago. Sometimes she missed the nicotine filling her lungs and sending calming vapors throughout her body. Poisonous vapors, but still.
    She shouldn’t talk, and yet what did she have to lose? She no longer trusted the agency. She had no one to turn to. She was out in the cold, and it felt very, very odd. She just wanted to rewind the clock, have her meeting with Conti, and get the information she needed.
    “He shouldn’t have known who I was. This mission… it’s off the books. Small scale, tightly controlled. Few people know anything about it.”
    “Then you need to decide which one of them betrayed you.”
    Her heart thumped. Yes, that was the only explanation. But why? Money?
    Probably. Conti was wealthy, and this wouldn’t be the first time he’d bought his way out of an