Navy Justice (Whidbey Island, Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

overseas.”
    “But they decided to get some credibility by doing one of those sleeper-type actions?”
    “Yes. This is more than a sleeper cell, though. They have contacts with the bad guys overseas. That’s certain now that I identified the SAM. I just don’t know who that contact is yet.”
    Brad’s wide range of skills, including his ability with more than one foreign language, was a big part of what had made him such a valuable asset to the Navy SEALs. All SEALs had intensive training in weapons identification and employment. If he said he saw a SAM about to be launched, it was true.
    And the explosion left no doubt.
    “The thing is, I think they’re also targeting an individual here on Whidbey. They’ll lie low if they have to, until the LEA presence lessens, but they’re going to go after him sooner or later.”
    She ran her fingers through her hair. “Terrorists who are so bold they’ll try to shoot down a US Navy aircraft just offshore, in US territory, don’t care about the LEA all over the place, Brad. They won’t wait.”
    His appreciation of her accurate observation gleamed in his eyes. The instant warmth that flushed her cheeks was impossible to control.
    “Exactly.”
    * * *
    T HE DOORBELL RANG , and Brad saw her shoulders tense, her mouth tighten in a grim line.
    “That’s the OHPD or sheriff’s deputy. Coming over in the respectable way.” She tried to keep it light by poking fun at his entrance via her side door earlier, but her anxiety was palpable.
    You’ve done this to her.
    “OHPD?”
    “Oak Harbor Police Department. Keep up, Mr. FBI.”
    “Are you going to tell them I’m here?”
    “Why can’t I? You’re FBI. Don’t all LEA talk to each other?”
    “You know damn well they don’t. I’m undercover, Joy. I can’t be seen.”
    He knew he was asking her to trust him with little reason. He’d made no attempt to contact her since he’d been free to do so. Only now, when he was in serious trouble, had he sought her out.
    “You don’t have to do this, Joy. Say the word and I’ll go out the back and disappear. Just give me thirty seconds lead time.”
    “No, don’t go. I’m not going to say anything to them other than what I reported on the phone. There’s no need, not legally.”
    He saw the inner war play out in her expression. She had a beautiful face, capable of distracting the most hardened criminal. Sometimes her face revealed what she was thinking, what she was feeling. But she was capable of hiding her emotions, too. Her poker face had let her get what they needed to set Farid free from the hell he’d been condemned to. He felt a rush of warmth.
    “You trust me,” he said quietly.
    “That’s a discussion for later. Go into my bedroom and stay there until I come and get you.”
    * * *
    “I WAS STANDING right here, looking out through my binoculars. That’s when I noticed the explosion. The vibration hit a few seconds later.”
    “Roger.”
    The Oak Harbor police officer wrote more notes, her face noncommittal.
    “Have you gotten a lot of witness accounts this morning?”
    Officer Katie Dade looked up and shook her head.
    “Not as many as you’d think. Most of your neighbors were either in the shower or already at work, and the others heard just the explosion. You’re the only one who saw it from here. But we had other witnesses who were walking their dogs farther down the beach.”
    By
farther down
Officer Dade meant the stretch of coastline miles from Joy’s house, closer to the Naval Air Station.
    “I thought they’d send a sheriff’s deputy.”
    “Normally, yes. Your home’s in the county’s jurisdiction. They’re swamped at the moment, so they sent me. Mind if I look through your binoculars?”
    “No, go right ahead.”
    As Officer Dade focused the binoculars, Joy prayed they were almost done with the interview. She’d never hidden a potential fugitive before and didn’t like being on the wrong side of the law, regardless of the situation