Shooting the SEAL (Saving the SEALs Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

the west, the sun lit up the sky in stripes of red, orange and yellow, balancing like a fiery ball on the horizon. Smiling, Anna stepped closer and rested her head on his shoulder. “This is one of my favorite times of the day.”
     
    He gave a grunt and a nod. Odd that she didn’t mind that he wasn’t a guy who talked a lot—or maybe it was just the day they’d been through.
     
    The sky darkened, lights coming on in a blaze of color, and Gage headed to Captain White’s. “Have you been here before?” he asked.
     
    She smiled and nodded. “Used to come here with my grandparents. Grandpa had a boat. I learned to swim in the Potomac. But I haven’t been out on the water in years.”
     
    Gage offered a tight smile. “Glad I thought of it.”
     
    She frowned at the comment. Had he known she’d been here before? It was almost as if…as if he’d dug up some of her past. The server came to take drink orders. Those appeared, and someone else came for their order.
     
    Gage ordered steamed Chesapeake blue crab, blackened catfish, crab cakes, corn pudding, a side of mac-and-cheese, and two strawberry lemonades. Anna stared at him. “Feeding an army?”
     
    He smiled. “Trust me. You’ll want more.” He added a dozen oysters, and jumbo shrimp with cocktail sauce to the order. Once he’d paid and picked up the food, he gestured to Anna to grab the drinks. “I know a sweet little spot overlooking the Tidal Basin.
     
    On the way, he grabbed a blanket from his truck. He spread it out on a rise looking out on the water. They dug into the food—everything was great. The cocktail sauce had a tang, the fish was perfect—flaky and moist—and Anna found herself wishing Gage had ordered more mac-and-cheese.
     
    Leaning back, Gage asked, “Any news about what happened?”
     
    She shook her head. “I wish I knew. They’re going to let us back in tomorrow—I hope. But I can’t figure out why anyone would go after a publishing house.”
     
    “Author files or manuscripts? Some of it’s got to be worth something.”
     
    “All our files are kept in a central database that every department has access to—it’s just fiction!”
     
    He frowned. “Why would everyone have access to it?”
     
    She sipped her lemonade and shrugged. “Our author files have everything from contact information to current photos to book sales to manuscript data. If someone in marketing wants to know what other books are similar to a particular title or production needs to contact the author with questions on the manuscript, it’s all there.”
     
    “That doesn’t seem very safe.”
     
    She smiled. “Oh, come on. In the world we live in, if someone wants to hack a server, no amount of safeguards will prevent it. But…what happened today was…oh, I don’t know…old school.”
     
    Gage coughed into his drink. “Old school?”
     
    She waved a hand. “Who tears apart an office looking for something when it would be far easier to hack a computer?”
     
    “Unless whatever they wanted wasn’t on the server. Does your boss have a safe? Keep stuff there?”
     
    She shrugged. “If he does, it isn’t at the office. I would have known about it. It’ll be at his bank or home—it’s not like he lacks for assets or resources.”
     
    Gage gave a nod and an odd hum she couldn’t read—did that mean he didn’t believe her? He gathered up the debris of the meal, stood and reached a hand down to her. “Care for a walk on the waterfront?”
     
    Her muscles had stiffened up over dinner and she was glad to stretch them. “Oh, my—look. A carnival!” The noise, lights and tents had been set up near the waterfront. Anna dragged Gage into the music and crowd. She spotted a sharp shooter game. Glancing at Gage, she gave him a smile. “Come on, win me something.”
     
    He gave her a sideways look and shrugged. At the tent, he pulled out a five-dollar bill and handed it to the attendant. Picking up the gun, he sighted and shot.