Even in dim light, her grin was radiant. “George is fucking brilliant.” She tapped the number. “That’s the archaeological site number of an ancient, rusting steam donkey that’s about a mile from here. A left over from early twentieth-century logging. George is telling us the SEAL team is in the forest somewhere near the donkey.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Audrey described the route they would need to take as best she could without a map. They were heading into an area they’d ignored so far, as it was high on the hill above the lodge and cabins they’d explored last night, and on the opposite side of the lake from where they’d camped today.

As a remote meeting point for SEALs, she supposed it made sense. It was far from the complex of buildings and roads that provided infrastructure to the lodge, and upslope so they’d have a good vantage point to view the lodge and lake from the top of a tree. A hiking trail passed within a half mile of the area, making the area one that was usually only accessed by hard-core backcountry hikers.

Audrey figured George had provided just the general area. The odds that the SEAL team was sitting on the donkey sled were slim, but the basic direction was all they’d need, Xavier assured her. He knew how to connect with the team.

It was nearing ten p.m.—or twenty-two hundred in military parlance—when Xavier let out a birdcall that received an answer.

Even in the dark, Audrey could see the shift in his posture when the soft whistles carried on the night wind.

He raised a hand in signal to halt, and she froze in place, barely able to breathe.

A moment later, a second call came, this one different. Xavier answered, also using a new cadence.

Another response followed, and Xavier sagged back against a tree. “Thank fucking god. Flyte’s here.”

Seeing his reaction triggered the burn of tears, which she quickly swiped away. She would not be the emotional female in this reunion of hypermasculine special forces operators.

Still, she fought the burning sensation and her nose tingled as a Black man emerged from behind a tree and greeted Xavier with a handshake. “Shit, Rivera. I was braced for the worst.”

Xavier’s voice was a low whisper. “Same, Lieutenant. And I’m still afraid it might be for the others.”

She cursed her overloaded pregnancy hormones and stifled the last of her reaction as Xavier introduced her. “Dr. Audrey Kendrick, this is Lieutenant Chris Flyte.”

He’d flipped up his NVGs, so she could see his eyes, but the rest of him was decked out in full combat gear. She shook his gloved hand, then followed him into the SEAL team’s lair, Xavier and another SEAL falling in line behind them.