He studied Audrey. She’d been strangled and nearly raped less than an hour ago. And the merc had been after her because of him. Because she was pregnant with his child.

But how was that even possible? And why? SEAL ops were top secret. No one knew which SEAL went on which mission. And usually no one outside NSWC and the highest branches of government ever learned about the mission at all.

No one would have known who shot Osama bin Laden if the SEAL hadn’t broken his vow and publicly claimed the kill. And Xavier sure as hell had never done that. Not even to Lynn in the days when he thought he might marry her.

“What’s going on, Xavier?” Audrey asked.

“I don’t know. None of it makes sense. This is a training. One I was assigned to plan and execute.”

“A training with very specific parameters,” Flyte interjected. “It’s been clear from the start this is a planning session for a specific op.”

“Let’s start there,” Cohen said. “I think at this point, every person in this room has a need to know why we’re here at all.”

Xavier’s gaze landed on Audrey and George. With the exception of the two civilians, he was authorized to reveal the details of the mission. The plan for the training was for the team to brainstorm various plans of attack to liberate the hostages, which this team would then use when they carried out the mission as soon as possible.

He’d be violating his security clearance in sharing the details with Audrey and George, but no way in hell was he asking either of them to leave the room. They’d used their knowledge of the lodge and forest and each other, and in so doing had saved all their asses, bringing everyone to this debriefing with the lodge firmly in SEAL control.

Hell, he didn’t doubt that George could seize it back if he wanted to.

“I think everyone here can agree that Dr. Kendrick and Mr. Shaw have a right to know every classified detail.”

There were nods from everyone present, including the four SEALs who guarded the corners of the room, each armed with a liberated assault rifle. They were listening, but on the alert, making sure the lodge remained safe.

He shook his head. “Where to begin?” This was unlike any debriefing he’d participated in before.

“How about explain why we found two prop dummies in one of the guest rooms,” Mock said. “One was a woman. The other the size of a kid.”