SEAL INVESTIGATIONS: A 5-Books SEAL Romance Series Read online

  SEAL Investigations

  By: Lola Silverman

  Copyright © 2016

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  JASE

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Epilogue

  BRECKIN

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Epilogue

  MARLON

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  DESMOND

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  ALEXANDER

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Epilogue

  JASE

  Chapter One

  Cassidy had never seen so many people before in her life. The techno music blaring through the speakers was so loud that the walls of the warehouse seemed to pulse with the beat. She felt sweaty and gross as she tried to move through the throngs of people. She had only come to the trendy club in downtown Richmond because her roommate Rachel had insisted. Now Cassidy couldn’t find Rachel anywhere.

  Someone latched onto her hips. “Hey, baby. Let’s dance.”

  “No thanks.” Cassidy tugged the thigh-length skirt of her tank dress away from her would-be dance partner.

  The dance floor had to be a mile wide. She couldn’t see any familiar faces. Hazy steam from the overheated lights filtered down and obscured her vision. She shoved a limp hank of her curly black hair away from her face. She wished she had a rubber band handy. She had left her long hair down at Rachel’s insistence, but now it was just annoying.

  Cassidy usually avoided clubs, but Rachel had wanted to go out and no one else had been available. Even Cassidy had to bow to the necessity of the buddy system now and again. Except, as she bodily shoved her way through the writhing dancers, she knew she had totally lost her wingman.

  Suddenly Cassidy saw a flash of Rachel’s unique silver dress. Redoubling her efforts to plow through the crowd, Cassidy jumped a little to try to get Rachel’s attention. Sometimes it really sucked being five foot four. Most of the people out here towered over her.

  “Rachel!” Cassidy yelled as loudly as she could, but it barely registered in the cacophony of club noise.

  Rachel turned as if she had heard Cassidy’s voice. Gathering her legs beneath her, Cassidy leaped as high as she could and frantically waved her arms. It was a relief to see Rachel wave back. Then she pointed to a guy she appeared to be following. Rachel waved her hand in front of her face to indicate that he was super hot. Then she gave Cassidy the thumbs up.

  “Wait.” Cassidy realized what Rachel was doing. “No! Wait! Rachel, don’t you dare!”

  Frantic now, Cassidy pushed her way toward Rachel. She earned more than a few curses, and even got pushed back once or twice. She didn’t care. Rachel could be a complete idiot when it came to men. She was braver than she should be and far more eager to trust than Cassidy would ever be. Rachel was also a bit of a wild child. Cassidy shuddered to imagine what sort of hot guy she’d found in this cesspool.

  Finally reaching the edge of the dance floor, Cassidy pounded up a set of stairs. She emerged where Rachel had been only moments before. Now she was gone. Spinning in a slow circle, Cassidy noticed a room marked VIP. That was certainly right up Rachel’s alley. She loved anything that made her seem special.

  Skirting a group of laughing and very drunk clubbers, Cassidy headed for the roped off entrance.

  A bouncer with a barrel chest and tree trunk legs appeared right in her path. “Sorry, lady. No entrance without an invitation.”

  “Please let me by, my roommate went in there with a strange man. I need to make sure she’s okay.” Cassidy tried to stay calm. This was no time to act bitchy. That wouldn’t get her anywhere.

  The bouncer snorted. “Like I’ve
never heard that before.”

  “Can I just peek inside? If I see her I can wave her over. I need to make sure she’s safe.” Surely the guy couldn’t object to that?

  “Nope. No admittance without an invitation. That’s the rule.” The bouncer actually yawned.

  It was time to pull out the big guns. Or at least to pretend she had big guns. “So you’d rather my friend press charges against the club later on for creating an environment where she got raped?”

  “What?” He looked confused. “She went back there walking on her own two feet, right?”

  “That doesn’t matter. If there’s a bar inside and he puts something in her drink, she could still sue the club for negligence. You’re keeping her from being safe by not letting me find her.”

  Tree Trunks was looking pretty uncomfortable now. Cassidy was almost certain she was lying through her teeth, but he didn’t know that. And no employee wanted to be left holding the bag when his bosses got sued.

  He seemed to waver. Then finally he folded. Stepping aside, he exposed the narrow opening in the velvet ropes. “Go ahead. But just a look. No hanging around in there. If I catch you partying it up I’m going to throw your ass out on the curb.”

  “Fine! That’s just fine,” she said quickly. “I’m so done with the partying right now. I just want to find my friend and drag her ass home.”

  There was an actual smile playing at the corner of Tree Trunks’ mouth. Apparently he wasn’t a complete ass after all. Once she slipped by, he immediately resumed his position standing in front of the entrance gap. The dude had a job as a human door. What a strange career that must be.

  Shaking off the momentary distraction, Cassidy took a look around the VIP lounge and wished she had brought her hand sanitizer. The room was long and rectangular. The far end housed a bar. Everything else was cluttered with vinyl-covered couches in insane neon colors. The violently colored upholstery mingled with the reddish hue from the freaky overhead lighting was not attractive.

  Apparently, Cassidy was the only one who found the place distasteful. There were so many people in so many various stages of undress that she could not imagine how they weren’t violating a decency law somewhere. There were pairs, and there were more. It was the more that made Cassidy’s eyes bug out. She couldn’t imagine a random hookup with one guy, let alone making out in a club with two or three.

  That wasn’t the point. Rachel was the point. Cassidy took a deep breath and started canvasing the room. She peered at the duos, trios, and yes—even a few quads. Given the lighting, they looked like bizarre examples of modern art sculptures. She grew tempted to tap a few shoulders for a better look. Rachel had to be in here somewhere. Right? There was nowhere else for her to have gone.

  Cassidy spun a slow circle in the center of the room. There was only one other way in and out that she could see, and it was behind the bar. She was starting to feel more than worried. Frantic might better describe it. She had come tonight because Rachel had asked her to. The idea was that with the buddy system, there was no way Cassidy was going to let Rachel do something stupid, like go home with a stranger. Sometimes alcohol made Rachel super friendly.

  “Hey!” Cassidy banged on the bar to get the bartender’s attention.

  The bartender raised an eyebrow. “You don’t belong in here.”

  “I know that,” Cassidy began to agree with him, and then she stopped. “Hey! How can you tell that? Am I supposed to have a stamp on my hand or something?”

  His derisive onceover made her even more indignant. “Sweetie, you’re solo. That alone tells me you don’t belong. And then”—he made a vague gesture to indicate her in general—“you just don’t look like you belong here.”

  “I’m going to take that as a compliment.” She threw her shoulders back and tossed her head. That only made her hair fly forward and stick to her cheeks, completely ruining the sassy effect she was going for.

  The bartender sighed, obviously not impressed by her show of class. “What can I do for you?”

  “I’m looking my roommate. I’m pretty sure she came in here. She was with a guy, and I promised her I would stop her from doing something stupid.”

  “Gee, that really narrows things down.” The man’s tone dripped sarcasm. “I never see that sort of thing around here.”

  “Ugh!” Cassidy nearly stomped her foot in a fit of pique. “I realize that. I’d have to be an idiot not to figure that out myself. What I’m saying is that I’ve done about as thorough an investigation of this room as I can, so since I can’t find my friend, is there any chance she left through a back entrance with this mystery guy?”

  “Nope. None.”

  “Do you want to think about that a little first?” Cassidy said doubtfully. “You answered so fast I don’t even think you heard the whole question!”

  “It’s impossible. There’s only one way in and out of this room,” he insisted.

  Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Great. So my roommate just vanished into thin air. Or maybe she melted into a puddle and got flushed down a drain. Do you see what I’m saying?”

  “No.” The bartender moved away, obviously done talking to her. Or was he avoiding her? Cassidy felt like there was something she was missing—other than Rachel.

  “Hey!” she called, but the guy didn’t turn around. “Ugh!” Now she did stomp her foot. Except she was wearing heels and all it did was hurt her toes.

  Turning around, she stalked back to the VIP entrance to find Tree Trunks. He was still standing guard at the entrance, or standing right in front of the entrance, to be more accurate.

  She poked him right between the shoulder blades. He spun around looking like he was ready to do battle. When he saw it was just her, his aggressive stance relaxed. “Your friend didn’t want to leave, huh? Can’t say I’m surprised. Most people wait weeks to get an invitation to come up here.”

  “I can’t find her at all!” Cassidy was starting to feel a bit panicky. “Rachel wouldn’t just leave without telling me. Okay? There has to be something else going on here.”

  “Lady, you’ve got to calm down. Women do this all the time.” He looked almost bored. “They find some guy, hook up, and then text their girls in the morning that they had a fab time and they want to go back to the club that night.”

  “No. Rachel wouldn’t do that,” Cassidy insisted. “You don’t understand.”

  “Whatever.” Tree Trunks shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do. You can hang out and wait for her to text you or come back. Twenty bucks says when you walk outside, your phone will get better service and she’ll have texted you.”

  Frustrated and getting more and more agitated by the second, Cassidy wondered if he might not be right about the cell service. She dived back into the throng of people and tried to reach the front door. This time she didn’t even attempt to be polite. She shoved, stomped, and yelled her way through the crowd.

  The closer she got to the outside, the more frantic she was to get there. Surely Rachel would have texted her. Right? Cassidy would go outside, get better reception, and find out where she could find Rachel.

  Then Cassidy was going to kill her!

  Leaving the smelly, hot as hell atmosphere of the club behind was like coming up for air after hours of being underwater. Cassidy stumbled out the exit and grabbed the railing to keep from tumbling headlong down the steps.

  The line to get in the club went around the block. There was almost nobody standing by the exit. Cassidy fumbled for her phone in the little clutch purse she’d kept looped over her shoulder in a cross body fashion. Taking a few deep breaths to try to steady herself, she checked her bars.

  There were five little dots in the upper left hand corner of the display. She pulled up her texts. There was nothing from Rachel since earlier that night when she had been castigating Cassidy for wanting to back out at the last minute.

  Cassidy typed in a few lines and sent the text to Rachel. She forced herself to wait. Her heart was drumming in her chest and her
palms were clammy. She was starting to feel truly afraid for her friend.

  Ten minutes finally passed as though time were slogging through glue. There was no response from Rachel. What had happened? Was Rachel still inside? Was she looking for Cassidy? Cassidy banged on the exit door of the club.