Fall of the Trident (Seasoned SEALs #3)

Chapter 1

Vice Admiral Trevor Maddox yawned so wide his jaw cracked. He rubbed his large hand over his face trying to scrape away some of the tension of the past thirty-two hours. He was getting too old for this all-nighter shit.

Glancing at the multiple clocks that ringed the room like crown molding, he confirmed that it was just after four o’clock in the morning the next day in Afghanistan.

Every wall contained at least one large flatscreen with helmet-mounted cameras streaming live, photographs from overhead drones, or maps with blinking dots, each representing a Navy SEAL under his command.

Hundreds of his men were deployed on secret missions to rescue and extract all remaining Americans and natives who had helped the U.S.

Armed Forces during their nearly twenty-two-year occupancy of the war-torn country.

In some cases, it was just a single man or woman in a city of hundreds of thousands.

In others, his men would be responsible for removing an entire family from a remote village filled with nosy neighbors who supported the new Islamic fundamentalist government.

All missions had to be conducted completely covertly. His men couldn’t get caught in the now Taliban-controlled country.

Most of the teams had already extricated their high-value targets. Their refugees were on airplanes flying to the United States while others were in helicopters headed to safety in nearby Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, or some other country still friendly to the United States.

Unfortunately, not all the missions had gone as planned.

“Blue one-seven alpha this is OpCen one. Come in blue one-seven alpha,” the ominous voice from the control center at USSOCOM announced through the speaker phone.

“OpCen one, this is Blue one-seven alpha.”

“Blue one-seven alpha, you have blue two-niner alpha and blue two-five charlie one click from your location.”

Captain Evan Hubbard let out a deep breath.

“Thank Christ.” Everyone in the room had recognized the complicated designation system created by the United States Special Operations Command because multiple services were involved.

Blue designated Navy SEALs, green for Army Special Forces, red for Marine SpecOps, and yellow for Air Force Para-Jumpers.

In this case, the team led by Lieutenant Dylan Chaney was about to get some much-needed help.

Trevor could see the relief on his friend’s face knowing the young man Evan had come to think of as the son he never had would soon be able to complete his mission.

“We’ll get our boy home,” Trevor quietly reassured.

He zoomed in on Herat. It was the third largest city in Afghanistan located in the northwest corner only eighty miles from Iraq.

Definitely a dangerous area of the country.

When Dylan’s team had arrived at the home of his designated high-value target, the man’s wife had informed him that six hours previously Taliban soldiers had rounded up everyone who had ever helped the United States or its allies.

They had been taken to a school built for girls by a world humanitarian organization. Since the new government did not believe in educating females, the well-built structure had become a staging area for those arrested and awaiting public execution on the playground.

After passing along the vital information to other teams in the area, Dylan had gotten the woman and her five children on their way to safety.

He and the remainder of his team had reconned the school and developed a strategy to rescue all the captured men but needed reinforcements to implement the plan.

Lieutenant Chaney is going places, not just because he’s the father of Evan’s grandson, but he’s a damn good officer .

The door to the conference room opened and Marta Merkel, administrative assistant extraordinaire, at least in Trevor’s opinion, slid in with trays of food stacked three high.

The woman was his lifesaver. She certainly knew what she was doing as the civilian assistant to the commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare.

Sure, she had worked in that office for over twenty-five years, the last decade at the desk directly outside his office, but the woman knew his job better than he did.

He was her fourth NSWCO and regularly shared her experience making him look fucking good.

Marta set the trays on a credenza and had just turned back toward him when Dylan announced, “Blue one-seven alpha, blue two-niner alpha, and blue two-five charlie ready and in position. Do we have a go?”

Trevor felt her gaze on him. That’s Dylan , she mouthed.

May I… She pointed to her feet. He gave a slight nod knowing this wasn’t her first experience watching a team in live action.

Her security clearance was equal to his.

Besides, as best friend to Evan’s new wife, Genevieve, she personally knew Dylan and his four-month-old baby, Ian.

“Blue one-seven alpha, blue two-niner alpha, and blue two-five charlie, you have a go. I repeat, you have a go.”

Everyone’s attention went to a side screen where the eerie green of night vision technology made it difficult to discern images.

“On my count.” Dylan counted backwards followed by an explosion that rocked the building in front of them. Someone pointed to the drone footage that showed explosions at the four outer doors.

The barrage of bullets was so loud Trevor felt as though he was in the building with his men.

Shouting in English and Pashto filled the air when not drowned out by the echo of gunfire.

It took less than a minute to sort out that every local man was on their lists as HVTs.

What felt like a lifetime later, which in truth was less than six minutes, men moving in a line could be seen through the green haze on the screen.

Once outside, Dylan reported, “Blue one-seven alpha, blue two-niner alpha, and blue two-five charlie, moving to extraction site. Eight targets down. No casualties.”

The conference room erupted. The four team commanders present leaped out of their seats shouting and pumping their fists in the air. His relatively new Executive Officer, Rear Admiral (lower half) Paul O’Connor, joined in the excitement.

Trevor realized he was on his feet when he was embraced in a bear hug by his friend, Captain Evan Hubbard. When the big man turned to congratulate someone else, Trevor watched Marta trying to hold in her jubilation, smiling ear to ear.

Caught up in the excitement, he turned to his administrative assistant and wrapped his arms around her and picked her up off the ground.

“He did it.” Marta threw her arms around his neck. “Dylan did it.”

“Damn straight he did.” Trevor leaned back to look at the beautiful woman in his arms. He hadn’t held a woman in over five years. It felt so fucking good. Leaning forward, he placed an excited kiss on her lips.

Heat rushed through him, awakening body parts that had been dormant for years. His cock twitched as it started to fill.

What the fuck? He hadn’t had an erection since his wife had passed away. Not that it was anywhere close to its full size, it had still shocked him.

Setting Marta back on her feet, he made sure she was steady before he released his arms from around her.

Suddenly realizing what he’d done, Trevor quickly glanced around to see if anyone had seen him kiss her.

Whew. Everyone else was caught up in their own excitement.

The stunned look on her face made him take a step backward. He couldn’t read her eyes because his gaze was darting everywhere reassuring himself that no one had seen his moment of indiscretion.

He was the fucking commander of all Navy SEALs, West Coast to East Coast and those stationed around the world.

It was his job to set an example and kissing his administrative assistant was completely unsatisfactory.

Hell, she could stride back to her desk and write up a complaint against him, and rightfully so.

He could be court-martialed for several things starting with conduct unbecoming an officer and ending in sexual assault.

One glance back at Marta told him everything he needed to know. She was in shock. She hadn’t moved since he’d let her feet touch the ground. Her fingertips were at her lips as though holding in a scream.

He stepped close enough to her so only she could hear. “Marta, Ms. Merkel, I don’t know what overcame me. I sincerely apologize. I am so very sorry.”

She blinked and it was as though she had regained all her senses.

“Don’t worry, Admiral, I’m equally at fault.

I was caught up in the moment.” She then smiled at him, but it wasn’t her normal admin to boss show of white teeth.

“And I’m not a damn bit sorry.” She winked at him before turning on her heel and striding out of the room with a little bit more swing in her step than he’d ever noticed before.

Trevor slumped down into the chair at the head of the table he occupied for nearly a day and a half.

He watched the large blue dot representing Dylan’s enhanced team move quickly north to Turkmenistan.

He watched until the helicopters had crossed the border to safety before widening the map until he could see all of Afghanistan. No blue dots.

All U.S. Navy SEALs were safely out of Afghanistan, their multiple missions complete.

Slowly letting out a deep breath, he realized just how exhausted he was.

“Gentlemen.” Trevor stood. “It’s been an eventful few days.

We all need some sleep. I suggest everyone go home.

When our men return, we’ll give them a hero’s welcome home.

I’m going to take my own advice and go home to sleep. I’ll see you all tomorrow morning.”

On the way past Captain Hubbard, Trevor stopped and shook his hand. “I’m so fucking proud of Dylan.”