SEALs of Honor: Hawk by Dale Mayer Read Free Book Online

hold her in good stead. She managed a little further then strong arms grabbed her under her arms and yanked her free. She scrambled to her feet and whispered, “My father.”
    *
    D AMN. H AWK PEEKED under the sheet metal flap. He wasn’t going to be able to save Gordon. But he had to try. They had seconds before the men would be coming for Mia. But Gordon was his friend. If there was anything he could do… Hawk quickly shoved Mia to the side and crawled in. Gordon’s arm was only a couple of feet away, but he wasn’t a small man. Hawk grabbed the arm and tugged the big man toward him. It was slow going, but he was gaining traction. Finally, he could grab under the back arm pit and he struggled backwards. Not being able to stand up, he couldn’t get any leverage to pull.
    Up ahead he could hear the men were laughing and joking. “Okay, that’s the last box. Now the girl and get out of here.”
    “Wait, these damn boxes are going to shift. We can’t have that. Come on. We have to spread them out. We’ll need to repack when the bombs are loaded.”
    Hawk froze. Bombs?
    He gathered his strength and dragged Gordon the last bit to the hole that was too damn small.
    Mia jumped forward and pulled the metal sheeting back.
    “I told you to run,” he whispered.
    “Not without you and my father.”
    He shook his head and dragged Gordon through the damn hole. “We’re killing him, moving him like this.”
    “He has a chance this way. He has no chance against a bullet.”
    He couldn’t argue that. Finally like a dam suddenly coming unstuck, Gordon slid through. Hawk grabbed his lax body and threw him over his shoulder. Mia bolted ahead of him toward the front.
    “Psst,” Hawk whispered and ran up the hill behind the shed. The men would be less likely to chase them if it was hard work. He checked to make sure Mia was following. She was now running behind him. He motioned for her to go ahead.
    “We need to go up about five hundred yards then down to the road and come around. My Jeep is hidden in the trees.”
    Relief blasted across her face and she moved off in the direction he pointed.

Chapter 7
    S HE COULDN’T HELP the panic firing her feet forward. The men were on their heels, they had to have noticed she’d escaped and it wasn’t like their path was hidden. She knew they’d scuffed up the ground dragging her father out of there.
    She peered through the trees. How far was five hundred yards? Had she passed that part? Surely he’d have said something. For the tenth time in half that many seconds she turned to glance at Hawk’s progress. And marveled. He was running light on his feet, her father across his shoulders. He easily kept pace with her even as he studied the woods around them. He was looking for the best place to go down.
    Good, she was ready to get off this ridge. She didn’t like heights. She’d leave that part to him.
    She moved forward as fast as she could and as quietly as she could. She’d bolted initially then figured she should stop sounding like an elephant on the rampage as she moved through the trees. If they followed, then they followed, but let it not be because she couldn’t stay light enough on her feet.
    “Turn up ahead at the fallen tree.”
    She didn’t turn back. She stared at the largest deadfall tree she’d ever seen.
    Turning toward it, she felt her feet shoot out from under her. She managed to muffle her shriek but couldn’t stay upright. She fell on her butt and did a fast downward slide.
    At least she got to sit down. At the bottom she picked herself up and hid behind a tree. Then took a moment to clean off her clothes.
    “Ready?” Hawk was already at her side, showing no signs of having fallen or needing a rest. He’d made it down that cliff without any visible stress. She, on the other hand, looked like she’d been pulled through the mud.
    He waited until she straightened then said, with exaggerated calm, “If you’re ready.”
    She admired his calm attitude and