Trapped (Delos Series Book 7) Read online

  Trapped

  By Lindsay McKenna

  Praise for Lindsay McKenna

  “A treasure of a book . . . highly recommended reading that everyone will enjoy and learn from.”

  —Chief Michael Jaco, US Navy SEAL, retired, on Breaking Point

  “Readers will root for this complex heroine, scarred both inside and out, and hope she finds peace with her steadfast and loving hero. Rife with realistic conflict and spiced with danger, this is a worthy page-turner.”

  —BookPage.com on Taking Fire

  March 2015 Top Pick in Romance

  “. . . is fast-paced romantic suspense that renders a beautiful love story, start to finish. McKenna’s writing is flawless, and her story line fully absorbing. More, please.”

  —Annalisa Pesek, Library Journal on Taking Fire

  “Ms. McKenna masterfully blends the two different paces to convey a beautiful saga about love, trust, patience and having faith in each other.”

  —Fresh Fiction on Never Surrender

  “Genuine and moving, this romantic story set in the complex world of military ops grabs at the heart.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Risk Taker

  “McKenna does a beautiful job of illustrating difficult topics through the development of well-formed, sympathetic characters.”

  —Publisher’s Weekly (starred review) on Wolf Haven

  One of the Best Books of 2014, Publisher’s Weekly

  “McKenna delivers a story that is raw and heartfelt. The relationship between Kell and Leah is both passionate and tender. Kell is the hero every woman wants, and McKenna employs skill and empathy to craft a physically and emotionally abused character in Leah. Using tension and steady pacing, McKenna is adept at expressing growing, tender love in the midst of high stakes danger.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Taking Fire

  “Her military background lends authenticity to this outstanding tale, and readers will fall in love with the upstanding hero and his fierce determination to save the woman he loves.

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Never Surrender

  One of the Best Books of 2014, Publisher’s Weekly

  “Readers will find this addition to the Shadow Warriors series full of intensity and action-packed romance. There is great chemistry between the characters and tremendous realism, making Breaking Point a great read.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  “This sequel to Risk Taker is an action-packed, compelling story, and the sizzling chemistry between Ethan and Sarah makes this a good read.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Degree of Risk

  “McKenna elicits tears, laughter, fist-pumping triumph, and most all, a desire for the next tale in this powerful series.”

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Running Fire

  “McKenna’s military experience shines through in this moving tale . . . McKenna (High Country Rebel) skillfully takes readers on an emotional journey into modern warfare and two people’s hearts.”

  —Publisher’s Weekly on Down Range

  “Lindsay McKenna has proven that she knows what she’s doing when it comes to these military action/romance books.”

  —Terry Lynn, Amazon on Zone of Fire.

  “At no time do you want to put your book down and come back to it later! Last Chance is a well written, fast paced, short (remember that) story that will please any military romance reader!”

  —LBDDiaries, Amazon on Last Chance.

  Available from

  Lindsay McKenna

  Blue Turtle Publishing

  DELOS

  Last Chance, prologue novella to Nowhere to Hide

  Nowhere to Hide, Book 1

  Tangled Pursuit, Book 2

  Forged in Fire, Book 3

  2016

  Broken Dreams, Book 4

  Blind Sided, BN2

  Secret Dream, B1B novella, epilogue to Nowhere to Hide

  Hold On, Book 5

  Hold Me, 5B1, sequel to Hold On

  Unbound Pursuit, 2B1 novella, epilogue to Tangled Pursuit

  Secrets, 2B2 novella, sequel to Unbound Pursuit, 2B1

  2017

  Snowflake’s Gift, Book 6

  Never Enough, 3B1, novella, sequel to Forged in Fire

  Dream of Me, 4B1, novella, sequel to Broken Dreams

  Trapped, Book 7

  Taking a Chance 7B1, novella, sequel to Trapped

  The Hidden Heart, 7B2, novella, sequel to Taking a Chance

  Harlequin/HQN/Harlequin Romantic Suspense

  SHADOW WARRIORS

  Danger Close

  Down Range

  Risk Taker

  Degree of Risk

  Breaking Point

  Never Surrender

  Zone of Fire

  Taking Fire

  On Fire

  Running Fire

  THE WYOMING SERIES

  Shadows From The Past

  Deadly Identity

  Deadly Silence

  The Last Cowboy

  The Wrangler

  The Defender

  The Loner

  High Country Rebel

  Wolf Haven

  Night Hawk

  Out Rider

  WIND RIVER VALLEY SERIES, Kensington

  2016

  Wind River Wrangler

  Wind River Rancher

  2017

  Wind River Cowboy

  Christmas with my Cowboy

  Wrangler’s Challenge

  Trapped

  Copyright © 2017 by Nauman Living Trust

  ISBN: 978-1-929977-51-2

  Kindle Edition

  Excerpt from Taking a Chance

  Copyright © 2017 by Nauman Living Trust

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Blue Turtle Publishing, PO Box 2513, Cottonwood, AZ 86326 USA

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Blue Turtle Publishing

  www.lindsaymckenna.com

  Dear Reader,

  I originally started TRAPPED as a short novella but the two main characters, Marine Corps sniper Aliyana Montero and ex-SEAL Ram Torres, took over. Sometimes that happens and when it does, I’m not in the driver’s seat. They are! These two had a long, divisive past with one another. I found them, as individuals, to be riveting. Together, they were like gas being poured on one another’s fires.

  Ali’s sister, Cara, has been kidnapped off the streets of Tucson, Arizona by drug trafficker lord Emilio Azarola and whisked across the Mexican border. Azarola has also captured three other female German tourists off the streets of Nogales, Mexico and kept all of them at his fortress high in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Sonora.

  When Cara is captured, Ali will do anything to help rescue her sister from the hands of this drug lord. Her will is tested when she finds out that her nemesis in the SEAL team she worked with three years earlier, Ram Torres, is leading the rescue team to free the women. Swallowing her pride, she volunteers to go along. Working with Ram on the SEAL team taught her he was closed up, unable to connect with anyone, especially her, but he was good on missions. Little did she know that Ram had always been drawn to her, but circumstances within their team did not allo
w for personal relationships. Now, all bets are off as they race to Mexico, hoping to be in time to rescue Cara and the other women before they’re sent overseas to become sex slaves.

  Ali and Ram had a long story to tell, but I hope you find it riveting, emotional, and entertaining.

  Thank you for purchasing this book. I truly hope you enjoy it. If it leaves you with warm fuzzies, please think about writing a review on it for me. Reviews are VERY important and helpful in bringing new readers to my series. If you would love to review but never have, just get a hold of me at [email protected] and I’ll send you my little article on how to write a great review! Thank you!

  Happy reading!

  Warmly, Lindsay McKenna

  Dedication

  To my many global readers: You’re the greatest! Thank you for reading my stories and I hope it gives you a ‘time out’ from this chaotic world of ours for at least a few hours!

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Praise for Lindsay McKenna

  Available from Lindsay McKenna

  Copyright Page

  Dear Reader

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Excerpt from Taking a Chance by Lindsay McKenna

  The Books of Delos

  Everything Delos!

  CHAPTER 1

  Sergeant Ali Montero had to admit it—she was worried as hell. She tried to force the snakes roiling around in her belly to stop, but her gut was tight. Worry plagued her as her combat boots thudded down the dirty ply-board floor that was in desperate need of a good sweeping. She knew what was coming: Chief Wyatt Lockwood, the leader of Bravo SEAL team here in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, had requested a private meeting with her. Now, she reluctantly dragged herself toward his office, wishing the reprimand—or whatever he had in mind—was over.

  For sure, these meetings were never a good sign. The SEALs she worked with called them “woodshed moments,” meaning you were probably in deep shit and Lockwood was going to let you know it. She’d been with Bravo team for over three months, and now, in June, her number had come up and the shit was probably going to hit the fan.

  What had she done wrong? She bit her lower lip, trying to figure out why he’d be calling her, of all people, in for a roasting. Like her fellow SEALs, Ali wore a tan t-shirt and desert camo trousers. Unlike the others, she wore her long black hair back in a ponytail most of the time.

  At J-bad, in their cramped, one-story brick compound behind the wire, everyone wore a sidearm. They knew their base was a major target for the Taliban, given the SEAL teams’ talent for decimating the enemy. Ali was part of a snatch-and-grab team aimed at killing high-level Taliban commanders or capturing the bastards alive, then handing them over to the CIA for interrogation.

  Actually, she suspected she knew what had brought on this meeting. Ever since arriving in J-bad on special assignment to the SEAL team, one guy had put her in his sights: Petty Officer Two, Ram Torres, a Mexican-American born in Nogales, Arizona. For some reason, he seemed to hate her on sight. He’d never accepted her as a part of their all-male team, even after Ali had tried to warm up their frosty relationship. The SEAL would have none of it, constantly turning his back on her efforts to be pleasant.

  She wished she could avoid him, but they were a small team and inevitably found themselves thrown together at times they would have preferred never to see each other again. Ever!

  Ali slowed down as she approached Lockwood’s office, pausing at his door hanging slightly askew on its hinges. There was nothing perfect about the SEAL group’s housing. The Navy Seabees hadn’t made up this hodge-podge of three-quarter inch ply-board. Rather, the first SEAL units had cobbled it together hastily within the grey cement structure. It wasn’t great carpentry, nor was it an engineering feat to brag about. But it kept them out of the elements and dry, and that was all that mattered.

  Taking a deep breath, she looked up and down the quiet passageway. Lockwood had told her to arrive at 0800. To Ali’s relief, the area was empty. She didn’t want her teammates knowing about this—although she was sure word would get back to the guys sooner or later. She knocked firmly on the door, and from the other side, she heard the reply in a heavy Texas drawl, “Mosey on in, Montero.”

  She opened it, and there sat Wyatt, the man in charge. He was a big SEAL, twenty-eight years old, six feet tall and, by her estimate, close to two-hundred pounds of pure, hard muscle. He looked up, and she met his gray gaze, coming sharply to attention in front of his desk buried beneath papers. “At ease, Ali,” he drawled, gesturing at the metal chair in front of the desk. “Take a load off.”

  She closed the door and sat down, pretending not to notice the churning in her stomach. “You wanted to talk to me, Chief?”

  She had to admit it: she was always impressed when it came to Wyatt Lockwood. He was a legend in the SEAL community. Not only had he graduated from SEAL sniper school, but he was brilliant at writing software code as well. He’d even designed his own mission-planning app for his team to use, and it never failed.

  A perfectionist, he still tinkered with it after every op, fine-tuning it in his rare free time—whenever that was. Ali had no idea where he found a spare minute between running his eight-person SEAL team. They were out on a mission two to three times a month, sometimes for several days or a week at a time. In fact, they’d just gotten back from their latest mission last night.

  Wyatt leaned back in his creaky chair, its stuffing poking out of the black leather here and there. “Ali, you’ve been with us since March, and I thought it was time to assess your skills and your work with my team.”

  Great. She knew what was coming. Wyatt appeared to be an easygoing guy. His family owned the Rocking L Ranch near Van Horn, Texas, which had been in his family for the past hundred years. He was a country boy, and was able to project a laid-back attitude in tense situations.

  Ali had come to respect him and even enjoy his Type-B personality under fire. She could see why he had been given his job as team leader, and for those reasons, she trusted him fully, and without question. Wyatt worked hard to make damned sure his team returned from their missions in one piece. His priority was keeping all his people as safe as he could under combat circumstances.

  She tightened her lips, waiting for Wyatt to drop the bomb on her: Ram Torres.

  “Coffee?” he asked casually, turning in his chair and picking up a battered aluminum coffee pot.

  “Umm . . . well, if you’re having some, sure,” she replied in surprise. Maybe he wasn’t going to hang her from the nearest yardarm after all! She’d never had this kind of private chat with him before and didn’t know what to expect.

  Her friend, Manny Felix, a Petty Officer Three shooter, and the youngest member of their team at age twenty-two, had told her Lockwood had read him the riot act after one of Manny’s recent missions had gone sour. Wyatt never yelled at his team or beat up on his men like some leaders did. No, he’d taken Manny apart piece-by-piece in a calm, firm, no-nonsense way.

  Afterward, Manny reported that Lockwood had asked him to train with Chuck Cerney, the oldest SEAL in the team. Chuck would mentor him so such screw-ups didn’t happen again. Ali had heard from another team member, Tinker Ledlow, that he, too, had been taken to task during one of these private chats behind a closed door—not that Tinker didn’t have it coming. She’d been there on that op and he’d screwed up a helluva lo
t worse than Manny had. She knew this probably wasn’t going to be a pep talk from Lockwood.

  Ali watched him pour hot, black coffee into two white ceramic mugs, but somehow she suspected that neither Tinker nor Manny had ever been offered a cup of coffee during their interviews. All they’d gotten was a Texas-sized verbal frog-stranglin’ thunderstorm raining on their parades. Warily, she took the coffee he offered with a murmured, “Thanks.”

  “I also have sugar and powdered milk,” he said, pointing to the two containers on the shelf above the coffeepot.

  “No . . . no thanks, Chief.” His excessive niceness wasn’t jelling with what she’d heard from Tinker and Manny.

  “Hey, Ali, in here when we’re alone ‘Wyatt’ will do. Okay?”

  She gave a slight nod. “Yes. Okay.” Lockwood was known in the ranks as a pretty casual leader. He always called the members of his team by their first names or their nicknames. When he used their last names, it meant he was displeased about something they had or hadn’t done on an op.

  Wyatt sat back and watched Ali watching him. He grinned. “Drink your coffee, Ali. I’m not gonna behead you.”

  “I haven’t seen you do that to anyone on the team,” she said quietly, hoping she wouldn’t be the first.

  “How are you getting along with the team, Ali?”

  There it was! What a loaded question! Lockwood was damned smart, and knew what was going on with every member of his team. Ali knew that bullshitting him wouldn’t work. But would brute honesty serve her? Should she be diplomatic? Tell some of the story, but not all of it?

  She felt sweat form under her shirt as her nervousness turned into panic. How could she escape telling the truth?

  “Well,” she began, clearing her throat, “I think everything is going fine.” She saw Wyatt’s eyes narrow slightly as he studied her, continuing to slowly rock in the chair.

  “Really?”