A SEAL Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear

some time as they picked up breakfast burritos for everyone. When they returned, the men were still dawdling at getting dressed. Bjornolf hustled them to dress faster and hurry up and eat, suspecting that their snail-paced response had something to do with them trying to slow the team down. He wolfed down his own burrito, like Hunter and Finn did theirs.
    Hunter was watching out the window when his cell rang, and he said, “Okay, I see you.”
    As two dusty black SUVs and a blue Ford Taurus pulled up in front of the cabanas, Bjornolf stayed with the Wentworths, watching Hunter’s back as he went out to speak to the drivers.
    Finn’s cell rang. “Got it. Be right out.” He turned to Bjornolf. “I’m going out to help Hunter. You stay with the Wentworths.”
    Bjornolf nodded.
    Finn and Paul joined Hunter outside, and they began to inspect the SUVs while the men who had brought the vehicles drove off in the car. Anna and Allan remained with the woman and the kids inside the other cabana.
    Bjornolf surveyed the area around them, looking for anyone suspicious, and saw a man speaking on a phone, watching the cabanas. Bjornolf got on his cell to let Hunter know. “Trouble might be coming. A man appears to be relaying our movements.”
    “Got it,” Hunter said.
    They couldn’t do anything until someone made a move. Even then, they had to be careful not to create an international incident. Killing what appeared to be everyday, normal Colombian citizens wasn’t an option.
    “Vehicles are all clear,” Hunter said to Bjornolf over the phone. “Bring the Wentworths out.”
    “Come on. Time to roll out,” Bjornolf said to the brothers.
    When he and the men vacated the cabana, he glanced in Anna’s direction to see her herding the mother and kids outside. He gave her a curt good-morning nod.
    Most of the team members were wearing jeans and T-shirts, vests featuring embroidered university emblems, and combat boots, and they looked like tourists. Paul was wearing that gaudy hot-pink palm-tree shirt. Bjornolf shook his head before he could catch himself, but he had to admit, Paul did look like he was on vacation. Bjornolf’s vest was camouflage, not quite touristy, but close enough.
    Bjornolf couldn’t help but stare at Anna’s clothes. No matter what she wore, she wasn’t just one of the guys. Her black T-shirt had a scoop neckline and stretched across her pert breasts. She wore a black vest over the shirt that hid her concealed gun. She was provocatively sexy and downright lethal. What better combination could an undercover operative like him want to watch his back?
    Anna looked unsettled, her eyes flitting from him to Helen Wentworth. Something must have occurred last night.
    Hunter said, “Bjornolf, you, Paul, and Anna ride with the kids and Mrs. Wentworth. The rest of us will go in the first vehicle.”
    Anna took Hunter aside and spoke softly to him, which had Bjornolf wondering if she had uncovered some new information. As the SUVs rolled out, Anna drew close to Bjornolf and whispered in his ear, “I questioned Helen about her involvement in the hostage situation last night.”
    Not entirely surprised, Bjornolf nodded and listened to her account. He glanced back over the seat. Kids had disappeared from view in the backseat. He assumed they’d fallen asleep. Mom had her eyes closed, her head against the seat back. She might not have been asleep, but with the rumble of the SUV’s engine and the sound of the vehicles tires on the pavement as they made their way down the road, she wouldn’t be able to hear Anna’s whispered words.
    “I couldn’t get that much out of her.” Anna let out her breath. “She’s no longer speaking to me so I figure I won’t be able to get anything more out of her on this trip.”
    “Hunter will be checking into more of the story when we return. I let him know it looked like the word was going out to watch our vehicles. I’m sure we’re going to have trouble up the road.”
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