By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Caitlyn O’Leary

Will Nic Get His Second Chance At Love?

Navy SEAL, Nic Hale, is happy. Just ask him. As the youngest member of the team he has the world by the tail, and a date every night of the week. Leaving him wide open to the team’s ribbing. No one would ever know it’s a role he plays to try to forget the woman who stole his heart years ago.

When Night Storm is called in to rescue a busload of kidnapped university students in the Mexican jungle, a mission Nic can sink his teeth into. That is until he finds out his high school sweetheart, the love who was ripped from him, is one of the hostages and all bets are off.

Will he be able to save her before they finally have a shot at happiness?

NOTE:
This is the sixth book in the Night Storm Navy SEAL series. It is an Action Adventure Romance that can be read as a stand-alone.

This book opens with Camilla Ross and a group of students on a tour bus being taken hostage in Mexico. Interestingly their tour guide, Lisa, is an American as well and she is able to translate the leader’s demands. Of course their are always those couple who try the patience of everyone. Trent, a football player is one and Roxanne a socialite is another. Not surprising the female of the perpetrators is the harshest.

We first see Nic and his team doing an obstacle course with all the ribbing that goes along with it. Including the hits on Nic’s bachelor status. Little do they know he’s not womanizing, he’s taking care of his cousin and her child. It’s not until the next day that the team gets a heads up on the situation in Mexico. When they finally get the go they still don’t have much information other than the location where the group was taken.

We get to see the tour group as things slowly escalate there, starting with the bus rolling. An almost attempt by the football players to get rid of El Jefe leads to deaths as an example and then they’re walking.

When the team reaches the overturned bus, the details start coming in about the group.

This is just one of my favorite scenes.

Shit. Three shot and two dead due to injuries from the bus crash. No identification. By the looks of the clothes, one looked to be one of the kidnappers. The other four were American students who were in the bus. The dead kidnapper was already missing some body parts, likely due to a jaguar since he’d been outside of the bus.

“Par for the course, the kidnappers gathered all of their belongings so they could figure out who they had and make ransom demands,” Kane said.

“Any luck on a passenger manifest?” Nic asked. He thought about some of the younger kids he knew before graduating who might have gone to William and Mary College. Were they on this bus?

Kane looked down at his tablet. “Not yet. The ETA is an hour. Not that it really matters, we just need to get to them before any more end up dead.”

“Wrong,” Max inserted.

“If we could get the backgrounds of some of these kids, maybe we could find out if some of them have any hope of helping themselves or helping us. So far, the only one who seemed to be on their game was the tour guide.”

“Point taken,” Kane nodded.

Nic still wanted to know who was on the bus. He didn’t recognize the two women or the one man who was shot in the chest. The second man, there was no hope of recognizing him, since half of his head was missing.

“What’s wrong?” Raiden asked as he sidled up to Nic. Nic stared at the girl at the back of the bus, her neck clearly broken.

“She looks so young.”

Raiden sighed. “She’s a baby. After what we’ve seen and done, I can’t ever remember being so young.”

“I know. Even when I was that young, I felt older.”

“We’ve got to go,” Raiden said as he motioned with his chin.

Nic nodded.

They stepped easily along the sides of the bus seats and hoisted themselves up and out of the bus door. They closed it up tight behind them. Kane and Leo were almost done burying the remains of the kidnapper. They didn’t need his carcass attracting more predators to the other bodies in the bus.

“The Mexican authorities should be here in two or three days to recover the bodies,” Max told the team. “The first two ransom demands have been made. Not surprisingly it was two of the girls. According to the manifest, there were fourteen passengers, as well as the bus driver and the tour guide.”

“Do we have names?” Nic asked.

Max gave him an odd look, then answered. “Just the two who’ve called their parents. Their names are Phyllis Agar and Camilla Ross.”

Time stood still and Nic went icy cold in the middle of the hot jungle. His vision narrowed so that he could only see Max. He couldn’t hear anything, just watch as his Lieutenant’s mouth moved.

He swayed and someone grabbed him. “What the fuck, Hale? I hit you in the shoulder and you’re down for the count? Did you get injured on the jump?” Cullen demanded to know.

“Huh?”

“Are you okay?” Cullen waved his hands in front of Nic’s face as he spoke slowly and loudly.

“We lost him. It was bound to happen eventually. All those women finally drained him of his manly fluids and he’s of no use.”

Nic’s fist shot out and glanced off Cullen’s jaw. If the man hadn’t stepped backward in time, he’d be down for the count.

Max twirled Nic around and grabbed both of his shoulders. “Hale! Look at me. What the fuck is going on?” he roared.

Nic shook his head, trying to clear it, trying to focus on his boss. “What were those two names again?”

“Ross and Agar,” Max clipped out. “Which one do you know?”

“Camilla Ross, sir.” Nic’s voice was just as unemotional as Max’s.

“Is this going to be a problem?”

Nic swallowed.

“Fuck. It’s going to be a problem,” Max growled. He looked over at his second in command. Kane immediately came over. “Watch him.”

“It’s not going to be a problem. I can do my job,” Nic said. He kept his voice level and unemotional, but inside, his mind was swirling. How was it fucking possible that Cami was out here in this jungle? He jerked his head back to the bus, thinking of the young girl with the broken neck.

“Kane, you and Nic are twins on this job. Got it?”

Kane nodded.

Nic jerked his head in his boss’ direction. Kane grabbed his arm. “We’ll take the rear,” Kane said to Max.

Max studied them both for a moment, then nodded.

Zed came up to Max. “I followed the tracks for a bit. Looks like three Jeeps. I counted eight sets of distinct footprints that weren’t combat boots walking in between the vehicles. Three men, five women. There could be more.”

“There are more,” Kane said as he looked up from his tablet. “There were fourteen passengers on the bus, all from universities and colleges on the east coast. With four dead on the bus, they’re down to ten, plus the tour guide.”

“Kane, what else you got?” Max asked as the others gathered around.

“Camilla Ross is supposed to be some kind of teacher or leader on this expedition. The rest are mostly undergrads. Some of them come from really wealthy families, the bios are coming in slowly.”

“What’s the four-one-one on the tour guide, do we have anything more on her?” Max asked.

“She’s led wilderness tours in Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming. She just started doing tours down here in Mexico this year. It’s strange because they don’t pay as well.”

“Are you thinking she’s in on it?” Asher asked.

Kane shrugged.

“Doesn’t make sense if she’s the one who made the S.O.S. call. I say we look at her as a friendly who can actually be of use,” Max said grimly. He turned to Nic. “What about Camilla, she’s a teacher. Does she have any skills that would help?”

“Last time I saw her was six years ago. I don’t know.”

“Okay.” Max nodded. “Zed, you take point. Everyone else spread out. These tracks are too easy to follow; I want everyone on alert to make sure there are no booby-traps, or any unfriendlies left behind.” Everyone gave Max an answer in the affirmative.
Caitlyn O’Leary. Her Faithful Protector, Night Storm Book Six: ARC – Advanced Reader Copy – Not For Sale Or Distribution (Kindle Locations 778-829).

The rescue is tense and Camilla and Lisa are pretty severely wounded. Nic is allowed to escort the group to the hospital and wait for parents to show up.

The dynamic between Camilla and Nic is very interesting since Camilla thinks Nic ghosted her and Nic thinks Camilla got married. I do have to say Camilla’s mother is a real piece of work.

I love the way Nic and Camilla slowly build a new relationship a stronger one than they once had.

5 Contented Purrs for Caitlyn!

Caitlyn O’Leary

Caitlyn O’Leary is an avid reader, and considers herself a fan first and an author second. She reads a wide variety of genres, but finds herself going back to happily-ever-afters. Getting a chance to write, after years in corporate America is a dream come true. She hopes that her stories provide the kind of entertainment and escape that she has found from some of her favorite authors.

Her Series Include:
THE FOUND
It’s a bit Paranormal, a bit Sci-Fi and 100% Action/Adventure. The characters have special abilities, that make them targets.

MIDNIGHT DELTA
This is focused on a group of Navy Seals. What makes them special is their bond to one another, and the women they come to love.

FATE HARBOR
This is the series that started her career, it is a Menage Series that takes place in Fate Harbor Washington. It focuses on a tight knit community who live and love and care for one another.

She loves to hear from her readers. caitlyn@caitlynoleary.com