Defending Hannah Read online

  Defending Hannah

  A Delta Force Defenders Novel

  By Jennifer Becker

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter One

  Benjamin “Midas” Grant sat in the back of the C-17 flying into Panama in the dead of night. Earlier that day he and his team had been given a mission to rescue hostages who were in the custody of a man, Alejandro Ferrera, a known contact with ISIS and a human trafficker. His team’s mission was to get the hostages out and download information from the dealer’s computer, and highjack a shipment of drugs before being flown out tonight at Calzada Larga Airport. A secondary Delta Force team from Texas was there for support. Ben had worked with Bulldog’s team several times over his Seven years being a Delta Force. Ben looked over at his teammate, Hound, who had contacted his friend Blade a week ago to find a kidnapper in Portland to help his friend Adam find a missing woman. Hound was their computer genius and would be downloading the data from the computer. Ben could get by on a computer but nowhere near Hound’s level of skill. Ben had never personally met the guy, Blade, but the stories Hound told of his computer genius were incredible. They could rival even Hound. But with Blade’s help, Adam had rescued a lady named Lillian Guthrie from her deranged uncle. It was a happy ending all around. Now it was time for Ben to focus on a new mission. This was the stuff he lived for. Not settling down. There was no room in his life for a woman unless it was just for a romp in the sheets. His mom thought at thirty-three he should be looking to settle down but Ben lived to stop terrorist and rescue hostages he didn’t think he could ever give this life up until he couldn’t do it anymore. Only one woman had ever made him contemplate that once. Hannah O’Connell. She was everything a high society miss should be. Fashionable, well taught and for some unfathomable reason, she had wanted him. Her parents, of course, didn’t approve but they didn’t stop them from hanging out during the summer. It was the only time Hannah could escape her mother’s scheming to turn her only daughter into the toast of Portland. Her Father, Charles ran a shipping empire and wanted only the top of the line for his family. Both sons had gone into business and Hannah was expected to become some corporate tycoon’s arm trophy. Hannah wanted nothing to do with that lifestyle. She used to make up all kinds of stories where he would ride in on a horse and rescue her like she was some kind of princess and he the knight. He may be a farm boy from Texas but he wasn’t stupid. There was no way he could steal Hannah from the O’Connell’s and there was no way he would ever get their blessing. He could still remember when they first met. His family used to travel out to Portland every summer and one summer he met Adam who had taken Hannah under his wing because even her brothers couldn’t be bothered by her. She had done nothing wrong except be born a girl. Ben and Adam had taught her to fish and hunt. Ben told her he wanted to be a soldier when he got older and would make up missions to go on and to see if he could avoid the enemy. Hannah hated always being the enemy and she always gave them hell when she finally found them or when Ben gave up on hiding. His calling came into question the last summer before he left for boot camp. All thoughts he engrained in his head about friend only Hannah O’Connell died and turned into a new direction. He couldn’t surrender his dream now. She was too far out of his league. A woman like Hannah would never understand his drive or passion and try to force him to leave the Army. Not a chance.

  Ben shut down his thoughts of Hannah. It was time to go to work.

  Ben checked over his weapons one more time and did a mental mapping of Alejandro’s mansion and grounds. He and his team were to HALO, High altitude low opening jump to the west end of the property and make their way to a warehouse near the beach and rescue the hostages being held under the warehouse and find the office that was down there. Bulldog’s team would secure the shipment. The light at the end of the C-17 turned from red to green and blared an annoying alarm before a crew chief member pressed a button that opened the rear door. Ben stood up and led the way. Time to save the day.

  Ben eased onto his stomach and looked through his NVD’s to check the perimeter. It looked like Bulldog and his team was already taking down their targets and securing the shipment. Well damn, he thought. They were good he’d give them that but so was his team.

  “One to six,” Ben whispered into his mic.

  “Six to one go.” Came a static reply.

  “One moving in.”

  “Ten-Four.”

  Ben checked his surroundings once more before moving out of the cover of the trees towards the building. The grounds were relatively quiet and Ben easily navigated around the security. Unease crept up his spine but Ben kept going. This was what he was trained for. Alejandro didn’t have many security cameras set up or guards patrolling the fence. This was almost too easy. This guy was renowned trafficker and was selling weapons to ISIS. You would think he would have more security on his property to protect his investments.

  He moved double time always scanning until he came up to the West side of the building. He looked to the tree line and signaled his team to move up. The team quickly emerged from the foliage and raced to the building. They slid along the building until they saw a window above them. Ben nodded to Doc and pointed up. Doc looked up at the window and nodded. Bending his knees and cupping his hands Ben gave Doc a boost up.

  Doc grabbed the windowsill and peaked inside. “Clear.” He whispered and pulled out a knife and pried the window open. He hoisted himself up and dropped down inside silently.

  Ben hoisted the rest of his team up until he was the last. The height was too tall for him to jump by himself but he had to try. He took a few steps back and took a deep breath. He could have asked for a rope and hoisted himself up but where would the fun be in that? Besides, he saw Jackie Chan do it in a movie once he could do it too right? He was named Midas for a reason.

  Ben ran to the wall and jumped at the last second and dug his boot into the concrete and pushed up. He reached out and grabbed the window sill with his fingertips. Not quite a Jackie Chan move. Ben felt his fingers slipping and he tried to find a footing but it was a smooth surface and he was making to much noise as was. Doc’s head popped up in the window and grabbed Ben’s arms and pulled him up. Once he was inside he sighed in relief and thanked Doc.

  “Not so golden after all.” Doc smacked him on the back and moved through the room.

  Ben scowled at him but Doc’s back was already to him so it was a waste. It was the first time he had ever tried doing that. Give him a break. Ben lifted his weapon at ready and the team swept the area.

  It only took a few minutes to do a sweep of the warehouse but didn’t see anything that would indicate a door leading under the warehouse. Ben was about to call it quits and meet up with Team Two to formulate a new plan when Hound, their youngest teammate held up a hand to stop them. Ben wasn’t one to question Hound. If he picked up on something they all paid attention.

  “What have you got?” Ben asked crouching down next to him.

  Hound pointed at the floor behind two crates. A small crease in the floor was covered in dust. There was the trap door and the crates were the camouflage in front. They jogged to the trap door and it took a bit of muscle from three of them to move the crates and lift the door. It was pitch black below them.

  “Switch off NVD,” Ben ordered and they flipped up the night vision goggles. Weapon ready Ben peaked down into the hole and made sure it was clear before jumping down. He carefully
made his way down the hallway until he came to a heavy metal door with a latch. The door appeared to lock from the outside. Strange. There was no time to ponder the mystery though. They had an office to locate and hostages to save.

  Ben quietly turned the hatch and eased the door open. There was only one hallway to go down. He moved along the wall and they checked two rooms that were empty except for a metal lab table. He turned the knob to the next one but it was locked. Locked meant something important was behind it. Good thing there wasn’t a lock that could keep his team out.

  “Sunshine, lock.” He called back.

  Sunshine, the pretty boy of their team kneeled in front of the door and pulled out several tools from his kit in his pocket and smiled in triumph after a few moments when he heard the click of the door unlock. “There isn’t a door out there that I cannot unlock.” He said proudly before pocketing his tools.

  Ben smiled; sometimes it was the little things that gave one the most joy. He pushed open the door and rushed in weapons aimed but stopped short at the sight before him. “Holy shit.” He said in disbelief.

  Chapter Two

  Hannah sat on her cot in the back of the room. She lost count how many weeks she had been here. Hell, she forgot how long she had been captive period. Days had quickly bled into months and after a while, she stopped counting. She lost hope of anyone finding her. Her family probably had already forgotten about her. Written her off as a stupid girl hitting her thirty life crisis. She had been nervous about turning thirty and not having anything in her life to show for it. So her best friend had suggested a trip to Paris as a cheer up for her. Her parents protested saying there had been many riots in Paris and it wasn’t safe for her but she had written them off as overprotective parents. How wrong she had been.

  On her second night in Paris, she and her friend were partying and found some cute guys. Hannah had a few too many drinks and before she knew it invited the guys back to their flat they had rented. As soon as the door closed behind them the men attacked them and drugged them. Hannah woke up in a dingy room and her best friend dead in the bed next to her with needle marks in her arm and vomit covering her chest. Most of her clothes were missing too.

  Not much had changed for Hannah since that fateful day. She had been drugged several times and had been sold to different buyers in different parts of the world. She was waiting to be put on a shipment for the next buy meet tonight. She didn’t know where she would be sold to this time. Or if she was even being sold. She was past the average age most of the girls brought in. Buyers wanted younger and virgin. Hannah was neither.

  She had tried escaping so many times she lost count. Tonight would be different though. She had everything mapped out in her head. She would wait until they were being lifted into the truck and she would strike down the guard and race to the ocean. She knew it was close because she could hear the waves. It was somewhere behind these thick walls she just had to reach it and swim out to sea. She’d be picked up by a fisherman or find shore and send for help. She hated leaving the other women behind but knew if she could escape she could find them help. Hannah was a good swimmer. She would rather take her chances with the sharks then live in this existence one more day.

  Hannah lay back on her cot and tried to get as comfortable as she could, which was hard being handcuffed to a bed. It was going to be a long night. "I am Hannah Grace O'Connell. My older brother is Garrett Patrick O’Connell; my younger brother is Jason Peter O'Connell. I live at 2304 New Mesa Road in Portland Oregon; I have a cocker spaniel named Cocoa. My best friend is, was Judy Snow." Hannah tried recalling other places she had lived in but they all felt a distant memory. "I'm going home," she vowed to herself.

  Hannah was just relaxing when the door flew in and banged against the wall. She immediately sat up thinking it was Alejandro's men coming for them. It was too soon, she thought. None of the women screamed in terror. They were used to Alejandro’s muscle bound men coming in and taking women away or drugging them into a stupor.

  The men who filed into the room didn't look like Alejandro's men though. They looked like real soldiers. That was the vibe she was getting from the black uniforms and weapons. These were no warlords looking for Alejandro's drugs and weapons. These men had soldiers of fortune stamped on them.

  "Holy Shit," the one in front of the group muttered when he took in the sight in front of him. It wasn't every day someone saw eight half-naked women only in sports bras and shorts, chained to a bed. Some of the women were drugged out and didn't seem to notice where they were or that they were about to be rescued or abducted again. "Sunshine, Cricket let’s get them out of here." The men spread out and picked the locks. Once the women were free a few tried to run down the hall but soldiers from out of nowhere outside the door caught them and put a hand over their mouth to quiet them.

  “Shit woman," one cursed when a woman bit his hand. "Do you want to bring all the guards on the property to us?" All the women quieted down but the damage had already been down. They could hear men yelling in Spanish from down the hall. Any moment they would come pouring in and these men would be slaughtered and she would be sold off.

  The room was erupting into chaos. Girls were quieter but still trying to run out of the room with no thought of the danger on the other side of the door. Hannah knew there weren’t many soldiers on the island but there were several underground tunnels where the men lived and spread throughout the property. It was how Alejandro smuggled a lot of his merchandise on and off the island.

  She watched carefully as the man she assumed was the leader approach her and grabbed her chain attached to the cot. His face was covered in black paint concealing his identity. She calculated her odds of getting past him and making a break for the water. The other men had easily subdued the other women so she knew her chances of escape were none. She’d never get past them all. Fear clogged her chest. No, she had been so close to escaping. She had planned everything so carefully this time. Alejandro’s men she could get past or knock down and make a run for it but these guys looked trained and hardened. Were they enemies of Alejandro and stealing from him? They may look like American soldiers but they could be anyone. They wore no insignia. They spoke perfect English though the one in front of her eyeing her up and down had spoken with a southern drawl like he was from Texas. Something about him nagged the back of her brain but she didn’t know why.

  The man in question dropped down to one knee in front of her and immediately set to work on unlocking her. It took him a little longer than the one guy to set her free. Once free she pushed him out of the way and make a break for it. Maybe the element of surprise would be on her side.

  “Ma’am, it’s okay. We're here to rescue you. I’m with the military.” He said quickly before she hurt herself trying to fight him off. She paused in her struggles but didn’t say anything. “We're here to take you home.” She sagged against him for a moment giving up her fight but quickly pushed him again when a door down the end of the corridor opened. Alejandro’s men were coming. There was no way for everyone to escape.

  "Go," she whispered to him. Hannah wanted her freedom more than anything but not at the risk of others. The women recently captured needed medical help and quickly. She could buy them all some time to get the women out. Her plan to escape was gone but she could save the others.

  The man looked at her in shock and shook his head no even as he looked back towards the empty doorway. Probably calculating the odds of them all getting out in one piece. When he turned back to her he looked at her as if he were studying her.

  "Alejandro's men will be here any second. Just go and get the girls out of here. I’ll try to stall them while you get them out." Hannah tried to reason with him. The more time he wasted the less likely he and his team would make it out alive. She didn’t want her sacrifice to be in vain.

  "Ma'am with all due respect I'm not leaving you behind." He gave her a determined look he would win this argument no matter what so she might as well
cave.

  "Midas," Another paint covered tall man called to the man arguing with her. "We don't have time for your wooing right now. Grab the girl and let’s go."

  "We still have to find the office,” The one called Midas yelled back at him and turned away from Hannah. “Lead the women to the truck. I'll be right behind you." Midas commanded with authority and the golden-eyed man didn't argue.

  Hannah took a moment to study the soldier in front of her. He was several inches taller than her five-nine frame. He had a strong jaw that at the moment was clenching. His eyes looked so dark they were almost black. It struck her like a bolt of lightning she knew this man. “Ben?” Hannah asked in disbelief. Could it really be him? The last time she had seen him was years ago when she was still a teenager crushing on him. Was she hallucinating or just to many drugs in her system? She had always imagined Ben riding to her rescue when she was younger so this seemed surreal but the feel of his body felt real. It could be anyone though.

  Midas whipped back around looking at Hannah in shock. “How do you know that name?” His body was tense as he watched her. Wondering if she was a possible threat now.

  “Are you Ben Grant?” She asked instead. Please let it be him and not her mind playing tricks on her.

  “Answer me now, woman. How do you know that name?” His eyes were wide and his arms tightened like steel bands around her arms. Hannah winced at the pain but he didn’t relent.

  “We grew up together. Us and Adam. I lived in Portland with my parents and you used to hang out with Adam Hart.” Her confession didn’t seem to appease the man. If anything it made him more suspicious of her. She was disheartened that if it was Ben, he hadn’t recognized her but then again she was mostly skin and bones and hadn’t bathed in ages. She was a far cry from what she once was. “I’m Hannah O’Connell.” She could see the wheels turning in his mind trying to place her.