Defending Hannah

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