"Take him to the surface," Sam ordered Dave, because he didn't quite trust that crazy Jimmy Nash and his K-bar would get the son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h up there alive.

Besides, Jim was already shouting for his freckle-faced fiancee. d.a.m.n. That was a match Sam didn't really understand. It was like Little Mary Sunshine hooking up with Count Dracula. "Tess!"

The sound of machine-gun fire echoed from a distant tunnel-Sam could only hope it was Jenkins and Decker taking out whoever was jamming their radio frequencies.

"Jim!" That was Tess, shouting back. "I'm all right!"

Sam shouted now, too. So much for needing the radio ... "Is Alyssa with you?"

"No!"

"Alyssa and Jules were going to try to defuse the bomb." Jesus. Lindsey Jenkins-Mark's wife-was suddenly right there, in front of him, concern in her brown eyes. She was scary good at that ninja s.h.i.t. "The second bomb," she clarified.

Oh, good. There were two bombs ...?

"So they hid near where they planted the box. Down this way," she told him, and he followed her farther into the tunnel, Nash on his heels. She glanced at them over her shoulder. "The second bomb's significantly bigger. I saw it as the tangos were carrying it in. It has a five-minute timer." She looked at her watch. "A minute thirty-two left, and counting. Alyssa and Jules are trapped in with it."

Once again, Sam kicked it up into a full-speed run. It didn't take long for them to reach the spot. A haze of dust was still in the air from the recent blast. Debris filled the pa.s.sageway, keeping Alyssa and Jules from getting free, keeping Sam from his wife.

"Get back," he ordered as he shone his flashlight on the walls and ceiling. Structurally, the tunnel still seemed sound. But if there was a second bomb, even bigger ...

"Fifty-seven seconds," Lindsey announced as no one obeyed Sam. They all got to work and helped him dig-Nash and Lindsey and Tess and Sophia and Jenk and Decker-heaving the bigger stones and chunks of brick out of his way, using their bare hands to scoop away any loose dirt.

As Lindsey kept her countdown going, Sam felt sick because he knew he wasn't going to make it, he wasn't going to break through in time ...

"Ten seconds," Lindsey said, and he just kept digging. "Six ... Five ..."

Nash and Decker each took one of his arms and hustled him back to a safe distance, with the others. No ...

"Three," Lindsey said. "Two ..."

"Please G.o.d, let Lindsey be wrong," Sophia breathed the words they all were thinking.

"One," Lindsey said.

Silence. And more silence.

Sam kept his eyes shut, not daring to hope ...

Boom.

The blast was far noisier than it felt. It didn't shake the ground or even rain dust and dirt on their heads. Of course, they weren't trapped in a small area with it. His wife and best friend could well have just been turned into grease smears on the tunnel floor.

"Help me," Sam said, his voice rough, as he again started to dig.

No one said a word. They just silently got to work. Dave was back by then, too, and he joined in. Please G.o.d, please G.o.d, please G.o.d, please G.o.d ...

"I think I'm through," Jenkins said, and sure enough, there was a small hole.

"Alyssa!" Sam shouted through it. He could smell smoke and ... see light? There was light on the other side, and it wasn't fire from the blast.

"Sam!" That's was Jules's voice. "Are you all right?"

Was he all right? "Yeah, is Alyssa with you?" Sam reached his hand through the hole, which was crazy-he should have been using it to keep digging. But, G.o.d, he just wanted contact.

"She's here," Jules told him-words that made him sag with relief. "She's hurt, but she's gonna be all right ..."

Chapter Eight.

"Thank G.o.d ..."

Jules closed his eyes as he clasped Sam's hand through the hole in the rubble. Thank G.o.d, indeed.

"How badly hurt?" Sam asked.

"Her leg's broken," Jules told him, "just above the ankle. I don't want to move her. She's back aways, along the far wall. It's pretty smoky in here-we could both use some water ..."

"Someone get me water," Sam shouted from his side of the rubble.

"She's very happy to hear your voice," Jules told his friend. "We both are. Did you get 'em all? It was the New Reich, Starrett. There were at least ten of them-that we knew about. You need to be careful-they're armed with-"

"We got 'em all," Sam a.s.sured him. "How badly is Lys's leg broken?"

"She'll need a team of medics-a stretcher to get her out," Jules told the former SEAL.

"I will not," she shouted from across the dusty little room.

Sam laughed. "We'll see about that."

"I can hear you."

"I love you," Sam called to her. That shut her up.

"Any other casualties on our side?" Jules asked, bracing himself for bad news.

"Nothing serious," Sam said the words both he and Alyssa were hoping to hear. "Jimmy Nash got what some folks might call cut, but what he calls a ding-a knife slice in the fleshy part of his arm. But everyone else is okay. Tess is going to bring Jim to the surface to meet the ambulances after we dig you out. Other than that ... We've got guards posted, reinforcements and medics both on their way."

"There's a s.h.i.tload of explosives in here," Jules told him. "We couldn't keep the bomb from going off, but we removed as much of the C4 from the timer as we could." C4 was like putty-he and Alyssa had pretty much pulled the bomb apart, then put the part with the timer and the blasting caps as far away from them and the rest of the C4 as they possibly could. It had gone off with a percussive bang, but had done little damage. "I've got some under my fingernails. I'm going to set off all kinds of alarms when I try to fly home."

Sam laughed. "We'll get you a special Navy SEAL manicure, but first let's get you out of here," he said. "Move back and just ... sit tight."

"Thanks, SpongeBob," Jules told his friend.

"Thank you, for staying with Alyssa," Sam said quietly.

"Like I'd leave her," Jules scoffed.

"My point exactly," Sam said. "You're a good friend."

And okay. Jules had to clear his throat repeatedly as he returned to Alyssa. And it wasn't just from the dust and smoke that still hung in the air.

She was actually crying, which she rarely ever did, tears making streaks down her face.

"Hurts, huh?" Jules sat down next to her and gave her his hand to hold. Now that dying was off the table, he knew she was starting to feel as if she had a broken leg.

She took his hand. Yow. She had some grip there.

"Actually," she told him, "I'm feeling really good." Jules nodded.

"You know what I want?" he said, answering the question that she'd asked just moments before the second bomb had gone off. "I want what you have with Sam. I want someone who won't freak out when I have a night like tonight. I want trust and respect and ... I want someone who'll say I love you in front of a crowd of co-workers and friends."

She wiped her face as she laughed. "Yeah, that's pretty nice to hear, huh?"

"Yes, it is," Jules said. "I want to meet someone," he continued, "and not think ... maybe. I want to meet him, I want to look into his eyes, and think, Yes. I don't want to have to wonder. I want to know, right away, that he's the one."

Alyssa was silent. "Unfortunately, sweetie, life's not a Disney cartoon."

Jules laughed. "No s.h.i.t, Cinderella."

She looked at him. "You know, when I first met Sam ... Jules, sometimes you meet someone, and you think, Please G.o.d, not him."

She laughed, but Jules was silent. He knew, too well, what that was like ...

"And then," Alyssa continued, "you go from no, to maybe ... And then, eventually to yes. After, you know, you force yourself to admit that you might've been wrong about him."

"What if you're not wrong?" Jules asked her quietly. "What if you know that he can crush your heart and ... destroy you?"

She brought his hand to her mouth and kissed him. She knew full well that he wasn't talking about Ben. He was talking about Robin-the one man he'd been unable to forget.

Jesus, it had been years since Jules had so much as seen Robin, and he was still thinking, Please G.o.d, not him ...

"Then you settle for the maybe that you've got right now," Alyssa told him gently. "Ben may not be able to tell you that he loves you, not in front of his Marines, but ... that could change. The same way that the maybe you're feeling could change to a full-throttle yes. And if it doesn't ... Well, at least you tried, right?"

"Tried what?" Sam appeared in front of them-having dug his way through the rubble, probably by chewing it into molecules with his teeth. He was covered with dust, and was sweaty as h.e.l.l, but he kissed Alyssa on the mouth. "What are we talking about?" he asked as he handed each of them a bottle of water, then turned his full attention to Alyssa's broken leg. He didn't cut her pants leg open, probably because he could see it was holding the broken bone in place.

Jules knew right then that Sam was eager to get Alyssa out of there-he didn't want to wait for the medics to arrive.

"I was just telling Lys that I'm going to sign up for one of those ex-gay camps and then steal her away from you," Jules told him.

Sam looked up at him askance. "That s.h.i.t doesn't work."

"I know. I'm kidding," Jules said. He looked at Alyssa. "Sam loses his sense of humor when you almost die."

"Besides, Squidward," Sam spoke over him as he gently lifted Alyssa into his arms, careful not to jar her injury, "we like you just the way you are."

"Told you I wasn't leaving here on a stretcher," Alyssa said as her husband carefully carried her out.

Leaving Jules alone with his doubts-his unsatisfactory maybes.

And wasn't that the way the story always ended? He was like that guy in that old song-alone again, naturally.

But then Sam gave a shout from out in the tunnel. "Ca.s.sidy. Move your a.s.s. We're waiting on you." In the romance department, Jules's life may have been a maybe, but as far as his friends went, Jules had himself a rock-solid yes.

"I'm right behind you, SpongeBob," Jules shouted back, then followed his two best friends out of the tunnel and up into the clean, crisp, star- and promise-filled night.

Maybe he could live for a while with maybe.

At the very least, it was worth a try.

Conversation with Navy SEALs Mark "Jenk" Jenkins, Dan Gillman, Jay Lopez, and Irving "Izzy" Zanella

2006.

This story is set shortly after Into the Storm.

IZZY: (coming into the room) Was too.

GILLMAN: (following him, along with Jenk and Lopez) Was not.

IZZY: Was too.

GILLMAN: Was not.

JENK: Guys. Knock it off. Seriously. Don't p.i.s.s Suz off. She'll be in here any second.

IZZY: I'm not afraid of her. She's just a writer.

LOPEZ: (exchanging a look with Jenk) Just a writer. She's our writer.

IZZY: Dude, I make her laugh. She likes me.

LOPEZ: Look, if you want my advice, don't do anything to catch her attention. I mean, yes, it worked out well for Jenkins. He got his happy ending in this latest book, but ...

JENK: What if she decides you're the next Sam Starrett?