Hot SEALs: SEAL's Ultimate Challenge Read Free Page A

as a Washington, D.C. cop had prepared her for the worst. Her job on the force had given her the experience with just that. The worst.
    Yeah, from cop to physical therapist was a huge change of career. Not one she had chosen for herself. Well, not really.
    The daughter of a police officer, she’d never dreamed of being anything else. Both of her brothers had gone into law enforcement. One joined the FBI, the other joined the Alexandria, Virginia Police Department. Her sister had become a nurse and delivered babies in the maternity ward of Bethesda Health. And Leigha had joined the same police department where her father had worked until the day he was shot and killed by a man robbing a liquor store. All over a bottle of whiskey.
    Leigha would still be a cop, if she hadn’t had a shootout go sideways. Two brothers had ganged up on another man. Their argument drew the attention of a neighbor who’d called 911. Leigha and her partner responded to that call.
    When they arrived, the argument escalated.
    Leigha and her partner got out of their vehicle, at the same time one of the brothers opened fire, shooting the man in the face. Both brothers ran.
    Leigha and her partner gave chase. The brother with the gun ducked behind a trash bin and fired at them.
    Her partner went down, clutching his leg, but yelling, “I’m good. Get him!”
    Leigha dove to the side, rolled and pushed to her feet, racing after the fleeing men.
    The armed man turned and fired his weapon at her. The first shot went wide, the second one hit her in the knee. Leigha hit the ground, her weapon flying free of her hand and skidding across the pavement two feet away. Pain ripped through her leg when she tried putting weight on it, so she dragged, scooted, and pulled herself toward her weapon.
    With no one chasing him anymore, the man with the gun stopped running and said something to his brother, then walked toward her, brandishing his gun. “Not so tough now, are you?” As he neared her, he pointed the weapon at her chest. “Well, look here. We got a she-cop. Maybe we could have a little fun with the bitch before we kill her.”
    Another siren’s wail echoed off the brick walls.
    The man’s brother tugged at his arm. “Shoot her already. We gotta go.”
    With her gun inches away from her hand, Leigha knew she had only one chance and she had to make it good.
    The man pointed the gun at her face.
    Pushing hard, Leigha rolled over, grabbed the gun, and lying on her back, shot the man in the chest. The impact at such close quarters flung him backward, knocking his brother on his backside. The dead man’s weight on his brother trapped him momentarily. Long enough for Leigha to sit up and take aim at him. “Move, and I’ll blow your ass away.”
    That had been two years ago. One of the brothers died that day. The other was sent to prison as an accessory to the crime.
    The gunshot wound to Leigha’s knee ended her career on the force. Sure, she could have taken a desk job, but that wasn’t an option. She had to be moving. Instead, she’d opted for medical retirement at the ripe old age of twenty-five. This option left her floundering in indecision. She’d never dreamed of doing anything but law enforcement. She wanted to put away thugs who killed people for fun. Baby killers, rapists, and cop killers like the one who’d shot her father.
    After six months of knee reconstruction and physical therapy, her physical therapist had encouraged her to go back to school and retrain. Do something with her life, because it wasn’t over yet.
    Because of the work her therapist had done with her, Leigha could walk practically without a limp and she was jogging a little, though that activity wasn’t encouraged on her bionic knee. The elliptical was her friend, helping her to rebuild the strength in her calves and thighs.
    Grateful to be back on her feet and almost as good as new, Leigha decided to pursue a career in physical therapy. As part of her curriculum, she’d