Griffin E-Book

Mayer Dale

• Herausgeber: Valley Publishing Ltd.
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Helping Kerrick was one thing, getting tagged for a mission of his own quite another …

His heart ached to hear a young girl had been kidnapped while at a hotel in Thailand, waiting for her father to arrive. But nothing is ever as it seems, and this case isn’t even close to simple.

Lorelai spent the last seven years enjoying her young charge, Amelia Rose. Tutoring the daughter of a wealthy business owner added perks to the job, like holidays around the world. In all these years Lorelai had never once seen the downside to having big money–until the holiday in Thailand where Amelia Rose is targeted, and they were both kidnapped.

Griffin managed to rescue the kidnapped victims, but tracing the kidnappers was a whole different story and brought the group a little too close to home …

Leseprobe

Griffin

The Mavericks, Book 2

Dale Mayer

Books in This Series:

Kerrick, Book 1

Griffin, Book 2

Jax, Book 3

Beau, Book 4

Asher, Book 5

Ryker, Book 6

Miles, Book 7

Nico, Book 8

Keane, Book 9

Lennox, Book 10

Gavin, Book 11

Shane, Book 12

Diesel, Book 13

Jerricho, Book 14

Killian, Book 15

Hatch, Book 16

Corbin, Book 17

Aiden, Book 18

The Mavericks, Books 1–2

The Mavericks, Books 3–4

The Mavericks, Books 5–6

The Mavericks, Books 7–8

The Mavericks, Books 9–10

The Mavericks, Books 11–12

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

About This Book

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Epilogue

About Jax

Author’s Note

Complimentary Download

About the Author

Copyright Page

About This Book

What happens when the very men—trained to make the hard decisions—come up against the rules and regulations that hold them back from doing what needs to be done? They either stay and work within the constraints given to them or they walk away. Only now, for a select few, they have another option:

The Mavericks. A covert black ops team that steps up and break all the rules … but gets the job done.

Welcome to a new military romance series by USA Today best-selling author Dale Mayer. A series where you meet new friends in this raw and compelling look at the men who keep us safe every day from the darkness where they operate—and live—in the shadows … until someone special helps them step into the light.

Helping Kerrick was one thing, getting tagged for a mission of his own quite another …

His heart ached to hear a young girl had been kidnapped while at a hotel in Thailand, waiting for her father to arrive. But nothing is ever as it seems, and this case isn’t even close to simple.

Lorelai spent the last seven years enjoying her young charge, Amelia Rose. Tutoring the daughter of a wealthy business owner added perks to the job, like holidays around the world. In all these years Lorelai had never once seen the downside to having big money–until the holiday in Thailand where Amelia Rose is targeted, and they were both kidnapped.

Griffin managed to rescue the kidnapped victims, but tracing the kidnappers was a whole different story and brought the group a little too close to home …

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Chapter 1

Griffin Tomas woke to an odd buzzing on his night table. He glanced at the clock—2:03 a.m.—then around at his surroundings. Still in the same hotel room stateside that he had been living out of for the last week. Like Kerrick, Griffin was at a crossroads. He needed a real home but had no idea where it should be. If he continued to work with the Mavericks, he could live any damn place. They’d fly him to his op. He had some ideas but …

His phone’s insistent buzz brought him to full awareness. He grabbed it and frowned. “What?”

“Your services are needed,” said the stoic voice on the other end.

“Again? So soon?”

“What can I say? The world’s a mess,” the voice said.

“Not sure if I want to do any more of these specialized jobs,” he said quietly.

“Understood, but you have a unique skill set.”

“And what’s that?”

The other end went quiet.

Griffin wiped the sleep from his eyes. “Am I going in alone?”

“You can choose one. You’ll have all the support you need in the background as usual. And, if you need more backup, you only have to ask.”

“What about Kerrick?”

The voice hesitated. “How about Asher or Jax?”

“Jax? Jax Darrum?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t realize he was part of the team.”

“We’re considering it.”

Griffin laughed. “Meaning, he hasn’t said yes, and you’re hoping that, if you can get me to work a job with him, it’ll be a yes.”

“Potentially.” That voice held a dry sense of humor. “Kerrick is around, so he’ll run communications on this one.”

“You mean, that mysterious chat window?”

A slightly muffled cough could have easily been a chuckle when the voice said, “And maybe a little more.”

Griffin frowned. “What’s the job?”

“You’re heading out in the USS Anzio.”

“Wait,” Griffin said. “I’m not going anywhere until I hear what the job is.”

A loud sigh traveled between the phones. “The daughter of a US newspaper mogul with a home base in London has been kidnapped in Thailand and is being held there. The father has got pull in high places and is dealing with us and MI6.”

“And what’s stopping the military from going in and grabbing her?”

“We only have one garbled message, saying that she’s married now and that she belongs with them.”

“And what does she say?” he asked, frowning. “Since when did a marriage keep somebody prisoner?”

“In many countries, it does keep them a prisoner, which is why she couldn’t get the word out to us that she’s being held.”

“How long has she been detained?”

“Three days.”

At that, Griffin straightened up in bed and threw off his blanket. “Three days? And you knew about it all this time?”

“No, we only got intel that this was a possible kidnapping at midnight. We’ve been waiting to get confirmation.”

“Well, I have to get there fast then,” he said. “That’s not any two-hour trip.”

“True,” the voice said. “We can fly you partway, but we don’t want you entering the country using any of the normal methods. You’re too well-known.”

He swore. “So my face isn’t to be anywhere?”

“No, hence the ship entering and leaving any country.”

“Sure, but going from California to Southeast Asia? That’s hardly a twenty-four-hour event.”

“True enough. But, as you’ll see, we have multiple methods. Be by the docks at 0600 sharp.”

And, just like that, the voice rang off. Swearing silently, Griffin had less than four hours. He got up, quickly packed, then showered and dressed. He would need food, depending on what was going on with his transportation. He stared at the Chinese food he’d had last night and shrugged. “Cold Chinese food. Yum. I’ve had worse.” He used food as sustenance and an energy source, hence keeping a selection of protein bars in his ready bag.

But still it wouldn’t be enough. Depending on what was happening on board ship—and whether he was there officially or secretly—he might or might not be fed. He quickly finished off the chow mein, tossed the empty containers, and exited his hotel room.

He had called for a cab, but instead a black military-issued vehicle pulled up. He stepped into the passenger side and looked at the driver, surprised to see Jax. “Wow,” Griffin said. “They did convince you after all. That was fast.”

Jax shot him a hard look. “A one-time deal,” he said. “And only because I know you’re the one going out on this op.”

“Not alone if you’re coming with me,” Griffin said, returning his friend’s hard look with one of his own. He knew Jax from several overseas missions. He was a good man to have in your corner but an even better one if it entailed night work. “Apparently we’re supposed to get in and out without anyone knowing we were there.”

Jax shrugged his shoulders. “So what else is new?”

They parked as close to the wharf as they could. Each picked up their duffel bags and tossed it over one shoulder. Then the two men walked to the end of the docks. A Zodiac waited for them. The pilot caught sight of them, nodded toward the back, and said, “Let’s go. We’re late.”

Shrugging at that, both men hopped into the Zodiac, and it took off without any fanfare. By the time they reached the docked cruiser, they were led to a separate room, a small sleeping area, by one silent seaman who promptly left them there. With shades of Kerrick’s mission in his mind, Griffin walked in the claustrophobic room, dumped his duffel bag, and planted his hands on his hips as he stared around. “Do you know anything more about this than I do?”

“I know Jax shit,” Jax said with a grin at the play on his name.

“Well, I don’t know anything either,” Griffin said, his tone harsh.

Just then a single rap came at the door, and a red envelope was slid underneath. Griffin quickly opened the door, hoping to see who had delivered the letter, but nobody was in the hallway. Like this was some ghost ship. He snatched up the envelope and tore it open. Travel instructions.

“Interesting,” he said. “We’re supposed to be in Thailand by noon tomorrow. Thailand time.”

“So we’re flying parts of it then,” Jax said.

“Yeah, but I already checked. Any commercial flight takes nineteen to twenty-five hours. We better be flying Air Force One to make Thailand by then. Right off the bat, we’re short like fourteen hours, just because of the time differences. Could be more like fifteen hours ahead, depending on which part of Thailand we’re dealing with.”

Jax groaned, then threw himself on the top bunk. “In that case, … I have time to sleep now. I didn’t get much shut-eye last night.”

“Who did?” Griffin muttered. Trouble was, he was hungry again. The leftover Chinese food hadn’t done the job. He quickly pulled out his phone to check if he had any internet. He did, since they were still in port. He sent off a text message. Envelope received. Travel instructions received. No damn food. No coffee.

He put away his phone and dropped to the bottom bunk, an arm across his eyes. It was one thing to be part of a well-oiled Navy SEAL team on board a ship. They did constant training when they went out to sea. Everybody had orders; everybody had instructions, and everybody had a part to play. In this scenario though, Griffin didn’t know what part he was supposed to play. That had been the same problem for Kerrick. After all those years of the disciplined navy life, Griffin found the sudden freedom in his daily routines something to adjust to. But he’d do just fine, he just needed time. Something he didn’t have right now.

Helping out Kerrick had been a hell of a way to drop into this all-new Mavericks system. Griffin wasn’t even sure it’s what he wanted to do long-term. He’d been on the fence when he’d been tagged to help out Kerrick—who was going in alone—and, well, that wasn’t Griffin’s kind of a play. Nobody should go into these shitstorms without backup.

And, if some woman had been kidnapped, … well, two former SEALs would have a better chance of survival and success versus a larger team from another agency. His phone buzzed, and an encrypted file popped up with a note. His eyebrows shot up at that. He quickly followed instructions to decode it and went through the file on Amelia Rose.

“That’s the daughter we’re supposed to find,” he said, raising his phone to flash her picture to Jax. “Except the photo’s beyond dated. And chances are someone else put out the cry for help.”

“Is she really being held against her will?” Jax asked. “That’s one of the biggest issues here. Did she put out the cry for help, or did somebody else?”

Griffin was still going through her file when he froze, looked at the date, and swore. “I’ll say it wasn’t her choice,” Griffin snapped, studying the data in front of him.

“And how do you know that?” Jax asked.

“She’s eleven years old.”

Jax peered over his top bunk at Griffin on the bottom bunk and said, “What the hell?”

Griffin nodded with a grimace. “She’s just a child. It says here she was kidnapped, along with her nurse and her tutor.”

“And how old’s the nurse? If she’s gray-haired and sixty, we’re in trouble.”

“The nurse is sixty-eight. So, yeah, we’re in trouble. The tutor, however, is thirty-two and speaks three languages. Her name is Lorelei. Lorelei James.”

“So Lorelei got the word out?” Jax asked curiously.

“Most likely,” he said. “But, as usual, our intel is very skimpy.”

“It seems like we go into these jobs with less and less intel each time,” Jax said. He waited a moment and then said, “I heard a few details about your job with Kerrick, but it went okay, didn’t it?”

Griffin groaned. “It did, but it was touch-and-go a couple times. That kid, Brandon, he was something else.”

“Didn’t Kerrick say something about the woman he rescued being part of the same high-IQ group?”

“Yes, she’s back in her lab. The entire corporate organization has been reshuffled as she stepped up in power after all the changes. Her father had also stepped up and bought a whole pile of shares and handed over voting power to her to give her complete control of the company.”

“Wow,” Jax said. “Not bad for her. And I guess Kerrick is sticking around Paris.”

“Yeah, and he’s running communications for us this time.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Jax asked.

“I think it’s the Mavericks command center. Nobody is allowed to know what we do, where we’re from, or what our histories are.”

“So, are fake IDs in that envelope for us?”

“Maybe,” he said, “but I didn’t think so.” He grabbed the red envelope, opened it again, and then whistled gently. “Well, there are now. They were stuck to the inside of the envelope.” He quickly ripped off the tape, releasing the IDs. He handed one to Jax. “This is you, Malcolm.”

“Whoever invented these names,” Jax said, “should be shot.”

“Hey, it’s way more normal than your real one,” Griffin said with a laugh.

“You’re one to talk,” Jax said. “Who names their kid after some legendary creature in Greek mythology?”

“I think Griffins are found in many different societies back then,” he said. “So, whatever. It’s unusual enough, but I’ve always liked it.”

“I like mine too. But can’t say much about Malcolm. Malcolm Harris.”

“Well, that’s all right in my opinion,” Griffin said, groaning. “I’ve been renamed as George. George Honeycutt.”

At that, Jax chuckled. “That sounds lovely.”

“It makes me sound beyond old. It’s supposedly an unassuming name,” he said. “At least this guy has brown hair and gray eyes. Close enough to pass for me.” This time he checked the inside of the envelope more thoroughly—to the point where he ripped it open. “Okay, I don’t see anything else in here. But this is a journalist’s media pass, and, if you look on the back, it’s got a British citizen’s ID card.”

“Like we look like Brits,” Jax said with a scoff. “And I certainly don’t have an English accent.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” he said. “I think it’s a case of nobody gets to look at these close enough to double-check.”

Just then another single knock came. Both men hopped up, with Jax standing behind the door. Griffin hurriedly opened the door, hoping to surprise whoever was on the other side. But, once again, he saw no one. There were, however, two large trays of covered food. He looked at it and smiled. “Well, at least my text did something.”

“What? Did you text, asking for food?” Jax asked, chuckling.

“Hey, if we’ve got a lot of traveling to do, I want to make sure I’m fed. I cannot do anything if I don’t have energy.”

“Oh, I agree with you. I’m just surprised you got service so fast.”

“One thing I learned from that last op with Kerrick,” he said, “is that anything, absolutely anything you want, you just ask for it. They do their best to deliver.”

“Good to know.” They brought the trays inside, sat down, and stared at the covered dishes. “It’s still cafeteria food though, isn’t it, just under a fancy domed plate?” Jax asked.

Griffin uncovered his. “But a step above,” he said. “I don’t know about you, but I got steak and prawns.”

Jax looked at Griffin’s plate in shock and said, “Seriously?” And then he lifted the lid to his plate and said, “Look at that. I do too.”

“But you don’t like prawns, do you?”

“No. I’ll trade you for your steak.”

“Hell no,” Griffin said. “I’ll just eat your prawns when you’re done with your steak. I know you won’t eat them, so I don’t have to give you anything.” He gave Jax a big grin. “Good deal for me.”

With that, the two men quickly polished off their meals, and then, even though it was early in the morning, they stretched out, and this time both crashed.

Lorelei James sat quietly in the corner of the room. Amelia Rose was sound asleep in her arms. Finally the little girl’s tears—loaded with homesickness, loss, and grief—had dried, then had sent her crashing into a deep and restorative sleep. Lorelei, still conscious, still awake, still dealt with the terror of what these bastards had done to Nurse. Lorelei had long ago forgotten the older woman’s real name as everyone called her Nurse. It’s how she wanted it.

Why had she been killed outright? And yet, Lorelei and Amelia Rose had been also kidnapped and kept alive. In Lorelei’s mind, she figured that their kidnappers had deemed Lorelei an asset whereas Nurse had been a liability. Nurse was definitely older, walked with a heavy limp, and was cantankerous and fussy, whereas Lorelei had done what they’d asked and had tried hard to be obedient. She knew in no way they would ever get out of this nightmare if she caused any more trouble. Nurse’s death had been a well-heeded lesson—if that’s what the kidnappers had intended.

But poor Nurse—no, Mary. That was her name. She had been with Amelia Rose since birth. And Lorelei believed Mary had been nurse to Amelia Rose’s father too.

Gerard, Amelia Rose’s father, would be devastated. She couldn’t help but think this nightmare was due to his massive global business dealings. His media company had morphed into a worldwide media and information services company, distributing content, including book publishing, digital RE services, cable network programming, and pay-TV. Yet even though he ran his massive conglomerate from his base in England, the transplanted New Englander was, at heart, first and foremost, a family man. Nurse had sat at the dinner table with them every night.

It was very American of the entire family, but Nurse had loved it. So did Lorelei. She loved the continuity of the generations, and she loved the loyalty and affection shared between one another. Only it had suddenly shifted and not in a good way. Amelia Rose was desperately struggling to come to terms with their new reality. Lorelei could only hope the message she had managed to send off had been received. She’d taken that chance, while they were in the last hotel, with one of the cleaning ladies who had been new. Lorelei had quickly passed her the note with her plea for the cleaning lady’s help, and now all Lorelei could do was wait.

At present, in their new location, no such opportunity had presented itself. Just then the door opened. She froze, the child still sleeping in her arms. One of the men came in, noted the sleeping Amelia Rose, and his face softened. That was a good-enough sign. He nodded and quickly turned and left. But then anybody who was used to dealing with children knew they were much easier to handle if they had sleep. And Amelia Rose definitely needed sleep. Then again Lorelei did too.

She closed her eyes and laid her head against the wall. A bed sat beside them, but Lorelei couldn’t get up while carrying the child in her arms. Lorelei wasn’t that strong. And she didn’t want to drop Amelia Rose, so this is where they were. They’d both sleep better though, if Lorelei could get them onto the bed.

Except she’d do anything to keep the girl asleep. Amelia Rose was exhausted and heartbroken. This had been too much for the young preteen on the brink of puberty. She was sheltered yet worldly, ever fascinated by her father’s massive media enterprise, yet kept out of its day-to-day business. She was deemed too young, although the girl had a brilliant mind. Still, she spent many fun hours in her father’s office, soaking up the atmosphere of his big business. She was due to inherit a sizeable portion of the company when the time came. But not until her father’s passing. In the meantime, Gerard ran the business with an iron grip on its total control.

Lorelei couldn’t help but think that had something to do with this kidnapping. Where there was big money … someone was always trying to steal it.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway. Her heart sank as she watched the doorknob turn.

The door opened again.

Chapter 2

The same man walked in, and he was accompanied by two different men—not dressed in suits, like some of the others, yet not in combat uniforms either, like some of the rest. They wore jeans and T-shirts, and they gently swept Amelia Rose from Lorelei’s arms and laid her down on the bed.

Half expecting them to do something horrible, Lorelei scrambled to her feet and raced over, hoping they wouldn’t separate them. Amelia Rose had been through too much. These men, or maybe the other men—she no longer knew who was who—had killed Nurse in front of them after holding Mary captive and beating her. She was harmless, but they hadn’t cared. Amelia Rose had screamed and cried out, struggling to get free, only to collapse in Lorelei’s arms.

It had all been about lessons, making sure Lorelei and Amelia Rose learned theirs.

They’d already escaped once, hence the punishment to Nurse.

The punishment had been anything but fair.

Still, the girls had learned their lesson.

Now with Lorelei standing protectively over the sleeping Amelia Rose, the men were already backing out of the room, and the door was closed and locked behind them. Grateful for that much, Lorelei laid on the bed beside her charge and closed her eyes. She kept thinking of ways that they could escape, ways that Lorelei could get the word out again. To let Gerard know. He was powerful, had money and friends in all different kinds of places—and obviously enemies too.

It wasn’t even thinkable that something like this had happened. Gerard was supposed to meet them at Island Retreat, a favorite resort where they’d planned a family holiday. Well, except not with Wendy, Amelia Rose’s mother. But Gerard—or Poppy, as Amelia Rose called him—would join them. The girl had been beside herself with joy. She loved her poppy. Lorelei and Amelia Rose had come a few days early with Nurse, and then they’d been snatched up and moved to a different hotel.

They’d all escaped soon afterward, but Nurse had ordered the two girls to go one way, and Nurse would go another, hoping all would find help and would gather later today. Yet when Lorelei and Amelia Rose had returned to their original hotel, they found Nurse Mary held there as a prisoner. It had gone downhill from there.

Now they were in this new hotel. At least Lorelei assumed it was a hotel since she could see green foliage everywhere out the window. They were in a decent-size room, and it had that hotel feel to its sheets—which made a noise when you laid down. The beds were solid though, almost too solid to be comfortable.

As she lay here on the bed, Amelia Rose sniffled in her sleep and reached out in a panic.

Immediately Lorelei wrapped her arms around her charge and whispered against her ear, “It’s okay. You’re fine.”

Only when Amelia Rose took a deep, tremulous breath and sank back into a sound sleep could Lorelei do the same.

They arrived twenty minutes to noon, Thai time. Right on schedule. After a mixture of military transportation—flights, speedboats, cruisers, and helicopters—Griffin was here, and Jax was still with him. It’s a good thing they’d eaten well at the beginning because food had been scarce afterward as they had been secreted away for most of their travels.

They had no instructions as they were dropped off on a wharf in one of Thailand’s poorest areas. With their duffel bags over one shoulder, the two of them strode ahead to find a place to make their headquarters. They hadn’t gone ten feet when Griffin’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out and found an address texted to him. He checked it out online, lifted it so Jax could see what came up, and then hit the Map icon on his cell. The location was two miles ahead and down about six blocks. Both of them set off in the direction of their next stop. As they walked up to the address, they found a tourist-type hotel.

Griffin frowned. It wasn’t their usual place. The two walked inside to see several clerks busy with tourists checking in. A man from a side office stepped forward and motioned for them to join him. They walked in, sat down on the chairs, and gave him hard glances while he shut the door, and no one ever exchanged a word. The fake IDs were handed over. The man quickly typed away on his keyboard, printed off several forms, and gave them keys. “Here you go, Mr. Honeycutt. Mr. Harris.”

Then he opened a safe and handed a stack of money in the local currency to each of them. After that, he got up, opened the door, and sent them on their way. “Enjoy your stay.”

Stuffing the money in their pockets and holding the keys in their hands, they followed the man’s instructions up to their two rooms. They entered both, dropped their bags, and Griffin unlocked the connecting door. Jax pulled out a small device from his duffel bag and quickly scanned both rooms. He nodded. “They’re clean.”

“Interesting,” Griffin said. He looked around, instinctively checking corners for video cameras and anything that might have passed the bug detector. As much as they tried to stay up on technology, it was hard to. Especially when it came to anything available in North America because China was often way ahead. He walked over to the window and took a look at the streets outside. Their beds were turned down, as if the men were ready to sleep, but it was just after noon, so that wouldn’t happen.

“Do we have any intel on timing or where our kidnap victims are located?” Jax asked.

Griffin shook his head. He sat down at the table and pulled out his laptop. “We need food too.”

Jax nodded. “I’ll scrounge up some.”

Griffin raised one finger, thinking about it, and then said, “Get enough so we don’t have to go back out today for more.”

“Are you hoping to make a move on her today?”

“I want to do some reconnaissance tonight,” he said. “In the dark, after we have a chance to get a better location of where she is. If an opportunity presents itself, then we’ll take it, but that’s not likely.”

“We can do that,” Jax said. “I might do a little bit of looking around myself while I’m out.”

“Do that,” he said. Just then his phone buzzed. Jax stopped while Griffin looked at the latest message. “Check your phone. Make sure you got these photos.”

The photos were a new set, more up-to-date, of both the girl and the tutor, plus a less clear photo of the nurse.

Jax checked his phone and said, “Got it.” Then he quickly disappeared out the door.

Griffin pulled up the Mavericks chat window and typed into the box. Intel on kidnappers’ location? We’ve landed.