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- Herausgeber: Valley Publishing Ltd.
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
Hatch is more than happy to step up and to rescue the missing father-and-daughter archeological duo. Now if only it were that easy. They’d been questioned by the Egyptian government and released, with a warning to not leave Cairo. But, when their hotel room is found empty, most believe they took off ahead of punishment—but not Hatch’s team.
When the father’s foreman turns up dead, Hatch investigates the body-dump location and finds the daughter, weaving through the sand, ready to collapse.
Milly is shaken and grieving. During her captivity, her father dies, and she escapes, only to find herself lost in the sand dunes. She may be safe, but her father will never come home. Millie is determined to find the man responsible for her father’s death and for the information that’s changed her entire life.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
Ähnliche
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
Prologue
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
Epilogue
About Corbin
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 and just might get to meet old ones too 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.
Hatch is more than happy to step up and to rescue the missing father-and-daughter archeological duo. Now if only it were that easy. They’d been questioned by the Egyptian government and released, with a warning to not leave Cairo. But, when their hotel room is found empty, most believe they took off ahead of punishment—but not Hatch’s team.
When the father’s foreman turns up dead, Hatch investigates the body-dump location and finds the daughter, weaving through the sand, ready to collapse.
Milly is shaken and grieving. During her captivity, her father dies, and she escapes, only to find herself lost in the sand dunes. She may be safe, but her father will never come home. Millie is determined to find the man responsible for her father’s death and for the information that’s changed her entire life.
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Prologue
Hatch Collar had convalesced on the California base, per Mavericks’ orders. He stretched out his legs and gave his arms and shoulders a good shake. It had been two weeks since the end of the last mission, and his body was back in fighting form again. And that was a damn good thing because he was raring and ready to go. Killian and Stacey had gone away for a week, and now they were back, only a couple blocks away. They were happily rearranging their lives, as they figured out what they would do.
Hatch wished them well, and what she had said—that Hatch’s time for a true relationship would come—kept ringing in the back of his head.
The Mavericks had a bit of a running joke going on the subject. And, while nobody could do anything to force a happily ever after ending, Hatch really hoped that one day, maybe, if he were lucky enough, he’d find the right person too.
The phone rang, and he snatched it up and saw it was Killian. “What’s the matter? You bored with your time off already?” he teased.
“Well, the time off was last week,” he noted. “Back to work now.” A serious note was in his voice.
“Oh, what’s up?” Hatch asked.
“An archaeologist,” he said, “and his entire team.”
“What about them?”
“They’ve disappeared out of Egypt.”
“Why?”
“Well, talk from the Egyptian government said that they had been arrested for doing some illegal digging and had stolen something they had found.”
“Interesting, but that’s hardly what I would expect an archaeologist to do.”
“Exactly, but there is also talk of somebody on his team maybe having a part in it. Anyway, they were released and subsequently disappeared.”
“Great. So … what now?”
“How do you feel about Egypt?”
“I love Egypt,” he replied. “Am I going?”
“You are.”
“And I’m looking for an archaeologist.”
“And his daughter.”
“Daughter?” At that, his eyebrows shot up. “Okay.”
“As of yesterday,” Killian stated, “they’ve been officially reported as missing.”
“So who’s looking for them?”
“Well, they were over there on a US grant and are essentially employees of the US government. They have a very high clearance, and, now that they’re missing, it’s brought up some issues.”
“Of course. And this isn’t something they want any of the SEALs to go after or any of the other fighting teams?”
“No, they want it to be a very small, low-key investigation. In and out, quiet and fast, because they don’t know whether the Egyptian government is involved somehow or not.”
“Okay,” he said. “That’s just vague enough to keep me guessing.”
“Her name is Millie—short for Millicent—Bragner. Her father is Marcus Bragner.”
“Oh.” Hatch whistled. “I’ve been to one of her speaking events. However, he’s the one who’s been a strong protester against the current Egyptian government.”
“Right, which just adds to it. The US government has been trying to keep the peace, and Marcus has been causing quite a ruckus. When he was arrested, the US stepped in to try to smooth out the issues. Then he was released, and he and his daughter promptly disappeared, so now, of course, everybody’s up in arms. Including the Egyptian government, supposedly.”
“Well, if they didn’t have anything to do with two Americans disappearing, then of course the Egyptian government would be upset. And, if they did have something to do with it, then of course they would act alarmed because they don’t want anybody to know otherwise.”
“Exactly,” Killian agreed. “Glad you understand. By the way, you leave in three hours.”
“Gee, lots of warning, huh?”
“It’s the most I could get you,” he explained, “even though you’re going through the base.”
“Military transport?”
“All the way,” he confirmed.
“Okay, I’ll be there.”
“I’ll be your handler.”
“Sounds good to me. Am I getting a partner?”
“You are.” He laughed. “And somebody who hopefully will put a smile on your face.”
“I’m not such a grouch that it takes much to put a smile on my face,” he protested.
“Well, you haven’t seen this one for quite a while.”
“Do I know him?”
“Absolutely. You used to work with him.”
“Says you.”
“You’ll meet him at the base.”
“Where?”
“On the dock. You’re heading out to the destroyer. And I’m not even sure which one yet. I’ll text you as soon as I hear.”
“How many are in shore?”
“Three.”
“That’s fine,” he said. “Tell my partner that I’ll be there.”
“Wait.” There was a short moment of silence on the other end. “You’re transferring to a different base because transport’s already revving up to go. We initially hadn’t been given clearance. But they’re giving it now.”
“So how quickly am I leaving?” he asked. He looked down at his gym bag. “I only have my gym bag with me.”
“No problem. Your new gear bag will be in the vehicle that picks you up.”
“When is that?”
“Head out now.” Killian hung up.
Hatch had his wallet and his phone on him, so just walked outside.
A vehicle drove up, and a head of spiky red hair and a face filled with freckles popped out.
“Jesus. Corbin? Corbin Wallace.”
“Yep, that’s me.” Corbin grinned.
“Great, are you my partner?”
“We’ve been partners forever anyway, so why not again?” he noted. “You just haven’t seen me in a bit. And I must say, they patched you up pretty well, considering.”
Hatch hopped into the passenger side. “Yep. So, where are we going?”
“Down to the docks and out.”
“It would be nice if I had enough time to get at least one change of clothes.”
“In the back, mate, in the back.”
He looked in the back seat and laughed. “How damn typical.”
“It so is.” Corbin looked over at his buddy. “You ready to go kick some Egyptian ass?”
“I’m always ready to kick some ass. I don’t think I’ve kicked any Egyptians lately.”
“Well, we’re only after the bad guys. So we have to keep an open mind if it’s even Egyptians in this case.”
“Too often in these cases people try to make the Egyptian government look bad. And they set it up so they look like the fall guy.”
“I know,” Corbin agreed.
“So what do you know about the case?” Hatch asked him.
“Only that a gorgeous chick is involved,” Corbin replied. “And that means I’m on board.”
Hatch laughed, shaking his head. “Well, it’s my turn. If a cute chick is on board, she’s mine.”
“What?” Corbin asked. “How come? I’m not into having to take a number here.”
“Too bad. I’ve waited a long time.” He looked over at his buddy and grinned. “Besides, I’m better looking than you.”
At that, the two of them burst out laughing. Even though it was a trip that would be fraught with danger and many twists and turns, Hatch would always be happy to have this man watch his back. Now, if only they could get to Egypt in time and find out where the family had gone—before whoever had arranged all this decided the father and daughter were more of a liability alive than dead.
Chapter 1
Hatch Collar picked up yet another piece of pizza out of the box in front of him and studied what was going on outside the window. “So strange.” He shook his head. “You look in this direction, and everything looks like a normal busy city, but you look in that direction, and that huge pyramid just bounces out of nowhere.”
“Yet for everybody here, it’s normal,” Corbin agreed, pyramids being normal and about what they expected to see here in Egypt. “Definitely not what anybody from the Western world expects to see.”
“Yet here we are.” He gave him a big smile.
Corbin looked around. “Hurry up. It’s almost eleven. We need to scout the area before the heat really kicks in.”
“We ain’t going anywhere quickly,” Hatch replied. “Besides, you know nothing here happens fast enough.”
“Well, it happens faster than you think,” he murmured.
“I don’t know about that,” Hatch countered. “Seems like everybody else here is on a different time frame when we’re in a rush. They’re all the slowest people in the world.”
At that, Corbin laughed. “I know.” He picked up a piece of pizza and bit through the tangy cheese. “This is good. A slightly different taste, but it’s good.”
“I know. It’s an American chain, so you’d expect the same taste over here, and yet apparently just the sourcing of ingredients makes a massive difference.” As he studied the piece of pizza in front of him, Hatch shook his head. “It could be a long time before we get another piece of this.”
“You know what? I’m okay with that,” Corbin replied. “I’d rather have gourmet food.”
Hatch snorted at his friend. “Gourmet foods are fine and dandy when you can do it, but you know on these missions that we’re lucky if we get any food at all.”
Corbin rolled his eyes. “Hey, from what I’ve been hearing, you guys get fed and treated quite well in this Mavericks scenario. Better than we in the navy normally do.”
“Oh, we do,” Hatch replied, “but that doesn’t change the fact that still, a lot of times, we’re just grateful to have anything at all.”
“Yeah, we’ve been on more than a few of those ops, haven’t we?” He stared at his friend. “This is likely to be one of those missions that we wish we’d never started.”
“Probably,” Hatch murmured quietly. When his phone buzzed a moment later, he flicked the screen, so he could read the message. “Okay, we’re good to go.” At that, he snatched up one more piece out of the pizza box. “Grab that last piece. We won’t let it go to waste.”
“Not to mention that we don’t know when the hell we’ll get more.”
“Exactly.”
With that, the two men stood, still eating the last pieces of pizza and casually walked out the door. Hatch stopped, looked at the huge pyramid in front of him, then resolutely turned his back and walked in the opposite direction. Such a foreign thing to see right here in front of him, completely surrounded by civilization.
Not everybody got access to places like where he was going. They were looking for a father-daughter archeology team and still had no word on their whereabouts.
So far, the Egyptian government had denied any involvement, which of course they would. It was also pretty stupid of them to get involved in something like this, when a lot of American repercussions could follow. The missing pair were American. They were in Egypt on an American grant and had the permission of the Egyptian government.
Somehow the father had gotten himself into some trouble, as he railed against the Egyptian government for what they were doing to a lot of the finds unearthed at these sites. Marcus didn’t like the fact that these sites were being developed and marketed for tourists. Marcus wanted each to be kept as historical places, keeping the tourists away.
Hatch also wondered what the American government was doing by allowing somebody who let his mouth run loose come over here to begin with. Especially when Marcus’s views on the Egyptian government and its interference into the archaeology sites were very well-known.
Generally the Egyptian government knew where their priorities were and took care to keep everything preserved for future generations, but, every once in a while, when things were tough, when they needed to open up something new to stay relevant in the mainstream media and to keep the tourists coming back, they did something that pissed people off.
“I still can’t believe the Egyptian government let Marcus over here again,” Corbin muttered.
“But it was a balancing act. Let’s be realistic. Trying to keep people happy isn’t easy. You can keep them happy on Friday and Saturday, but, come Sunday, they could still hate your guts. Just no keeping everybody happy all the time.” That was one of the lessons Hatch had learned a long time ago. And right now Marcus needed to keep his mouth shut. “I just hope Marcus isn’t in trouble.”
“That’s assuming he’s still alive. I know the pair a little, and trouble finds him at every turn.”
“More than that, where is Millie, the daughter?” That was the worst part. … She was as opposite to her father as one could be. Hatch walked along the very busy tourist trap streets and took the first alleyway he could to get out of the heavy traffic. He looked back at his friend. “Amazing to think how many million visitors you can stuff into one country at any given time, isn’t it?”
Corbin laughed. “And yet those visitors are the lifeblood for the people who live here. Those tourist dollars are everything.”
“I know,” Hatch replied. “Either that or the workers at the archaeology sites.”
“Which is only good if you’re physically fit and don’t have injuries that prevent you from keeping up.”
“I know, right? Hard physical labor or tourist traps? … Hard decision.”
“Personally I’d take the hard physical labor each and every time,” Corbin muttered. “It’s not that I’m against tourists. I just don’t want them in my face.”
“Which means you are against tourists.” Hatch laughed. “That’s what everybody says. We’re not against tourists, but we don’t want them in our backyard.”
“Like any factory or dumpsite. They’re not against it, and they certainly use its products and put its services to good use, but they don’t want it in their backyard.”
“Exactly, and you can understand that to a certain extent.”
“Oh, I understand. I just don’t particularly like it.” He flashed his grin.
They slipped into the address for their lodgings, walking up a set of stairs, and at the top was a door. Without even hesitating, Hatch reached for the door, pushed it open, and stepped inside. Immediately the cool air surrounded them. No air-conditioning but a big lazy fan turned above his head. Hatch looked around, then nodded. “This will do nicely.”
“Well, we’re certainly central too.”
“That’s not necessarily something we want, but, until we have more information about the location of our missing Americans, no point in not being central. We have to be ready to run at a moment’s notice.”
“Got it,” Corbin replied. “In other words, don’t unpack.”
“Go ahead and unpack.” Hatch tossed his friend a bright grin. “Just be ready and make sure that whatever you need to grab is handy because that’s about all the time you’ll have available.”
“So it’ll be a two-second grab, and then we’re out?”
“You got it.”
Corbin looked over the place. “Two bedrooms?”
“Yep, the accommodations are usually pretty decent,” Hatch noted.
“Providing they can give us any accommodations,” Corbin added, with a smile.
“I’m looking forward to this.” As Corbin walked through to one of the bedrooms, Hatch grabbed his laptop, sat down at the nearby table, and checked in.
Almost immediately, Killian signed on. How was the trip?
Perfect, Hatch replied. This place is hot and muggy and overpacked as always. He got a thumbs up for that report. Hatch shook his head and quickly typed a message, asking if the Mavericks had any new intel.
Nothing helpful was the response.
“Damn.” Hatch sat back, looked around, then called out to Corbin, “We’ll have to start hunting without intel.”
“Figured we would.” He came back out in jeans and a black T-shirt. “Where do you want to start?”
“I’d say the last known location, but Millie had a couple friends she stayed in touch with. We’ll start with that.”
“Can you ask Killian to do it?”
“He’s contacting the father’s friends and acquaintances to see if Marcus gave them any idea where he and his daughter were heading or what Marcus might have been up to. I want to take a little more personal touch with Millie, getting to know her friends.”
“Good enough,” Corbin replied. “Do you need me for anything?”
“We need maps of the area, especially an archaeology map of what digs are currently going on. More important, we need to figure out what digs Marcus was working on recently or if he might have been working undercover.” He gave Corbin a hard look.
“Anything else?”
“Neighboring towns, sinkholes, lagoons, anything of a geologic hazard.”
“Right. How detailed?”
“As detailed as you can possibly get,” Hatch noted. “We could be out there for a few nights.”
“Got it,” Corbin asked. “What about gear?”
“That’s another thing. Start by putting together a list of what we’ll need for …” Hatch stopped, thought about it. “Four to five days out in the desert.”
“That’ll be quite a bit.”
“I know,” he agreed. “Doesn’t mean we’re taking it all at once. We have a central location for our base, but we’ll have to start traveling soon.”
And, with that, Hatch pulled up the list of phone numbers of Millie’s friends and took a closer look. She had two girlfriends and one male friend listed. He wondered what that last relationship was all about. Studying the name, Strand, Hatch shrugged and started dialing.
Millie Bragner curled up in the corner, her head dropped down to rest on her knees, with her arms tight around her legs, … holding her knees against her chest. Wedged into the corner, she had no room to rock, and it was a childhood habit that she was desperate to break, but this was hardly the time.
Her kidnappers had taken her father out about an hour ago, and, so far, he’d yet to return. She lifted her head and once again stared at the dim room all around her. It was dirty, top to bottom, … floor, ceiling, and walls. For all she knew, she was in a cave at an archeology site that she had yet to dig into herself. She was being held captive by two men for sure, possibly four.
What she knew for certain was that she’d been awake at her hotel suite when there was a knock on the door—she thought it was two nights ago—she couldn’t remember anything after that. Her arm was sore, as if she’d been given a jab, or maybe somebody had used chloroform over her face and that was why she couldn’t remember what happened. Just more unanswered questions she faced along with myriad more.
Her stomach growled, and her arm hurt, and her head ached dully. So the possibilities for her injuries were almost limitless, and it sucked from start to finish. … It all sucked. She had been angry and upset at her father and his big mouth; … at the Egyptian government, after questioning them and releasing them; and at life in general. Her father never seemed to know when to keep his mouth shut, which had gotten him into trouble, time and time again, even though he had specifically promised her that he would keep his opinions to himself so they could have a decent time at this dig.
But, of course, he didn’t keep his promise. As soon as somebody had made some comment that he disagreed with, he would go off, ranting and raving. She knew it was easy to blame the alcohol, but was that fair? As far as she was concerned, it wasn’t. He was still the one who had consumed the alcohol, knowing perfectly well what it would do to him. And that, … that just drove her mad. She almost never touched the stuff because of it.
She had just no room in her world for that kind of problem. It was embarrassing, humiliating, and downright terrifying, and she was tired of it.
They’d been picked up by the authorities several days earlier and held for questioning. When they’d finally been released, with the understanding they were not to leave town, she hadn’t even been sure what to think about that. But that night at the hotel, her father had apologized to her over and over again; she hadn’t forgiven him and wasn’t even sure she could. She should never have come this time.
It wasn’t the first time for these outbursts by her father, and now she understood it wouldn’t be the last time. No matter what he told her, no matter what lies he believed himself, it just wouldn’t happen.
He was self-delusional to think he could stay off the alcohol, and she’d been delusional to think that she could believe him. And now their situation was even worse. It was one thing to have been held in a relatively humane jail cell, knowing that the Western world would be arguing on their behalf. She had wondered how long that might be, since her father had gotten the reputation as a troublemaker. If he weren’t so damn brilliant at what he did, nobody would tolerate him.
But now it may not matter that he was good at what he did. Now it seemed that he’d pretty well worn out his usefulness because of the trouble he kept getting everybody into.
She raised her head once again and looked around at the room. She had already explored the area and had found absolutely no way out of it, except for the very modern door that had been bolted and shut tightly under lock and key. A new addition, she figured, in an area that probably hadn’t seen the light of day for a very long time, except for these people who were using it as a hidden jail cell. And, for that, it was quite effective.
She figured at least one or two guards were on the outside; otherwise they were damn confident in their ability to keep them locked up. When she had first woken up, her stomach had been on fire, and her head had been throbbing. Both had calmed down somewhat, but then the guards came and dragged away her father. Now she couldn’t do anything, except sit here, worrying about what their kidnappers could be doing to her father.
When the door opened suddenly, she stared in surprise at a stranger.
“What do you want with me?” she cried out, but her voice was raspy and raw. Probably from the drugs or from something else; she didn’t know. The air was dry, dusty, and she was parched. A bottle of water was handed to her. But no answers to her question were forthcoming. “Where is my father?” Her voice gained strength after a drink.
Again no answer.
She was then handed a small packet wrapped up in cloth. She knew it was a common way for food to be moved for the locals. He definitely looked like a local, but the lack of empathy in his gaze suggested that he didn’t give a crap what he looked like and that, if she didn’t behave, he’d take care of her. Permanently.
She sagged back against the floor and nodded her thanks. She quickly opened the cloth, as he left, and, sure enough, it was food, some local bread. No meat but a nice soft cheese.
She ate slowly, sparing the food and water gingerly, since she didn’t know when she would get more. Her guards had been decent so far, but no telling what could happen if her father became disagreeable. The jailers could withhold the bare necessities of life from her and her father and otherwise make things much more difficult. She’d heard of things like this happening before but had never been in a position where she’d been forced to experience it.
When the door opened again a while later, she looked up to see her father stumble in and fall to the ground, as the door was slammed behind him. She bolted to his side. “Poppy, are you okay?” His face was battered, and his eyes were red and teary. One was almost swollen shut.
She gasped, as she helped him to the corner where she’d been sitting, then gave him a bit of water. When he drank, she cried out, “What did they want?”
Chapter 2
Millie’s heart ached, as she saw the damage to her father’s face. He wasn’t a fighter in a physical sense; he was a verbal fighter. Not somebody you would take into a boxing ring and punch it out with.
Her father hadn’t said two words since he’d returned, but he drank the offered water slowly. When he put it down, he let his head roll back against the wall. “We are in so much trouble.”
“You think? What the hell did they want?” she muttered. “And did you give it to them?”
“I can’t,” he replied. “They want to know the location of that tomb we heard about in the pub.”
“The tomb discussed in the pub?” she repeated softly, her mind casting back. “You mean, a few nights ago?”
He nodded.
“What? This kidnapping, your beating, has nothing to do with us being picked up earlier by the Egyptian government?”
He shook his head again.
“Seriously?” She stared at him. “We don’t even have a name for that tomb. We know nothing about it.”
“I know. I asked him if he had any reference for me, something that would help me identify which one he was talking about, but he said that I should know that. He was sure that I had talked to somebody about it in detail at the pub …” Her father almost choked as he coughed a bit. “His spies had told him about it, and he wanted to know before any archaeologists got there.”
