Maverick

by Irish Winters

  They balanced like two pillars, their legs straight and their toes pointed at the sky. It took a lot of upper body strength to pull off that stance, but then they held their position.

  “Are they still talking?” Harley asked in disbelief.

  Only when Kyrie grumbled in her sleep did China realize she gripped her niece too tight.

  “Any second now and...” Harley drew out his words while Maverick and Gabe lingered at the edge. Chatting. While doing handstands.

  China cringed. Just do it. Dive. Be safe. For me.

  At last. Lift-off. They tipped backward from the platform, executed double-somersaults and hit the water within seconds of each other. The audience roared, but China only had eyes for one handsome face. Maverick bobbed to the surface, with a sputter and a big cheesy grin. She blew out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

  Maverick shot her a devil-may-care grin and wiped the water off his face and hair. He never looked handsomer. Well, except for last night in bed. And this morning in the shower. But damned. This guy lived to take dangerous chances.

  Shelby let out a small cry of relief. Her eyes pooled with tears, which she promptly brushed away. “I don’t know why I worry. Gabe’s smart, but I still hate it when he does this kind of stuff. He scares me.”

  “Me, too.” China turned to face the women. “Men. Can’t live with ’em and—”

  “Can’t live without ’em.” Kelsey, Libby, Mei, and Ember took the words out of her mouth.

  The men roared their approval when the best dive applause went to Harley. He was as surprised as they were. “Moi?” he asked with a definite swagger and a big cheesy grin.

  “Yes, you. Harley won because...” Kelsey held her hands up for attention. “Difficulty and risk aside, he was the only one of all you men who came straight to his wife after the dive and told her he loved her.”

  “Aw, shucks.” Gabe rolled his eyes. “The ladies are right. Dang, I missed my chance.” He turned straight away to Shelby, grabbed her in a dramatic dip and planted a big wet kiss on her surprised face. It would’ve been funny, but she started to cry and the kiss developed into something much more serious.

  “Good call, Judge Kelsey!” Zack shouted as he headed for his wife, Mei.

  Everyone clapped. Gabe settled down with Shelby in his lap, and Maverick with China. “Did I scare you with that jump?” he asked as he nuzzled her neck.

  “Not until I saw Shelby’s reaction.” China nodded at Gabe and Shelby. It looked like Shelby was doing better with whatever he was telling her.

  “Shell suffers from anxiety.” Maverick hugged China close. “Gabe should’ve known better. He should’ve taken her up the tower with him. She would’ve been okay with him diving once she saw for herself how skilled he is. The man’s got massive upper body strength. He’s a pro.”

  “He takes a lot of risks for a man with one foot.”

  A frown creased Maverick’s forehead. “One what? Oh, yeah. That. I guess he does. He lost his foot during that same op I told you about.”

  She stilled. That day in Helmand Valley had been damned costly.

  Maverick pulled her to her feet. “Come on. Let’s eat.”

  China stopped him with a hand to his arm. “Not until I know exactly what it is you guys do.”

  “I’ll be very glad to show you what I do.” He scanned the group around them before he returned a heated gaze to her. “Later might be better, though. I mean, umm, there are a lot of people around, but if you insist...”

  “No. Really.” She adjusted sleeping Kyrie on her lap as her face turned ten shades of red at his sexy insinuation. “The work you do is dangerous, isn’t it? I want to know what I’m getting myself into.”

  He stopped the tease right then and there. Pulling a chair opposite China, he sat, his knees touching hers and his hands on her thighs. “What you’re getting yourself into?”

  “Yes.” China met his eyes. Time stood still. She knew his friends were close by, that husbands were chatting with wives and children were being fed. That people were listening. His friends. His team.

  Daily life was out there somewhere, but right now, it was just Maverick and her. Every fingertip of his on her bare thighs touched off a tiny firestorm in her belly. He had power over her that he didn’t realize but she needed to know where that power would lead.

  “If I go back to work for Alex...” Maverick took a deep breath, “then yes. There will be dangerous assignments and I will carry a weapon twenty-four-seven. If necessary, I’ll use deadly force to complete my mission, hopefully, not often. My work will be similar to what I did while I was in the service.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I was a scout sniper, China. A damned good one.” He studied her intently. “I protected other Marines who needed cover. I neutralized the bad guys who meant to kill our men and women. I protected our boots on the ground, and I was damn proud to do it. I saved lives, China, and I’d do it again if needed.”

  Wow. The earnestness with which he proclaimed his patriotism and love for his fellow Marines all but bowled her over. “You’re like my father. He was a Marine, too. In Vietnam.”

  “I figured as much. That was his jacket you gave me.” Maverick took her hand and kissed the first knuckle. “So, Miss China Wolf, just exactly what are you getting yourself into?”

  “Umm.” Her throat went dry. He hadn’t so much as blinked, and he was way too serious. She knew she had that deer-in-the-headlights look. Her heart fluttered. “I just wanted to know.”

  “We’ll discuss this more later.” He tapped her knee and stood. “Come on. Let’s eat.”

  And just like that, he was done talking. He closed up and turned away from her to the picnic table. He lowered his Oakleys. All that was missing was the brim on his ball cap to hide behind.

  The wall between them was still there. Only now it felt like he had just activated a force field, too.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “First of all.” China reached to Maverick’s expressionless face and removed his dark glasses along with his cap. “I need to see your eyes when we talk.”

  The drive back to the safe house had been quiet. They’d already put Kyrie to bed. The poor little thing was sunburned and exhausted from her first day of swimming.

  He smirked, and China worried maybe this might be their first fight. Finally in love for the first time in her life and already a lover’s quarrel. Well good. She was head over heels in love with this fierce warrior. She trusted him, but she needed a few things out in the open.

  He blinked those gorgeous dark browns, and she stifled an overwhelming urge to kiss him. He must’ve read her mind, only he didn’t falter like she had. In one quick move, she was in his arms and his lips were on her mouth. Every touch of his hands, every taste of his tongue melted her concerns away.

  Suddenly, he released her and dropped to his knees. She expected to be tossed over his shoulder and carried off for another night of sexual bliss, but there were those baby browns again, shining up at her with nothing but love. Her heart stalled.

  “You asked what you’re getting yourself into? I couldn’t do this in front of everyone at the pool today.” He bit his lip. Could he get any more handsome? Here he was still in his swim trunks and his TEAM polo, kneeling like a—

  Her jaw dropped. Oh. My. God.

  “This is what you’re getting yourself into, China Wolf.” His thumb and index finger pinched a ring between them. “I know we’ve got a lot of talking to do, but I meant what I said. Will you marry me? Will you spend the rest of your life loving me, because I sure as hell don’t want to live another day without you?”

  Now she was the one doing all the blinking. What? Marriage? Me?

  “I know you’ve still got a lot of questions to ask and I promise to answer every last one.”

  His gaze never left hers. She saw the glittering stone between them, but the light in his eyes shone brighter. Worry creased his forehead.

  “A
nd I know I’ve made mistakes. I’m not an easy man to live with. I can be downright moody. Sometimes I’m an ass.”

  There he knelt, baring his soul, rambling and confessing. In all the things they’d been through during the past few weeks, she had never seen him like this. Maverick kept biting his lip. Her hero was scared.

  “I’ll do whatever you want. I just want you to be happy, and God, I love you with all my heart.” Tears glistened at the corners of his eyes.

  She sank to the floor with him, her fingers at the sides of his head. There was no way on earth she could resist this gentle man on his knees and pouring his heart out. “Oh, yes.”

  He crushed her in a smothering hug and a kiss that left her breathless.

  “Damn it. Can’t believe I’m doing this.” He wiped his face with the back of his hand and she pulled back to see him better. Tears still welled up in his eyes. “Look what you’ve done to me. I’m a damned bawl-gut.”

  She wiped the moisture off his cheek. “I know what I plan to do to you. As long as we’re in this together, I can handle whatever line of work you need to do. I trust you.”

  That put a smile back in his eye. With a gentle tug off the floor, she was once more in his arms and on her way to the bedroom.

  Could life get any better? He still held the most beautiful woman in the world in his arms, she’d said yes, and a gentle breeze wafted through the open bedroom door—

  Wait. Why is a breeze blowing through the damned door?

  He bolted upright. “China?” He nudged the sleeping beauty on his chest.

  She stretched, her lips tracing a line up his neck as she awakened slowly and sensually. “Hmm. You taste good.”

  “Did you get up during the night or something?”

  “Uh uh.” Her hands roamed over his stomach, headed downward. “I was pretty happy where I landed.”

  He grabbed her wrist to halt her wandering fingers. “Listen to me. Is Kyrie up already? Do you know where she is?”

  China pushed her hair out of her face as she rolled off of him. “I don’t think so. Why?”

  “Because I shut the bedroom door last night. I didn’t lock it because of Kyrie, but—”

  “Kyrie?” China scrambled off the bed, wrapping her robe around her as she ran. “Kyrie!”

  Maverick tossed the sheet aside and followed, but the panic in her voice scared him.

  “Maverick!”

  He already knew.

  Kyrie was gone.

  The police were there in record time. Alex was faster. “Where is it?”

  Maverick handed him the note Leezel had left on Kyrie’s pillow.

  You want her? Come get her. WWB. YGMMWIG, XOXO. MCO.

  “What the hell is this? Some kind of crap code?” Alex asked, his ire up.

  Maverick shook his head. “Not sure. We can’t figure it out. Not yet.”

  China was beside herself with worry. She paced the length of the safe house hallway over and over, circling the home looking for her niece, but the girl was gone.

  More disturbing was the knowledge that Leezel had opened their bedroom door and seen them sleeping together, if that was all she had seen. What would the sight of China lying in Maverick’s arms push her to do to her daughter? He couldn’t bear to think of it.

  “Mother tracked her to the airport,” Alex said.

  “Reagan?”

  “Dulles. She’s got her on airport surveillance leaving the terminal and flagging a cab. No suitcase.”

  “When?”

  “Yesterday. One PM.”

  “While we were at the picnic?”

  Alex nodded somberly. “The cab dropped her at a hotel in Crystal City. That particular hotel has metro access. She boarded the blue line late yesterday afternoon and—”

  “Mother lost her.” Maverick grimaced. China groaned and stepped away. “We’ll find her, China. I promise.”

  “How?” The flash in her eyes stabbed him.

  “Because it’s what we do,” Alex said calmly. “It’s too early to panic. Your sister’s crazy note proves it.”

  A forest green Yukon rolled up to the curb. Taylor and Gabe had arrived. One look at her face and Taylor went straight to China. She flung herself into Taylor’s arms. “She’s gone! And my sister has her! Taylor, she’s gone!”

  Taylor’s dark eyes pierced Maverick’s over the top of China’s head. Maverick took a disbelieving step back. Here stood the woman of his heart seeking comfort in another man’s arms? Again? Exactly what Kim had done with Landon Truman, the bastard.

  Anger flickered inside his soul. Kim’s face flashed to mind while China unraveled inside Taylor’s arms. What the hell? Was Taylor just another liar like Landon? Worse, was China Kimberly all over again?

  “Leezel will kill her. I know she will!” China poured her heart out while Maverick stood there like a sonofabitchin’ third wheel, his heart pounding in his chest and everyone else witness to yet another betrayal.

  “Remember what I told you the night you couldn’t sleep?” Taylor’s eyes held fast to Maverick while he spoke to China.

  Maverick didn’t know what the hell Taylor meant. Was he talking to him or China?

  She calmed. “Yes. I remember.”

  “You knew something was wrong that night too, didn’t you?” Taylor asked. “You knew Maverick was in trouble, remember?”

  “Reardon tried to kill him that night.”

  The intensity in Taylor’s eyes drew Maverick in. “And?”

  China whimpered. “And you told me to close my eyes. You said all blessings are mine.”

  “Open your mind, China.” Taylor’s soft command startled Maverick. “What did you see?”

  “Maverick.” She sobbed. “I saw... him. I saw my... Maverick.”

  “What did he tell you?”

  China turned to Maverick. “That he loves me.” She rushed from Taylor to bury herself in Maverick’s chest.

  He huffed out a snort of relief. He gulped his foolish panic attack down. His woman. China. Was. Not. Kim.

  The enlightenment came swiftly. Maybe it was the influence of Taylor’s words, maybe not. Maybe it was just the shock of seeing China with another man. Whatever. The moment she was back in his arms, Maverick knew what those letters meant.

  He and Alex blurted it at the same time. “She’s at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge!”

  “And MCO could mean Maverick Carson Only,” Gabe offered quickly. “Just saying.”

  “And XOXO is Leezel being a drama queen.” China looked up at Maverick. “She’s always wanted you, you know that. I don’t know about the YGMMWIG, though.”

  “You’re Going to Miss Me When I’m Gone.” Maverick supplied the missing cipher. “Those were her last words to me before she burned the bunkhouse. She’s got Kyrie at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and she means to end everything today. That’s not far from here.”

  Mark Houston and Rory Dennison let themselves in the front door. Mark nodded toward the curb. “The police are here.”

  “Tell ’em they’re welcome to join us, but we’re leaving.” Alex already had his keys in his hand. “Taylor. Stay here with the police. You know where we’ll be.”

  Maverick and China hurried past the surprised officers with Alex in the lead. Maverick secured China in the seat behind Alex while he rode shotgun. In seconds, they were on their way with Gabe, Mark, and Rory following close behind in another TEAM vehicle.

  “What does she want?” China cried. “Maverick, what does she want? To hurt me? Well, she’s done it. God, this will kill me.”

  Maverick reached over the back seat for her hand. “We’re going to get her, I promise.”

  “But why the bridge?”

  “I think it would be best if you stay in the car once we get there, China,” Alex said.

  “No.” She clutched Maverick’s hand tighter. “I have to be there. Maybe she’ll listen to me.”

  Maverick knew better. Leezel didn’t take her daughter to the bridge because she wanted to talk. No.
She wanted China to suffer. Him, too.

  Taylor’s voice came over the vehicle’s Bluetooth phone. “Boss. Coast Guard Station Washington has a boat in the river. DC Metro police are on site. Maryland highway patrol, too.”

  “Is Miss Wolf in sight?”

  “Negative. Several pedestrians are on the bridge. None with a small child and none matching Leezel Wolf’s description.”

  “What if we’re too early?” China asked. “What if we’re already too late? What if—”

  “China, stop it.” Maverick squeezed her fingers tightly as Alex turned the vehicle onto the bridge. “We are getting Kyrie back. Trust me. Okay?”

  She stared, taken aback by his harsh tone, and Maverick felt like an ass. Kyrie was everything to China, but her falling apart wouldn’t help the situation. He needed her focused and thinking positive.

  “Boss.” Taylor’s disembodied voice sounded in the car again. “North side. Just heard from police dispatch. Cab dropped off a woman in a red trench coat with a child matching Kyrie’s description.”

  “Copy that,” Alex replied. “Where?”

  “North side. Dead center. Ah, Boss?”

  “What?” Alex snapped.

  “Don’t lose that little girl.”

  “Not gonna happen,” Alex replied in a gentler tone. “Keep the porch light on.”

  And there she was. Leezel had Kyrie in her arms on the north side of the bridge. Alex drove to the center of the east bound lanes and pulled his vehicle as far to the left shoulder as possible before he set the emergency lights. He turned to China. “You will stay in the car.”

  “No, I won’t! Let me go. Leezel will kill her.” She already had the door open and one foot to the ground, twisting her hand to get out of Maverick’s hold.

  Maverick gripped her fingers tighter, needing her to stay with Alex. A span of maybe ten to fifteen feet divided the east and west bound lanes. The cold Potomac lay below. There was no way to make a U-turn, no way to get to the other side of the bridge without jumping the spans. Or die trying.