by Dale Mayer
“It will take forever,” she said.
“You get no help from me,” she said. “Now that we have this, I don’t have to worry about you coming after me.”
“No, they don’t believe you have it. They think I lost it. If I ever had it at all. Nobody believes me anymore.”
“You should have never had it. That’s on you,” Brenna said. And inside, she felt her heart breaking for the future of her former friend’s child. And, if there was one certainty in life, as Jessie had already said to Brenna, Jessie was a predator; she would survive. Brenna just hoped to hell that Jessie didn’t ruin somebody else’s life to make it happen. After reminding her of that, Jessie hung up. Brenna looked down at her phone and then at Killian and Jerricho. “Is it over?”
Both men nodded.
“I’m sure it is,” Jerricho said. “The two who kidnapped you are both dead, and, as you’ve told her, the intel’s already uploaded to the cloud. If anybody contacts her, that’s what she’ll tell them. She doesn’t have the key, and she’s taken the punishment for it, so she’s out. As for her husband, all we can do is pass on the information to MI6 and see if they can track him down. But he’s been on that wanted list for a very long time.” Just then his phone rang. And it was Jonas.
“Found the husband this morning,” he snapped. “He’s dead.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he said, “looks like he took a beating too.”
“Interesting,” he murmured, “because Jessie just phoned Brenna too. Asked if she had the key, and, when she told her it had been uploaded to the cloud, Jessie was pretty upset.”
“I’m sure she was.”
“She also said she’d taken a beating.”
“Maybe, but it looked like this guy took a bullet and then was kicked to crap.”
“You know something? That could easily have been Jessie. He might have beaten her up, and she turned on him and killed him and then, out of temper, kicked him several times.”
“Some of the wounds on him are older, so he probably paid a price for her not delivering as promised too.”
“She’s alive, if you feel like going after her,” Jerricho said. “Something about going to one of the smaller islands. She’s pregnant and has to find a way to support herself.”
“We’ll keep an eye out, but she’s hardly a priority at the moment. Do you have the key?”
“Yes,” he said, looking at Killian.
“Are you going to share?”
“It’s proof of China having concentration camps. And these photos were taken from the press office, gathered by one of the other journalists.”
“Jesus, and Jessie was paid to get them?”
“Yes, by a Chinese diplomat apparently.”
“Then she’s lucky if she’s still alive. They don’t accept failure at all.”
“And that could be what happened to her boyfriend too.”
“It’s possible. Do we get a copy of it?”
He looked at Brenna. “What do you want to do?”
“Give him a copy,” she said quietly. “He helped us. And I think the more people who know about China, the better.”
Jonas called out, “I heard that. Thank you, Brenna.”
“Thank you for helping save my life, Jonas.”
“Ditto to these guys,” he said. “I sure hope you convince them to go home though,” he said. “Anytime any of this group comes through England, we end up with dead bodies.”
“I don’t think that’s our fault,” she said.
“Nope. Doesn’t matter though,” he said. “I’d like all of you to head home. By the way, your flight leaves in two hours.”
“Which means that we have to be at the airport right away,” Killian said. “And we need showers and breakfast.”
“Can’t push the flights back,” he said, “but you don’t have to appear there for an hour. Under the special circumstances, you’ll get an escort all the way there. Breakfast is being delivered as we speak. Get your own damn shower.” And then, with a laugh, he rang off.
She looked at them. “He actually seems really nice.”
“Considering the work we do, he is,” Jerricho said. “And he’s always been fair. And, with good reason, he wants us to leave. We only come when there’s trouble, so he only sees that side of us.”
“It’s also what he does himself,” Killian said, with a big grin. “Now that you two have had showers, I’ll go grab one.” And he disappeared.
She looked at Jerricho. “Are you okay?”
“Isn’t that my question?” he said, with a bright smile.
“Maybe,” she said.
“So let me ask you. Are you okay?”
“I’m really okay,” she said. “I woke up feeling calm inside for the first time in forever.”
“Good sex will do that.”
“Oh, you,” she said, laughing. “But you’re right. Good sex will do that. So will finding peace inside. So will not blaming myself anymore. And so will having you back in my life.”
He walked over, gave her a hard good-morning kiss, and said, “Ditto.”
“So we’re on?”
“Oh, we’re definitely on,” he said. “I’ve got time off coming up, so, depending on where you are in the world, we can meet up somewhere.”
“I was living in New York,” she said. “Not sure I want to stay there though.”
“You have decisions to make,” he said. “I’m in California. Why don’t you come with me?”
“Maybe we should find out where the tickets are taking us.”
He burst out laughing. “California.”
She nodded. “Then California it is. I wouldn’t mind going back,” she said. “New York is fine, for a time, but you know that there’s nothing quite like sunny weather.”
“Why don’t we spend some time in California and figure it out?” he asked, with a knowing grin.
“I’m good with that.”
He glanced down and said, “I’m good with you. So wherever you want to be, I’m happy,” he said. “I’ll have to travel from a major naval base, but, other than that, it doesn’t matter.”
She nodded. “California it is.”
“And your job?”
“I think it’s time for a new career,” she murmured.
“And what kind?”
“No clue,” she said, “but one where I don’t feel like I owe people for my existence,” she said. “So maybe just … I don’t know. I’ll … I’ll figure it out.”
“You know something? I trust that you will.” He pulled her until she stood in front of him, tucked her up tightly against him, and whispered, “To us.” And he kissed her gently.
A knock came at the door, and she laughed. “They really have shitty timing, don’t they?”
“We’re a little limited, with Killian in the shower anyway.” He walked over and opened the door to let breakfast be wheeled in.
She sat down, smiled, and said, “You know what? I like all this special treatment.”
“You travel with me,” he said, with a big wink, “you travel in style.”
She burst out laughing. “Yeah, I remember some of the styles,” she said. “I remember running across the ground in the middle of the night and that rattletrap boat.”
“See? Look at the memories we’ve already garnered,” he said, with a grin.
She reached across the table, grabbed his hand, and said, “And there’ll be many more, right?”
“How many did you want?” he said. “I’m up for another seventy years. How about you?”
She looked at him, feeling the tears in the back of her eyes and her throat, and nodded. “That sounds perfect.”
He picked up his coffee cup, and he held it up, and, when she lifted hers, he clinked the two together, and he said, “To us. Finally.”
Epilogue
Killian Nordstrom walked along the beach, picked up a piece of driftwood, and threw it out into the ocean. He had come for a run, and now he was sta
ying because, well, it was just so damn beautiful. He stood for a long moment, smiling at the world around him. When he turned to head back, he stopped because a figure on the cliff watched him. He walked up to see his sister. “Hey, sis. How’s life?”
“It would be better,” she said, “if it weren’t for these phone calls.” She held out her own phone. He looked at it and asked, “Who is it?” But she didn’t answer, just thrust her phone at him. He grabbed her phone, frowning, putting it to his ear.
“It’s me, Jerricho,” he said. “You didn’t answer your phone.”
“I left it in my room,” he said. “It’s just been so beautiful here on the beach.”
“I’m enjoying a different beach,” Jerricho said.
“You’re not that far away,” he said.
“Nope, but you will be soon.”
At that, Killian stilled. “Where am I going?”
“How do you feel about Vancouver Island?”
He frowned. “Canada?”
“Yeah, Canada. And a woman who’s got an issue.”
“Yeah, but that’s not exactly pirate country.”
“Nope, it isn’t, but a woman was kidnapped from a transport ship, and, when they got to the Vancouver docks, she escaped somehow. Even though the longshoremen were more stunned, I think, than anything, she sent out an SOS for help on Vancouver Island.”
“How the hell did she go from Vancouver to Vancouver Island?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “And her story is a little bit far-fetched. However, we have to consider it legit because of who she is.”
“And who is she?”
“She’s the daughter of the New York governor, who just retired.”
“Daughter?”
“Yes, she was one of those late-in-life children. He was fifty-five when she was born.”
“Wow, that has to be tough.”
“The apple of his eye. She has been traveling the world. She’s a chef and was picked up and tossed onto an overseas carrier, where she somehow ended up in Vancouver. Now she’s lost on Vancouver Island.”
“But Vancouver Island’s tiny,” he said. “That’s a hard place to get lost in. Besides, Canadians? … How hard can it be?”
“One SOS came from Vancouver Island. But the one after that came from farther up the coast.”
“Alaska?”
“It didn’t come from that far north, but we’re afraid that’s the direction she’s going or traveling, so it could very well be where she ends up.”
“Did she ask for help? Did she ask for a pickup? What the hell’s going on?”
“She sent out the SOS, but the last one came in as a kidnapper’s note for ransom.”
“Shit. So did they find her again? Is that the deal?”
“Or somebody else found her and decided to take advantage of her circumstances.”
“I hate people sometimes,” he said.
“In this case, the governor doesn’t have much influence, outside of the fact that he’s still connected. I’m not sure what could be the issue here, but he did say that her ex-husband is a possible suspect.”
“Why?”
“Apparently he was involved in a few things that weren’t quite kosher, and she left him. As part of her leverage to make sure that he didn’t take her to the cleaners and that he left her alive, she apparently took some material with her.”
“Uh-oh,” Killian said, “that’s never smart.”
“No, never smart. In this case, it may have backfired, but apparently he’s quite an asshole, and she needed something in order to feel like she could get out of the situation safely.”
“The governor couldn’t do it?”
“Father and husband were really close. Until she went to her father with all the evidence on her hubby, so now her father believes her.”
“Well, that’s something. Isn’t it a little bit too late?”
“Which is why he’s pulled in all the chips to see if he can get her back. He feels responsible for not having given her his trust and security back then.”
“How long has she been missing?”
“The ransom note came in an hour ago.”
“Shit.” He looked one last time at the beauty surrounding him and said, “I’m packed.”
“Good,” he said, “because, if you walk up that cliff, you’ll find yourself at the road, where a car’s waiting for you.”
“And my bag?”
“It’s already in the trunk,” he said. “Have a nice trip.” And, with that, Jerricho hung up.
His sister looked at him and said, “I gather you’re leaving?”
“Sorry, sis. I figured I was only here for a couple days.”
She shrugged. “Honestly I’m just glad to have seen you that long,” she murmured. “Go off and save the world. It’s what you’re good at.”
He smiled and said, “How did you know?”
“I heard part of that conversation,” she said. “And, if she needs a place to relax afterward, she’s always welcome here.”
“That’s just because you think I’ll come home with her.”
“Hearing the little bit you’ve told me about the company you work for,” she said, “I wouldn’t be at all surprised.”
“What do you mean?”
“Haven’t they all come back with partners?” she said. “I’ll hardly be upset if this is your next mission, and you come back with one too.”
He looked at her askance. “What? And lose my freedom?”
She snorted. “Pretty sure that freedom doesn’t matter one damn bit to you,” she said.
He grinned as they walked up, and he pointed to the vehicle and said, “There’s my ride.”
She nodded, gave him a big kiss on the cheek, and said, “Go save the world.”
“Maybe not the world,” he said, “just one woman.”
“Make sure it’s the right one,” she said, with a big grin.
And he hopped into the vehicle and took off.
This concludes Book 14 of The Mavericks: Jerricho.
Read about Maverick: The Mavericks, Book 15
Killian: Maverick (Book #15)
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.
Killian is called up to retrieve a woman who’s been kidnapped, then escaped, only to be captured again. With a sketchy SOS coming in, he’s tracking her from Vancouver to Alaska, where the intel finally stops.
The apple of her father’s eye, Cisco was a late gift in his life. But when it counted, he wasn’t there for her, leaving her alone and unprotected. On the run from her abusive ex, she’s kidnapped by a seasoned negotiator, who can see she’s in trouble. Only he plans to auction her off to the highest bidder.
With several threads running together on this mission, Killian must find the predator in the middle. It’s find him, take him out, or Cisco will never be safe again.
Find book 15 here!
To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Jerricho: The Mavericks, Book 14! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment and leave a short review here.
Dear reader,
I love to hear from readers, and you can contact me at my website: www.dalemayer.com or at my Facebook author page. To be informed of new releases and special offers, sign up for m
y newsletter or follow me on BookBub. And if you are interested in joining Dale Mayer’s Reader Group, here is the Facebook sign up page.
Cheers,
Dale Mayer
Get THREE Free Books Now!
Have you met the SEALS of Honor?
SEALs of Honor Books 1, 2, and 3. Follow the stories of brave, badass warriors who serve their country with honor and love their women to the limits of life and death.
Read Mason, Hawk, and Dane right now for FREE.
Click here and tell me where to send them!
About the Author
Dale Mayer is a USA Today best-selling author, best known for her SEALs military romances, her Psychic Visions series, and her Lovely Lethal Garden cozy series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Broken But … Mending series). Her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life, a stand-alone novella; and the Broken Protocols series, starring Charming Marvin, the cat).
Dale honors the stories that come to her—and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!
To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields, with books available on résumé writing, companion gardening, and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.
Connect with Dale Mayer Online
Dale’s Website – www.dalemayer.com
Twitter – @DaleMayer
Facebook – facebook.com/DaleMayer.author
BookBub – bookbub.com/authors/dale-mayer
JERRICHO: THE MAVERICKS, BOOK 14
Dale Mayer
Valley Publishing Ltd.
Copyright © 2021
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.