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.
When four members of one family-owned corporation are kidnapped off the streets in Honolulu, Gavin’s intel says this is a corporate espionage case … but is it?
There’s not much to like about this case. Too many people are involved, … including an old friend of Gavin’s. But, as Gavin digs deeper into the motives of the suspect pool, events get uglier, and bodies start to fall.
Rosalina has no idea how she ended up in this nightmare, but all she cares about is her ailing parents who have been separated from her and her sister. Even when she and her sister are freed, Rosalina finds no sign of their mother or father. Trying to rescue them means deciphering friend from foe …
It comes down to the wire as this close family corporation falls apart, revealing the core of darkness inside, … and leaves Gavin and Rosalina struggling to stay safe as enemies work to take out them both.
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Prologue
“Are you sure I can’t look now?” Helena complained good-naturedly, her eyes shut.
“No,” Gavin said. “You don’t get to look at anything right now.”
“That’s not fair,” she said. Gavin had her in the passenger side of his Jeep. They were heading to Lennox’s, and Lennox and Carolina were expecting them.
“And we would have been here a long time ago,” Gavin said, “but you’re the one who wanted to stop and get flowers.”
“Of course I did!” she said, as her arms tightened around the big bouquet. “It’s my first visit to Lennox’s house.”
“Hardly a visit,” he said. “You’re moving in.”
“I am,” she said, a blissful smile on her face.
Lennox was, indeed, a lucky man, Gavin thought. He didn’t know how the hell these two had finally gotten past their differences, but they had, and that’s what counted. And now here Gavin was, taking her to Lennox’s house, while she took her first step into their future. Gavin pulled up to the front, parked, and said, “Now I’m coming around to your side.”
“Okay, okay,” but she hopped out impatiently and waited for him to grab her arm. As they got to the sidewalk, he said, “Now you can open your eyes.”
She looked up to see the stone-and-cedar Tudor house in front of them for her very first time, one that Gavin had seen many times. “Oh, my goodness,” she said, “it’s gorgeous.”
The door opened, and Lennox stepped out. She cried out, handed off the flowers to Gavin right before she raced forward. Lennox opened his arms, and she dashed into them. Lennox picked her up and swung her around in his arms.
Gavin stood back and smiled up at them. “You two look perfect together,” he declared.
“Good,” Lennox said. “It’s taken Carolina and me a couple days to get everything ready.”
Gavin nodded. His phone went off just then. “Hang on. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Don’t bother,” Lennox said. “I can tell you all about it.”
He looked at his phone and back at his buddy and asked, “What is it?”
“The next job,” Lennox said. “I’ve got your orders here. I was going to hand them to you before the call came through, but you guys were late.”
Gavin laughed. “Am I going alone?”
“No,” Lennox said, “you’re going with a friend. You just don’t know which one.”
“And you?”
“I’m running ground crew,” Lennox said with a grin. “I get to stay here with my beautiful Helena.”
“Okay, that’ll be pretty sucky on my part but perfect for you. Do I get to come inside for a bit before I head out?”
“Sorry, bud.”
Just then a military vehicle pulled up to the front of the house.
Lennox held out a brown envelope to Gavin and then pointed. “That’s your ride.”
“What about my gear?”
“It’s all waiting for you.” Lennox turned Helena around and said, “Say goodbye to Gavin.”
She lifted a hand, confusion on her face.
Gavin smiled and said, “I’ll be back.”
“We’ll wait for you,” she said.
He shook his head. “Don’t bother. I won’t be back for days yet. Have a good one.” And he hopped into the truck and headed off. He had the brown envelope from Lennox, but that’s all he had. He looked at the driver and asked, “What are your orders?”
“I’m taking you to the dock,” he said. “A destroyer’s waiting for you.”
“Any other details?”
“None,” he said.
“Fine, let’s go.” Gavin was headed somewhere; he just didn’t know where yet. And maybe that was okay too.
Chapter 1
Gavin Werkster dropped his duffel bag on the bottom bunk before jumping up to the top, where he laid down to open the envelope Lennox had given him. The trip from Lennox’s house to the docks and out to the USS Gettysburg had been fast and furious, but he was here now, and he still had no clue where he was going or what he was doing.
Before he had a chance to even open the envelope and dump out the contents, the door opened, and a man walked in and did the exact same thing Gavin did. His duffel bag hit the bottom bunk, and he jumped up onto the top bunk opposite Gavin. Then he rolled over, looked at him, and said, “What the hell, Gavin. You want to explain why I’m here?”
Gavin’s jaw dropped. “Shane?”
His old buddy grinned somewhat sheepishly. “Yeah. It’s me. Not exactly sure why I’m here or even how.”
“Well, unless they shanghaied you somewhere,” Gavin said, “you probably have about as much understanding of what’s going on as I did before the last job.”
“You helped out Lennox, correct?” Shane asked.
“Yep,” Gavin said. “So you know Lennox?”
“I did a tour with him, yes. But I haven’t seen you in what, three years?”
“At least that,” Gavin said, as he sat up and reached across, and the two men did a forearm shake across the aisle. “Damn good to see you.”
“It is,” Shane said cheerfully.
That was the thing about this guy. He always had a positive and optimistic attitude; in fact, sometimes he was too damn cheery. But Gavin had always appreciated it, since some guys were such serious downers. But not Shane. He was a fun guy to have around. “Do you have any clue what’s going on?”