Home > Shane (The Mavericks #12)

Shane (The Mavericks #12)
Author: Dale Mayer


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.

Her kidnappers demanded Shane arrive. Finding out his best friend was held as a pawn just pissed him off. Finding out rescuing her was a test made him seriously angry. He hates being used. These men mean business though, as Shane finds a body count too high for comfort.

Shelly knew Shane would come for her. No way he wouldn’t. She was lucky to have Shane there for her, especially when learning a second woman had been kidnapped and held for over six months. The simple rescue of Shelly turns into something more to find this second woman.

But is there one killer boss out there or two? As the pair try to secure their own freedom, it gets even murkier, until finding a way through is paramount. Otherwise no one gets a happy ending.

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Prologue

 

 

Shane Andrews opened his apartment door, walked inside, and tossed his duffel bag down. He headed to the fridge, pulled out a cold beer, and stepped out on his small deck. He popped the top and took a long refreshing drink. That had been one hell of a job in Hawaii. A lot of healing needed to happen now for that family. Not only did the parents have to heal but the children and the grandchildren were involved as well. He didn’t understand Melinda being so self-centered, so selfish that she would put her parents and her sister through so much, just to make sure she got what she wanted.

Melinda had been a piece of work. That she’d been a suspect right from the beginning didn’t surprise Shane, just because her attitude had been so off. But the fact that Steve had been a willing party to it all was too much, especially considering that he was a navy man Shane should have been able to trust.

He rotated his neck, stretching out some of the kinks. It had been a long two days. He was home now and needed a few days to regroup. At least he hoped he got a couple days off. He’d taken an extra day to stay with Gavin and the family to tie up things and to get all the facts straight.

Now that Shane was home, he didn’t know quite what the next few days would bring, but he was up for it. At least he thought he would be. It was a hell of a deal joining the Mavericks, but he was pretty happy with his decision. If ever somebody needed to be stopped, it was Melinda. He hadn’t expected this to be the level of the work he would be doing. Still, it was what it was.

As he sat here, his phone buzzed, and he smiled when he saw it was Gavin. He hit the Talk button. “I’m home, safe and sound, bud. No need to worry about me.”

“Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were looking after that leg of yours,” he said.

“Yep, we’re all good.”

“Good,” he said. “How do you feel about New York?”

“Why in the hell would I ever want to go there?” he asked.

At that, Gavin laughed. “Remember Diesel?”

“Diesel Edwards? Yeah, I remember. What about him?”

“He’ll be waiting for you there at the airport.”

“Shit, am I leaving already?” Shane asked, as he looked at his beer.

“Absolutely. Well, in about three hours,” he said.

“Wow, not even enough time to do a load of laundry.”

“Sure there is. If you just put down that beer, get up off your ass, and get your clothes in the machine,” Gavin said, laughing, “you can drink it while they wash.”

“So, what am I doing in New York?” he asked, as he walked to grab his bag of dirty clothes and did exactly that. With the washing machine started, he grabbed his beer and looked down at his phone. “What is it you aren’t saying?”

“It looks like a hostage situation has gone down in a big telecom building,” he said.

“What’s that got to do with me?”

“Well, Diesel is already in position, or he will be soon. He’ll pick you up at the airport. You are going into the tunnels and coming up through the basement.”

“What the hell does SWAT have to say about that?”

“Well, they’re hoping this might be right up your alley.”

“Why is that?”

“Because, uh, … because one of your best friends is in there.”

At that moment, everything inside Shane froze.

“Shelly?” He remembered her saying she had a brand-new job in New York. “I know she just moved there, but what’s she doing in the telecom building?”

“She was a new hire about forty-five days ago,” he said. “Didn’t you hear about it?”

And, of course, he had, but he had completely forgotten. “Why do you think she’s involved? That’s a huge building.”

“Because the kidnappers said she was. And they are hanging on to her until you arrive. So get your ass out there.”

 

 

Chapter 1

 

 

Shane disembarked from the plane carrying his duffel bag over his shoulder and tried to work around what had to be several thousand people between him and the exit. They all had to get past the luggage turnstiles. Finally catching a break as the crowd parted, Shane worked his way through, headed for the exit. Once outside, he stopped and took several long slow deep breaths. The air here was never the same as it was back in California. New York always had more smog, a heavier atmosphere, and that smell. Mostly traffic exhaust, as far as he could ever tell. Then that sense of being rushed.

He walked to the curb, where he took a closer look at the vehicles up and down the street. Diesel was supposed to be here waiting for him, at least that’s the last word he’d gotten from Gavin. Just as he was about to turn and look back the other way, he heard a shout. He spun and looked on the far side of the street down about ten cars to see a tall beef of a man standing outside his truck and waving at him.

Checking the traffic, Shane quickly dodged through the oncoming vehicles and headed toward his old friend. As soon as he got there, Diesel’s grin flashed.

“Damn, man,” Diesel said, “it’s good to see you.” The two high-fived each other, as Shane tossed his duffel bag into the open pickup bed, then scrambled into the passenger seat.

“Why does it always take chaos or something like this to bring us together?”

“Well, if we had any more chaos,” Diesel said, “we would be damn near living on top of each other.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Shane said, grumping. “I just finished a big case with Gavin,” he murmured, “and was hoping for a few days off.”

“You’d have gotten it,” Diesel said, “except for the fact that the kidnappers have a friend of yours.”

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