Page 27 of Maverick

“Well, he’ll figure it out, and when he does, if he’s really in love with her, he’ll know what to do.”

“What about your girl?” asked Saint. “She’s obviously the one, but how are you gonna keep her safe?”

“Tie her to a chair?” he said with a shrug. “I don’t know, man. She’s right. They’re all super intelligent, crazy intelligent. But if the agency is behind this, they won’t stop until they have her and the others. I think we have to get to that damn school in Maine and figure out what the fuck is happening. It should be empty, but if anything was left behind, we need to find it.”

“I’m in,” said Saint.

His head popped up as a young woman was walking toward him with a smile. She had black hair falling at her shoulders in a sleek bob. Her big gray eyes shone in the fading light of day. Her nipped waist only served to showcase her curvy hips and thighs, while her perfectly round breasts swayed every time she moved.

“Saint? Hello. Earth to Saint,” said Mav with a wave.

“Hi, Patrick,” smiled Marilisa. “It’s nice to see you.”

“Yeah. Yeah, nice to see you too,” he said with a big smile. Brax and Mav smiled at one another, wiggling their brows. Saint watched Marilisa walk by and then turned to see the expressions on his teammate’s faces.

“What?”

“What?” laughed Mav. “When did that happen?”

“You mean her growing up into a fucking gorgeous woman? Fuck if I know,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m thirteen years older than she is. She’s young, naïve, and innocent. I won’t fuck that up for her.” Brax laughed at him, shaking his head.

“Brother, you may not have an option.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Who took her?” asked the man seated behind the desk. He was wearing a generic dark blue suit with a white shirt and blue tie. He had a small pin in his lapel identifying who he was, which was stupid, considering he was seated in the office with his name on it.

“Sir, we don’t know, but they damn sure weren’t amateurs.”

“Not amateurs,” he muttered. “So, they could be Russians, Germans, Chinese, anyone.”

“They didn’t have accents,” said one of the other men. “No one we heard spoke with an accent. They looked like former Teams guys. Maybe current.”

“It could have been just random SEALs in the area,” said the first man. “They were about the right age, maybe early to mid-thirties.”

“Well, that gives me so much to go on. It was dark, so none of you were able to give me a good description. You’d cut off every damn camera, including doorbells in the area, so I can’t look at video. And, you tell me there were no cars. So. I ask again. Who the fuck has Katelyn Smith?”

Wisely, none of the men said anything. He’d already proclaimed her to be an enemy of the state, possible traitor and terrorist. If she were out there, she’d be found and turned in for the reward money.

“Isn’t there someone else that can do this work?” asked the first man.

“Yes and no. The company that hired her is highly secretive. No one knows exactly where they are located or how to find them.”

“If they have a government contract, someone must know,” said the second man.

“You would think so, but not this group,” he frowned. The third man, leaning against the door jamb, shook his head, laughing. “You find that funny?”

“You’re talking about Voodoo Guardians and G.R.I.P.,” he grinned.

“How do you know about them?” he asked suspiciously.

“Because anyone on the Teams knows about them. We all know we want to be part of them when our retirement rolls around.”

“Maybe we plant someone in there,” said the first man.

“That’s not the way it works,” said the third man, shaking his head. “If, and it’s a big if, you’re actually good enough to be considered, you have to pass so many tests you’d be lucky to get past the first two. You’re interviewed by the legends of Teams. SEALs, Delta, MARSOC, Green Berets, Paratroopers, Coast Guard, FBI, DEA, even former CIA.”

The older man stared at him, chewing on the inside of his mouth. How the fuck did he know so much about them?

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