Chapter 1
MAVERICK
“Close the door.” The sharp order came from the powerful man wearing a business suit.
He stood framed by the New York skyline that stretched behind him.
His words snapped my shoulders back into a familiar position.
Damn. I thought I’d gotten rid of that instinct.
Seemed some things from my past were harder to forget than I cared to admit.
Frank Rivers held his hands locked behind his back in a similar stance to the military precision that marked my every move.
The vast office space housed a single desk which sat in front of the windows, a wall filled with bookshelves lined with classics that I’d bet a year’s salary were all first editions, and gray carpet that matched the streaks in Frank’s hair.
“Mr. Rivers.” I approached with a hand outstretched. “I’m Maverick Blake.”
“I know.” He shook my hand, his voice somewhere between annoyed and grim.
Dropping my hand, he took a step back. “Would you like to sit?”
I kept my expression in check, refusing to let him see my surprise at the indication of equality. “I prefer standing, sir, but thank you for the offer.”
One side of his mouth almost rose in a grin, but it fell before fully emerging. “I need you to take care of something for me.”
“I understand, sir. What are the parameters and scope of the project?” My shoulders rolled back and down, my hands moving behind my back to hide the slight tremor in my right hand.
I anchored my feet in the thick carpet and waited for orders.
There was an almost peaceful sensation about this moment.
The order. Getting commands.
I mentally shrugged off thoughts of the past and focused on Frank.
He rounded the desk and picked up a thin manila envelope. “This is my daughter.”
My heart kicked a little harder, and I waited for the punchline.
Being a former Army Ranger, sometimes my clients had the wrong idea about what I did now that I’d moved into the private sector.
I took the envelope and pulled out a single photograph. Heat filled my veins.
The blonde woman in the picture had curves in all the right places, bright blue eyes that shone with vigor and laughter, and a smile meant to melt hearts.
Her hair draped over her shoulders and framed an oval face before falling down to her elbows.
She stood in the middle of an abandoned alley, her hands on her hips and a camera around her neck.
I studied the graffiti on the wall beside her, recognizing the artwork. It was displayed in one of the abandoned business districts downtown.
When I raised my head, I found Frank studying me. “What’s the job, sir?”
His slow nod showed approval. “Payton took off to Alaska last week. She’s a travel blogger.” Pride puffed out his chest and put a melancholy look in the older man’s eyes.
At fifty-five, he could have been gearing up to retire. Not Frank Rivers.
The billionaire business mogul worked hard, and based on my dive into his personal life, he had no other family besides Payton.
The information I’d found in the few minutes I had spent looking into him after his request for an appointment with me had turned up very little about his personal life.
I hadn’t even seen a picture of Payton until now.
I continued to wait. It was one of my more annoying qualities, according to my best friends and fellow former soldiers, Tarron and Reed.
However, patience often netted more fish than questions.
Frank did not disappoint. “She headed out on a guided tour yesterday. She did not return. Based on information from the guide who was with her at the time, it’s believed she may have been kidnapped.”
His voice broke at the end, and a hardness burned in his eyes. “The local authorities are out looking for her, but if the guide is correct about the signs of a struggle, I have no doubt there will be a ransom request sent my way soon.”
He stared hard at me, his finger stabbing into the desk so hard his nail whitened, the knuckle going red with pressure. “I want you to find her. Find my daughter and bring her back to me. Whatever the cost.”
Those last three words set off a chain reaction in my brain.
Synapses fired as an order I’d accepted years ago snapped into focus.
The last time I had accepted this kind of task, I had lost my military career, died, and been resurrected by Tarron.
Tarron was a former military medic who had refused to give up on me.
That death of everything dear to me in my life at the time had put the tremor in my hand and ended my career.
I pressed my left thumb into the palm of my right hand.
My fingers shuddered and jerked, the spasm coming and going at random.
“What about the ransom?” I allowed one question to break back into the conversation.
Frank remained poised, but a muscle jumped in his jaw.
“I will pay whatever it costs to get her back. But the kind of people who would kidnap my daughter are not to be trifled with. There are no guarantees they won’t hurt her.
They might kill her after they get their money.
My lawyers and police friends recommend waiting for the ransom call to come in, but it’s been twenty-four hours of silence. ”
His closed fist hammered the desk, sending pens flying into the air. “Get my daughter back. By Christmas.”
Christmas?
I didn’t need to check the calendar or contemplate the probability of success for this ask.
I had a week to find a kidnapped woman in a vast wilderness.
God only knew if they’d kept her in Alaska or taken off somewhere else. “I need a list of anyone you think might be responsible.” Payton’s picture crinkled in my grasp. I set the picture and envelope on Frank’s desk. “And I apologize for this question, but you know I have to ask.”
“No.” Frank slashed both hands through the air. “There is no way in this entire fucking world that Payton ran away or is having some kind of tantrum and decided to scare me by disappearing. That’s not who I raised my girl to be. You’ll see.”
He turned his head toward the window, taking a moment to regain his composure. “My daughter is all I have, and I will not stop until I have exhausted every resource to ensure I’ve done all I can to bring her home.”
“I understand, sir.” I forced my fingers to unclench and shifted my stance to something more casual. “Will there be other teams?”
“You mean, is there any competition for the contract I’m prepared to offer you?” Frank raised an eyebrow.
“No, sir.” Fuck, I really had to get a handle on the ‘sir’ business.
“I mean, do you trust me and my team? I don’t want to be out there stumbling over everyone else.
It complicates an already tense situation, especially with kidnappers involved.
I don’t want the threat of another team mistaking us for the bad guys. ”
“That happen often?” He seemed genuinely curious.
I didn’t feel relaxed enough to shrug. “On occasion.” And I had a few battle scars to prove it. “One team like mine is all you need.”
“I expected arrogance. Reading your file was something of a journey. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to trust someone I haven’t worked with before, but you’ve impressed me.” He held out a hand. “Get my daughter back, Maverick.”
“My team is the best, Mr. Rivers. We won’t stop until she’s back safe with you.” I rarely made promises like that, but in this case, I was fully invested. The woman in that picture had my full attention.
The world needed more people like her.
More smiles. More carefree spirits.
I’d be damned to hell before I let a scumbag take her out.
“Good.” Frank pushed the picture toward me. “Take that with you as a reminder of what’s at stake.”
I didn’t need it. Payton’s image was burned into my brain.
I saw her every time I blinked, and the stoked fire that I’d banked after leaving the Rangers flared to life.
I hadn’t been this invested in a job in over a decade. Nothing short of death was going to stop me from saving Payton.