Chapter 2
TARRON
Despite my calm, level-headed demeanor, I did not do well with boredom.
I hunched over the table and scratched out another answer in the crossword puzzle in front of me.
Reed stalked into the room, shirtless as usual after a workout in the gym, and snorted when he spotted me. “Another one?”
“Better than letting my brain rot.” I shot the quip back at him before reading the next clue.
A key turned in the lock, and the front door opened. Maverick stepped through, his black hair as wild as the gleam in his eyes.
Reed stopped at the refrigerator, reaching in to snag his protein drink and knocking back half before Maverick dropped his keys in the ceramic bowl on the counter.
The two of them looked at each other, a silent conversation I followed without trouble.
“We have a job, don’t we?” I tossed the pencil into the holder in the center of the table and stood to stretch.
An ache had started in my neck, and I rolled my head side to side before it worsened.
Maverick perched on the edge of the counter, a grin pulling free. “We have a job.”
“We just finished a job.” Reed chugged the rest of his drink, then washed the shaker cup and mixed another for tomorrow.
“Better pack that up.” Maverick pointed a folded piece of paper at Reed. “We may be gone for a while.”
Reed arched his eyebrows. “Oh really? Where are we going?”
The three of us had been friends long enough that even if one of us had rank over the other in the rangers, it didn’t matter anymore. But Reed and I continued to follow Maverick’s lead.
He’d been the first to leave the rangers, and not of his own free will.
That honor was all mine, and I still didn’t regret it.
Maverick handed me the paper. “Her name is Payton Rivers.”
“Her?” Reed wheeled to look over my shoulder as I opened the paper.
He let out a grunt and grabbed one of his shirts from the laundry room.
He spoke while shoving his arms into the sleeves and yanking the green material over his head, covering the multitude of tattoos across his chest and shoulders. “What’s the job?”
“Possible kidnapping. Her father, Frank Rivers, hasn’t received a ransom note, but there are indications of a struggle at the site where she disappeared.”
Reed gave me a look. “Frank Rivers? As in…”
Maverick nodded. “Yep, that one.”
He showed a careful casualness when he crossed his arms and tucked his right fingers close to his side. “And before you ask, he’s adamant that she is not the type to run away.”
“No.” I took a closer look at the picture.
There was something about Payton that shone from the photo. It was more than happiness and vibrant health.
She had a presence in her smile, a kind of awed beauty as she took in the world around her.
Reed was the one to say what Maverick and I refused to say.
“Any rich father is going to say that, especially one with his prestige and power. Having a runaway daughter is instant death to a business career like his. Means he can’t control his life.”
“I don’t think Frank is that kind of man. Yes, he has more money than he can spend in ten lifetimes, but you didn’t see him.” Maverick dipped his head toward the picture. “He was worried. And he wants her back by Christmas."
“Yeah, see? That’s my point. Why the deadline of the biggest family holiday of the year?” Reed’s pessimism was unexpected. He was usually the first one on board with a new mission.
“What bug crawled up your ass and died?” I popped my knuckles and headed toward the garage, Reed and Maverick on my heels.
“You did.” Reed laughed and slapped me on the back. “I just wanted to see the two of you sweat over it. I’m in.”
“We leave in an hour. And it’s going to be dangerous.” Maverick said it like he thought we’d back out.
Reed snorted. “Good. I’ve been bored to death. All Tarron does is stare at the crossword puzzles. It’ll be good for him to get some fresh air.”
“In Alaska.” Maverick said the words in such a deadpan voice that it took Reed and me a minute to catch on.
I stopped and turned.
We stood in the middle of the garage. Shelves lined every wall, each one filled with totes carefully labeled with all our equipment.
Each of us had a wall, and the fourth was stacked floor to ceiling with an assortment of weapons and shared supplies. “Alaska?”
“Alaska.” Maverick pulled one of the black totes from his wall and cracked open the lid. “Better pack your underwear, Reed. You’ll freeze your balls off out there.”
“My balls are none of your concern, but I appreciate the worry.” Reed attacked his own wall with his usual vengeance. “Nothing like a time-sensitive, dangerous mission to get the blood pumping.”
He flexed his arms, laughing when Maverick threw a pair of thick socks in his face.
“Set us up, Tarron.” Maverick passed me a thick packet. “This is everything Frank had on Payton’s trip, including her last known location and who she was with before she disappeared.”
“Great.” I sat in one of the swivel chairs at the round table planted in the center of the garage.
This was our ground zero, our planning room. It was the place where we all found the most peace.
“We’ll start there. I want to see if Reed can get a read on the situation from the beginning.
If he thinks there’s been trouble, we’ll move out.
I don’t see any need to talk to this guide or the others in her group.
These reports are solid.” I skimmed the police reports, then went back for a detailed look.
Every one of them matched up in all the important ways. Payton had been with them on a hike.
She left the group to look at the river, promising to return in ten minutes.
When she didn’t show up, Liam went looking. He’d found her backpack, footprints, and nothing else.
“No blood on the scene.” I flipped through the pages again. “All of the officers on site agreed it wasn’t an animal attack. No blood, and no animal tracks.”
“No. Just human tracks. They want to explain those away as Liam trampling all over the place and muddying up the site, but he swears he stayed at the edge of the woods.”
Maverick unzipped a black duffel and began packing thick socks, lined pants, his mukluks, and a fur-lined parka.
I scanned the photos, then handed them to Reed.
He was the tracker of our group, and I trusted his instincts more than anyone who’d been on site.
The Alaska wilderness was a new one for us.
“We’ve never been anywhere this cold.”
We had the gear, but that would not prepare our bodies for the brutal environment. “I need to grab some stuff.” I left the dossier on the table and headed to my wall.
Combatting cold came with more than the right clothes. We’d need medicines to carry in case of emergencies, things to make hot tea, or melt snow.
The list rolled through my head, and I mentally ticked off each item as I packed it in a duffel similar to Maverick’s.
His phone rang, and he answered in the middle of setting the phone down.
“Mr. Rivers, you’re on speaker with my team. Reed and Tarron have been with me since my early military days.”
“Good. I trust you’re almost ready?” The noises coming through the phone held my interest.
There were footsteps, then a shuffle of pages, then…nothing.
“We’re packing now. I estimate we can be at the airport by nightfall.” Maverick checked his watch, then eyed each of us for a confirming nod.
“No need.” Frank Rivers barked out the words with a kind of forcefulness that said he was used to being obeyed. “I have a private jet ready for you. Head to my private airport. The man at the gate knows to let you in. He’ll show you to the plane.”
Reed’s grin was a messy thing that said he’d thought of something utterly ridiculous and was struggling to keep his mouth shut.
He shook his head, slapped a hand over his mouth, and retreated to the kitchen.
I followed, trusting Maverick to retain the details of the upcoming mission.
That was how we’d survived so long.
We trusted each other, and we relied on each other’s strengths.
Maverick hadn’t intended to become our leader, but he was too good at the role to let it pass him by.
He should have been leading other rangers by now.
The thought staggered my next step, causing me to catch my foot on the rug between the kitchen and living room.
Reed sat on the white sofa, his legs stretched out in front of him and his elbows on his knees.
“What is the matter with you?”
I tried to sound stern, but being mean to Reed when he was in one of these moods was like kicking a puppy for being excited.
He splayed his hands, palms up, with a subdued grin. “Sorry. I’m trying to be serious. I’ll have it under control by the time we get there. It’s just…it’s Alaska, man. We’re going to Alaska.” He shook his head. “I love this job.”
Okay, so I understood his enthusiasm. “We’re going to look for Frank’s missing daughter.”
“I know. That’s why I feel like a heel for being so excited. I’ve always wanted to go on an intensive rescue mission in the wilderness. It’s one of those surreal feelings. I’m working on it.”
His face smoothed into the professional lines he’d used to get through our time as rangers.
Underneath all that grinning tomfoolery was a deep-rooted sense of justice and an inability to stand by while innocents suffered.
He was our best chance at tracking down Payton. We all knew that.
And damn if I didn’t love his enthusiasm.
It might pop up at the most inappropriate times, but I couldn’t fault him for being Reed.
“Let’s go.” Maverick entered the kitchen and clapped. “Get your shit and load up. We have Mr. River’s permission to purchase anything we need once we’re on the ground.”
“Damn.” It hit Reed all at once.
I watched it come over him, the gravity of the situation.
He stood, took a deep breath, and his entire personality switched, the light flipping from sunshine to midnight in an instant.
He was no longer the loveable fool who made us laugh.
This was the Reed who’d punched the shit out of our commander for getting Maverick hurt, then punched him again for the hell of it.
We needed this guy.
The other Reed would pop up when we needed him, the one that provided levity to tense situations and gave us a reason to laugh when we felt like dying.
I hustled to pack the rest of my stuff, grabbed my medic bag, and fell in step behind Maverick and Reed on the way out the door, locking it behind me and pocketing the key.
An hour later, we were in the air in the most luxurious jet I’d ever seen, with nothing but blue skies and puffy clouds beneath our wings.