Page 9

CHAPTER NINE

“Seriously, what the fuck is this?” Smiley asked as they gathered in the bunk room they’d been assigned on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier currently stationed in the Mediterranean Sea.

Preacher had the same question, and obviously so did his teammates. They’d been questioning this mission one-on-one with each other for the last week, but this was the first time they’d discussed it as a group.

“Why the hell are we here?” Flash asked. “There’s no imminent threat from anyone and there’re already two SEAL teams aboard this ship.”

Kevlar frowned. “I talked to our commander today, and he’s trying to figure out what’s going on. He thinks someone messed up and wires got crossed. He thought we were coming over here as support for the other teams, but since all we’ve done is sit here, he started asking questions. It seems the mission we were supposed to support got canceled—but no one informed the commander. Bottom line, we shouldn’t be here.”

“So when are we going home?” Safe asked.

“That’s the thing…I’m not sure,” Kevlar explained.

“Fuck,” Blink swore.

“This is bullshit,” Preacher added.

“I know. And the commander’s working on it. But you guys know how shit works. It could be tomorrow or a month from now before heads get out of asses and we’re sent home.”

“It better not be a fucking month,” Safe growled.

“Can’t we call Tex? Surely he can do something to get this FUBAR’d situation fixed. I have a meeting with a detective in Vegas that I don’t want to miss in a couple weeks,” Smiley said.

“I’m on it,” MacGyver said, his thumbs moving lightning quick over the keyboard of his phone screen.

“I don’t think we should bring Tex into this,” Kevlar said. “I’m sure the Navy will get it figured out.”

Smiley snorted. “Yeah, right, like they figured they should send us here when we definitely aren’t needed?”

“Okay, you have a point,” Kevlar conceded. “Let me know what he says, MacGyver.”

“He says he’s on it.”

“Wait, what ? You already got a hold of Tex, explained the situation, and he’s working on it?” Flash asked.

“Yup,” MacGyver said with a grin.

“Hot damn! Maybe we should pack,” Safe suggested .

Preacher wasn’t so sure about that, but anything the computer genius could do to fix this fucked-up situation would be welcome. They’d been on this ship for too damn long.

He’d sent a few emails to Maggie since he’d been gone, and even though she said she was fine, he sensed that something was off with her. He wasn’t sure what, longed to be able to talk to her in person because he could read her pretty well when they were face-to-face.

“So I guess the sleepover went well,” Kevlar said, changing the subject.

“What I would’ve done to be a fly on the wall for that ,” Flash said, laughing.

Safe threw a pillow at his friend. “I don’t know what you think goes on at those things, but I’m completely sure it’s not what’s in your head right now.”

“You mean they aren’t all wearing skimpy little negligées and having pillow fights?” MacGyver asked, trying to sound innocent but failing.

“Don’t ever think about Wren in a negligée again,” Safe threatened.

Everyone laughed. “Remi said they talked about being SEAL wives and girlfriends, about how much they missed us, and then drank too much sugary hot chocolate and watched movies. Preacher, apparently Maggie won the contest on who could stay up the latest.”

He smirked. He had no doubt about that. His Maggie was a night owl. “Did you hear what she did while the others were all sleeping?” he asked .

“Hands in warm water to make them pee? Put plastic spiders all over the house to give the girls a heart attack when they woke up? Set alarms on everyone’s phones?” MacGyver asked.

Everyone chuckled.

“That’s a little juvenile, isn’t it?” Flash asked.

“She took their bras, soaked them in water, and put them all in the freezer,” Preacher said.

Kevlar, Safe, and Blink grinned, having obviously heard about the prank already from their women, but the other three men’s mouths dropped open.

“Seriously?”

“Holy crap, I think I love her.”

Smiley lived up to his nickname and grinned maniacally. “Knew I liked that girl.”

“It sounds like they all had a good time,” Blink said.

“Any word about her ex?” Safe asked.

Preacher sighed. “No. But she’s getting closer to talking. I can tell.”

“So…she told you he was a high-ranking Navy member…Any chance this mysterious asshole could’ve had something to do with all of us sitting on our asses, twiddling our thumbs on this ship, while our women are back home missing us?” Kevlar asked quietly.

“There’s no way,” Preacher said. But the question made him uneasy all the same.

“That would be impossible, right?” Safe questioned.

“No clue. If her ex is someone high enough in the chain of command, maybe,” Flash said .

“He would have to be a captain or higher,” Smiley said.

“Most likely an admiral,” MacGyver agreed.

“But would an admiral really be involved in selling drugs and tormenting an ex? Would he really go to the lengths Maggie’s ex did to get her put in prison? And for what? Why would he do something like that?” Flash asked.

Preacher had the same questions.

“No clue,” Kevlar said. “But either some huge glitch happened to get us here, or we have to at least consider maybe Maggie’s ex has way more clout than we expected. Unless someone knows something about an imminent declaration of war that we don’t know about yet, which is unlikely.”

Talk turned to the unstable conditions of many of the countries in the area. Preacher let his friends’ words go in one ear and out the other. He couldn’t stop thinking about who might’ve messed up enough to get their SEAL team sent to this ship on such short notice. Or the fact that maybe it wasn’t a mistake at all. And if it wasn’t…what were the odds it was actually connected to Maggie? Did her ex really have that much power in the Navy?

If he did, they could both be in danger.

It was a crazy idea. As far as he knew, her ex didn’t even know about him. Shouldn’t even know he and Maggie were seeing each other. Hell, what they’d been doing could barely even be called dating.

But as soon as he had the thought, Preacher knew he was lying to himself.

The kisses, the phone calls, the dinners, holding hands. They were definitely dating. And if her ex found out, why would he even care?

He had too many questions and no answers…and it was maddening. And now that Kevlar had brought up the possibility of Maggie’s ex being involved in this fuck-up of a mission they didn’t even need to be sent on, Preacher couldn’t stop thinking about it. The thought made him more anxious to get back to Southern California. To Maggie.

Maggie’s phone rang around ten at night a few days after the sleepover, and for one moment, she had the thought that maybe it was Shawn. Maybe he was back. She missed him terribly. In a way she hadn’t missed anything in her life before now. Even when she was in prison and was missing Del Taco, or having spices on her food, that was nothing like the pit in her stomach from missing Shawn.

But when she looked at her phone, her muscles clenched with anxiety at seeing the dreaded word—unknown.

“Hello?” she said tentatively as she answered.

“Hi, Mags. How are you?”

She closed her eyes. She’d honestly thought Roman had given up. That he’d finally moved on. But of course she’d been wrong.

“Don’t hang up,” he ordered, right when she was about to do just that. “I’m calling to let you know that if you don’t want your boyfriend sent to worse places than a ship in the middle of the ocean, you’ll continue to keep your mouth shut.”

Her worst fear had just been realized.

“Why…?” she whispered.

“Because I can,” Roman said, clearly amused. “This time, I just sent them on a fool’s mission. But next time it could be Iran. You think Blink might like to revisit that cell where he and his girlfriend were guests? Or maybe North Korea…how do you think the guys would like that? I think they’d stick out like sore thumbs, huh? Maybe get captured and thrown in work camps. Or I hear Russia’s nice this time of year.”

“Seriously, Roman, why ? You’ve already fucked up my life! Why are you doing this?”

“I already told you—because it’s fun. And to make sure you don’t screw up. I have pictures of you, bitch. Making out with that pansy-ass SEAL in his car. I have eyes and ears everywhere . Nothing you do is a secret to me. I know all about you working in that fucking clothing shop, your little sleepover at Caroline Steel’s house, the visit to that apartment building on Third Street. If I hear anything about that SEAL and his team looking into me, they’re as good as dead. You hear me? I’ll have them shipped out so fast your head will spin, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they never come back.”

“I won’t say anything! Just leave them alone!” Maggie pleaded.

“Or maybe I’ll get your ass put back in prison. It was so much fun the first time, watching you go down. I could have a chat with your probation officer. Or it wouldn’t be hard to put another stash in your car, maybe break into your apartment and sprinkle some paraphernalia around. Enough to get your probation revoked and add time to your sentence. Don’t fuck with me, Maggie. Now that I’ve proven what I can do, be smart for once in your life.”

She wasn’t sure what else to say.

“What’s the draw, anyway?” Roman asked.

Maggie wanted to hang up, but she couldn’t. She needed to keep him talking, let him keep incriminating himself.

“Everyone knows SEALs are shit in bed. They only care about getting themselves off. Their egos are too fucking big to think about anything other than racing to the finish line. But you know what? On second thought, it makes perfect sense that you’re with him. I mean, it’s not as if you were any good in bed either. The worst I’ve had—and I’ve had a lot. You just laid there like a dead fish.”

Okay, maybe she didn’t need to hear what else he had to say.

“You gave the worst blowjobs that I’ve?—”

Maggie clicked off the connection and immediately blocked the number he’d called from. Then she went to the app that she’d installed and made sure the conversation had recorded.

She had plenty of material to have Roman put in jail, but she was scared to death to bring it to anyone. Because she had no doubt he wouldn’t immediately be arrested. There would have to be an investigation. They’d ask him about the call. Probably play it for him. But if he wasn’t put behind bars right then and there, she was screwed. He’d do anything to make her pay. She wouldn’t be safe. Not even close.

Carefully, Maggie saved the message into a folder on her phone and emailed it to herself as well. Later, she’d save it on her computer. If something did happen to her, if she disappeared without a trace, there would be some record of who had it out for her. The why was another story. Even she didn’t understand exactly why Roman was determined to ruin her life. She’d thought she was a good girlfriend. But she’d obviously done something to piss him off. Or maybe he enjoyed having power over others.

She didn’t want to believe it was just like he said. This was simply fun for him.

Whatever the reason, it didn’t really matter anymore. All that mattered was the clear fact that he had no problem messing with Shawn and his team, putting their lives in danger, just to screw with her.

Feeling guilty as hell, Maggie sat on the couch in Adina’s apartment and stared into space. Then some of the other things Roman said began to sink in. Someone had taken pictures of her and Shawn, making out in his car. That had to be in the parking lot of My Sister’s Closet, a few days before his deployment. A happy memory that was now tainted, knowing that they’d been watched.

They’d also followed her to an apartment she’d thought about renting. They knew she’d gone to Caroline’s house with her friends.

She was putting so many people’s lives in danger.

Then something surprising happened—anger began to grow deep inside her.

She’d done nothing wrong. Nothing . Even though the judge believed the drugs were hers. Even though she’d made her share of mistakes in the past. That didn’t mean she deserved what was happening now. And Shawn and his friends certainly didn’t.

The only way to stop this was to do exactly what she feared most. Tell someone about what was going on. Who Roman was, and all about his threats.

And the one person she trusted enough to tell was Shawn. Which was hard, because telling him would put him in immediate danger. But he was a SEAL. He wasn’t some random man with no connections. He’d said it himself, he knew people. People who could hopefully not only keep her safe, but everyone else too.

If she didn’t say anything, Roman wouldn’t stop. He’d probably send Shawn and his friends to one of those awful places he threatened anyway, just because he could. It wouldn’t matter that Maggie hadn’t told anyone who he was. At least if she said something, if she exposed Roman for the criminal that he was, others would be prepared for whatever he might try next.

At this point, she was willing to do whatever it took to keep her new friends safe, even if it meant she wasn’t. She’d face whatever consequences her actions brought, as long as they were on her .

She was terrified of Roman and what he could do, but she was even more scared of what he could do to others. And that was what made up her mind.

The ironic thing was that if Roman hadn’t threatened Shawn, if someone hadn’t followed her to Caroline’s house, she would’ve done exactly what he wanted. Kept her mouth shut.

But now that he’d brought others into it, innocent people who didn’t deserve for some psychopath to ruin their lives, Maggie had found her backbone. Roman Robertson wouldn’t hurt someone else the way he’d hurt her. She’d do whatever it took to make sure everyone knew what a scumbag he was. Or die trying…which was definitely a possibility.