“Sam and Garrett can stay here. I’m going with you,” Donovan said.
Garrett raised one eyebrow. “I’d love to know who died and left you in charge, little brother.”
Donovan held up his middle finger. “While we’re standing here arguing like a bunch of f**king two-year-olds, we could be moving out and finding out what the hell happened to Maren.”
“Hooyah,” Cole muttered.
“Hell yeah, hooyah,” Dolphin echoed.
“I’m with Van on this one,” P.J. said resolutely. “We’re wasting time that we could be using to find Maren and kick the motherfucker’s ass who messed with her.”
Sam held up his hands again. “We don’t know if anyone has messed with her. No sense going off half-cocked until we know for sure what’s going on.”
But his expression remained doubtful. Donovan spoke up, saying what was in the backs of all their minds.
“If Maren went off the grid without telling anyone, she’s in trouble.”
Baker and Renshaw stepped forward, their expressions determined. But it was Skylar who interjected next.
“So when are we going to be turned loose?”
Everyone turned toward Skylar when her softly spoken question filled the short silence.
Her lips were drawn into a tight line. Edge stood beside her; the only hint of his thoughts was the slight narrowing of his eyes. Swanny stood behind Skylar, quiet, away from the others. That was just Swanny’s nature. He was self-conscious about the jagged scar that covered one side of his face. He’d been captured with Nathan when both were still in the army, and they’d both been imprisoned and endured months of unspeakable torture.
It was easy to forget Swanny’s presence because the man rarely spoke. He was a lot like Edge in that regard, but no one could ever overlook Edge. The man was too huge. Swanny blended. A perfect chameleon. You could be in the same room with him and forget he was even there. He was a master at never drawing attention to himself.
Nathan looked calm, but his twin, Joe, simmered with impatience and frustration. But then of the two, Nathan was the more laid-back. Joe was more hot tempered and quick to want to act. Steele could understand that. But no way in hell was he standing down from this mission. He and only he would go after Maren and make damn sure she got back home safely. And while he was at it, he was going to convince her that practicing medicine in the middle of f**king nowhere in Costa Rica was a bullshit idea. She needed to be back stateside where it was safe. Where he and KGI could keep a better eye on her.
“You’ll get a mission when we say you do,” Garrett directed at Skylar. “And not one minute before. Maren is very important to us and not just because of the medical services she provides our teams. She’s family. We send the best, and right now the best is not you.”
The blunt assessment was enough to make a lesser person cringe. But Skylar and the rest of her team stared back at Garrett, and Skylar nodded.
“Fair enough,” she said.
“Now if we’re done?” Steele interjected. “We’re wasting time.”
“Let’s roll,” Donovan said.
As Donovan started by Steele, Steele stuck out his hand to catch Donovan’s arm.
“We do this my way,” Steele said in a low voice. “My team. My mission. My way.”
The corner of Donovan’s mouth turned up. “Is it ever any way else?”
Dolphin snickered, having overheard the exchange. “He’s got you there, boss man.”
“I want to know what the hell is going on as soon as you hit the ground there,” Sam said. “And I want to know the minute you find out what the f**k happened to her.”
Steele nodded. “My first priority is her safety and whatever I have to do to secure it. My second priority will be keeping you in the loop.”
Garrett chuckled. “Ouch. I’d say he just schooled you on the way things are in Steele’s world.”
Sam’s lip curled and his eyes narrowed. “As long as I sign your f**king paychecks I expect you to follow my goddamn orders.”
“You can shove that paycheck up your ass,” Steele snapped. “Now if we’re done here, I have more important things to do than to stand here with this petty bullshit bickering.”
He turned and strode out of the war room, his mind filled with images of Maren. Maren smiling. Maren underneath him. How she smelled. How she tasted. And now she was f**king missing. No one knew where the hell she was. Her family, whoever the hell Sam had watching out for her. They’d done a piss-poor job and that enraged him. If they’d been doing their f**king job, he wouldn’t be about to get on a f**king plane to go hunt down the son of a bitch who’d put his hands on her.
He knew he was jumping to hasty conclusions. Maren could simply have gone away. She could be on vacation. She might have had an emergency. But no matter how many possibilities he came up with, he knew that it was none of those things. Maren was uberresponsible. She wasn’t flighty. She was as steady and as stable as they came. Always had a welcoming smile, a warm shoulder. Always offered comfort and reassurance. She was good to her toes. Sunshine and sugar all in one package.
There was no way she would take off without telling her family. Which meant that whatever had happened to her wasn’t by her choice. If some ass**le hurt her, so help him, he was going to take the son of a bitch apart with his hands.
CHAPTER 17
STEELE stared piercingly at the man standing in front of him and his team, waiting for him to cough up an explanation as to why he hadn’t figured out Maren was missing until well after her disappearance. For that matter he hadn’t known jack until Sam had contacted him for information. Steele had no patience for half-assing a job, and it was clear Sam had employed someone to watch out for Maren who’d done a piss-poor job of it.