Diesel (The Mavericks Book 13) by Dale Mayer (motivational books for men .txt) 📗

Diesel

The Mavericks, Book 13

Dale Mayer

Books in This Series:

Kerrick, Book 1

Griffin, Book 2

Jax, Book 3

Beau, Book 4

Asher, Book 5

Ryker, Book 6

Miles, Book 7

Nico, Book 8

Keane, Book 9

Lennox, Book 10

Gavin, Book 11

Shane, Book 12

Diesel, Book 13

Jerricho, Book 14

The Mavericks, Books 1–2

The Mavericks, Books 3–4

The Mavericks, Books 5–6

The Mavericks, Books 7–8

The Mavericks, Books 9–10

The Mavericks, Books 11–12

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

About This Book

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Epilogue

About Jerricho

Author’s Note

Complimentary Download

About the Author

Copyright Page

About This Book

What happens when the very men—trained to make the hard decisions—come up against the rules and regulations that hold them back from doing what needs to be done? They either stay and work within the constraints given to them or they walk away. Only now, for a select few, they have another option:

The Mavericks. A covert black ops team that steps up and break all the rules … but gets the job done.

Welcome to a new military romance series by USA Today best-selling author Dale Mayer. A series where you meet new friends and just might get to meet old ones too in this raw and compelling look at the men who keep us safe every day from the darkness where they operate—and live—in the shadows … until someone special helps them step into the light.

Traveling to China to retrieve a kidnapped scientist shows Diesel the depths of human depravity. Not that he needs more proof. He’s been doing this type of work for a decade. This is the first time though the person he was rescuing was this interesting.

Eva Langston had been kidnapped while walking across the street and then locked up in a lab half a world away. Joining two other scientists, both letting her know there was no escape, she refuses to give up hope. When the rescue does come, it wasn’t smooth or easy.

Still she was damn glad to be free. Until she realizes that freedom is a long way off, as, one by one, her science team is picked off, leaving her the last one to be dealt with.

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Prologue

Diesel Edwards walked back into his small apartment, even as his cell phone rang inside. He quickly picked it up and answered. It was Shane. “Hey, I was just outside, washing the car.”

“And you didn’t have your phone on you?”

“No,” he said. “Sometimes I just don’t want to be connected.”

“Got it,” he said.

“How are you two getting along?”

“Well, Shelly’s back here in California, and we’re looking for apartments right now,” he said. “She’s looking for a job but not pushing it.”

“I wouldn’t push it either. Her last job was a bit of a killer.”

At that, Shane snorted. “You think? They did give her a nice severance package though, hoping that they wouldn’t get sued for the lack of security. But, all in all, we’re doing great.”

“Perfect,” he said.

“What about you?” Shane asked.

“Yeah, I’m back, normal, recovered,” he said. “I had a few days of rest.”

“That’s good.”

“Just a check-up call?”

“Well, I would invite you over for a barbecue,” he said, “but …”

“But?” Diesel walked to the small balcony and stepped out. He was just on the outskirts of San Diego, and the smog was not too bad today, but it was pretty muggy. “So, you got a job for me or what?”

“Well, it’s not me who’s got a job for you. The Mavericks do.”

“My own job?” Diesel asked in surprise.

“Yeah, if you’re up for it.”

“Any reason I wouldn’t be?”

“I’m not sure,” he said. “How do you feel about scientists?”

“No different than any other person. Why?”

“Because a specialist, an epidemiologist, has been kidnapped.”

“And that’s a Mavericks issue, why?”

“She was working on a new cure for a virus. Apparently China is looking to have the cure for themselves, and she is their best bet.”

“Is it part of that H1N1 that’s terrorizing Asia?”

“It’s one of the offshoots of it,” he said. “Anyway, she went missing twelve days ago.”

“Why are we getting called in so late?”

“Because her family didn’t report her missing.”

“What family would that be?”

“Her brother, who lives with her. When he finally did call it in, nobody really believed him because he was drunk.”

“Great, so how believable is her disappearance?”

“We checked the street cams, and two Asian males clearly escorted her, as soon as she left her home, into a black car.”

“And?”

“It went to the Chinese Consulate. However, the consulate says nobody arrived.”

“Did you show them the video?”

“Yes, but they say the car isn’t theirs, and honestly the camera doesn’t go clear onto their property.”

“So what are the chances that she was even taken by the Chinese?” he asked. “It’s pretty easy to blame them by taking her to that location but then sneak her off somewhere else.”

“Yes, it’s quite possible,” he said, “which is why you’re being called in for it.”

“And what’s the problem?”

“Well, I think at the moment she’s on a Chinese warship.”

“How did we go from the Chinese Consulate not having anything to do with her kidnapping to finding her on a Chinese warship?”

“Well, it gets better than that,” he said. “Her last sighting was on a Chinese junk boat.”

“Where?”

“Off China’s coast.”

“That’s not making any sense.”

“Nope, we’ll fill you in as you go,” Shane said cheerfully.

“Go where?”

“To the last sighting of her. How are your language skills? Like Chinese, possibly Vietnamese?”

“Terrible,” he said. “I suck at it, but things always work out.” As they spoke, he was already pulling out a duffel bag and packing up his clothes. He heard a vehicle outside and shook his head. “Are you telling me that that I’m leaving right now?”

“Aren’t you packed yet? You should have started when I first called.”

“I might have, if we hadn’t been talking about you guys and a barbecue that you owe me,” he said. Nonetheless he was packed within minutes.

“Make sure you’ve got your passport.”

“I’ve got it,” he said. “I still don’t understand why this scientist was kidnapped.”

“Well, she’s got a scientific background for one. She’s a renowned epidemiologist for another, and she’s got some head start on a cure for this … this virus.”

“That’s great, but then somebody wants her for a lab,