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

With the high winds, she wasn’t even sure that they should fly. She wanted to ask them if it was safe, but then suddenly they were up in the air. She didn’t understand that, but, as soon as they were skyborne, she realized that a lot of the wind she had felt on deck came from the rotors themselves.

As soon as they were up in the air, she settled down slightly, so she could look at the view. “Do you think any rocket launchers face us right now?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“I hope not,” she said. As it was, they ended up on a huge yacht several miles away. She looked at him. “This isn’t military.”

“No, it’s just a stopping point.”

The yacht quickly approached another craft, where they were put into a speedboat. At that, he lifted a hand in a goodbye wave, and then the three of them took off. Jerricho remained quiet but alert.

She twisted to look back at what could have been a multimillion-dollar superyacht. “Do you know them?”

“We might have touched bases once in a while,” Diesel said, with a smile.

“You guys have friends in strange places.”

“Strange friends in high places, all over the place,” he corrected. “It’s a good way to run a business.”

“Maybe,” she said, “just a little confusing.”

“Only for those of you trying to make sense of it,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. Just look after yourself.”

“I’m trying to,” she said, with a little more spirit. “I’m determined to live. Paul and Marge didn’t get a chance, but I refuse to become the third victim.”

“Good,” Diesel said. “I want you to hang on to that thought, even when things get tough.”

And she realized that, as far as he’s concerned, things would get a lot tougher, and she wasn’t sure she was prepared for it in any way. The speedboat bounced over the waves, even as the clouds moved in above them, and she felt a chill settling in.

Diesel noticed and sat close to her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her up tight against his heavily muscled frame. “I’ll make a windbreak for you, if you sit on this side.”

She quickly changed positions and then noted he sat sideways, and he tucked her up between his legs and then wrapped his arms and legs around her—like being wrapped up in a heating blanket. Almost immediately her shivers settled down. “How come your body heat is so extreme?” she murmured. He laughed, his voice warm and deep against her ear. She leaned into it ever-so-slightly, a smile tickling at her lips, as she heard that voice.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve always been the warm-body type.”

“And I’m always the socks in bed type.”

He burst out laughing. “Not my style,” he said. “I have great circulation.”

“Is that what the problem is?” she complained gently.

“I think so,” he said, with that endearing smile of his.

She nestled in closer, greatly appreciating not only the strength but the heat and the emotional support and the surreal sense of just knowing she wasn’t alone and that these guys were handling it, that they had it under control. And even though she didn’t know what the heck was going on or how to stop this craziness in her world, they did. And that was good enough for her. She was willing to trust them right now, and, as long as they were willing to keep looking after her, she’d take all the help she could get.

As she watched the ship go through wave after wave, she asked, “Should we even be out here?”

“Yes,” he said. “A ton of people won’t be out here, but a lot who are will be racing to avoid the weather. A storm is coming up in the ocean.”

At that, she twisted to look behind him. She saw the dark clouds gathering. Even as she watched that and studied the open water around her, she saw the white plume of other boats racing for shore. “Good timing,” she said. “It really does look like we’re just one of many.”

“Exactly.”

She settled in for the ride. But it did get colder and colder. She sat, numb, waiting for this to end. Finally they pulled up to one of the harbors and coasted along the shoreline, until they got to a spot that they had previously picked out. As they pulled up here, they were let off, and the pilot immediately raised a hand, turned around, and headed back out.

“Should he be going back right now? Is it safe?”

“He knows what he’s doing,” Diesel said. “I think he’ll dock at another place on shore and then head back out, when the storm’s over.”

Feeling better about that, she nodded. “Well, that’s good,” she said. “I don’t want him to get hurt because he had to bring us here.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Diesel said. “They know what they’re doing.”

Since those were the same words he’d used a few minutes ago, she just nodded. Next, she found herself shuffled down the pier toward land, where they climbed up a winding path, past a series of huts, up to a road. A vehicle sat waiting for them. She stared at the vehicle, looked at them, and said, “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

Jerricho hopped into the driver’s side, as she slid into the back seat, along with Diesel. She looked at him. “What’s next?”

“Hoping to hit an airport tonight,” he said. “We’re checking availability.”

“You didn’t do that before?”

“We did, but no seats available. We need three.”

“Right. We don’t have to be together though.”

He explained. “But we do need to have three on the same flight.”

She nodded. “It’s all about safety, isn’t it?

“Absolutely,” he said. “Remember. We got this. It’s okay. If three aren’t available today, we’ll wait until tomorrow.”

“So, in other words, you’re expecting cancellations?”

“That’s what we’re hoping for, yes. There could be all kinds of reasons for not getting a flight,” he said. “We just want to make sure that we have everything locked down.”

She settled in beside him,