Engaging his Enemy (Shattered SEALs #4) - Amy Gamet Page 0,13

he saw there. “And my kids.” His voice cracked on the last word, and he hung his head to regain his composure.

“You’ll be missed, man,” said Sloan. “I sure hope you find her.”

“Yeah, I hope you find her,” agreed Asher.

Mac raised his head. “Thank you.”

Champion leaned back in his chair. “You deserve to have her back, Mac. Never doubt that for a second.”

Jesus Christ, he was going to bawl like a baby if he didn’t put an end to this shit. He cleared his throat and gestured to Ian at his right. “Razorback here’s going to be in charge from now on. He’s a strong leader who will look out for the team. I know you’ll be in good hands.”

Gavin stood and crossed to Mac and held out his hand. “It’s been an honor to serve with you. I’ve never had a better commanding officer.”

Mac shook it. They were no longer in the military, yet they were still part of that same team, their brotherhood knowing no bounds. “You’ll make a good one yourself, someday.” His cell phone rang. “It’s Moto. May as well get this over with in one fell swoop.” He answered it. “O’Brady.”

“We have a problem,” said Moto. “My brother’s up to his eyeballs in shit, framed for murder by his real estate client, who was using him to buy property as part of a money-laundering scheme. You’re not going to believe who the client is.”

Mac’s brows drew together. He knew Moto’s brother was in trouble, but this was bigger trouble than he’d imagined. “Who?”

“DeRegina.”

“Archie DeRegina? One of Interpol’s most wanted criminals?”

“The one and only.”

“Holy fuck.” The hair on Mac’s arms went up. “You’re sure?”

“Positive. I need permission to bring Logan in on this case.”

Every bone in his body wanted to take on the case, to help Moto go after this bad guy and defend his brother, but his eyes shot to Razorback’s. This wasn’t Mac’s baby anymore. He wasn’t the leader of this organization. “That’s not up to me anymore. I’m leaving HERO Force, effective immediately. I was just sharing the news with the team.”

“Jesus, Mac, I’m sorry…”

“No apologies. I’ve got to find my wife. There’s a time for everything on this earth, and the time has come for me to focus my attention on looking for her.”

“I understand. I wish you the best. Godspeed, brother,” said Moto.

“Thank you. Let me put you over to Razorback. He’s in charge now.” He held out his phone to the other man, their eyes meeting, the import of the exchange lost on neither of them.

“Moto, what’s going on?” asked Razorback into the phone, turning away from Mac.

Mac’s throat tightened. It was as it should be, the passing of a baton, but that didn’t make it easier. He lifted his chin, nodded to each man seated at the table, and slipped quietly out of the conference room. The phone didn’t belong to him any more than the responsibility he’d just left behind. “Godspeed, my brothers,” he whispered to the closed door, then turned and walked away.

7

It was almost ten thirty, the humidity after the storm hanging in the air like fog, the scent of ozone heavy as Davina stood in the doorway to her house, Piggy in her arm and one hand on her hip, angrier than she could remember being in her life.

She pointed her finger at Zach. “This isn’t how this is going to be. You’re not going to walk into my son’s life just to let him down. You’re not going to be that guy who forgets shit that’s important to him or bails on him at the last minute or is supposed to show up for dinner and finds something better to do. You got that?”

“I’m sorry. I lost track of time.”

“Do you have any idea how nervous he was? He was sick to his stomach for hours. Then we sat here while the food got cold, the minutes ticking by until it was perfectly clear you had no intention of coming or even picking up the goddamn phone to tell us you were running late.” The teenage Davina never would have spoken to him like this, never would have yelled at anybody, and she swore she saw surprise in the depths of his deep brown eyes.

“I can explain. Let me come in.”

She crossed her arms. It had broken her heart to see her son disappointed. He’d been so anxious for Zach’s visit tonight, she could only imagine what was going on in his head. Desperately