Forged in Steele (KGI #7)(45)

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.

The man looked nervous, but then he was being scrutinized by an entire team of pissed-off people. Donovan had his arms crossed over his chest, staring expectantly. P.J. and Cole were on the other side of Donovan, not looking any happier, and Baker and Renshaw were circled around so they almost encompassed the guy.

Yeah, he knew he’d f**ked up.

“I’ve been talking to the locals and the most likely suspect is Javier Mendoza. Apparently he’s been sniffing around Dr. Scofield for quite some time. Mendoza’s hired heavy was seen outside her clinic the night before her clinic didn’t reopen as usual. She hasn’t been seen since.”

Steele’s nostrils flared and his lips curled in displeasure. “I see. So maybe you can explain to me why you had to find out this guy was sniffing around Maren from the locals. Your job was to keep an eye on her. You should have known the moment some ass**le started expressing interest, and you should have immediately reported that to Sam Kelly, the man who pays you to know these things.”

Rico went pale and he shuffled his feet nervously. “There’s never been a problem. Things are always quiet around here. She gets up, goes to her clinic, treats her patients and then she returns to her cottage. Every few weeks she’ll drive to get supplies, but other than that, she’s predictable.”