Page 16 of Maddox

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning there’s a woman who’s gotten herself into what could end up being a very dangerous situation.”

“A woman. Just any woman?”

“She’s an investigative reporter for theChicago Sun. A damn good one. Award winning. But she’s ruffled a lot of feathers over the years.”

“And that means what to me?” My patience was already wearing thin. Images flashed into my mind, the kind that had turned me into a killer. I’d tried long and hard to forget the damage inflicted on me so I could try to return to a normal life.

“Sit the fuck down and let me buy you another beer. This could be something involving national security.”

Gray had rarely cussed when almost every other instructor and commanding officer had thrown out curse words with every sentence. Jeff was watching us intently. I nodded. One more beer wasn’t going to do a damn thing given my tolerance. “Alright. Go on.” He knew enough about me to also gather I was a true patriot even after all I’d been through.

“She went down to El Salvador with a team to report on the effect of cartels on children, including with orphanages. Theviolence has taken a toll, destroying thousands of lives because of Alfaro’s greed. There have been a few reports of the man farming underage girls from the facilities for use in human trafficking.”

“Sick fuck.” I wouldn’t put anything past the reprehensible scumbag.

“Yeah, he is.” Gray seemed more nervous than before, lowering his voice. “There’s also some indications he’d kidnapped several women attached to some powerful men.”

“His enemies.”

Gray nodded.

“Let me guess. These women aren’t coming back.”

“No one knows and as you might imagine, Alfaro owns the police in El Salvador. There’s an unconfirmed report Ms. Douglas was provided with information about the situation and is using the stories on orphanages as a cover.”

Something inside forced me to laugh. Not that the subject matter was funny. “A cover? Does she have a death wish?”

“That’s what I asked.” He was staring at his bottle.

“What’s this woman to you?”

“I know her family. They asked if I knew of anyone who could provide protection while encouraging her to leave the country.”

I’d known Gray long enough to know when he was hiding something. “There are about a thousand decent security firms in the country, more if you included those in other countries. You don’t need me.”

“You’re the best tracker in the business. You know the jungles and rainforests like the back of your hand.”

Just the words alone were enough to try to capsize my decent day, memories poking at the festering sores all over again. They’d never gone away and never would. But I certainly didn’t need some damsel in distress reminding me I’d been a damn fool.

I remained quiet, doing nothing more than sipping on my beer.

“Why not Stone or Kage?”

Gray laughed. “Stone is MIA at the moment and Kage is currently embroiled in legislation involving his horse sanctuary. Plus, he has a family now.”

“Horse sanctuary?” Hell, I thought I’d gone out on a limb purchasing my ranch after seeing it online once.

“He didn’t tell you about that?”

“We’re not going to be best friends ever again, Gray.”

“Yeah, well. His uncle thought Kage needed something to fill his life. When he died, he left his ranch to Kage and purchased a sanctuary for him. Plus, he’s got his hands full with a lovely lady he rescued a few months back. You two should talk.”

“We’re done talking. He cleared his conscience.” I found I was gritting out the words. I’d been close to Kage for years, the man more like a brother. One night had changed everything. “What aren’t you telling me?”

He hung his head and I was ready to walk out for a second time. “She did a report a few months back on Alfaro that rattled theman’s cage.” He allowed the comment to hang, slowly turning his head in my direction.

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