Page 9 of Holiday Hostage
Maverick hadn’t intended to become our leader, but he was too good at the role to let it pass him by.
He should have been leading other rangers by now.
The thought staggered my next step, causing me to catch my foot on the rug between the kitchen and living room.
Reed sat on the white sofa, his legs stretched out in front of him and his elbows on his knees.
“What is the matter with you?”
I tried to sound stern, but being mean to Reed when he was in one of these moods was like kicking a puppy for being excited.
He splayed his hands, palms up, with a subdued grin. “Sorry. I’m trying to be serious. I’ll have it under control by the time we get there. It’s just…it’sAlaska, man. We’re going to Alaska.” He shook his head. “I love this job.”
Okay, so I understood his enthusiasm. “We’re going to look for Frank’s missing daughter.”
“I know. That’s why I feel like a heel for being so excited. I’ve always wanted to go on an intensive rescue mission in the wilderness. It’s one of those surreal feelings. I’m working on it.”
His face smoothed into the professional lines he’d used to get through our time as rangers.
Underneath all that grinning tomfoolery was a deep-rooted sense of justice and an inability to stand by while innocents suffered.
He was our best chance at tracking down Payton. We all knew that.
And damn if I didn’t love his enthusiasm.
It might pop up at the most inappropriate times, but I couldn’t fault him for being Reed.
“Let’s go.” Maverick entered the kitchen and clapped. “Get your shit and load up. We have Mr. River’s permission to purchase anything we need once we’re on the ground.”
“Damn.” It hit Reed all at once.
I watched it come over him, the gravity of the situation.
He stood, took a deep breath, and his entire personality switched, the light flipping from sunshine to midnight in an instant.
He was no longer the loveable fool who made us laugh.
This was the Reed who’d punched the shit out of our commander for getting Maverick hurt, then punched him again for the hell of it.
We needed this guy.
The other Reed would pop up when we needed him, the one that provided levity to tense situations and gave us a reason to laugh when we felt like dying.
I hustled to pack the rest of my stuff, grabbed my medic bag, and fell in step behind Maverick and Reed on the way out the door, locking it behind me and pocketing the key.
An hour later, we were in the air in the most luxurious jet I’d ever seen, with nothing but blue skies and puffy clouds beneath our wings.
3
REED
The flight and subsequent hike to Payton’s last known location gave me plenty of time to pull my shit together and lock in on the honed concentration I needed to track Payton down.
Liam, the last guy to see Payton, directed us toward a narrow strip of a path that wound around the trees. “It’s just an old wildlife trail. Payton wanted to follow it to the river.”
He gulped and swiped a hand over his face.
The poor guy had to be pissing his pants knowing he was the key suspect in Payton’s disappearance.
