by Dale Mayer
He munched his way through it, thoroughly enjoying the different tastes of everything here in the States. He had traveled for years in his world, decades even, but he had spent the last five years with Bullard in Africa, until he’d been sent down off the Galapagos to help rescue a science team. He’d returned with Vince to Ice and Levi’s compound a week ago.
Johan was hoping to maybe do a mission here and see just how different Legendary Securities operated. He was originally from the US, but his parents had been missionaries and had traveled all over the world. Johan had gone to school in England and in Michigan. He much preferred Michigan, but school hadn’t stuck with him in either place, and he’d gone on to doing trade work in Germany and then in Switzerland.
It was hard, as he looked back onto his vagabond lifestyle, to consider any particular area as home.
As he pondered the cinnamon bun along this strange path his world had taken, he heard Kai say, “I know Joy. She’s not much for raising the alarm unnecessarily.”
Harrison said, “You know Joy. We don’t. She might not be one to raise alarms, but that doesn’t mean that she’s not a little more afraid of this being a bigger deal than it is.”
Kai sank back in her chair and shrugged. “I think you’re wrong.”
“What did I miss out on?” Johan asked, as he took another bite of the cinnamon bun.
Kai turned to him. “A friend of mine, Joy—actually Joyce, but we’ve always called her Joy—is working at a medical research center and says drugs are missing.”
“Drugs are always missing,” Johan said. “I swear to God it happens in every medical center I’ve ever seen.”
“Yes,” Harrison said. “Unfortunately, in this case, it’s ketamine, which is what they use to knock out horses.”
“Or men,” Johan said quietly. “We’ve had serial killers using that same drug before.”
“I never thought about a serial killer,” Kai said, her gaze moving around the group one by one. “And I’m definitely not mentioning that to Joy.”
Johan chuckled. “No need to panic her. Is this just one or two bottles that everybody’s worried about, or is it a much bigger issue”
“She’s new there,” Kai said. “And it’s a large research center. They don’t do any animal testing, but they’re doing a lot of lab work and some of their trials are on local farm stock. They knock them out to do surgeries.”
“Sounds like animal testing to me,” he said, as the last bite of the cinnamon bun went into his mouth.
“I hope not,” Kai said darkly. “It’d make Joy very unhappy.”
“What’s the difference between animal testing and this?” he asked curiously.
“I think motivation,” Harrison said with a hard laugh.
“Either way,” she said, “the research center has a warehouse that runs alongside a large vet clinic, and that warehouse had a lot of ketamine go missing.”
“Nobody should stock a lot of ketamine,” Johan said. “It’s a very strong drug. You don’t need very much of it. So, unless they’re dealing with a huge population of bovine, equine, or, say, elephants”—he snorted—“I can’t see anybody keeping a large stock of it.”
“True enough, but they did get in a large amount, and now it’s missing.”
Johan stared at her, his fingers tapping his knees. His mind raced quickly as he thought about all the uses for ketamine. “If it is a serial killer, he won’t need a lot of ketamine anyway. Other, more easily obtained drugs might serve him better.”
“But, like you said, it’s worth money on the black market,” Kai said, turning to Harrison with a frown.
“Missing drugs are always an issue. Have they contacted the cops?”
“No. See? That’s the thing,” she said. “She brought it up to her boss, only he laughed at her and said she miscounted and told her to look again.”
“Did she?” Johan asked, interested in the way the system worked over here.
“She did, indeed. When she went back to him with the same figures, he said it must have been an inventory error.”
“Did she go to their accountant over it?”
Kai looked at Harrison and nodded. “The accountant wasn’t happy, said that that stuff was expensive, but didn’t confirm whether he had entered an invoice for a case of ketamine or not.”
“Sounds like she’s trying to do the right thing by tracking it down, only nobody else seems to care.”
“I think that’s a problem for a lot of large companies,” she said, “because somebody’ll get blamed if it did go missing.”
“And is that our problem, or is this just an exercise that we’re all talking about?” Johan asked.
“I’m afraid that Joy may have spoken to the wrong person and could get hurt, so I dumped it in Ice’s lap,” Kai confessed. “I’m not sure what she’ll do with it.”
A steady clip-clip of her footsteps coming down the hallway said they were about to find out. As Ice walked in—her hair in a long braid down her back, a simple white shirt flowing over the top of her jeans—she looked as cool, calm, and collected as ever. He’d heard that she was pregnant, but she wasn’t showing much yet. She had reading glasses on, which she pulled down her nose so that she could stare over them. “I spoke to Joy,” she said. “She’s really worried, but her boss is apparently brushing it off.”
“Yes, that’s what she told me,” Kai said.
Ice nodded. “However, I went above him, several rungs up the ladder, to somebody I know on the board.”
“Of course you know somebody on the board,” Kai said in a drawled-out voice. “Is there anybody you don’t know?”
Ice flashed her a bright grin. “It helps to know a lot of people,” she said. “I just had a private conversation with him, and he’s not impressed. He said, whether it was a clerical error or it’s a theft, it’s not a drug that they want floating around, particularly as the number for that lot has been established to come from his labs.”
“Never thought of that,” Kai said. “That gives more weight to getting this solved.”
“Well, it should have been looked into further as soon as the issue was raised,” Johan said.
Ice looked at him with interest. “You wanted a local job, right?”
He nodded immediately.
“Good. Then you and Galen can go.”
At that, silence hit the gathering. Johan looked around. “And why is everybody all of a sudden staring at me that way?”
“You’re not one of our regular guys,” Harrison said easily. He faced Ice. “Don’t you want one of us to go with them?”
“If anyone goes, it should be me,” Kai protested. “Joy knows and trusts me.”
Ice pondered the issue and said, “Well, I plan to send you to another job in the same area, once I get confirmation. If these guys need help, you could step up to assist them if needed.”
“We don’t get many jobs close to home base,” Harrison said. “What’s the second job? Please tell me it’s something exotic, like an international jewel thief or something like that.”
“Stolen African sculptures,” she said.
“So then I should do the pharmacy job and their stolen drugs,” Harrison protested. “Galen and Johan should do the African sculpture job.”
“Like I know anything about African sculptures,” Johan joked.
Just then Galen walked into the area. He lifted a hand, walked over, and gave Ice a gentle hug. Then he headed toward Johan, tossed his bag on the floor, and dropped into a squatting position. He grinned at his old friend. “The first I realized you were here was when I found out the two of us got assigned to a job.”
“Oh, yeah. She’s keeping us together and away from her pretty boys,” Johan said. “Everybody knows they can’t handle the heat.”
Galen burst into laughter. “Well, if they can’t,” he said, “I’m not sure anybody can.” Galen stood and stretched. “Man, that’s a long set of flights to get over here.”
“It is, indee
d,” Ice said, studying him. “We just got word that our men arrived over there safely too.”
“They’ve taken over some interesting security hardware. I wouldn’t mind hearing what they’re up to.”
“Well, you can learn while you’re here,” she said. “In the meantime, Bullard wanted you to get some North American experience.”
“Interesting that you’re putting the two of us together,” Johan said. “Both the new guys.”
Galen rolled his eyes. “Art’s not really my thing, unless shooting them up and leaving a room devastated is an art form.”
“We have more than enough of that art form ourselves,” she said in a mocking tone. “So you two will look into the ketamine theft, and, if the other job comes through, Harrison will look into the art sculpture theft. Or vice versa.”
“If only the Art museum had hired us in the first place as security,” Harrison said, “this wouldn’t be an issue.”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Ice said. “They now realize that. And as this is Kai’s friend, she’s going to help Johan and Galen, and if more is required I’ll add Tyson to their team.”
Harrison crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. “Pretty boy Tyson. He’ll do just fine in a museum. Me? Not so much.”
“You will,” she said cheerfully, “because that’s the job.”
He glared at her but Johan and Galen burst out laughing. “We’ll take ours. Sounds like a perfect place to start.”
This concludes Book 20 of Heroes for Hire: Ice’s Icing.
Read about Johan’s Joy: Heroes for Hire, Book 21
Heroes for Hire: Johan’s Joy (Book #21)
After helping out Vince, Johan hadn’t planned on staying at Levi and Ice’s compound for long. However, Johan realizes how much plans can change when Galen comes over from Africa to join Johan, and the two are sent into town on a job that’s close and up-front personal to another member of Legendary Security.
Joyce, otherwise called Joy, sought a career position but accepted something out of her normal skill set in order to pay the rent. But when her inventory lists show missing drugs, she knows something ugly is going on. With no one at the company willing to listen, she turns to her old friend Kai for advice.
Johan wasn’t the answer Joy was looking for, but, when she finds out the previous employee to hold her position is in the morgue, she’s damn happy to have him.
Her job might be safe … but her life? Well, that’s on the line …
Find Book 21 here!
To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.
Bullard’s Battle Series
Welcome to a new stand-alone but interconnected series from USA Today bestselling Dale Mayer. This is Bullard’s story—and that of his team’s. All raw, rough, incredibly capable men who have one goal: to find out who was behind the attack on their leader, before the attacker, or attackers, return to finish the job.
Stay tuned for more nonstop action as the men narrow down their suspects … and find a way to let love back into their own empty lives.
Ryland’s Reach, Book 1
Cain’s Cross, Book 2
Eton’s Escape, Book 3
More on this series here!
Turn the page for an exciting preview to Bullard’s Battle.
Bullard’s Battle Preview
Bullard checked that the helicopter was loaded with their bags and that his men were ready to leave.
He walked back one more time, his gaze on Ice. She’d never looked happier, never looked more perfect. His heart ached, but he knew she remained a caring friend and always would be. He opened his arms; she ran into them, and he held her close, whispering, “The offer still stands.”
She leaned back and smiled up at him. “Maybe if and when Levi’s been gone for a long enough time for me to forget,” she said in all seriousness.
“That’s not happening. You two, now three, will live long and happy lives together,” he said, smiling down at the woman knew to be the most beautiful, inside and out. She would never be his, but he always kept a little corner of his heart open and available, in case she wanted to surprise him and to slide inside.
And then he realized she’d already been a part of his heart all this time. That was a good ten to fifteen years by now. But she kept herself in the friend category, and he understood because she and Levi, partners and now parents, were perfect together.
Bullard reached out and shook Levi’s hand. “It was a hell of a blast,” he said. “When you guys do a big splash, you really do a big splash.”
Ice laughed. “A few days at home sounds perfect for me now.”
“It looks great,” he said, his hands on his hips as he surveyed the people in the massive pool surrounded by the palm trees, all designed and decked out by Ice. Right beside all the war machines that he heartily approved of. He grinned at her. “When are you coming over to visit?” His gaze went to Levi, raising his eyebrows back at her. “You guys should come over for a week or two or three.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Levi said. “We could use a long holiday, just not yet.”
“That sounds familiar.” Bullard grinned. “Anyway, I’m off. We’ll hit the airport and then pick up the plane and head home.” He added, “As always, call if you need me.”
Everybody raised a hand as he returned to the helicopter and his buddy who was flying him to the airport. Ice had volunteered to shuttle him there, but he hadn’t wanted to take her away from her family or to prolong the goodbye. He hopped inside, waving at everybody as the helicopter lifted. Two of his men, Ryland and Cain, were in the back seats. They always traveled with him.
Bullard would pick up the rest of his men in Australia. He stared down at the compound as he flew overhead. He preferred his compound at home, but damn they’d done a nice job here.
With everybody on the ground screaming goodbye, Bullard sailed over Houston, heading toward the airport. His two men never said a word. They all knew how he felt about Ice. But not one of them would cross that line and say anything. At least not if they expected to still have jobs.
It was one thing to fall in love with another man’s woman, but another thing to fall in love with a woman who was so unique, so different, and so absolutely perfect that you knew, just knew, there was no hope of finding anybody else like her. But she and Levi had been together way before Bullard had ever met her, which made it that much more heartbreaking.
Still, he’d turned and looked forward. He had a full roster of jobs himself to focus on when he got home. Part of him was tired of the life; another part of him couldn’t wait to head out on the next adventure. He managed to run everything from his command centers in one or two of his locations. He’d spent a lot of time and effort at the second one and kept a full team at both locations, yet preferred to spend most of his time at the old one. It felt more like home to him, and he’d like to be there now, but still had many more days before that could happen.
The helicopter lowered to the tarmac, he stepped out, said his goodbyes and walked across to where his private plane waited. It was one of the things that he loved, being a pilot of both helicopters and airplanes, and owning both birds himself.
That again was another way he and Ice were part of the same team, of the same mind-set. He’d been looking for another woman like Ice for himself, but no such luck. Sure, lots were around for short-term relationships, but most of them couldn’t handle his lifestyle or the violence of the world that he lived in. He understood that.
The ones who did had a hard edge to them that he found difficult to live with. Bullard appreciated everybody’s being alert and aware, but if there wasn’t some softness in the women, they seemed to turn cold all the way through.
As he boarded his small plane, Ryland and Cain following behind, Bullard called out in his loud voice, “Let’s go, slow pokes. We’ve got a long flight ahead of us.”
The men grinned, confident Bullard was teasing, as was his usual routine during their off-hours.
“
Well, we’re ready, not sure about you though …” Ryland said, smirking.
“We’re waiting on you this time,” Cain added with a chuckle. “Good thing you’re the boss.”
Bullard grinned at his two right-hand men. “Isn’t that the truth?” He dropped his bags at one of the guys’ feet and said, “Stow all this stuff, will you? I want to get our flight path cleared and get the hell out of here.”
They’d all enjoyed the break. He tried to get over once a year to visit Ice and Levi and same in reverse. But it was time to get back to business. He started up the engines, got confirmation from the tower. They were heading to Australia for this next job. He really wanted to go straight back to Africa, but it would be a while yet. They’d refuel in Honolulu.
Ryland came in and sat down in the copilot’s spot, buckled in, then asked, “You ready?”
Bullard laughed. “When have you ever known me not to be ready?” At that, he taxied down the runway. Before long he was up in the air, at cruising level, and heading to Hawaii. “Gotta love these views from up here,” Bullard said. “This place is magical.”
“It is once you get up above all the smog,” he said. “Why Australia again?”
“Remember how we were supposed to check out that newest compound in Australia that I’ve had my eye on? Besides the alpha team is coming off that ugly job in Sydney. We’ll give them a day or two of R&R then head home.”
“Right. We could have some equally ugly payback on that job.”
Bullard shrugged. “That goes for most of our jobs. It’s the life.”
“And don’t you have enough compounds to look after?”
“Yes I do, but that kid in me still looks to take over the world. Just remember that.”
“Better you go home to Africa and look after your first two compounds,” Ryland said.
“Maybe,” Bullard admitted. “But it seems hard to not continue expanding.”
“You need a partner,” Ryland said abruptly. “That might ease the savage beast inside. Keep you home more.”
