by Dale Mayer
CADE
SEALs of Steel, Book 3
Dale Mayer
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
About This Book
Complimentary Download
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
About Talon
Author’s Note
Complimentary Download
About the Author
Copyright Page
About This Book
When an eight-man unit hit a landmine, all were injured but one died. The remaining seven aim to see his death avenged.
A hit-and-run investigation leads Cade to a connection to the landmine explosion.
While at the bedside of her best friend in a coma, Faith meets Cade, who asks about the accident. She learns her relationship with her friend has put her in a killer’s sights. Suddenly, Cade’s nightmare becomes her own…
Sign up to be notified of all Dale’s releases here!
Your Free Book Awaits!
KILL OR BE KILLED
Part of an elite SEAL team, Mason takes on the dangerous jobs no one else wants to do – or can do. When he’s on a mission, he’s focused and dedicated. When he’s not, he plays as hard as he fights.
Until he meets a woman he can’t have but can’t forget. Software developer, Tesla lost her brother in combat and has no intention of getting close to someone else in the military. Determined to save other US soldiers from a similar fate, she’s created a program that could save lives. But other countries know about the program, and they won’t stop until they get it – and get her.
Time is running out … For her … For him … For them …
DOWNLOAD a complimentary copy of MASON? Just tell me where to send it!
Prologue
Cade Terence lifted his bag and threw it over his shoulder as they walked out of the airport. He glanced at Talon. “You didn’t have to come back with me.”
Talon shrugged. “I want to see Badger anyway. Laszlo is coming in on the next flight, so I think we should have a meeting. If Badger is up to it.”
“We might have to meet in his hospital room. But you know how he’ll feel if he’s kept out of the loop.”
Talon nodded. “I think it’s time the others knew too.”
“Erick’s ahead of you. He already brought Geir in on this. I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but I swear to God it isn’t any of us.”
“I’m of the same opinion,” Talon said. “But we must find out who it is.”
Just then some of the airline crew walked out to a cab pulling up for them.
Cade looked over at Talon. “You have wheels?”
Talon shook his head. “No. Do you?”
Cade shook his head. “We can grab a cab if you want.”
The cab pulled away with the airline crew members just as another uniformed woman walked out. “Oh, drat.”
Cade looked at her. “Did you miss your taxi?” She was dressed in the same airline attire as the crew members who had just left.
“Yeah. It figures. It seems like I’m always late these days.” She smiled up at them. “That’s all right. I’ll get the next one.”
Another taxi pulled up just then. Cade motioned to her. “Go ahead.”
She laughed and flashed him a smile. “I’m not sure where you guys are going, but I’m heading downtown, if you want to share a ride.”
“Sure, sounds good.” They waited for her to get in the front of the taxi, and then they got in the back. As she gave instructions to the driver, Cade realized they lived within a few blocks of each other.
“We’re heading close to the same area anyway,” Cade said.
She turned to look at them. “Have you two been traveling long?”
They smiled. Cade said, “Just a few days. But I’m happy to be going home.”
She nodded. “I feel the same way. I have been with the company for a long time now. With all the traveling I do, sometimes it’s just nice to come home and to stay home.”
“Home is Santa Fe?”
“It is. What about you guys?”
“I’m Santa Fe. Talon’s been all over the world. Not sure he has a home anymore,” Cade said in a teasing voice.
Talon laughed. “Bought a house. Fixing it up is my day job.”
“At least you have that. I live alone. I don’t have any family here at all,” she said. She reached out a hand over the front seat. “I’m Faith, by the way.”
The men introduced themselves. Cade looked at her for a long moment. “You look familiar.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Well, you did just get off a flight. It was probably one I was on.”
He shook his head. “No, I would have seen you moving up and down the aisles.”
She laughed, a sound of pure joy and amusement. “No, you wouldn’t have.”
He glared at her suspiciously. “Why not?”
“Because,” she said gently, “I’m the pilot.”
Chapter 1
Once Laszlo had flown into town, and Erick had joined them all at Cade’s place, their plans to go straight to Badger’s side flew out the window as soon as Cade got the text from Kat.
No meeting. Badger is in intensive care. He won’t be coming out anytime soon.
Cade stared at the phone.
Erick sat beside him in the two matching armchairs. Laszlo and Talon were on the couch opposite them. “What’s up?”
Cade shared the message as he dialed Kat’s number. When Kat answered the phone, he asked, “What happened?”
“Blood clot,” she said, her tone dark, low. “It was touch-and-go there for a while. It still is, in fact. I’m at the hospital now. But whatever plans you were hoping to include him in, he’ll pass for now. When he pulls out of this, he has to have surgery again.”
“He’ll pull through,” Cade said. “He’s pulled through everything so far.”
She said, “Absolutely he has. And I certainly won’t let him give up. But he should have had the surgery a long time ago.”
Cade could hear the sadness in her tone.
With speakerphone on, Erick, Talon and Laszlo could also hear the conversation, and, from the mixed looks on their faces, Cade knew exactly how they felt. “Can we come see him?”
“Nobody can see him. Only family. And he doesn’t have any of that anymore.”
“We’re his family,” Cade said in a harsh tone. “So are you, Kat.”
“They’re allowing me in. But only because he seems to be calmer when I’m there. I don’t know if you have any pull at the hospital and can get yourselves in to see him. If not, what you should do is carry on with what matters to Badger most. And that is finding out who did this to all of you. But he can’t run point. And I know you need someone to keep communications open and coordinated.”
Cade stared off into space. Kat was right, but solving this issue would take a group agreement from the rest of the team.
“Levi and Mason need someone as their main contact. There have even been calls from a Merk and a Brandon. I don’t know who half these men are,” she said. “Plus I can’t just leave my business. I’m working at the hospital as often as I can so I can check up on Badger. Otherwise I’m at the office. Badger isn’t conscious—he won’t likely wake up for a little while. The doctors are hoping tomorrow. But they’ve given him drugs. Every time he surfaces, he fights to get
out of the bed. He’s caught up in his own nightmares. They’re keeping him sedated until his body gets through the worst of it.”
“Don’t you worry. We’ll fix this,” Cade promised. “We’ll get back to you as to who’ll handle what. Your job will be to keep us in the loop on Badger’s condition.”
“My job is to keep him alive,” she said softly. “But I can also keep you in the loop.” With that she hung up.
The men just stared at each other, a somber pall falling over them. At the moment, four of the remaining seven of their former unit were gathered here. Talon, Cade, Erick, and Laszlo—who’d only arrived a couple hours ago.
Honey walked over and sat beside Erick on the arm of his chair and slid her fingers through his good hand. “I know you must go back out,” she said, “but I need to be here for Kat.”
A little late but Erick realized how hard this was on her too. He squeezed Honey’s fingers and glanced around at the other men. “Suggestions?”
Talon said, “We do what we set out to do. We’ll find the asshole who did this to us.”
“Yes, but we need a new man to stay here to run point. Like Kat said, there’re a lot of phone calls. Somebody has to be our communications center.” Cade watched as Honey glanced over at Laszlo and Talon and saw the same answer in their gazes. Cade turned to Erick and said, “And you’re it.”
Anger flashed in Erick’s face.
Cade shook his head. “No, no arguments. You have to step up and take Badger’s place.”
“I have no problem stepping up,” Erick growled. “But you’re not putting me in a babysitting position.”
Cade saw the relief in Honey’s face. “And you have something else to consider,” he said gently. He picked up his coffee cup and looked at it. “Why is the coffee always gone?”
Honey bounced to her feet. “I’ll put on some more. Sounds like we’ll need another couple pots.” And she disappeared.
Immediately Cade leaned forward and said, “Erick, you must also consider Honey.”
Erick glared at them, but Cade saw the awareness in Erick’s eyes. “None of us have a partner but Badger and you. We’ve made a lot of mistakes in our lives, and we’ve paid some pretty major prices already. But you also have a chance of something very special here. Kat is here for Badger. Honey needs to be here for Kat, and you need to be here for Honey. You are the obvious point man.”
Erick wanted to argue. The anger and frustration was evident on his face. But then his own phone buzzed. He glanced at it. “It’s Levi. He wants an update. Actually,” Erick said, “his words are, What the hell is going on?”
Cade settled back. “Exactly.”
“Still there’s nothing for me to run point on if we don’t have the next step determined,” Erick said, holding his phone but not yet answering.
“Has anybody heard from Geir?” Talon asked, then turned to Erick. “You already contacted him, didn’t you?”
“I did. And then he went silent.”
The men straightened.
Talon demanded, “How long ago?”
Erick checked his phone. “Twelve hours.”
Instantly the air became charged. “That’s too long.”
“I know.”
“And that’s another reason why you need to run comms,” Laszlo said quietly. “In our heads we were still thinking about Badger, that he would keep track of this. What if Geir is in trouble?”
“Geir has always been very good at getting out of trouble,” Talon reminded the group. “But twelve hours of silence is too long, even for him.”
Erick pulled out his phone and called Geir. “Still no answer.”
“But the phone is ringing?” Laszlo grabbed his laptop and opened it up. “Give me the number.”
As Erick read it off, everybody entered Geir’s number into their cell phones.
As he did so, Cade wondered aloud, “Why is it I don’t have this number?”
“Geir has been out of touch for the last few months. In many ways it was hard to reach him because he just bounced around.” Erick stretched out his legs.
“This phone number he contacted you on is no longer valid,” Laszlo said.
“A burner phone?”
“That would be my guess.” Laszlo nodded. “The only reason for him to do that is if he didn’t want to be tracked,” Laszlo said.
“Is there any chance he’s been thinking the exact same thing as Badger?” Talon asked. That was the big question in front of them. “Did he say anything to you, Erick?”
“Not really. I just told Geir that we were setting up a face-to-face meeting, and it was important. It had to do with two years ago.”
“His response?”
“On it.”
The men stared at each other.
Talon whispered, “Shit.”
“When he said that, I thought his wording meant, he was on his way here.”
“Instead he’s already on it. As in, he’s tracking down what the hell’s going on too.”
Inside Cade wanted to jump for joy. Geir was one of the good guys. Hell, all seven of them were good guys. “And there’s no way he’s guilty of blowing us up if he’s out hunting.”
“None of us are responsible for our land mine accident,” Talon said quietly. “I suggest we all come to that agreement right now. All seven of us are innocent. There’s another explanation. We just don’t know about it yet.”
The men nodded and, as one, said, “Agreed.”
“Always had that position,” Laszlo said quietly. “Four of us are here. Badger is in the hospital. That’s five. Geir is six. What about Jager?” He glanced from one face to the other. “Anybody heard from him?”
“I know his parents died recently,” Talon said. “I haven’t heard anything further.”
Erick’s voice, when he spoke up, was cautious, though still a lot of anger and frustration was in it. But he had come to terms with the worst of it. “I’m just throwing this out there because I think it needs to be brought up, and I’m not sure if you guys have thought of it.”
The men glanced at him.
Erick locked his gaze on Cade’s. “There’s been a lot of death in our families in the last two years.”
Cade straightened. “What are you saying?”
“My older brother was found dead in his vehicle at his office. He had a weak heart already, and, after a supremely bad day at work, he had a heart attack in his vehicle. He was fourteen years older than me. And not in great health, so it was terrible, as he was still so young, but almost understandable. And that was well over a year ago now, likely fourteen months or so.” Erick slumped as Honey returned with the coffeepot on a tray. He smiled up at her. “Thanks, sweetie.”
She nodded, quickly poured out the coffee for all of them. “I’ll be working in the kitchen. I’ll leave you guys to it.” And with a bright smile she turned and left.
He waited until she was out of earshot before he turned to the others. “Badger’s parents were killed six months after our land mine explosion. Jager’s parents were killed.” He turned to look at Laszlo. “Any idea when?”
“About four months ago.”
“So, eighteen months ago and then four months ago we have two sets of parents gone. Anybody else lose somebody in this time frame?”
Cade let out a slow and steady breath. It was too hard to contemplate.
But Erick looked at him with a knowing eye. “Your sister. She died in what? A multicar pileup a couple of winters ago, right?”
Slowly, ever-so-slowly, as if a bigger movement would make him splinter into pieces, Cade nodded. “But that was seventeen months now.”
“That breaks the pattern. It wasn’t your parents,” Laszlo said. And then he froze. “And that’s because you don’t have any, do you? They were already dead, right?”
Cade nodded. “My sister was my last remaining family member,” he said softly. “We lost our parents when I was in high school. It’s one of the reasons I went into the navy. I was lookin
g for a family.”
Erick squeezed his shoulder. “And you found it. Keep that thought in place.”
Cade couldn’t think of anything but his sister. He stared at Erick. “Is this just a wild guess?”
“Too much death for it all to be a coincidence.” Erick glanced at Talon. “Have you lost anyone in the last couple years since the explosion?”
Talon frowned. “I don’t have anything to do with my family. I was a foster kid way back when. I know my birth parents are out there but don’t know who they are, don’t know any of the details.”
“And your foster care family?” Erick asked.
“You mean the last one?” He shook his head. “I haven’t seen or heard from them in years.”
“Check to see if they’re still alive,” Erick said quietly. “Maybe, if they weren’t close to you, they weren’t targeted.”
Cade studied Laszlo’s face. “Laszlo, you’re not talking.”
Laszlo lifted his face, a funny look in his eyes. “I didn’t lose anyone,” he said quietly. “My mom’s been gone for years. But my father was recently in a car accident, and we nearly lost him.”
“How long ago?”
“Just a month back.”
Silence filled the room.
Cade felt something inside splintering a little further with every word. “So it’s not enough that we were targeted? But now you’re saying our families have been targeted too?” He stared at the others. “That’s hate at a whole new level.”
“It is. It is indeed.”
They each picked up a coffee cup, lost in their thoughts and memories.
“Laszlo, you were with your father before you came here?”
Hi face grim, Laszlo said, “My brother is with him. At first it was my father looking after my brother. Now it’s more about my brother looking after my father.”
“You may want to add some protection detail—at least give your brother a warning.”
“My brother isn’t capable of looking after both of them. He’s been dealing with cancer treatments this last year. He’s in remission now, but he’s weak. In fact, he and my father are both vulnerable.” He put down his coffee cup with a bang, stood to pace. “I need to go home,” he said quietly.
