Page 53 of Protecting Maggie
“I’m on that too,” he promised.
But Preacher wasn’t reassured. He felt helpless. And pissed off at the world. “I need to call her.”
“Understood. Donotlose your focus,” Tex warned. “Keep your mind on your mission. That might be the toughest thing you’ve ever done, under the circumstances, but if you don’t, I can’t bring you back from the grave.”
Preacher took a deep breath. Safe, Blink, and Kevlar were on their phones, probably talking to Wren, Josie, and Remi. His other three teammates were staring at him, arms crossed, scowling.
“Right. I know.”
“I’m on this,” Tex repeated. “If Robertson is sending your team on bogus missions, he’s fuckingdone. If he was behind Maggie’s incarceration, he’s going down. I’m going to dig so hard and deep, he’ll definitely feel like he’s been fucked.”
Normally, Preacher would’ve at least chuckled at the innuendo coming from the usually serious Tex, but he didn’t have it in him at the moment.
“Call her. Tell her to stay on her toes. And let her know that I’ll be calling and that I’m going to want a copy of that phone call she recorded,” Tex ordered. “Stay safe. I’ll be in touch.”
The second Tex hung up, Preacher clicked on Maggie’s name and brought his phone to his ear. Once more, the callwent straight to voicemail. Dread made bile rise in his throat as he hung up.
“She’s not answering?” Smiley asked with a frown.
“No.”
“Call back and leave her a message,” MacGyver ordered.
Preacher nodded, but he had a bad feeling about this entire situation.
“Maggie, it’s Shawn. I…fuck. Shit is fucked up here. We’re being sent out again. Now. And you aren’t answering. I hope like hell you’re all right. I’m so sorry about this morning. I should’ve listened to you more. I believe you. I’ve got people on this. Someone named Tex is going to get a hold of you. He’s literally the smartest man I know, and if anyone can help us, it’s him. He’s going to want that recording you told me about. It’s okay to send it to him, I swear. Be safe, okay? I have a bad feeling in my gut, and when a SEAL says that, it’s never good. I’m going to keep trying to get a hold of you, please answer. Even if you’re still mad at me, I need to know you’re okay. It’s too soon for this, but fuck it. I’m falling in love with you, Maggie. And if anything ever happened to you…Right. Okay, I have to go. But as soon as I get back, I’m locking us in a room—yours, mine, doesn’t matter—and we’re going to figure this out.”
He clicked off the message, not wanting to say goodbye.That felt too final. Too much like some sort of damn foreshadowing.
He hadn’t noticed that everyone else had left the room to gather their gear for deployment, except for Smiley.
“If this is him, he won’t get away with it,” the other man promised.
Preacher wanted to nod. Wanted to agree with his friend. But he was afraid he was wrong. Robertson was getting away with it already…whateverthiswas. The rear admiral was separating Maggie from her support network—him and the rest of the SEALs. Yes, she still had Wolf’s team, but she didn’t know them as well as she knew Kevlar, Safe, and the rest of the others. Preacher wasn’t sure she’d call Dude or Wolf if something happened.
“He’s underestimating us,” Smiley said. “He’s going to find out what happens when he gets an entire community of badass Navy SEALs riled up. When we get back, we’re going to shake the trees…make sure every SEAL, active duty or retired, gets involved. Like Tex said, he’s going down, Preacher. Mark my words.”
Of that, Preacher had no doubt. He just hoped it was before he managed to ruin any more lives than he had already. Namely, Maggie’s.
Maggie groaned as she tried to turn over—and realized almost immediately that she couldn’t really move. She was lying on her side and her hands were restrained behind her,making it extremely uncomfortable to lie the way she was, and there was something wrapped around her head, over her mouth. She worked her jaw back and forth…Tape. It was tape, pulling at her skin. Worse, she was in the dark. She could see tiny bits of light coming through what was obviously slats, making it clear she was in a box of some kind. But otherwise, it was pitch black.
It was also weirdly silent.
Tipping her head against her shoulder, Maggie felt something in her ear. Shit…had someone putearplugsin her ears? Panicking now, she frantically tried to rub her ears against her shoulders, the boards beneath her…anything to remove whatever had been stuffed inside. But it was no use.
She was essentially blind, deaf, and mute.
Whatever was happening wasn’t good. Not at all.
Furrowing her brow, her head pounding, Maggie tried to remember how the hell she’d ended up in abox. She’d been in her apartment when someone had knocked on the door. She’d thought it was Shawn, coming over to talk some more. Assumed that he’d gotten the message she’d left for him and had come straight over.
Instead, it was a stranger. A man she’d never seen before. He was big. Way taller and heavier than she was. He’d grabbed her around the neck the second she’d opened the door. She’d had no time to react, to kick him in the balls. The only thing she’d been able to do was grab his hands, trying to get some air into her lungs. But she failed.
She must’ve passed out…and now she was here…whereverherewas.
All of a sudden, the box she was in began to sway. Maggie was almost hyperventilating now. It was hard to only breathe through her nose with the tape over her mouth. She couldn’t really see through the slats, and she couldn’t hear anything going on around her.
The box swayed for several minutes, until the movement suddenly stopped. Then the box felt as if it was dropped none too gently. The pain in her hip reverberated throughout her body. She groaned, but the sound only echoed in her head because of the noise-canceling plugs stuffed in her ears.
