Page 5 of SEAL's Promise
He gave a perfunctory knock on the door and twisted the knob. Five men looked up when he walked into the office, their conversation petering out.
“About time you showed up,” Eli Wolfe drawled. “I thought we’d have to send out the National Guard to track you down.”
“I haven’t been to bed yet, Sleeping Beauty, so don’t push your luck.”
“Shouldn’t have been out partying so late.” Rafe Torres’ eyes twinkled.
Cal snorted. “I’m not the one with a hangover this morning. That would be my principal, a hard-drinking, skirt-chasing Chase Hancock.”
Medic Jackson Conner’s eyebrows rose. “The country music star?”
“That’s the one.”
“Did he cooperate with your orders?” Brent asked.
“Of course not. He balked at every security precaution, not wanting to disappoint his adoring fans. To top it all off, when his date for the evening got fed up with Hancock ogling every woman at the event and dumped him, the star struck out when he tried to pick up another woman. To his annoyance, she was with another man and refused to ditch him for Chase.”
Jon Smith folded his arms. “Sounds like a bad soap opera. What’s the rest of the story?”
“He decided I should reserve a suite for him at Opryland Hotel and arrange for a prostitute to visit his room. When I pointed out that soliciting sex was illegal, he fired me on the spot and became angry when I insisted on escorting him to his home before I went off the clock.” He slid a look Brent’s way. “I should demand extra pay for putting up with him.”
“We took him on as a client as a favor to his father.” Anger burned in the CEO’s eyes. “That’s the last time we provide protection for Hancock unless he agrees to our terms.” A slow smile curved his mouth. “Since he’ll hate the new terms, Fortress won’t have to provide protection for him again. As soon as this meeting is over, go home and get some rest.”
He planned to sleep eight straight hours. If Rachelle had been at work today, he would have delayed his agenda to have coffee with her. However, she was visiting a friend in Mexico.
The thought of her in that dangerous country without her own security team made him twitchy. Amy Morales had a security detail, but their priority was the ambassador’s daughter, not her college friend. Only two more days. Rachelle would be at work on Monday. Maybe he’d finally work up the courage to ask her to dinner.
Jon glanced at his watch. “Dana is taking our daughter to the pediatrician for a checkup. I’m supposed to meet them at the doctor’s office in 90 minutes.”
Cal dropped into the empty chair beside him. “Everything okay?”
“One-year visit. Dana’s worried because Chloe is small.”
“Are you?”
“She’s perfect, but Dana needs to hear that from the doc.” His expression darkened. “Chloe’s regular doctor is on vacation. This visit is being covered by the partner, a man Dana isn’t familiar with. She’s still skittish around men she doesn’t know.”
Understandable given her stepfather’s abusive behavior toward Dana.
“This won’t take long,” Brent said. “I brought all of you in to discuss creating a new team with the five of you.”
Cal straightened. Finally. Brent had been hinting at this for months. Cal had missed being on the Teams. Since Jon and Eli were his former SEAL teammates, partnering with them on a new team would be a real treat.
“We don’t have enough teams to cover assignments now,” Brent continued. “It’s time to expand the number of units in the field. As of now, you’ll be known as Wolf Pack.”
Jon turned his head to stare at Eli who grinned at his best friend. “You put him up to that, didn’t you?”
“Maybe.”
Rafe, another SEAL, rolled his eyes. “Lame name.”
“Perfect name,” Eli countered. He shifted his gaze to Brent. “What about Curt Jackson? I requested him for this team as well.”
“I have other plans for Curt. I wasn’t kidding when I said we need more units.”
“He’s heading up another team?”
A slight nod. “I’m activating your unit as of now. I want to give you more time to train as a unit before you deploy. No guarantees, though. Several places around the globe are heating up. Eli, you are the unit leader, although any member of your team could take the lead.” His lips curved. “We all know, however, that you and Jon take charge automatically whenever you’re on a mission.”