Fire and Ice (Guardians Book 1)

The Annabel cruised lazily in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The 34-foot sloop’s sails flapped steadily, catching the downwind of an unusually warm November day. An Indian summer was always welcome for the residents of the Outer Banks as it meant another day of pleasurable water activities.

Brett was at the wheel. Jack was in deep conversation with his dad discussing some new business venture, while Maia, despite the slight chill in the breeze, decided to sunbathe. Because of her fair porcelain skin she did not tan easily; instead her skin just acquired a healthy pinkish glow. She had on a very skimpy white string bikini that allowed for minimum tan lines; thank goodness she had waxed recently! Frances was sitting beside her fully-clothed in white linen and a wide-brim hat.

“You could give those Victoria Secret models a run for their money,” Jack’s mom commented as she put the cap back on the sunblock. She had offered to apply it on Maia’s back who was, right now, lying prone on a towel with the strings to her bikini top undone.

“I’m too short. My butt and breasts are too big,” Maia said, laughing.

“Oh nonsense, you’ve got great legs. You’re toned all over but soft in the right places,” Frances winked, and then leaned in closely. “I can see why Jack’s crazy about you.”

Maia flushed pink, and it wasn’t because of the sun. Jack’s mom was definitely desperate to see her son settled down, which made this charade harder to carry off. Guilt was starting to gnaw at her, so she turned her head to look briefly at Jack. His eyes were fixed on her—heated and intense. She glanced away quickly.

“We’ve only just started seeing each other, Frances,” Maia felt the words grate through her throat. “I’m sure ‘like’ is a more appropriate word.”

“I see the way my son looks at you, Maia,” his mother replied. “I’ve never seen him look that way at any of his girlfriends before.”

“What look?”

“Possessive, like he wants to own you body and soul,” Frances whispered.

A nervous giggle escaped Maia’s mouth.

“I don’t think you can tell that by a look.”

“Oh, I’ve seen that look before in Robert,” Frances said dreamily. “McCord men love deeply. I’m seeing the signs in Jack, right now.”

“Mom,” Jack’s voice interrupted them. He had finished his powwow with his Dad and made his way to the bow. “Are you trying to scare Maia off?”

“I’m just telling her the truth, you should keep her,” his mother replied.

Maia felt herself turn from pink to red.

“Frances, sweetheart come over here and give the kids some time alone,” Robert said from near the companionway.

Jack’s mother got up and gave the two of them an indulgent smile before heading to the rear of the sloop.

Maia suddenly felt Jack’s fingers trace the ladder of her spine, resting to play lightly on the edges of her bikini bottom.

“You’re lucky we’re not alone,” Jack murmured near her ear. “The things I wanna do to you.”

“I really hate this deception,” Maia whispered.

Jack ignored her and continued, “You blush beautifully, I want to kiss every inch of your pink skin.”

“Can you please tie my top back up,” she asked, suddenly feeling vulnerable. Maia was uncomfortably turned on.

Jack slowly knotted the strings behind her back, letting his warm fingers brush her skin. She shuddered involuntarily in response. When she turned over, he had settled beside her. Propped up on an elbow, his eyes held a mixture of tenderness, lust and amusement. He started tracing the length of her body and brushed his lips lightly on hers.

His brows furrowed when his hand touched an almost invisible tape on her right thigh.

“What’s this?” Jack asked.

“Healing tape,” Maia replied and nodded to her right arm. “There’s one over here too where I got cut in the attack on the loft.”

There was a question on Jack’s face.

“It’s a Swedish-made, special formula therapeutic tape. It speeds up healing and prevents scarring of superficial wounds,” she added. “It’s ridiculously expensive, but it’s subsidized by the AGS. Perks of employment, which is the least they can do since getting shot at and sliced seems to be a job hazard.”

Maia had intended to be funny, but Jack’s lips thinned in displeasure.

He did a body scan of her body. “Never had any gun shot wounds?”

She winced, remembering several painful incidents. “A few. There’s cosmetic surgery.”

“You think you can simply erase your past,” Jack said in a low angry voice. “Is that how you deal? No scars to remind you? All the killing with no remorse?”

“You’re such a hypocrite,” Maia hissed. “You were a Navy SEAL. Don’t tell me you haven’t killed anyone?”

Jack swore softly. “God how I wish we were somewhere else and I could have this shit out with you right now while you’re in a talking mood.”

Maia realized how riled up she was and immediately clammed up.

“And there you go shutting down,” Jack sighed. They stared at each other for a moment, Maia glaring up at him, he looking at her with what appeared to be frustration. Then his eyes warmed and he grinned.

“My mom likes you.”

“This is making things complicated, Jack. I hate deceiving your parents.”

“How are we deceiving them? Aren’t we together?”

“Well, we’re pretending, remember?”

“Hmmn … nnn.” Jack made a non-reply and began nuzzling her neck.

“Jack?”

“Just go with the flow, babe.”

Maia started to argue some more, but Jack slammed his mouth on hers in a devouring, shut-up kiss. She tried to push him away, but Jack partly covered her body with his and deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue ruthlessly into her mouth, her jaw opened so wide she almost couldn’t breathe.

“Get a room!” Brett yelled from the helm.

Despite the short notice, Grace was able to pull off a delicious prime rib dinner. After an afternoon of sailing, everyone, especially Maia, was hungry. She piled up her plate with succulent slices of beef and a mound of mashed potato.

Brett eyed her plate and said to Jack, “Great to see you’ve started dating someone who is more than a size zero and doesn’t weigh her food.”

“Are you saying I’m a pig, Brett?” Maia said in mock outrage.

“No, I’m saying you’re sexy as hell,” Brett replied with a devilish grin.

“Stop flirting with my girl, Brett.”

“Brett, you need to find a girl of your own,” Frances said.

“Kinda hard to do, Mom when I’m in confinement,” Brett quipped.

“I just talked to Callahan, he said most of Vergara’s operations have been shut down,” Jack informed them. “He thinks in the next week you should get the all clear.”

Maia wanted to interject, she really did. She had not talked to Viktor since Jack’s parents and Brett had arrived but as far as she knew, Reznikov was moving in on Vergara’s territory. If there were any deals struck regarding a renewed hit on Brett, that was unknown. Viktor was trying to find out if anyone had been sent to find out what had happened to Benny and his thugs. So far, according to Rick, no one had been asking questions at the local police department.

But Maia’s gut was telling her something else. Something big was about to happen. She looked up to see Jack’s quizzical look on her. She shrugged and dug into her plate but her insides were torn between her duty to AGS and her need to protect the people around her.

Jack watched Maia take a call on her cell phone. She went out to the balcony for more privacy. She had not been using the control room because Jack did not want Kane Taylor and his men to know about it. She appeared to be in deep conversation with someone; his one guess—Viktor.

Something was troubling her. She had been subdued and introspective at dinner soaking in the conversation around her but not commenting. Jack deliberately told Brett that the all-clear was coming even though Maia had warned him that the Russian appeared to be making a move on Vergara’s drugs by sending his men into smaller towns to hide the goods. He wanted to induce a reaction. She reacted, but it was subtle. But now on the balcony she was definitely agitated, something that didn’t happen often.

He had informed Kane Taylor and the others to be hyper-vigilant but was also thinking of an excuse to move his parents and Brett out of there without making his mom nervous. Damn Brett for putting him in this position, he should have just stayed put where he left him.

Jack stepped outside to join Maia when she ended the call. She whirled around to face him, indecision etched into her face.

“What’s going on?”

“I have this feeling that something is about to happen,” Maia said. “I tried to get more information from Viktor but he couldn’t say for sure if the Russian was on the move. As far as it appears, he’s laying low. But what Benny said about the Russian being impatient tells me he’s covering his tracks very well, totally off the grid.” She sighed. “My hunch: Brett is still a target. The Russian seems to have control of Vergara’s drugs—the ones that have not been accounted for. Vergara is not giving that up for free. He would probably want payback for whoever put him in jail and that person is Brett.”

“Fuck,” Jack whispered.

“We hope to draw him out in Baltimore next weekend. I know you’ve heard part of our plans. It’s okay. Viktor has no problem with you knowing as long as you stay out of it.”

Jack didn’t say anything.

“But Brett showing up here presents a dilemma. We’re not ready to confront Reznikov,” Maia cursed as she caught her slip. Up to this point she had never mentioned the Russian’s name. Jack smiled grimly.

“You need to send them away, Jack.”

“I’m working on that.”

“I wish I could get to Reznikov sooner,” Maia said fiercely. “This ends in Baltimore. That son of a bitch has ruined enough lives.”

“It sounds personal.”

“It always is with the mob.”

“How did you get on his hit list?” Jack asked casually.

“A misplaced sense of empathy. Let’s just say I got caught on surveillance cameras because I didn’t follow the playbook.”

“Seems to be a habit of yours lately.”

Maia grimaced at his words and started rubbing her forehead with her fingers.

“I’ve become careless. Viktor said it, Derek said it. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Jack gently cupped Maia’s face with his hand.

“You’re human, Maia. You’re not a robot. You make mistakes.”

“The strange thing is, I don’t regret what I did. If I were to have a do-over, I would do the exact damn thing.”

“One thing I know is not to underestimate you. I’m sure the Russian knows this of you by now. I hope you’ll be more careful.”

Maia gave a faint smile.

“I’m serious, babe. You kick-ass and all but you’re not invincible.”

“Are you kidding? Of course I am.”

Jack’s hand curved on the back of her neck, moving her head closer to his.

“No Maia, I’m not kidding,” Jack said seriously. “You take way too much risks, it makes my teeth hurt. If I can hide you from the Russian forever I would, but I know you’re not the type to stand down. I know that confrontation is coming and babe, I know you say you don’t want me involved but I already am. He’s after Brett, that makes him my problem too.”

“We don’t know that for sure, yet. It’s all speculative at this point.”

“He’s after you,” Jack added abruptly. “I’m making it my problem.”

He bent down to give her a quick kiss, tapped her nose lightly with his finger and turned to go inside.

“Well this sucks—storm’s abrewing!” Brett declared as he grabbed the remote and punched a button to turn on the TV. He started channel surfing. It was a mostly sunny day but the water was starting to get choppy because a Nor’Easter was making its way up the Atlantic Ocean. It was late Saturday afternoon and the sun was starting to set. They had decided to go out to dinner as it was Grace’s day off. The housekeeper had insisted on working that weekend but Jack had sent her home. He had made reservations at a French Bistro in Duck for dinner instead. His mother loved French food anyway.

“It’s not hitting us until Sunday evening,” Robert told his son. “If we leave tomorrow morning we would have no problem.”

“I don’t mind riding it out, heck I don’t mind whipping out the surf board,” Brett said. “Why can’t we stay until next week? The news said the storm’s going to blow over quickly and it’s not going to be too bad.”

“Because you’re safer at the country house,” Jack said in irritation. “It’s more isolated.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who was staying there for a week. All I could do there was just listen to the silence. While you, big brother, you’ve got this place and the girl.”

“Christ, Brett, would you let that go?”

Jack stood up to grab a beer from the refrigerator. His brother would drive him to drink. He was surprised Kane Taylor had not strung him up yet what with the way he whined.

Maddox and Smith were keeping a watchful eye from the kitchen. Their guns were within easy reach in a shoulder holster. Taylor and Brody were somewhere in the house or outside, probably doing their routine perimeter checks.

Frances did not fail to express her disapproval of the blatant display of firearms, but after Maia’s warning, Jack was not taking any chances. It took a devil of a time convincing his mom and Brett to agree to leave the following day without stating that Brett was still a target.

Just then Maia walked in. She wore a somber expression on her face as she walked up to him. “We need to talk.”

He nodded and led her into his study.

“I need to use the control room.”

“Why?”

“Viktor needs to videoconference,” she said and pulled up a picture on her smartphone. “This was taken yesterday at the dock. It was in a New Park tabloid.”

It was a picture of them getting into a sailboat. The main focus was Brett, Jack and his parents were in profile, and Maia had her back to the camera. The caption said: “Star witness Brett McCord back in circulation.”

“God damn it!” Jack swore. “When did this come out?”

“This morning.”

“Why are we finding out about this now?”

“Jack, AGS has other problems. We can’t be on top of everything. This is not a priority.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“I can’t believe this! I am doing this as a favor. I should be working on the Baltimore angle, not this.”

“It would have helped if you had been more straightforward about information regarding Reznikov.”

“That was need to know, it still is. How did I know your family was going to show up? They should know better than to expose themselves like this.”

Jack raked his hand through his thick black hair in frustration. He knew Maia was right, but this could get dicey. “Look, you’re right. It’s done. There so much chatter out there it’s difficult to sift through. We probably should cancel dinner reservations and just order take out. I’ll brief Taylor on this new development.”

Just then a commotion in the front of the house drew their attention. Both Maia and Jack rushed out, encountering Taylor, who was looking ominous and on full alert.

“Armed men are heading down the driveway. We need to get all of you out now!” Taylor ordered brusquely. No sooner had the words left his lips when gunfire erupted outside. Some of the windows got blown out. Maddox and Smith were already at the frontline taking defensive positions.

Frances started shrieking as she rushed down the stairs. “Oh my God, Oh my God! What do we do? Robert? They’re after our boy!”

Brett, surprisingly, held himself together as he tried to calm his mother down and led her away from the hot zone near the front of the house. Jack and his dad disappeared into the study and returned quickly with a duffel bag full of hand guns, assault rifles and ammunition. They cleared the coffee table, dumped the duffle bag on top, and started distributing the weapons and issuing instructions.

“Taylor, I want you to get my family out of here,” Jack ordered calmly as he handed out a rifle and a communication device.

“Jack…” Taylor started.

“We don’t have much time to argue, we’ve gone through the escape route scenario. You’re point on that.” Turning to Maia, he handed her a gun and an assault rifle. “Go with them.”

“No, I can stay and help,” Maia argued. “You know this, Jack.”

Jack lifted his chin in Taylor’s direction, indicating for him to proceed, and then pulled Maia aside. “I know. But I need you to keep my family safe. Someone needs to bring up the rear. Please protect them, Maia.”

Maia nodded reluctantly and followed Taylor, his parents and Brett out the back door. Jack exhaled deeply. He knew Maia was not one to waste time arguing in situations like this when every second mattered. There was a speedboat docked at the bottom of the cliff. It was a trek down the steep steps and he hoped his Mom would manage the descent. Jack loaded up on ammunition, grabbed the duffel bag and ran outside to join the fray.

Maia caught up with Taylor and the rest of the group at the boat slip. There, anchored securely, was a 23-foot speed boat and a pair of jet skis. While Taylor directed everyone to put on their life jackets, he eyed her cautiously, “You know how to use that?” He was looking at the firearms in her possession.

“Yeah man, she could kick your ass too,” Brett countered in her defense.

“Brett …”

“I’m sorry for bringing this down on you again, Maia,” Brett said forlornly. He did not look scared but he had regret written all over his face.

“Brett, what are you saying?” Frances asked in confusion, her eyes wild with fear. And then looking at an armed Maia, “Oh, my dear, why are you holding a gun?”

“He’s just feeling guilty about drawing out the bad guys,” Maia answered the first question furtively and ignored the second. She held Taylor’s gaze as she swiftly loaded the magazines into her semi-automatic pistol and rifle and loaded the chambers. “Satisfied?”

Taylor nodded grimly.

“I think you all better get moving,” Maia advised as she slipped on her own life vest.

Taylor moved behind the wheel and Brett was helping his mom on board when Maia spotted another boat in the distance. It was coming in fast.

“Gun it, Taylor!” Maia yelled. “We’ve got incoming.”

“Fuck!” Taylor cursed and started the engine. Everyone tensed as the engine sputtered. When it finally began to hum steadily, they gave a collective sigh of relief. Robert was waiting for Maia to climb in after Brett and his mother were safely on board, but she waved him ahead.

Quickly assessing the situation, she handed her rifle to a bewildered Robert and quickly jumped on a jet ski, looking for and finding the keys.

“Maia, what the hell are you doing!” Brett and Taylor shouted in unison.

“Someone needs to head them off.”

“God fucking damn it, get off of that,” Taylor roared.

“Maia, don’t do this,” Brett pleaded.

“We have no time to discuss this. Move it, Taylor, they’re coming in fast!” Her tone brooked no argument.

The speed boat lurch forward and started accelerating, Maia started the jet ski and followed them. She shot past Taylor but circled back to head off the incoming bogey. It was a smaller black boat but it was still fast.

Maia zipped around the black boat in a wide arc assessing the threat. There were three men, all outfitted in all-black commando gear.

Bullets started flying past her and actually grazed the side of her jet ski. She increased her speed so she was about 30 degrees to the left and about 50 feet in front of them. Maia twisted her torso and raised her arm to start firing behind her. The water was rough and the jet ski was unstable, so her shots were hitting the water or just the side of the boat. It was also difficult to keep an eye on where she was going and shooting behind her. It would have been easier for her to fall behind the black boat and shoot, but she did not want to leave Taylor’s boat without a buffer.

“Damn!” Maia cursed then looked backed to see the mercenaries gaining on all of them. She had to maneuver her jet ski in an unpredictable pattern to avoid getting hit by their sniper. She felt the blood drain from her face when she saw one of them raise an RPG to his shoulder aiming for Taylor’s speed boat which was already in range. There was only one thing left to do.

Her mind firmly set, Maia eased up on the gas and swerved her jet ski in the direction of the black boat. The mercenaries were startled by her aggressive move and started firing at her when it dawned on them what she intended to do. The guy with the RPG shifted his position and fixed his sights on her. Maia went full-throttle and rammed her jet ski into the black boat.

The gunman was hiding behind one of the big oaks. It was the last of them, and he should have figured out that he wasn’t going anywhere near his vehicle because Brody had it within shooting distance.

The front of the stonehouse had been shot up. All windows were broken, the inside was probably riddled with bullets. But it had been a one-sided fight. It had been apparent within the first few minutes of the firefight that Jack’s team was superior.

Six men had assaulted the stonehouse, six very inexperienced thugs. What baffled Jack was that the Russian would send a crew such as this. They had come in all guns blazing without any semblance of strategy. It was like watching a video game in which the bad guys jumped out from behind a wall (or in this case a tree), started shooting, and then jumped back into hiding. What message was the Russian sending?

“You’re surrounded, you might as well give up,” Jack called out. What was the guy waiting for? It was like he was stalling. Did he think they couldn’t wait him out? They could of course smoke him out with a hail of gun fire, but Jack wanted answers and didn’t want to risk fatally wounding the last gunman.

Police sirens started blaring in the distance. Took them long enough, Jack thought.

“Hear that? The police are on their way. You’ve got nowhere to go, best for you to surrender. If you’ve got more buddies coming they aren’t …” Jack didn’t finish his sentence because a muffled but very distinct explosion rumbled in the distance.

“What the hell was that?” Jack shouted in alarm.

“That’s your boat exploding,” the last gunman said smugly. He came out from his cover, his hand held high in surrender. “We were just the distraction to split up your men. We knew you had an escape route behind the house.”

“Secure him!” Jack yelled to the bodyguards as he darted around the house towards the edge of the cliff and stared in horrific disbelief at the fiery debris on the ocean. Hell no! Not again. This was not happening again. His parents, Brett and … Maia. His Maia.

Jack shakily pulled out his comms. “Taylor, come in … Taylor, God damn it!”

Static. Jack couldn’t breathe. He had never felt such paralyzing fear in his life. Nothing compared. Not what had happened twelve years before. Not his most harrowing missions as a SEAL. Nothing.

“Jack,” Taylor’s voice came over the radio. Jack could hear the distinct sound of his mom wailing in the background, plus a couple of voices. Thank God. Oh. Thank. God.

“What the fuck was that explosion?” Jack growled through comms, his relief quickly being replaced by anger. “Is everyone okay?”

“We were pursued by enemy fire, there was a black speed boat,” Taylor began, his voice shaken.

Fear crept back in as he rephrased his question, “Was anyone hurt?”

Silence.

“Taylor, was anyone hurt?”

“Maia went after them on the jet ski,” Taylor continued. Jack closed his eyes, his chest constricting tightly as he dreaded Taylor’s next words.

“I’m sorry, Jack. They were gaining on us, they had an RPG,” Taylor’s voice cracked. “Maia drove her jet ski into their boat.”

Fuck. Damn you, Maia. Jack felt the back of his eyes sting.

Jack returned to the stonehouse. It was close to midnight, six hours after the explosion of the black boat. He had just gotten back from doing search and rescue operations with the U.S. Coast Guard. The waves started to get rough from the oncoming Nor’Easter, so they had to call off the search. They found only two male remains and a bunch of debris from the black boat and the jet ski. There were no signs of Maia or the third person from the boat.

The Coast Guard was pessimistic about any possibility of there being any survivors. After his initial reaction, Jack would not give up hope: he demanded proof, he would’t believe she was dead until he saw a body.

Derek called him a few minutes before. Viktor was concerned because an alarm had gone off in their system indicating that Maia’s phone had gone off the grid. Jack told him the news.

Derek, after muttering a string of expletives, said, “I’m with you, Jack. I don’t care what the fucking Coast Guard says. This is Maia we’re talking about. She’s been in worse scrapes than this. She jumped off a low flying helicopter once before it smashed into the mountain.”

Jesus Christ, Jack thought.

“She broke her arm,” Derek continued. “Bitched and moaned about the broken arm, and we joked for days that she had used up the last of her nine lives but…”

“Derek,” Jack said wearily.

“Right. I’m sorry,” Derek sighed. “I’m scared for her too. I guess I was trying to make myself feel better. I should let Viktor know what’s going on.”

After his call with Derek, he walked into the living room, which was shot up pretty bad but usable. Everyone was still awake, though his mom appeared to have dozed off on the couch. They rose when he came in.

“Anything?” Brett asked.

Jack shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Jack,” Brett said, his voice cracking. “I’m such a fuck up.”

Jack did not say anything, but simply looked numbly at his brother. His emotions were tightly coiled, and he was afraid he might lose it like he had done earlier.

After Taylor had informed him of what Maia had done, Jack went berserk: he went for the gunman who had surrendered to them and started beating the guy up, demanding the name and whereabouts of the man who had sent them. It took Brody and Maddox to pull him off. Thankfully, the police arrived, along with Detective Rick Tanner. Jack had nearly decked Rick too when he wanted to detain him when all he wanted to do was to go look for Maia.

“You stop me, Tanner and I will shoot you,” Jack growled as Rick got in his face.

“Got five dead guys, and what looks like a war zone over here,” the detective said. “You got permits for all those guns?”

“Fuck you, Tanner,” Jack snapped and pushed the detective out of the way. When Rick refused to budge, Jack threw back his arm ready to let fly.

“Jack, calm down and tell me what is going on?” Rick asked, stepping away as he realized that Jack was half out of his mind. Rick held up his hands, letting Jack know that he was listening.

Jack stalked off to the cliff and pointed in the direction of the burning boat.

Rick stared at the devastation, stunned.

“Maia is missing,” Jack said hoarsely. “She rammed a jet ski into the boat that was pursuing my family.”

“Oh my God,” Rick breathed unbelievingly.

“Now, detective, any more questions?”

Tanner stepped aside and let him go.

Jack got into his SUV and told Rick that his parents, Taylor and Brett should be on the way back and he could take their statements.

He thought of his last words to her: Please protect them, Maia. And she did, probably at the cost of her own life.