Terkels twist, p.1
Terkel's Twist, page 1
Books in This Series:
Damon’s Deal, Book 1
Wade’s War, Book 2
Gage’s Goal, Book 3
Calum’s Contact, Book 4
Rick’s Road, Book 5
Scott’s Summit, Book 6
Brody’s Beast, Book 7
Terkel’s Twist, Book 8
Terkel’s Triumph, Book 9
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
About This Book
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
Epilogue
About Terkel’s Triumph
Sneak Peek from Magnus: Shadow Recon
Author’s Note
Complimentary Download
About the Author
Copyright Page
About This Book
Welcome to a brand-new series from USA Today best-selling author Dale Mayer, where dark-ops SEALs have special senses and skills, needed to solve intrigue, betrayal, and … murder. A series with all the elements you’ve come to love, plus so much more, … including psychics!
In advance of another major attack, Terk races to Levi’s compound in Texas, where Terk finally gets to meet Celia, the woman carrying his child. Thankfully he arrives in time to protect his friends and new family from another attack, but he’s determined to get to the end of this nightmare that tried to earlier destroy his team.
Finally meeting this stranger—whose child Celia may be carrying—how could she not be suspicious? But after meeting Terk, she believes he had nothing to do with her pregnancy. Only after some deep conversations, as they peel layer from layer, do possible answers surface.
When the pieces finally come together into the most probably theory, Terk realizes how simple this whole mess really is. But solving it? … That’s a whole different story.
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Prologue
The trip to Texas was brutal. The flight long, noisy, and tedious, when so much in Terk’s life was on hold. He’d sent out probes, checking on everyone multiple times, and everyone was fine. Even with that reassurance it was hard for him to relax.
While his brother was at his side, a rare moment for the two of them, it was hard knowing what was coming and what they’d left behind.
“Have you told them where we are?” Merk asked him.
Terk nodded. “Yes, but I’ve also slowed the energy going to them, so I’ll call them when we land.”
Merk shook his head but remained silent; then out of the blue, he said, “You know that, even though I’m used to this, it still sounds bizarre what you’re saying.”
Not much Terk could say to that. His brother had long been his biggest supporter, but that adaptation couldn’t have been easy. Terk had often wondered if there was something Merk couldn’t tap into or ignored either willfully or subconsciously all these years. In Terk’s case, his extra senses dominated. Ignoring them wasn’t even possible.
“What are you and your team going to do when this is over?” Merk murmured, looking out the plane window. “We’re almost there.”
“I know, and I’ve spent much of this flight resting, letting the energy flow in the direction it needs to, and it heads to England every time.”
Merk stared at him sharply. “As in a permanent location? As in the entire team or just yourself?”
“Yes, as to location and as in the whole team, including all the new members.”
“And Celia?”
That was a question Terk couldn’t answer. No one could at this stage. He could see bits and pieces, images that were both dark and intense, yet sprinkled in between softer ones. He knew Celia was important, but the jury was out as to whether she was on the plus side or the minus side. Terk could only hope that, given what he did know, she wasn’t involved in the making of this nightmare. If she was, good luck keeping his son away from him. If she wasn’t involved in that way, then Terk knew the future would get very interesting, very soon.
The seat belt sign kicked on.
Merk looked over at him and smiled. “You ready? To meet Celia? To see what the hell is going on at this end?”
“Always,” Terk murmured, looking at the approaching runway. “And more than ready to end this. Whatever the hell this is …”
Chapter 1
Terkel Armand slipped out of the truck and studied the huge concrete structure that rose in front of him. Multiple vehicles were parked around them, but the energy seemed off. “The compound appears empty.”
At that, Merk sucked in a heavy breath. “Yeah.” He nodded, but his expression was worried. “They could be hiding in a lot of places around here. It doesn’t have to be bad news.”
“No, I’m not sure it’s bad news yet,” Terk replied, “but something is odd about it.”
“Odd how? Do you want to define that a little better?”
“Is Katina here?”
“No, she’s on a trip to California,” he admitted. “It’s one of the reasons why I came to help you.”
At that, Terk’s lips twitched. “What? She didn’t ask to come with you?”
“She’s not used to this madness. It would have created more problems than it solved.”
“Because of me?”
“You and I are very close, always have been. When you need help, I’m there. She knows that.”
Merk had always done so, right from the beginning. Terk nodded calmly. Right now, more trouble than he cared to acknowledge was up ahead. He just wasn’t certain when it was coming or in what form. “I’m definitely getting an odd reading from the compound.”
“You want to go through the back way?”
“No. … I think, if we go any other way than straight through the front, it’ll look odd.”
“I’d rather look odd and still be alive,” Merk noted calmly.
“Maybe, but it’s not that kind of an oddness.”
Merk shrugged. “I trust you. Let’s go.” Together they walked up to the garage entrance.
“Gates are closed. Alarm systems are running still, so why am I getting a sense of emptiness?” Terk was bewildered.
“Our new security? Something you haven’t come up against?”
“Possibly.” Terk glanced over at his brother.
“Have you got something?” Merk asked him.
“No, I am not getting much from out here, and I’m not at my best. No strange heat signatures.”
“We have a new technology that closes down heat recognition,” Merk replied, with a nod.
“I wondered as much,” Terk murmured. As they walked up to the compound, both of them with weapons in hand, Merk took the lead and unlocked the inner gate to let them in.
Terk remained confused, and his energy was all over the place. “Still feels weird.”
“Weird is pretty normal in your world, so I can’t dispute that,” Merk replied. “What about your own personal security setup? I am sure you did something in the ethers or whatever to make sure that we were safe too.”
“I did. … Yet still something’s affecting that.”
“Interesting. So take a wild guess. Humor me.”
“I can’t. I don’t know,” Terk replied in frustration. As they walked forward a few steps, he stopped. “Something else has shifted.”
At that, the door in front of them opened casually. They both looked up in unison, and there she was. Ice. Standing tall and strong in front of them and … smiling.
Merk raced forward to her. “We weren’t sure what the hell we were sensing, but definitely something was off. Even Terk wasn’t sure.”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “We’ll have to talk about that, Terk.”
He frowned at her. “About what?”
She lowered her voice. “You tell me. After all, you’ve had a chance to see the signatures.”
“Definitely some disrupting energy is here that I didn’t put in place.” Terk nodded.
“I’m getting that too,” she stated. “That makes better sense. It’s good to have you here.”
He walked over, gave her a big hug. “Thank you—for everything.”
“You’re welcome.” Ice smiled. “By the way, she’s a sweetheart.”
He laughed. “That’s good to know because we have some difficult news to deal with right now.”
“The biggest of which is what?” she asked, as she closed the door behind them. “What the hell’s going on, and how close are we to bringing this to an end?”
Terk caught movement at another door, and he quickly turned to see Levi. He relaxed a bit, seeing him walk toward him, with a big grin on his face. The two men exchanged a hard hug.
“It’s good to see you,” Levi greeted him. “Glad you brought Merk back with you.”
Terk smiled, loving the absolute acceptance he always got from these guys. He knew part of it was the years working with his brother and the number of times Terk had called in to warn them about something that would go crazy on them. They had a long history of helping each other in shitstorms that they couldn’t possibly see for themselves.
“It is good to see you guys.” Terk smiled. “It’s been a rather tough couple months.”
&nb
sp; “You think?” Merk quipped. “You do realize both the DGSE and MI6 were gunning for you to get out of their respective countries?”
“I try hard not to think about it, and I won’t give them a chance to interfere with my work. The DGSE doesn’t need to worry, as we only visit France from time to time. Now MI6 on the other hand … On another topic, I warned my team to stay in place, but I’m afraid they are pretty adamant about being on the spot and seeing this thing through.” Terk looked over at Levi and saw his lips twitch, then asked forcefully, “They already contacted you, didn’t they?”
Levi nodded. “Of course. I get that you think that they don’t need to come to your aid, but think about it from their perspective. They aren’t willing to let you get into trouble without them.”
“I was hoping not to get into trouble.”
“Yeah, right. And how’s that been working out for you?” Levi asked.
Terk rolled his eyes at his old friend. “Not very well lately. Talk about a shitstorm.”
“Exactly,” Levi agreed, “but that’s okay. We’re here to help.”
“You’ve already helped a lot. I don’t want you, … any of you, to get into any more trouble than you already are.”
Levi laughed. “It’ll just get uglier.”
“It always gets ugly before it gets better.”
“And this is what we do, Terk.”
“Sure, but you also have a lot of people here to look after.”
“And you’ve added to that,” Levi pointed out calmly, not pulling any punches.
“I know. I didn’t know anything about her, except that she was on the way here, and I’m sorry for that,” Terk said. “I didn’t have any idea what was happening, until all of a sudden she was there.”
Immediately a question came from the inner doorway. “She?”
He turned, as an obviously pregnant woman stepped into the big kitchen.
Celia. Instantly her energy—hesitant yet compelled by something she might not even understand—darted toward him. An energy glowing with a second presence, the baby. His baby. Bemused, he could only watch in fascination. He saw her, felt her, and knew what she was to him. He stepped forward and held out his hand. “Hello, I am Terk.”
She nodded calmly but ignored his hand. “About time you got here.”
His eyebrows shot up. He pulled back his hand. “What does that mean?”
She gave him an exasperated look. “Let’s not play games. Obviously you know more about this than you’re letting on.” She indicated the bump that she carried.
“Actually I don’t,” he said immediately, “and, for that, I’m sorry. I really wish I did know more.”
It was her turn for her eyebrows to rise. “What about all of these last many weeks in England?”
“That I know about,” he admitted, “and, yes, I knew of your existence and when you arrived at this place, but that is the extent of it. We’re still trying to get to the bottom of your story. We have a lot of the pieces now but more gaps.”
“Okay”—she took a deep breath—“so why are you here then?”
He hesitated for a split second. “Because I believe an attack is imminent, and I wanted to be here to do what I could do to stop it.”
“How imminent?” she asked, her eyes going wide, as she took in the expressions on the other people’s faces.
“I was half-expecting that it had already happened, when I sensed the off security here.”
“Off security?” she asked in a low voice. “Do you want to explain that?”
“Not right now.” He studied her, wondering if she understood she was the one putting out the defensive energy bristling in the room. “How are you feeling?”
“Betterish. I mean, nothing like waking up from a coma to find that you’re … halfway through a pregnancy you know nothing about, while wired up to explosives and stumbling on a backroad, with no memory as to how I got there.”
“Do you want to explain the pregnancy?”
She snorted. “No, I don’t. And definitely not to you.”
“Why definitely not to me?”
“Because, according to Ice, you seem to think it’s yours, and I can tell you right now, it’s not.”
“Well, I won’t argue with you. Besides DNA will prove it, one way or the other.”
“Exactly. Glad we agree on that at least, and, by the way, that’s not happening until my son is born.”
He knew that her getting more upset wouldn’t benefit anybody. He turned to face Ice. “Have you got a game plan?”
Her beautiful features twisted in a wry smile. “Somewhat. Let’s go get coffee and maybe get you some food. Then we can go over it.”
“That would be nice.” Terk rotated his neck ever-so-slowly and gently widened his senses. When he came into a place like this, with many different people living and working here, it was always really hard to hold back the surge of energy around the compound. With his brother, Terk didn’t have to do it on account of his similarity and familiarity. As twins, their energy was damn near the same. But, with so many different personalities here, their energy was rampant.
As Terk followed Ice, Merk grabbed his arm to pull him back slightly. “So, do you know her?” he asked.
Terk immediately shook his head. “No, and I told you that from the beginning.”
“Jesus.”
Terk looked at him and said, “It’s mine.” And, with that declaration, not anything anybody could say. When Terk was adamant, he was adamant. Like he’d said, the DNA would prove it out, but still …
“Do you think this was deliberate?” Merk muttered, as they walked forward. “Your child, I mean. Not just anyone’s.”
“I can’t help but think that it was. I just don’t understand how it came to be. According to Yousef, it was planned.”
As they walked into the big dining room, Alfred bustled from the kitchen. A smile broke out on his face as he looked at Terk. “There you are. Now I can stop worrying about you.”
“You were worried about me?” Terk asked in confusion.
“Of course. This is a very difficult time for you, so it’s very important that you have all the support you need.” And, with that said, Alfred frowned at the sideboard and added, “I’ll go get the cinnamon buns. I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the adjoining room.
At that abrupt declaration and even faster departure, Levi looked over at Ice. “So Terk gets cinnamon buns? I’ve been asking for cinnamon buns for days.”
Ice burst out laughing. “I think you’ll survive. Besides, I’m pretty sure you had some just a few days ago.”
“But that was a few days ago,” Levi argued. “Do you have any idea how much this crew eats?”
“Speaking of which,” Terk added, as he stopped at the entrance to the dining room, his senses slowly spreading farther, “the place is almost empty.”
“It is,” Levi agreed. “Threats of an imminent attack have us setting priorities and removing many of the partners—not to mention children—from the compound. And, of course, that means sending several of the men along with them. We also have others of the team off on jobs,” Levi added. “It’s become a bit of a scheduling nightmare. We’re always struggling for new members.”
“Well, I guess that’s a good thing.”
“Maybe.” Levi glanced at Terk. “Of course sometimes personal crises come up.”
“It’s not as if Merk would give us a chance to say no,” Ice chipped in, with a bright smile.
“And it would never be an issue because you are family too, Terk,” Levi said calmly.
It was such an odd, yet welcome thing. He and Merk had worked separately for a very long time, but once Merk had hooked up with Levi and Ice, Terk had automatically been included in the group, like an extended part of the family you didn’t know was there but accepted anyway. And it was rather nice.
Terk smiled at Ice, then walked over to give her a big hug and whispered, “Are you looking forward to your daughter? It won’t be just yet …” He paused, tilted his head, and a date popped in his mind. He whispered it against her temple.
Ice’s eyes widened. “What?”
He chuckled. “I can’t help what I learn. Such as the cycle of life and all.”
At that, Levi turned and looked at the two of them. “What did he say to you?”
“I’m not saying a word,” she murmured, a tiny smile at the corner of her lips.
