The Pirate:. Katherine Garbera

who made Laz uneasy. He was always poking around where he shouldn’t be. And twice Laz had caught him coming out of the radio room. The crewman was a loader so he had no business in the radio room.

      Laz had already had a run-in with the man once before when Fridjtof was bullying one of the rookie crewmen. He was a tough man who only respected brawn. He wasn’t the type of man that you could talk around—fists worked best for him.

      Laz rubbed the back of his neck. Or was that his wishful thinking coming into play? He needed the release and sparring with Fridjtof that would do that.

      And now he was on deck in the middle of the night when everyone else was sleeping. Well that wasn’t true, Laz thought. Daphne had been up here but somehow he didn’t think she might be working a double-cross on the tanker crew. To be honest he did believe that Fridjtof had two bosses.

      “Fridjtof? What have I told you about being on deck after hours?”

      “Ah, sorry about that, Captain. Just needed to get out of my bunk for a few minutes.”

      The night was calm and clear and not the type of weather for the men to stay belowdecks, but the dangers of the waters they were traveling through had made the “no deck” rule that Laz had put into place viable to the men.

      “No exceptions,” Laz said.

      “I thought I saw a woman up here. Was she an exception?”

      “She’s none of your damned business. You will do what you’re told,” Laz said, pointing his finger at Fridjtof’s chest.

      The other man took a deep drag on his cigarette and blew smoke back in Laz’s eyes. “I guess if I had boobs you’d feel different.”

      Laz punched the other man on the shoulder. “Watch it. Our guests will be treated with respect.”

      “Yeah, I know. They are off limits as well but not for you, eh, Captain?”

      Laz narrowed his eyes on the other man. What had he seen? Maybe it would be simpler to simply take Fridjtof captive and send him with Savage and the rest of their team.

      Daphne? How long had Fridjtof been up here? He didn’t really like the thought of this man talking about Daphne.

      “She isn’t used to life at sea the way a seasoned crewman like yourself is.”

      “I just think if I were curvy you’d be treating me differently.”

      Laz shook his head. “Regardless, get below.”

      Fridjtof looked like he was going to argue and Laz took a step toward the man. His command had to be absolute; there was no time to argue or run the ship like a democracy. “Or I can put you in lockup.”

      Fridjtof held his hands up. “I’m going, Cap.”

      Laz watched the other man disappear.

      “Damn it, I don’t like that guy,” Hamm said, joining Laz at the railing.

      “I don’t trust him,” Laz admitted.

      “With the women?” Hamm asked.

      “With anyone. Is the rest of the deck clear?”

      “Affirmative,” Hamm said.

      “Team, you are clear to retreat.” Laz spoke softly and knew that his message had been received when the other four members of the Savage Seven appeared on the deck. Aside from Savage, there was Kirk Mann, who was the second in command for their team. He had been a marine sniper before joining their unit. No one shot with more accuracy than Mann. Wenz was their medic and Van was the team’s computer expert. He was the one they were all relying on to track Samatan’s ship when it surfaced.

      Samatan was the leader of a particularly bloodthirsty group of pirates. The Savage Seven had been hired to capture him. The general belief was that if the head of the viper was cut off it would lead to the nest of the pirates. Then the attacks would launch.

      Hamm took up a post near the gangway so that they wouldn’t have any more surprise visitors. Slowly the men departed over the side railing.

      “We’re not going far. Just out of sight of the ship. We’ll be in radio contact if you need us,” Savage said.

      “I’ll alert you the minute we see anything suspicious.”

      “Good. Once you let them on board don’t fight. Their MO is that they take the ship with a show of force but usually don’t kill their captives.”

      “You’re telling me stuff I already know, boss.”

      Savage put his hand on Laz’s shoulder. “I don’t like having those civilians on here. The tanker crew knows how to handle this kind of thing.”

      “I’ll take care of them,” Laz said.

      “You do that. I’m going to have Wenz dig up what he can on the doctors’ group. I’ll send you back what we find. Good luck.”

      “Thanks, boss.”

      Though everything was in place Laz didn’t relax. Experience had taught him there was no such thing as an easy mission, especially with all the variables they were dealing with here. The added passengers and stopping to deliver them to their destination was not going to be an easy matter. But their schedule did have the time for a one-day stopover.

      He almost wondered if someone knew that the Savage Seven was watching over this ship and that’s why they’d arranged for the Doctors Across Waters group to travel with them.

      Laz would keep the group safe. Savage would want them protected as well. He was keen on keeping as many civilians alive as possible on their missions. That was one of the things Laz liked about working for Savage. That and the fact that he was a valued member of the team. Despite the fact that Savage was their leader, the group respected everyone’s opinion and skills.

      Laz couldn’t ask for a better life, he thought while standing on the deck and looking out over the moonlit ocean. So what if sometimes when he was at home he felt lonely?

      This was the best job in the world for him, and he knew that nothing and no one would ever make him give it up.

      “The deck is busy tonight,” Hamm said.

      “Damn straight. I got an itchy feeling on the back of my neck that something is going to happen.”

      “Having Fridjtof up here was odd. That man is always creeping around.”

      “I agree. Keep a close eye on him.”

      “I am.”

      Hamm and Laz had been in some tight situations together but they always came out the victors. Their current mission was working secretly for the allied nations to stop the threat of piracy in these waters.

      Their group’s aim was to be offensive instead of defensive. Instead of waiting until a ship was taken hostage, they were proactively in the area to thwart and capture the pirates.

      One of their own men—Kirk Mann—had been working in Somalia to infiltrate the pirates. It was Mann’s lead that had brought them here to the Angus. Kirk was the best at disguising himself, and he had a soulless attitude that made it easy for him to fit right in with lawless men.

      Laz had seen a different side to Kirk last year when he’d fallen in love with Olivia Pontuf. Laz had thought it would change Kirk but it hadn’t. He still worked with them and was just as lethal as before.

      Laz didn’t know if he’d stay in this business if he had a woman like Olivia waiting at home for him.

      “Laz?” Savage said through the wireless earpiece.

      “Here.”

      “We just got word that the pirate group is moving to attack tonight. They are looking for Americans and they had some intel on our doctors. Someone in that group has a connection to a U.S. Senator.”

      “Nice.