Langdon

  Terk’s Guardians, Book 4

  Dale Mayer

  Books in This Series:

  Radar, Book 1

  Legend, Book 2

  Bojan, Book 3

  Langdon, Book 4

  Walker, Book 5

  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 Walker

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Copyright Page

  About This Book

  Langdon hasn’t been in a good place for a long time, but it was time enough to chase away the woman he’d loved since forever. Unable to reach her to make it right, he realizes she’s disappeared—and not by choice. He then finds out why Molly was kidnapped and by whom.

  Molly would do just about anything for Langdon, yet being used as leverage to force him to act wasn’t part of the plan. But escaping would take more than her special energy skills, abilities her captors are unaware of. She needs to keep it that way.

  Now if only she could open the psychic door she’d slammed shut between her and Langdon to let him know what was happening—before he was forced to do something that could kill them both …

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  Prologue

  Bojan smiled at the group and announced, “We’ll probably be back and forth. I really have no idea how this will work.”

  Bullard shrugged. “As you’ve already seen, we have lots of people going back and forth with some regularity, so it’s really fine with us. Any time you want to come, it’s all good, and we’ll be happy to have you.”

  Lacy walked over to where Leia held the twins, now six weeks old. Lacy kissed all three of them. “You look after these two, huh? Just remember to put them down once in a while,” she teased, with a grin. “It’s good for all of you.”

  “Oh, stop. I’m not that bad.” Leia looked up at her friend, with a huge smile. “You have no idea how grateful I am.”

  “Your face tells me every day,” Lacy declared, as she crouched in front of them. “We’ll be back, and, in a couple years, we’ll come again to repeat the process.”

  At that future mention, his shock clearly evident on his facial expression, Bullard stammered, “Wait, what?”

  Leia looked at Lacy in delight. “Seriously?”

  Lacy nodded, then leaned forward and whispered, “Girls next time.” She stepped back and winked at Leia, then gave Bullard a big hug. “We’re off to Terkel’s place because chaos is about to begin over there.”

  “It’s bound to happen,” Bullard noted, “but no babies yet, right?”

  “Not yet, but it won’t be long, and I’m hoping to get some training in. Although Terkel says I should be training some people over there, but that’s hardly the case.”

  Bullard nodded. “Whatever Terkel’s got planned, you go for it. We’re just glad to have you as part of the family.”

  And, with Bojan and Lacy holding hands, the two of them said goodbye to the rest of the group.

  As they headed to the airport, where Bullard’s plane was waiting to take them to England, Lacy looked up at Bojan. “Kind of amazing that we have this much family all over the place.”

  “I know,” Bojan agreed. “Are you okay to go to Terkel’s place?”

  “We need to,” she said, “and it’s probably really where we belong, but we should definitely come back and forth.”

  “Absolutely.”

  They boarded the plane and waited for the pilot to say they were ready to take off.

  Bojan’s phone rang. “Hello, Terkel. … Yeah, we’re on the plane right now, just waiting to take off. … Okay. Sure, that’s not a problem. The more the merrier, as they say. Who is it?”

  Just then, somebody bolted onto the plane, then looked up at Bojan and smiled.

  Bojan laughed and told Terk, “It’s all good. He’s here.”

  She looked over at Riff. “I saw you at the dividing wall, when the shooting was going on.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, you sure did. Two of those shots were mine, taking out the gunman,” he shared. “I tend to be there, but not there, … kind of turning up in odd places, wherever I’m needed.”

  She frowned at him. “Does Bullard know?”

  “He does, but now I’m heading back because Terkel apparently has another case.”

  “I hope it doesn’t involve me,” Bojan added. “I need a little downtime.”

  “Oh, that’s all right. He’s hoping to use you for security at home,” Riff shared. “It’s for someone else.”

  At that, Terkel’s voice came through loud and clear to all three of them. Bojan, it’s about an old friend of yours. Langdon Morrissey is his name.

  Yeah, I know him, but why?

  He reached out after hearing from a woman who could be in trouble. I think he tried to reach you as well but you were out of commission.

  Right, so what does he want?

  Something about his mother being murdered and her caregiver being kidnapped.

  At that, Bojan frowned. Seriously?

  Yeah.

  Langdon is awesome, but she’s not his mother.

  Terkel replied, I got that.

  She’s one of the cabinet ministers, Bojan added. He talks about her as being his mother, but it’s not in a biological sense. He was one of those extra kids who came home one day and stayed. But the caregiver, now that’s interesting. I thought her caregiver was Molly.

  That’s the name I have. Apparently Molly’s been kidnapped.

  Ah, hell. This shit just never ends.

  I’m sending Rick over as backup. Langdon already has some leads, but he doesn’t want to go into this blind, and he understands that we have some skills, Terk shared, with a laugh.

  Yeah, that’s because he has skills himself, Bojan noted. So, if he’s looking for backup, he’s expecting it to get ugly. I can go, he offered, looking over at Lacy.

  No, if we need you, we’ll call you, Terkel replied, sounding adamant. Bullard is also sending over Eton, who will be there to help out. However, if this Langdon guy’s got skills, I’d like to know what kind of skills we’re talking about.

  Yeah, you and me both. He’s never really talked to me about it. I just know they exist.

  Seems to be the right time to find out.

  I’m wondering why Langdon hasn’t gone after Molly, Riff noted, with a frown.

  Bojan looked up at him and nodded. Good question, and they used to be an item, by the way. But I also know that Langdon was heading in for surgery. He’s missing a leg but had a couple ribs rebuilt in order to protect his lungs. That was the last I heard, but I don’t know what happened after that.

  Maybe his health is stopping him from rescuing Molly then, as something is off if he asked for help.

  Absolutely. He’s always been a loner but a can-do type of guy. And he would never ask for help.

  This time he did, Terk murmured. And help he’ll get.

  Bojan nodded. That makes sense, because Molly was his heart.

  And he’ll get all the help he needs, Terk declared.

  Chapter 1

  Langdon Morrissey stared balefully down at the toes on his remaining foot, as he stood in his London apartment. He didn’t know to what extent the metal in his body was causing the disruption in his energy, but the lack of a leg was causing a major disruption on his mindset. He knew he was supposed to adapt, to just deal with it and move on, but whoever came up with that bit of wisdom obviously hadn’t been in the position of having to deal with it.

  Nobody who had experienced such a thing would be so cavalier as to pass it on to someone in this position. Langdon was mostly dealing with it, and, though he was still struggling to a certain extent, he was getting there. He had bigger issues than most, and, while that might make him sound like some sort of a princess, he was not. The fact of the matter was, he had nobody to talk to about this.

  On the up-and-up, he had no idea how to reframe these physical losses in his head with what was happening in his life, particularly when it came to the other aspect of his special energy abilities, and that was something he was rather desperate to fix. He could talk to Terk, yet Terk didn’t have the same issues. There weren’t very many energy workers to begin with—and even they differed from the others with their own gifts—and Langdon didn’t know of any who shared his particular problem, where the metal rods and staples in his body were messing with his energy field.

  Terk would say that the issue was more mental than anything, and, if so, nobody could help Langdon with that issue. Although that wasn’t being fair to Terk, because Langdon hadn’t told Terk what the issue was. Right now Langdon had additional bigger problems. His phone buzzed just then, and he snatched it up off the table. “Well?”

  Terk was on the other end. Of course he was.

  In a mild voice, as if Terk knew exactly what was going on in Langdon’s head but was choosing to ignore it, Terk replied, “Rick is on his way to you right now. His ETA is less than two hours.”

  Langdon closed his eyes in relief, as he muttere
d a guttural thank-you.

  Terk added, “Anytime you want help with the other issues, you know you only have to ask.”

  Langdon winced at that. “Yeah, but you don’t even know what I’m going through,” he snapped, his tone unfortunately harsh.

  After a moment of silence, Terk let out a note of laughter. “None of us will know if you don’t at least try to explain,” Terk noted. “You might be surprised at how much some of us do know and understand, but this has to be a you thing. Rick will be there to give you a hand getting Molly back.” Then he took a moment to add, “Then you have to decide what you want to do.”

  “What I want to do? What does that mean?” Langdon asked.

  “Are you coming to work for me?” Terk asked.

  Langdon hesitated. “Why would you even want me right now?” he snapped once more. “I can’t do a damn thing. I sure as hell can’t do any remote viewing or astral walking anymore. … You already know that, don’t you?” Such bitterness filled his tone that only dead silence was heard on the other end, almost as if Terk was waiting to see if Langdon had run out of steam yet. “Fine. … I get it. I sound like a damn two-year-old.”

  At that, Terk laughed out loud. “I’m about to be inundated with babies here, and I was never very good at that whole babysitting thing. However, what I am good at is separating the chaff from the wheat,” he stated in a calm tone. “You had what it takes before, and you certainly have it still.”

  “You wish.”

  “I know it may sound trite, … lame even,” Terk added, “but, until I really understand what the issue is, I can’t help you, and you probably realize that yourself anyway. Yet a lot of it is mental, as much as anything.”

  “Right, I know. I’m already a headcase,” he muttered, with a certain amount of bitterness.

  Terk smiled, and it easily came through in his tone of voice. “You always were a headcase, Langdon,” Terk noted with such affection that Langdon had to close his eyes and swear again.

  “How the hell did you always know when I was in trouble?” he asked.

  “That’s what friends are for.”

  Langdon stopped at that and sighed. “What kind of a friend am I when I won’t even come and work for you?”

  “Not everybody works well together and remains friends at the same time.” Terk chuckled. “Still, I would be remiss if I didn’t offer you a job again, particularly now that we’re private, plus knowing you’re having trouble adapting.”

  “Didn’t it occur to you that it wouldn’t be good to hire me for exactly those reasons? The first thing you learn when you go private is that this is a business and that I’m not a good prospect.”

  “That’s for me to say, not for you to decide without even consulting me,” Terkel stated. “I admit I have an awful lot to learn about the business side of things, and so I mostly go by the feel of things because I know no other way to operate.”

  “Exactly my point. Again not a good way to do business,” Langdon repeated.

  “But it’s my business, so you’ll just have to deal with it,” Terk replied, with finality. “We’ll help you find Molly, and then we’ll talk about it again.”

  “Yeah? What’s the price for helping to find Molly though?”

  Terk hesitated for a moment. “I’ll think about it,” he murmured. “Right now, the big thing is getting her back.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t want to be beholden.”

  “Yep, I got it,” Terk noted, “but I think I know who Molly is—energetically.”

  “So what if you do?” Langdon asked curiously.

  “I may want to talk to her myself.” And, with that, Terk hung up, leaving Langdon staring at his phone in shock.

  That was the thing about Terk. He was always on top of the game. So much so that it was unnerving. They had been friends for a long time but had parted ways years ago. Langdon had gone off to work in the British government, while Terk chose to start working for the CIA.

  Though he’d been approached by Terk several times, Langdon found the idea of working for the US government unsettling. Not that he had anything against them personally, but his father and his brother had both worked for the US government, and their stories made Langdon weary of potential antics. He groaned as he sat back, considering the foolish decisions he had made over his life, wondering if he would be whole right now if he had gone to work for Terk back then.

  Not that it made a damn bit of difference now because life just didn’t work that way. Langdon had made the decision and was now dealing with the fallout. His father had more or less laughed at him when he’d gotten injured and had told him it was his own fault, and he should have been working on their side of the pond the whole time. Not that it made much difference as far as Langdon could tell because the Americans had just as many people coming home with injuries as the Brits did. Still, it was one more little thing in the back of his mind that bothered him. That’s when he realized Terk hadn’t mentioned where he was working from these days.

  Langdon quickly sent him a text, asking what country he was living in and who was he serving now. Terk had mentioned that he’d gone private, but that didn’t mean a whole lot.

  The response came back almost immediately, saying, they were in Manchester, working privately, doing a certain amount of jobs with MI6 in England, but they were also open to projects elsewhere in the world—but only on the side of right.

  Langdon smiled at that because he would have expected no less from Terkel. Langdon hadn’t realized he’d needed to hear it, but apparently he did, and any assurance was a saving grace. When a text arrived a few minutes later, followed by an odd knock on the door, Langdon got up slowly and moved toward the door. “Who is it?”

  After a moment of silence came the response. “Rick.”

  Hesitating, not having asked for any images to confirm who was at his door, Langdon opened the peephole first. There he saw a built-up hulk of a man staring back at him, completely calm and at peace with himself. Langdon found himself hating him already. He glared at him. “Yeah. What are you doing here?”

  One eyebrow went up slowly. “Terk asked me to come and help you find Molly, presuming that finding Molly is still a priority for you.”

  Langdon winced at that, then quickly slammed shut the peephole and opened the door. “Yes, finding Molly is a priority,” he muttered.

  The guy walked in and nodded. “I’m Rick.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Langdon replied with a sigh, pushing his hair off his forehead. “Sorry for the less-than-exuberant welcome.” And, with that, he hobbled over to a chair and sat down.

  Rick came in beside him, took one look at the leg, and whistled. “Obviously you’ve been on that too much.”

  “Ya think? It also wasn’t easy to ask for help, but Molly is in trouble, and it’s my fault. Thus I gotta do what I gotta do, and the rest of it be damned.” He glared down at his leg and specifically where the prosthetic met the inflammation, burning up the puffy surface of the stump.

  “How long ago did that happen?” Rick asked.

  “Six months. Two surgeries since and it just won’t calm down.”

  “I suppose getting off it and staying off it isn’t much of an option,” he noted.

  Langdon could sense Rick studying him, as he shook his head. “No, it’s not an option.” Langdon tried hard to keep the bitterness out of his tone. “Molly is missing and may be in grave danger, and I don’t have anybody else to call on but Terk.”

  “You called for help, and I’m here because Terk asked me to come.”

  Langdon studied him. “Do you work for him?”

  “Yes, I work for him. I worked with him when he worked for the CIA as well. Now that we’re independent, we all still work together.”

  Langdon nodded. “I guess that works out okay for you guys?”

  At that, Rick smiled. “Honestly, we’re still pretty new to it yet, being private and all, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  The quiet joy in his tone made Langdon do a double take. He hesitated before he spoke, not sure how to put it right. “You almost sound like you’re … happy.”

  “I am happy. I’m happier than I ever thought I could be,” he admitted, then pointed to Langdon’s swollen stump. “When you’re in the industry that we’re in, that sort of thing can happen at any time. We’ve certainly had enough accidents and attacks to be mindful that what we do is something we may not recover from. Yet, after we do recover, that feeling of grace comes with the knowledge that we managed to rebuild something much better on the other side. Only then can we start to appreciate what we have. Only when we forget to appreciate what we have does it all go to pot again.”