Night with a Seal (Hot SEALs #1) (16 page)

A grin tugged on the corners of Zane’s mouth. “Yeah,
us
. I’m liking this idea.”

That was two. Jon looked to Rick. “What do you think?”

He dipped his head. “I’m thinking if you’re okay with me keeping my job and just jumping on board for assignments when I’m needed, I’m in.”

Rick, Zane and Chris were in. Including Jon, that made a team of four. Not enough for some jobs, but plenty for others.

“You make it sound real tempting. Good enough it makes it look real attractive to turn in my separation package tomorrow.” Grant shook his head.

Thom coughed on his swallow of beer. “You’d get out four years shy of twenty?”
 

“I didn’t say I was going to do it, just that he makes it look tempting.” Grant laughed. “I’m too close to retirement and starting in a few months I’m moving on to be an instructor for Green Team. I won’t be deploying or going on missions. They handpicked me from among the senior combat veterans to train the new operators, so I figure I can coast my last few years. I can’t leave now, Jon.”

Jon nodded. “I know. And I’m not expecting you to give that up.”

“But . . .” Grant held up a hand. “You guys make a go of this thing, and when I’m done in four years, I damn well expect a spot on this team.”

Jon grinned. “You got it.”

“I wish you guys the best of luck, but…” Brody shook his head.

“There’s no pressure, Brody. I honestly never expected any of you to get out with me. I just wanted you to know the offer is open.”

Brody dipped his head. “Thanks. And don’t get me wrong, it’s a good idea, Jon.”

“It’s real good.” Thom nodded. “You guys better not fuck this up because I expect you to have a position waiting on me when I retire too.”

“You got it.” Whether they were joining him or not, the support of his friends bolstered Jon’s confidence.

“By then we’ll be so huge we’ll have to sell franchises. Hell, we might even have to let in some of the Delta Force guys just to meet the demand.” Rick laughed.

Jon let out a snort. “From your mouth to God’s ears. But seriously, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and start counting our jobs just yet.”

“But we know there’s a need. We’ve got the men who are qualified and trained to meet that need.” Rick shrugged. “Why wouldn’t we succeed?”

Jon hated to put a damper on Rick’s enthusiasm, but it had to be done. “What we don’t have is the start-up money to get us off the ground.”

“Shit. You’re right.” Rick visibly deflated, slumping over the table as he scowled. “Our four-tube night vision goggles alone cost what? Sixty-five thousand dollars or something crazy like that.”

Chris shook his head. “I can’t go back to the standard two-tube NVGs after using four. It’s like trying to see through a freaking toilet paper roll in comparison.”

All the training and skills in the world did them no good without the kick ass toys the Navy Special Warfare Command provided for their counter-terrorism unit, DEVGRU. State of the art, stealth transportation. Personalized, customized weapons. Not to mention the normal everyday essentials, like body armor and low tech shit like ammo. It all added up to be the tools of their trade and it cost money. A lot of it.

The energy in the room sank, as if someone had pulled the plug on the drain in the bathtub and let all the water rush out. The worst part was, that someone had been Jon.

“We can buy some stuff as surplus.” Rick looked as if he was trying to sound enthusiastic about the idea. “I’ve got about ten thousand in my savings I was going to use as a down payment on a place of my own. I could put it into the company.”

“I’ve got some cash socked away for a rainy day. If we all put in whatever we can—”

“That still won’t come close to what we need.” Jon hated to interrupt Chris’s offer with another cold dose of reality. “Just our basic gear has to cost over a hundred grand each. That times four of us. We’re going to need a bank loan.”

Rick snorted. “Think the bank that my sister almost got blown up for would be up for giving us a loan?”

“Maybe if they’d let us go in and save the building instead of watching it blow. What we need is an investor. A big one.” Zane offering that as a solution to the problem was no help since a big investor seemed as far a stretch as a bank loan did at this point.

“Where do you propose we find this investor?” Jon asked.

“I might know somebody.” Zane’s playing coy was getting on Jon’s nerves.

“Oh really? Who?” Jon wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn that one of Zane’s main squeezes was a sugar momma, rolling around in cash when she wasn’t under him.

“My father.”

Jon’s brows rose. “Your father has the kind of money we need?”

“Yup.” Zane nodded.

Rick’s eyes popped wide. “And you’ve never told us you’re frigging rich.”

“I’m not rich. He is. At least the company he owns is, and they’re always looking for good investments.”

“And this qualifies as a good investment?” Jon had trouble believing that.

Zane smiled. “Sure. You’ve got the one thing my father has always wanted, but his money could never buy.”

“And that is?” It wasn’t lost on Jon that they were all hanging their futures on what at the moment wasn’t much more than a cocky comment from Zane.

Jon really hoped Zane said something to convince him this wasn’t the craziest thing he’d ever thought of doing, and he’d done some fucked up shit.

“You’ve got something I’d be willing to leave for. My father wants me out. He has since the day I told him I was joining the Navy. That pissed him off so badly, I decided to try out for the SEALs. When that flipped him out even more I thought what the hell, might as well go all the way.”

“So you tried out for Green Team.”

“Yup.” Zane nodded. “I guess we’re all lucky he’s only rich and not so powerful or he’d probably have gotten DEVGRU shut down by now. But for this idea, Jon, I’d leave the unit. And for that, he’ll fork over a hell of a lot of dough.”

Jon’s gut twisted as the possible collateral damage grew. Zane was sacrificing his career for this. Now, his father’s money too. If this company failed . . . “You really think we can do this?”

Zane nodded. “I do. If those assholes at Blackwater can, why can’t we?”

“And do it better,” Chris added.

“Damn right, we can.” Rick raised his bottle.

“I guess you’re right.” Jon couldn’t argue there. “You know, we’re gonna need a name for this company of ours.”

“Yup, we sure do.” Rick didn’t seem to have any suggestions as he lifted his beer to his lips and swallowed.

The list of needs seemed to grow with every moment. The amount of details that had to be handled was daunting. It was becoming painfully obvious to Jon that he hadn’t thought much past the original idea, but just like he’d done in BUD/S, he’d take things one step at a time.

Jon drew in a breath. “Anyone have any ideas?”

“How about
we’ve got your six
?” Thom suggested.

“Hang on. Let me write all our ideas down.” Jon grabbed a cocktail napkin and turned toward the waitress, who was standing near the table behind them. “Do you have a spare pen I can borrow?”

“Sure thing.” Her wide smile said Jon could probably have whatever he wanted, but Zane had already tapped that particular keg, more than once over the years. That had been enough to keep Jon at arm’s length, even before he’d met Ali.
 

“Thanks.” He accepted her pen and started to take notes. “Okay,
we’ve got your six
. It’s not a name but it could be part of the pitch for clients.”

“It’d look kick ass printed on a T-shirt too.” Rick grinned.

Chris tipped his head. “Hell, yeah, it would.”

Jon had a feeling T-shirts would soon be on his To Do list. “Okay, so we agree that will be a great tagline, but we still need something to call the company. Come on, guys. What else you got?”

“Battle Ready.”

“Mission Ready.”

“Brothers in Arms.”

“Shield Security.”

“Precision Protection.”

“Silent Warrior.”

“All right. Slow down.” Jon struggled to keep up with the ideas flying at him from every man at the table, both those joining the company and those not.

“Hey, how about something Latin?” Brody asked.

“That would be cool.” Rick nodded. “Who here knows Latin?”

 
“We don’t need to know Latin. We have the internet.” Chris held up his phone.

“Can’t argue with that, dude.” Rick reached into his pocket.

As Chris and Rick concentrated on their cell phones, Jon noticed Brody walk to the bar. When he returned with a cocktail napkin and a pen, he started scribbling something.

Jon tried to get a look at it, but Brody’s forearm blocked his view. “What are you up to?”

Brody lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Just an idea I had.”

“Let’s see.” Jon reached for the napkin only to have it snatched back.

“Nope. Not ’til I’m done.”

Jon was reminded of middle school as Brody wrapped his arm around his work, forming a barrier so no one could see. That, of course, only made Jon want to see it more.

“Okay, here’s a good Latin name.” Rick read from his phone’s screen. “
Carpe diem
. Seize the day.”
 

“Wait.” Chris held up one hand. “This one’s better.
Cave canem
. Beware of the dog.”

“So you’re calling us dogs?” Zane frowned. “Dude, no.”

“Hey, here’s one. How about
Deus ex machine
?” Rick glanced up.

“What’s that mean?” Zane asked.

“
An improbable solution, artificially introduced to resolve a difficulty or untangle a dramatic plot
.” Rick glanced up after he’d finished reading. “That’s kind of what we’ll be. An improbable solution for the client’s difficult problems.”

“Yeah, but I’m not explaining all that every time I say our name.” Zane shook his head. “We need something simple. Self explanatory.”

When the name suggestions had turned toward the Latin, Jon listened and wrote down the one that wasn’t ridiculous, but all while keeping half an eye on Brody and what secret project he was working on.

Finally, Brody spun the cocktail napkin to face the rest of them and slid it across the table closer to Jon. Faster than the rest, Jon reached out and snatched it up.

On it was a surprisingly well-drawn sketch of an anchor with a machine gun crossing it, flanked by big bold angel wings. He read what Brody had written below and smiled.

“Listen up, guys. What do you think of this?
Guardian Angel Protection Services—we cover your six when God’s too busy
.” Jon finished reading and looked up. “That’s really good, Brody.”

“I got the idea from your tattoo. Angel wings… guardian angel.”

Rick leaned closer and got a look at the sketch on the napkin. “Damn, Brody. Who knew you could draw like that?”

“I knew.” Chris tipped his chin toward the sketch. “But to come up with a kick ass name and a slogan too? That there is a surprise.”

Jon glanced at the men gathered around the table. “Should we take a vote?”

“Yeah. I don’t think we’re going to come up with anything better than that. I say yea.” Zane raised his hand. “All in favor of Guardian Angel?”

Chris and Rick raised their hands. When Grant and Thom didn’t, Jon asked, “Guys?”

“We can’t vote.” Grant shook his head. “We’re not part of the company.”

“Yet…” Jon reminded.

“Yet.” Grant smiled. “Still, we shouldn’t get a vote.”

“Nevertheless, I’d like your opinion.” Of course, Brody had come up with it so Jon didn’t need to ask his thoughts, but he was interested in Grant and Thom’s thoughts.

Grant reached for the napkin and took a closer look. “It’s good. It says it all.”

Thom grinned. “I think it’s fucking awesome.”

“Okay. I’m a yea also, so that means the vote’s unanimous.” He glanced around the group. “That’s it then. We’ve got our name. I propose a toast. To Guardian Angel Protection Services.”

Beers raised, the group echoed Jon.

Rick grinned, adding, “To G.A.P.S. We cover the gaps in your security.”

Jon smiled and wrote that on the napkin.

One hurdle down. Countless more to go. Jon turned toward Zane. “You think we can really convince your father to invest?”

“Sure. You’ve got a logo and a slogan. You’ve got the personnel and a plan. And you’ve got me.” Zane flashed his pearly whites in a wide smile.

“That we do.” Jon’s heart sped as he realized he was going to do this. They were going to do it together.

The blood pumped through his veins as strong as it ever had before a mission, just at the thought of this endeavor, the huge step he was about to take that would change his future.

There was someone else he wanted to make sure was a part of his future, besides his buddies and new business partners. Jon pushed the chair back from the table and stood as he suddenly couldn’t wait to get back to her. “Well, guys, if you’ll excuse me I have someplace I need to be.”