Dangerous Rescue - Linzi Baxter Page 0,45
the SEAL team members who’d been on the raid and killing them. Hudson was the last living SEAL of the original team.
His stomach rolled as he thought about the brothers he’d left behind when he came to California. Siena wasn’t the only person he’d cut ties with. His team didn’t even know about the transfer. A few times, his old leader tried to reach out, and he hadn’t answered the call. Now he would never get to talk to them again because someone with a grudge had taken their lives, and Hudson hadn’t been around to help.
“I know your job is hard and dangerous, and I worry that you might not come back, but seeing this, I don’t know…it makes it even more real. When we were together before, you went on a few missions but never came back with any marks and all of your toes still intact.”
Hudson belted out a laugh. “All my toes are still intact, and my fingers.” He held up his hand and wiggled his fingers. “Not saying I don’t have a few more scars than the last time you saw me. Each mission we go on is dangerous. Even knowing the danger, I’d still do it because we saved three women, and they are next door. Two of them were Americans kidnapped at a young age and sold into the sex trade.”
She swallowed hard. “Are they going to go get to see their families?”
Hudson still wasn’t sure what the government wanted with the women. “In time, yes. But for now, Grim is guarding them until Xavier gets the answers he needs.”
“What will happen to the woman who’s not from America?”
“Depends on the information she gives us. If she knows enough about what her husband does, she could be an asset to the government. They’ll use her to dismantle her husband's operation, and that could lead to dismantling more.”
He watched as she took the food out of the containers and put it on plates. Even though they’d spent years apart, it was easy for them to sit and talk. She put the food out while he searched through her drawers and pulled out a fork and knife. Then he went to the fridge and found a bottle of wine and some water. Hudson worried about drinking. He hadn’t slept much in the past week or on the plane back from Yemen because he wanted answers, so he stayed up and listened to Lucas and Xavier figure out what the CIA wanted with the women.
Xavier had also made calls to assist his team in the field to find Rock and Buddy. Slug was on a one-way ticket to the black hole even though he’d given up information. Hudson was glad he didn’t have to help with the transport to the black hole. It was too damn cold, and the men taken there were the scum of the earth, but that didn’t mean he liked to see the interrogation tactics.
“It’s sad that her future depends on what she knows,” Siena said.
He looked down at the plate and shrugged. “Yara seemed to watch her surroundings. I have a feeling she’ll have information. The two American wives seemed more like eye candy and didn’t have a lot of information. Yara was strong during the processing, holding the women together, and when we were pinned down, she offered a way out.”
Siena narrowed her eyes. “Pinned down?”
“It’s just military jargon for lost for a second.”
“I might be blonde, and in a past life, I was a model. That doesn’t mean I’m dumb, Hudson. And I’ve watched enough TV to know pinned down is bad.”
“Does it matter? I’m here now, and I would really like to not talk about the shit I went through.”
She nodded and took a deep breath. “I worried about you while you were gone.”
He studied her face. Her eyes were bloodshot, and the makeup barely covered the dark circles under her eyes. “You’re not sleeping okay at my house?”
“It’s not your house. I’m afraid something will happen to Sidney or Gumby even though they both keep telling me to stop worrying. It's hard.”
“I can take some vacation, and we can pack up and head for the cabin.”
“Running isn’t an answer. You’ll have to come back, and I have work. So, thank you for the offer, but we need to take care of this all.”
“Can I ask you something without you getting mad or taking it the wrong way?” he asked, afraid she might throw the sandwich in his