Dangerous Rescue - Linzi Baxter Page 0,6

were together.

Hannah trotted next to Hudson as he walked up to the cottage-style home. His hand hadn't even hit the door when it swung open. Sidney dropped to her knees and threw her arms around Hannah. Four more dogs ran circles around them. “Thank you for bringing her back. She escaped through the back fence, and I was about to come looking.”

Hannah liked to dig holes in the backyard between Hudson’s property and Sidney’s. He loved all of their dogs. If he wasn’t gone so often, he would have adopted a dog from the shelter too.

“Hannah is always welcome at my house. Kaiden loves her as much as I do. Is Gumby home?”

She stood and smiled and pulled the door open more. “He's out back on the deck.”

“I'm going to chat with him real quick,” he said, walking through the door to the back patio. Hudson never got sick of the backyard view of the ocean. He had the same one at his house.

“Hey, man.” Gumby smiled at him and tossed him a beer.

Hudson sat on the chair across from Gumby and cracked open his beer.

“Bad assignment?” Gumby asked before taking a sip.

“A mission would be easier,” Hudson grumbled.

“The glum look is about a woman?”

Hudson never talked about his personal life. Most knew he was raising his nephew, though nobody ever asked about his sister, and he never told anyone. He was close to his team, but his personal life never came up. Hudson had known Gumby longer than the men in his unit. He and Gumby had gone through BUD/S together. A couple years after he moved into his sister’s house to raise Kaiden the house next door came up for sale. Back then, it was a small run-down cottage. The place looked way better than it had when he’d bought it, and he remodeled it with the help of Sidney.

“Before I moved out here, I dated this woman. It was a whirlwind relationship. We weren't even together for longer than six months, and I wanted to propose on our second date. Hell, I even bought her a ring.”

Gumby nodded. “Then why didn't she move with you?”

“Two days before I planned to propose, one of my sister's clients ran her and my brother-in-law off the road, and they died. I realized how brief and unpredictable life truly is. They died because she lost a case for the mob. Made me stop and think about how what I did for a living put the people I love in danger. I didn't want to put Siena in danger. We constantly take down the assholes of the world and dismantle their operations. What stops them from coming after the people we love?”

Gumby frowned. “Please tell me you at least talked to her before leaving. Even if I don't agree with what you're saying. Look at Sid, she put herself in danger without me. Evil is all around us.”

“I couldn't face her. And I’d just lost my sister. The day I got the call, I flew to California. While on bereavement, I put in for a transfer. Everything happened so fast. The Navy approved my transfer in record time. I received the call from Commander North while I was here. I never went back to Virginia. Called and had my stuff moved. My only priority at the time was Kaiden and making sure he had the best life I could give him.”

“What changed?”

Hudson pinched the bridge of his nose. “I ran into her tonight at Kaiden's parent-teacher conferences. All the feelings came rushing back.”

Gumby let out a chuckle. “She didn't kill you?”

Hudson rolled his eyes then took a sip of beer. “She didn't seem particularly excited to see me. All she wanted to do was talk about Kaiden. But I got her to let me take her out Saturday night.”

“So, what's the problem?”

“I think she's in trouble. It's taking everything in me not to drive to her house and make her come stay with me.”

Gumby said nothing for a few seconds. “If she’s in real danger, have you called Cy?”

“I plan to talk to him at PE tomorrow.”

Gumby pulled out his phone, pressed a button, and put the phone on speaker.

“Gumby,” Cy said, his voice booming through the phone.

“I have Casper with me. He needs your help.” Gumby used his call sign Casper instead of my name, a clear indication to Cy that it was serious.

“Maybe,” Hudson said. “Tonight at Kaiden's parent-teacher conference, one of his teachers was accosted. Before I could get