Page 19 of Protecting Gina

Cass shrugged. “Because he never told us that.”

Wave blew out a breath. “I didn’t want Mom to know. Maybe it was immature, but I didn’t want anything else she could hold over my head.” Wave glanced at his watch. “Time to go. We need to head out if we want to get there early.”

“Okay, let’s go,” Cass said.

They made it to the park about ten minutes before it opened. It wasn’t a weekend or school holiday, so the lines weren’t too bad. The amusement park wasn’t one of the really popular vacation places, so the line to get in wasn’t long.

First, they headed to one of the big roller coasters. She rode with Cass, and Wave was by himself. When they got off the ride, there was lots of laughter as they headed to the next coaster, this one water-based.

Work had loads of stress. Taking care of people who were at the end of their lives could be depressing. This day out with Wave and Cass was the most fun she’d had in ages.

They’d been at the park for a few hours and stopped at a food cart to grab something that resembled lunch. She got a hot dog and chips while Wave ordered a burger and Cass grabbed a slice of pizza.

They were sitting at the back of the dining area near a service entrance and could hear vehicles making deliveries. She guessed they were close to the edge of the park.

Cass wrinkled her nose when the service door swung open, and two guys walked in, pushing carts filled with boxes. “I’ve never been to Disney World or Disneyland, but I wonder if they get deliveries like this in the middle of the day.”

“Living in San Diego, Disneyland isn’t too far away, so I’ve been there a few times. I don’t remember hearing delivery trucks while I was in the parks.”

“Parks? They have multiple parks?” Cass asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. Once you’re settled and I can take a few days off, we’ll go. It will be fun.”

Gina shook her head. “I’ve never been to either. I’m not big into theme parks. I know they have long lines, though.”

Wave nodded. “This place only has short lines today because it’s not a holiday and school is in session. It’s usually busy in the summer.”

“Yeah. I went a few summers ago, and it was packed. So many stinky, sweaty people. I saw one guy pee into the bushes because the line for the bathroom was so long, and that was the men’s bathroom. The line for the women’s restroom was awful.”

“Ew,” Gina said. “That’s disgusting.”

Wave swallowed his bite of burger. “It happens more often than not. There was a cruise I heard about from one of the guys I served with, and there were men peeing off the top decks. You don’t do that shit if there are open decks below you and there were balconies on that ship.”

Gina gasped. “Oh shit, that is disgusting.”

She grabbed a fry off Wave’s plate and popped it into her mouth. They were having a great time, and she wasn’t paying attention to anything else going on when someone came up behind her and grabbed her arm, yanking her up.

The assault was so fast, she stumbled and went down on one knee. Wave yelled at the guy dragging her, but there were more people there, and for some reason, he didn’t move forward to save her.

Then she saw the gun aimed at Wave and Cass. Of course, Wave didn’t have any weapons on him. They wouldn’t have allowed him through the gates with a gun strapped to his side. She glanced around, trying to see who was dragging her, but she didn’t get a good look before someone hit her on the side of her head.

The world tilted, and everything went dark for a moment before she regained consciousness. By then, she was being tossed into the back of a delivery truck.

She tried to get away, tried to get out of the jerk’s hold, but it was no use. The doors to the delivery truck closed, and they were moving. The guy holding onto her shoved her into a corner, sending sparks of pain through her body.

This had to be connected to Pete. The man or one of his goons must have seen her and decided to attack. She hoped no one had been injured. She hadn’t heard gunfire, but she’d been out of it for a while, and anything could have happened. She just hoped Cass and Wave were safe, because if anything happened to them because of her, she would never recover.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Wave had no way of going after Gina. He ran after the truck, but by the time he got to the road, the truck was long gone.

He made his way back to Cass, making sure she was okay. She seemed to be in shock, but she hadn’t been harmed. When the guy pulled the gun, people around them freaked out and took off running. The area where they were sitting was a mess. Tables had been flipped, and chairs turned over. Food littered the ground, and he could see blood where people had fallen and cut their legs and arms.

He pulled Cass into a hug, his gaze surveying the area. “Hey, hey, are you okay?”

She grunted but didn’t say anything. She had to be upset. It wasn’t normal to see someone abducted at gunpoint. The violence was a normal part of his life and didn’t faze him.

He squeezed her tighter, and she gasped. He leaned back, meeting her gaze.