Page 22 of Protecting Gina

The last thing he wanted was her being put in the line of fire. His sister had heart, but she had no training. “We’re not doing anything. Like I said, Caroline and Fiona will stay with you. Once Wolf and Cookie get here, we’ll figure out the best course of action.”

“But you know where she is, right?”

“We have possible locations. We’ll need to figure out exactly which location they took her to. If we go in and it’s not the place where she is, they might move her. We have to be certain we know where she is before we make a move.”

Cass was quiet for a moment before she asked her next question, which hit him almost too hard.

“Do you think she’ll be sold to some human trafficker?”

When he first joined the Navy, trafficking was a thing, but few people outside of the military or law enforcement knew anything about it. That his eighteen-year-old sister knew people got sold into what amounted to slavery was terrible.

And it wasn’t only women who were sold into sexual services. There were people who were forced to work in horrible conditions. Many of those people died or were left with severe injuries in a country they had never been to before. If they ever escaped, they weren’t in any condition to find their way home.

“I don’t know. She told me she doesn’t have what he wants. He may just get angry and do something awful.”

He glanced over and saw Cass swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. His heart squeezed, hoping his sister didn’t have to deal with more bad news so soon after their mother’s death.

One thing he learned as a SEAL was that people were unpredictable. They trained for anything because sometimes the people they were after did really dumb stuff. He hoped the guy who took Gina didn’t want her dead once he realized she really didn’t have what he wanted.

As he pulled onto the street where his mother’s house was, he saw the car parked out front. When he turned into the driveway, the doors opened, and two men got out, followed by two women.

Relief filled him as he recognized Wolf and Cookie. Caroline and Fiona were good people, and they would help his sister cope with her emotions.

He stepped from the car and moved to Wolf and Cookie, giving them a handshake and a quick hug before turning to Caroline and Fiona and introducing everyone to Cass.

“Thank you for taking the time to come here and help.”

Wolf lifted his chin. “We were close and wanted to help once Tex told us what happened.”

“I’m not even sure who has her. It’s a guess at best.”

Wolf nodded. “We’ll figure it out.”

Caroline had her arm around Cass’s shoulder as they headed inside. He watched until the women were inside the house before turning to Wolf.

“I’m glad Fiona and Caroline are here for Cass. She’s been through a lot.”

“Sorry about your mother. I understand she had been sick for a while but didn’t tell anyone.”

“Yeah. Cass handled it well. I’m not sure I handled it as well as she did.”

“From what I’ve heard, you did okay,” Wolf said.

“Thank you. I’m worried about Cass and how she’ll deal with moving. I’d intended to ask Caroline for help, but I guess now they’ve met, and Caroline is the kind of person who will help out now that she knows Cass.”

Wolf’s lips tipped up. “She is that kind of woman. Now then, about Gina. Do you have any more information? Tex gave us a rundown of everything he knows.”

“Thario just got in contact with me. With everything Tex has found out and the stuff Thario sent over, I think we have a good handle on probable locations. I know this jerk could kill her, but I don’t think he will yet. He really believes Gina has something he wants.”

Cookie raised his eyebrows. “Does she?”

Wave shook his head. “I don’t think so. Her reaction was real. She hasn’t shown any signs that she’s lying about it.”

Cookie nodded. “So she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Yes. I don’t know who the woman was that she saved from this Pete guy.”

“Tex is working on it,” Wolf said.