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None of the four of us believed that.

Marshall had scary connections, and I was willing to bet that they weren’t all from his many years as a SEAL commander.

We all suspected that Marshall still worked for the government in some extremely secretive capacity. He was one of the best hackers in the world, and the government wouldn’t let those kinds of skills slip away from them. They would have snagged him to work as a contractor after he was medically discharged from the military.

Yeah, we did a lot of rescues for people with no other options, but I was certain that some of our jobs were done with government knowledge and assistance, even though they’d never admit it.

This particular job had to be government sanctioned. There was no way that Marshall would step on the government’s toes if they weren’t totally aware that we were going to rescue a US citizen from a Mexican cartel.

Not that it really mattered to us.

The four of us were dedicated to recovering innocent people who needed recovering, no matter what the situation.

Nate, Gage, Seth, and I had been taking people out of dangerous situations together for a very long time. We’d spent over a decade doing just that as active Delta Force operatives, and we were still doing it now as a volunteer Last Hope civilian team.

“I’ve never read her blog or heard her name before,” I confessed.

“You should read some of them,” Nate suggested. “You’ll be hooked.”

“I may have to do that,” I said noncommittally.

Nate grimaced. “I hope this isn’t the beginning of more missions to rescue American citizens near Rosarito. That hasn’t exactly been a hot spot for us in the past. I’d rather it stayed that way.”

“Me, too,” I replied. “If human trafficking is escalating in that area of Mexico, it could be trouble in the future.”

All of us hated human trafficking, and so many of our missions involved women who had been snatched for that damn purpose.

If the cartel near Rosarito was getting bold and capturing American women, that would be a nightmare. There was a sizeable American expat community there and plenty of people still crossed the border to vacation in that area even though there was a travel advisory in place.

Nate rose to his feet. “I’m going to get packed. Wyatt’s jet is on the way to Traverse City. We’ll be heading out soon. I’m guessing that you don’t want to discuss what has you distracted this morning, but I need to know that you’re good.”

I nodded. Of course he needed to know that I didn’t have my head up my ass. We had a job to do that needed my complete attention. It was my turn to lead our operation, and I needed my damn head on straight. “I’m all good,” I said honestly as I met his gaze. “There’s nothing to talk about. Maybe I just need a shot of caffeine.”

It was the truth.

My momentary distraction was nothing.

I didn’t want Nate to think that I wasn’t all in for this mission.

I was royally pissed about this kidnapping and I’d get Jenna Moran back, no matter what it took to accomplish that goal.

“Good to know. Later,” Nate said as he slapped me on the back before he walked out of the conference room.

I knew I needed to get my ass moving, too, but I took a moment to look down at the picture I’d been studying before Nate had demanded my attention.

Fuck! There was something about this woman that got to me, and that had never happened to me before with any of my previous rescues.

I needed to shut that shit down and focus on our objective.

The woman had already been a captive for ten days.

If not for her friend, Nina, who had reported Jenna missing, it might have been even longer before we’d learned about her kidnapping.

Fuck knew what kind of abuse she’d already suffered.

I flipped the file closed impatiently and got to my feet.

I didn’t need the damn file anymore. Every detail of her life and her photos were imprinted on my brain.