Page 22 of Seduced by a SEAL

“So, we’re still able to track Camila?” Colton asked, something like hope springing forth in his chest. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, giving him purpose. Strength.

“Negative. She left everything in the café—purse, phone, belongings. Even if we wanted to flush out her father that way, we couldn’t. It doesn’t matter either way. Our operation isn’t about recusing the woman—any of the women. We’re taking down the kingpin.”

Colton sat stiffly in his seat as the admiral continued the rest of the secure call, providing some details of the operation and other government agencies involved. And then just as quickly he dismissed them, turning off the feed to move on to other matters of national security with his team assembled at the Pentagon.

Some of the men began murmuring around him, and Colton’s eyes landed on the CO.

“Is this personal?” his CO finally asked, eyeing him as static once again filled the screen behind him.

“Personal? No. Yes. Of course it’s fucking personal,” Colton spat out. “I spent the night with her at my hotel. In my hotel room.”

Ryker snickered, and Colton shot him a look that could kill.

“She was in my bed all goddamn night. And I went through her belongings—every last thing. She’s clean. No trace of anything her father is involved in. You saw the emails we pulled. There’s nothing that connects her to any of his operations.”

“Then we move in and get her, too,” Noah said. “Plus all those other innocent women who’ve been kidnapped.”

“Not part of the op,” their CO interjected. “If we find them along the way, we rescue them. Turn them over to the Colombian military. But we’re not chasing after every damn woman they’ve nabbed. That would take weeks, months—hell, even years. Our mission is going in after one man.”

Colton clenched his fists, resisting the urge to pound the table. To break something. To shout out in anger.

Hell.

He barely even knew the woman but knew he’d do anything in his power to rescue her. Protect her. Hell, he’d do everything. It wasn’t even a question.

Ryker eyed him coolly from across the table, and Colton could practically see the wheels turning in his head. None of the team would abandon their mission, but when push came to shove, not one of the men was willing to leave a woman to be sold off as a sex slave.

And it wasn’t just one woman.

There were hundreds who’d gone missing. The DOD didn’t even know half of it.

“Get home and finish packing your gear,” the CO said, glancing down at his phone. “We just got another SITREP. Attempts are being made to run Rodriguez out of his mansion in Bogota. If he’s hiding out, it will be harder to find him. We go wheels up at 0700. Less than two hours from now. Dismissed.”

The men were on their feet in an instant, moving toward the door of the bullpen. And this was why Colton had never been in a serious relationship. Deploying on less than a couple of hours’ notice didn’t sit well with most women. Not when he couldn’t tell them where he’d be going. How long he’d be gone.

Not when he’d up and leave at a moment’s notice.

He walked out of base, the other men talking around him. Colton’s gear had been packed and ready for imminent deployment. He’d grab a shower, gear up, and be back on base in less than an hour. Going to Colombia and leaving without Camila was not a goddamn option though.

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