Page 25 of Seduced by a SEAL

Chapter 8

Colton sank down into a seat on the C-17 cargo plane, dropping his duffle bag beside him. In his combat boots and fatigues, fueled by caffeine and power bars, he felt ready to take on the whole damn world. To track down the infamous drug lord and find the kingpin’s daughter.

Wherever the hell they’d taken her.

Virginia Beach and Little Creek were far in the distance, thousands of feet down below them. The plane banked slightly to the right, the roar of the engines loud enough to briefly distract him from the thoughts running through his head.

Hunter grabbed the seat across from him, his anchor and snake tattoos peeking out beneath his white tee shirt as he moved. He tossed his camo shirt onto the empty seat in front of him, stretching out his legs.

“One nonstop flight to Bogota, coming up.”

Colton smirked. “Not exactly a vacation.”

“Ain’t that the truth. Did you read that background briefing from the CO? About why cocaine production is up? The Colombian government reduced eradiation of the crop fields to have less fighting with the cartels. Less fighting but more drugs. That shit is fucked up.”

Colton raised his eyebrows. “Guess it backfired. They’re still fighting—just against each other instead of against the government.”

“Hell, maybe that’s what they wanted. Doesn’t exactly bode well for the U.S. with the insane amounts of cocaine being smuggled in.”

“Even if we nab Rodriguez, what the hell good does it do? Some other guy will just take over and run the operation.”

“It sounds like they’re hoping for answers. Bring him in, bring them all down.”

“Yeah. Not sure that’s exactly how it’ll play out. And that sure as shit doesn’t help all the innocent women they’ve taken.”

“You’re fucked,” Hunter said, shooting Colton a knowing look.

“That’s helpful,” Colton muttered, grabbing his noise-cancelling headphones from his gear. Maybe Hunter would take the hint. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to listen to the rest of the team banter. Between rushing to base for their early briefing, heading back home to grab his gear, and hauling ass back to deploy?

He’d barely had time to think, let alone consider all the repercussions of what was happening.

To be so damn close to Camila and unable to help her?

Not tasked to find her?

That shit was eating him alive.

The noise of the plane was a good distraction, but if it meant he’d have to listen to his teammates, he was more than willing to pull on his headphones, close his eyes, and deal with his innermost thoughts.

“We’ll find her,” Hunter assured him.

Colton stuffed his headphones back into his bag. “Don’t see how,” he said. “Those women that are kidnapped are shipped off all over the damn world. There’s no telling where Camila is—she could be on the other side of the planet by now. All those surveillance devices I planted on her things in Miami don’t help a damn now that she’s missing. They left everything of hers behind in the café.”

Hunter scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Hell. You think they’d send off Miguel Rodriguez’s only daughter? Sell her to the highest bidder?”

“How the hell should I know?” Colton asked.

“They’ve got plenty of women for that sort of seedy thing. An entire drug running operation built around it. This was an inside job, and they have him at their fucking mercy. Even a cold-hearted bastard like Miguel isn’t about to let his daughter disappear into some sex-trafficking ring. And he sure as shit won’t let her kidnappers hold her forever. Hell, even if he couldn’t care less about her, it’s about saving face. Keeping his image.”

“Say he does go after her. What then? Our op is tracking down Miguel—taking him out if necessary. We find him and we’re done.”

“He’s out there looking for his daughter. We’ll kill two birds with one stone.”

Colton muttered a curse. “And what about all the other women there? You think we can just grab Camila if we find her and stroll on out? Leave them in harm’s way?”

Ryker moved down the aisle of the cargo plane, his large frame sinking down into a seat by Colton and Hunter. “You know where I stand on this,” he said in a low voice, leaning forward with determination written across his face as he eyed them. “You know where the entire team stands—we’re not leaving innocent women in the hands of those assholes. If we find them, they’re coming with us.”

“Shit,” Hunter muttered. “Not sure how we’re supposed to move out a ton of women. Our team’s rolling in on two Humvees. Not that I’d leave them there either.”

---