Page 44 of SEAL's Secret

“No!” she cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Then tell me your address, and we’ll head there right now.”

Panicking, she thought fast. Layton couldn’t lead him to her own home. Her daughter and sister were there. Aside from that, she didn’t want this crazy guy to know where she lived. What if he came back before he was arrested? She’d live in fear forever.

“My address?” she asked, stalling.

“It is absolutely crucial that I get that data. You’ve ruined everything for me!” he yelled, growing more agitated. “I contacted you about seeing a property again months ago. All you had to do was show up! I’d have gotten what I needed and left. Now we have to do this the hard way!”

He shoved her away, raging, and Layton looked at him in horror. A vein bulged from the top of his forehead, the man’s entire face red. “Tell me the address.”

Quickly, she rattled off the address of the secluded home she’d recently shown another buyer. She’d even given Emersyn the address when Emersyn had run the guy’s name in her DEA databases, just to make sure he wasn’t part of a cartel. It was far, far away from here, but Layton needed to buy some time. She had no doubt this man would shoot her. Her sister was expecting her home soon, and Hudson would be arriving as well. They’d track her to this address. Find her broken cell phone.

And after that?

She hoped against hope she’d escape from Tony Harris before he got her to the secluded home. She’d jump out at a red light or something. Scream for help when they were on the road, waving frantically at other vehicles.

Tony approached from behind her, still yelling, when he suddenly thumped her on the back of her head with his gun. Layton blinked, her vision tunneling, and then her entire world went dark.

Chapter 26

Hudson paced the home where Layton held the open house, agitation roiling through him. Her purse was on the kitchen island. Her car still parked on the street. But the brochures she’d had for the property were scattered across the kitchen floor. Her phone was tossed into the dining room, along with a shattered vase.

There’d been a struggle.

There was no blood, which gave him some shred of hope, but something had happened. Someone had taken her. They’d searched the entire home, and there wasn’t a sign of her. No sign of anyone. Layton was simply gone.

“How could this home not have security cameras?” Aaron asked in frustration, pacing the kitchen. He was scanning the room, as if to make sure they hadn’t somehow missed one. But no. The place had virtually no security at all, save for the lock on the front door—which had been left wide open.

Hudson swore. He’d wondered the same damn thing. When they found Layton—and he swore that they would—he was going to insist she have security at her future showings. Cameras. Surveillance. Her own personal bodyguard if needed. He’d been worried about her being vulnerable and alone, and his hunch had been right.

Someone had taken her.

Anguish filled his head, and he thought of some of the times he’d needed to protect someone smaller and weaker than him. He recalled a particularly nasty drunk of a foster father that would try to fight Hudson and the other boys and then get handsy withthe teenage girl living there. Hudson had heard her struggling one night and punched that bastard right in the face, getting him off of her. Hudson had been shuffled out of there by morning, labeled as combative and a troublemaker. His case worker had told him he was lucky he hadn’t been arrested.

And the girl? Hudson had no idea where she’d ended up.

Hudson would always defend the defenseless, stand up for the weak. Just because he’d grown into a big, muscular guy didn’t mean others had that same advantage. He was protective of those he cared about, which until recently, generally included his teammates.

Except now, the woman he loved was in danger. The woman carrying his baby. And yes, he absolutely loved Layton. It killed him that he’d never said it, that he’d never told her. Layton might never know how deep his feelings for her ran. He hated even thinking about what was happening to her right now. Was she being assaulted? Raped? And what about the baby?

His stomach churned.

A car door slammed, and as Hudson looked outside, he saw both Wyatt and Austin rushing to the front door. Aaron must’ve called in the team. Hudson had been too upset to do much more than dial 911. Sirens wailed in the distance, and he knew in moments, the HPD would be here. They’d have to dust the entire place for fingerprints. Interview neighbors. Ask for witnesses. All Hudson could do was watch in horror as the beginning of an investigation started to search for the woman he loved.

“We should go to her office,” Aaron said, shooting him a look. “Maybe someone there knows something.”

He nodded, feeling numb.

“Even if they’re not involved, maybe they’d have an idea of someone who might be.”

“Shit. I hadn’t even considered one of her colleagues could be responsible.”

“We don’t know what we don’t know. I’d say anyone and everyone is a suspect until we determine otherwise. Colleagues. Prospective clients. Or it could damn well be just a stranger off the street. A crime of opportunity.”

Hudson clenched his fists. Layton wasn’t going to be a statistic. They’d find her come hell or high water. “You update Emersyn yet?” Hudson asked. She’d just gone through her own ordeal and would no doubt be beside herself with her sister now missing.

Footsteps thudded in the foyer as Wyatt and Austin made haste, rushing inside. “SITREP!” Wyatt said, already in full commando mode. They might not be on an official op, but this felt like the most important mission of Hudson’s life. There was no reason for Layton to simply vanish. None. He knew something horrible had happened, and it killed him that he’d been jogging on the beach with his SEAL team while she needed him.

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