Page 64 of Rusty's Command

Dave groaned like he had a massive bellyache.

“Come on, Chief.” Ethan clapped Dave’s shoulder. “Only the crooked bastards died. Your son saved lives today.” He gestured toward the victims being treated by the paramedics.

Rusty squeezed Sienna’s hand. “Sienna did, too.”

“And Soda,” she added, her smile hitting him like sunlight through storm clouds. Then she scrunched her nose. “I just hope the rest of those monsters rot in prison.”

“The rest?” Dave’s head snapped up.

“Yes. The creeps who were bidding for those poor women.” Her words caught in her throat.

“Hopefully.” Dave groaned. “But so far, nearly every time we try to catch perps like that, they vanish without a trace.” Dave’s jaw tightened.

“But even ghosts leave digital footprints.” Bellamy uncrossed his arms. “Charlie Team will help.”

Dave squinted at Bellamy, then he said, “Listen, Sienna. Our best cyber team will be on this. We’ll nail these bastards to the wall.” Dave’s voice carried the weight of iron.

Sienna straightened and nodded. “Well, tell your cyber team the livestream bounced through proxy servers in Singapore, Romania, and the UAE. They got sloppy, though, and used outdated SSL encryption that left timestamp artifacts in the metadata. I wrote a script to track the bounce patterns, then used those timestamps to triangulate the origin point and implanted a code that will access the buyers’ details.”

She shrugged like she hadn’t just cracked a case that might have taken Dave’s team weeks to unravel. “Your experts can use the same method to trace those bidders. And if they need help with my script . . . I want to help. Let me help.”

The men stared at her like she’d started speaking in tongues, all except Bellamy. As Charlie Team’s resident tech genius, his eyes had gone wide with understanding, then wider withadmiration. His fingers actually twitched like he was itching to get his hands on that script.

Dave’s jaw slackened, and the respect that flooded his features made Rusty’s chest swell with pride.

“Something tells me they’ll be calling you.” He gave her a nod. “Thank you for the offer. It’s high time we nailed these sons of bitches.”

“I mean it,” she said. “Especially Howard Whitney Williams.” The name seemed to crash off her tongue. “That creep was bidding even though his daughter was one of the victims.” She jerked her chin toward the women. “She’s over there. Poor girl will be traumatized forever.”

“What the fuck?” Bellamy staggered back.

“You mean Doctor Williams, the televangelist?” Ethan’s face twisted with disgust. “The one always screaming about family values and eternal damnation?”

“That’s him.” Sienna scowled. “Creep.”

“Son of a bitch.” Dave checked his watch, and his expression darkened. “His wife told me they were heading back to Oregon today. He’ll be making for the airport now.”

“Not if we get there first.” Bellamy’s growl promised retribution. “Let’s go.” Bellamy led the Charlie Team charge for the door with their K9s matching their stride.

At the edge of the stage, Ethan pivoted back to Rusty. “You coming?”

Rusty’s gaze swung between Sienna and his teammates.

“Go.” Sienna squeezed his hand. “Take that bastard down. For Grace.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay, but only if you promise to get those checked.” His fingers ghosted near the angry marks blooming on her throat, not quite touching.

“I will.” She offered a gentle smile.

“And tell them you were knocked unconscious.”

She frowned like she’d forgotten all about falling into the lava tube, and when her hand drifted to the back of her head, she winced.

“Okay? Promise me you’ll get checked,” he said.

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