Page 38 of The Dragon's Dream Mate (Savage Shifters Special Ops 3)

There were only kids. It looked as though the oldest one was about fifteen.

“My name is Agent Rainey Baylock. I’m with the FBI. Are you guys okay?”

They all nodded, but no one said anything.

“You hear all those noises going on? Those are my friends taking care of the people who brought you here.”

They simply stared at me, their eyes wide.

“I need you to stay in here for a minute longer. I’m going to stand at the door to make sure that no one comes near this area who can hurt you. Okay?”

Again, there were a lot of blank stares followed by several nods.

My heart broke for these babies. Some of them looked like they were in shock. I bet some of them had been in this freighter for a long time.

I stood with my back against the doorway for several minutes. There were fewer noises, and finally, it seemed to be completely quiet up above.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard Gage’s voice say, “All clear, Rainey.”

“Ten-four. I got two down here handcuffed to a pipe,” I yelled up.

“We’ll leave those for the rest of the feds,” he said. I could hear the amusement in his voice.

I motioned to the oldest girl. “What is your name, honey?”

“Brenda,” she said softly.

“I’m Rainey. I need your help. Can you get everyone in pairs, matching young ones with older ones? I want to keep my eyes out in case some jerks are hiding in the dark.”

She nodded and quickly did as I asked.

I stood to the side and motioned the kids to go toward the stairs. I kept pace with them, making sure there weren't any boogeymen who were going to jump out at the last minute.

They scrambled as fast as they could to the deck. I wondered how long it had been since they had breathed fresh air.

Gage, Jared, Damian, and Lucian were up top ready to help the kids down the gangplank to the dock.

I looked off to the side and smirked to see about twenty men bobbing in the seawater.

“Shark bait?” I asked the men.

The kids thought that was very funny.

I saw my boxes of candy tossed to one side. They seemed intact, so I grabbed them. I bet I had some young people who would love to have some.

Apparently, our activities had caught the attention of several people who had been on the docks, and they had gathered around to find out what was going on. They had also called law enforcement.

Agent Mendenhall and Agent Sanders were standing there.

“Somehow, I knew you guys would do something like this. We were waiting in the wings,” Agent Mendenhall said.

I think I really like her. I might have to see if we can be friends when this is all done.

The people standing around quickly understood what was going on, and several of them wanted to go into the water and drown the criminals. It turned out that the FBI and NYPD had to protect the bad guys.

“Wait. They might have more information about some of the bigger guys who head these kinds of operations. We might be able to rescue even more kids,” Agent Sanders yelled.

I heard a lot of grunting and groaning, suggesting that our team wasn’t altogether pleased, but they understood what was being said.

---