Chapter 42

Sharp wiped his hand over his face. Exhaustion was a close companion, but he couldn't embrace it. They still had a few important things that had to be accomplished.

Once they were done on the ship, they'd landed in Colombia and had been tasked with tracking down a cartel leader who'd decided to abduct a group of school children on a mission trip to Colombia.

Whoever organized this trip hadn't done enough to keep the kids safe. He hated that some kids had ended up being held by a drug lord, but he considered the guy who headed this trip to be at fault.

He hated placing blame. It wasn't his job, but there were glaring inconsistencies that the leader of this group had said the kids would do versus the set up the kids were forced into.

They'd been briefed that the parents had believed the children would be sleeping in a guarded compound with plenty of security measures. There hadn't been any security measures, and the location the parents had been told their children would be staying at wasn't where they'd lived during the first few days.

Sharp and his team had tracked the kidnappers and kids into a sparsely inhabited area. Now, they were closing in. Hopefully, they would have the kids rescued in a day or two.

"We're stopping for a few," Griz said over coms.

Sharp paused next to Jay, shaking his head. "They made these kids walk this whole way."

Jay lifted his chin. "At least we haven't found any bodies, so hopefully, they're all still alive."

Squat came close. "If they killed any of the kids, it won't go well for them."

Apple popped open an MRE and took a bite. "I can't believe that the kids were staying in tents outside that church. It's no wonder something happened."

"Yeah, it was unsafe for sure." Sharp decided to eat a little while they had the chance. The moon was dark, so they were planning on heading in tonight as long as the weather held.

Griz finished his conversation with command and moved closer. "We'll resume in two hours. Get some rest."

Shine dropped his pack and sat against it. "Wake me before we leave."

They all needed rest, not that they'd actually get sleep, but sitting down for a few hours would give his body a break. He'd tried to keep his thoughts of Danika to a minimum. He hoped she was still safe. It sucked being cut off like this. He needed to find someone to keep an eye on her while he was away on missions. That was a risky move. There were a few guys who wouldn't take advantage of the situation, but he'd heard more than once of guys moving on women when other men weren't around.

The thought of Thario popped into his mind, but there was a reason he'd earned the nickname. Sure, things had changed since he'd been injured, but had they changed that much? He knew Thario wouldn't force a woman to do something she said no to, but he was an impossible flirt and wouldn't turn down an opportunity to convince a woman to sleep with him if given the chance.

Of course, now his life was different. He'd lost so much, but were the losses he'd suffered a deterrent, or would that make him double down on flirting? He needed to spend more time with Thario and figure out exactly who he was now that his life had been turned upside down.

Way too soon, Griz alerted them it was time to get up and move. They would get this finished tonight, and hopefully would be on their way home in the next few days. He wanted to see Danika and hold her.

Danika had been his world when he'd been younger. Back then, he hadn't known what that meant. Now that they were together again, she was his world once more. But this time, he knew how precious having someone in his corner was. Every day, he wanted to show her that she was special to him. Once home, he needed to really sit down and find out if they were on the same page. Sure, she loved him. He just hoped she wanted to stay with him.