Her Adoring SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 3) (16 page)

“Equals who care and support one another.  But Beth, sometimes I do need to be bullied.” 

Beth gave a soggy laugh.

“Yeah, you do.  But from now on it’s Clint’s job.”  Beth sniffed and wiped her eyes.  “Let me see the ring again.”

****

B
eth waited for Jack out on the stoop of the duplex.  She’d seen Lou and Mike across the street earlier.  They’d waved to her, and she gave them a half-hearted wave back. 

“Beth, why are you out here?” Jack asked as he made his way up the stairs.  “Have you been crying?” 

“Yeah.  I’m over it.”  He sat down beside her.

“Is Lydia still inside?”

“Yeah.  I saw you pulling up.”  She gave a big sigh.  “So was your meeting to talk to Clint?”

“Yeah.”  He put her arm around her shoulders and coaxed her head against him.  “It’s a pretty fucked up situation,” he said. 

She snorted. 

“I got that.  I think what burns me the most is I missed the engagement party.”

“What engagement party?”

“Clint proposed to Lydia, he threw a surprise engagement party.  We missed it.  I know they were thinking they would have captured Berto, but it still makes me mad.”

“Join me on the angry train.”  He kissed the top of her head.  “He’s an asshole for having the party without you, but there was a good reason why he’s kept you away.  He’s coming over here right now with the rest of the team to fill us in.”

“At least Lydia didn’t know about it, so
she
didn’t exclude me.”

“That’s good. Let’s get back inside.  I see Mason and Clint parking right now.”  She saw the two men getting out of Clint’s truck.  Jack held out his hand to her.  She took it, and he guided her inside.

––––––––

B
eth sat close to Jack on the couch.  Lydia and Clint were seated on the loveseat across from them, and Mason stood near the front door as they waited for members of the team to arrive.

“I’m really sorry about keeping the two of you in the dark.  It was a mistake on my part.”

She looked at Jack, and saw him give Mason a nod.  It looked like maybe things would work out.  She hoped so.  No matter what, she would always remember how Mason and his team had saved her and her family.

“Mason, Aiden will be here in fifteen minutes,” Jack reported after looking at his phone.

“I think he is going to be a good addition to this project.”  She felt Jack relax even more.

There was a knock on the door, and Mason opened it.  It was Finn Crandall.  He’d been on the protection detail with her parents, and she hadn’t seen him in months.  She knew he’d come close to losing his life when her parents were almost killed. 

He came and squatted in front of her.  “Beth, it’s good to see you.”

“You too.  Thank you for being such a good friend to Mama.  She told me how you brought her romance books.”

Mason laughed.

“How are you?”

“Fine.”

“How are you really?”

“Stressed and concerned.”

“Fair enough.”  He stood up and grabbed a couple of chairs from the dining room and positioned them around the living room before sitting in one.  Next came Darius, he too came up to Beth.

“You’re looking even better now.  I’d say Las Vegas agreed with you more than even Texas.” He smiled.  She couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Hang in there, kid.  We’re going to get this bastard.”  Jack tensed beside her and she looked at him.

“It’s nothing, sweetheart.”  She kissed his jaw.  Beth watched as Darius went to sit beside Finn.  There was a knock on the door and Mason let in a man she didn’t recognize. 

“Jack!”

“Aiden!”

Jack gave her a squeeze, crossed the room, and shook hands with the man.  He was older than any of the other men.  He looked angry when he turned to Mason.

“So what kind of happy horseshit has been going on here, Lieutenant?”

“Senior Chief, if you’re going to be an insubordinate asshole you can leave.  If you’re going to be a support to your friend, you can stay.”

The door opened, and Drake walked in.

“Who’s the insubordinate asshole, Mase?  I thought it was my role.”

“Not now, Drake,” Mason said in a no nonsense tone.

“I’ve talked to one of the most outstanding men I’ve ever had the pleasure to serve with twice today.  He’s told me you have been dicking around on the security detail of his assignment.  I don’t know which woman this is, I’m assuming it’s this girl here.” He pointed at Beth. 

“Aiden, I really need you to tone it down,” Jack asked.

The man looked around the room.  It was clear he was used to giving orders, not taking them.  He considered what both men said. 

“Okay, fill me in.”

“First things first.”  Mason came over and sat on the other side of her.  “Beth, I hope you will accept my sincere apology.”

“I can’t.  First I have to know the whole thing.  Lydia’s told me a lot, but I’m betting there’s more.”  He nodded.

“Guzman has been captured, but Berto is still out there.  He’s running a human trafficking ring.  We thought we could capture him before your father testified.  We didn’t want to tell you he was out there.  Beth, I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“He still wants me,” she said softly.  “It’s okay.  I guessed.”  Mason looked at her questioningly.  Jack cupped her cheek and turned her head so she was looking at him.

“How did you guess, sweetheart?”

“At the cabin, one of the men said I had to be kept alive for the boss.  I knew in my heart it was Berto.  I knew he’d never forgotten me.”

“That fucker!” Lydia shouted.

“It’s okay, Lydia,” Beth tried to soothe her sister.

“It’s not.”

“I don’t understand,” Drake said.

“You explain it, Lydia, I can’t.”  Beth clutched Jack’s hand.

Clint stroked his hand down Lydia’s back as she stood up and made her way to the middle of the room.  She looked around at all of the men and then her eyes finally rested on her baby sister.  Beth nodded.

“Aiden, you’re coming in cold to this operation, so I’m going to talk to you,” Lydia said.  “Berto, is Alfonso Guzman’s son.  He started a human trafficking ring a year ago.  We found out he’s been choosing women from these groups who look like my sister and taking them for his own.  They’re never heard from again.  We didn’t know if Berto had ever met my sister, but she told me recently he molested her when she was sixteen.”

“What the fuck?!”  Drake turned to Beth.  “The little fucking animal laid hands on you when you were a baby?”

Beth started at Drake’s sharp words and leaned closer into Jack’s warmth.

“Ah shit, Beth.  I didn’t mean to scare you, kid.  But the motherfucker touched you?”  This time he said it softly and sadly.  She nodded.

“He’s got to die.”

“You called it.  And I’m pulling the trigger, are we clear?” Jack’s voice rumbled beneath her.

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Drake agreed.

“Gentlemen, before we call dibs on who gets to take him out, we need to figure out how to find the bastard.  Remember there are at least thirty people working this case.  There is no guarantee we’re going to be the ones who take him down,” Mason pointed out.

“Oh, it’s going to be us,” Jack’s tone would have scared her, if his arms weren’t holding her so gently.  “So, what exactly do we know?  What’s being done?” Jack asked.

“Most of the people being sold are women.”

“You mean they all aren’t?” Beth asked as she watched Lydia sit down next to Clint and rest her head against his shoulder.  Clint brushed a kiss on her hair.

“No, some are being used for migrant crop work, but the vast majority are women,” Mason said.  “They’re coming through the Mexico City Valley.  That’s where we found them when we took down Guzman.” 

“Were they on their way to the United States?” Aiden asked.

“That’s what DHS thinks, and it’s why they’re all over this operation when the DEA reported it,” Mason responded.

“Likely they were headed to Laredo, then all points north,” Aiden said.

“That’s what they surmised,” Mason concurred.

“I know what the DEA is.  What is the DHS?” Beth asked.

“Department of Homeland Security.  They take this really seriously, sweetheart.”  Jack explained to her. 

“Mason, how many people do you think Berto has kidnapped?” she asked.

“We really don’t know.  We know he’s been in operation for at least a year.”  She pressed her hand over her stomach.

“Where does he get these people?  Are they from Mexico?  How do they transport them?”  Mason got up from the couch walked past Aiden, who was now seated in one of the dining room chairs, and stood next to Drake.

“Beth, it isn’t pretty,” he finally answered.

“Just tell me, Mason.  It can’t be any worse than what they did to Lydia in the shack.”

He nodded.

“The people they are getting from outside of Mexico, they’re transporting in shipping containers on cargo ships.”  Beth was thankful she hadn’t had any food.

“Where are they coming from?  How long is the trip?”

“Sometimes from Asia. Sometimes from South America.  We’re not quite sure how long they’re locked up in the containers.  It depends on the shipping route.”

“Beth, Clint, and I have been working with our contacts, and doing some of our own searches.  We have some leads DHS doesn’t,” Lydia said pointing to the desk in the corner that housed at least four computers and monitors.

“Have you been working with Rylie?  Has Rylie shown up again and you haven’t told me?” Darius barked out the question. Lydia didn’t seem surprised.

“Yes, I actually got a transmission from her.  Even though Alfonso and his gang of drug runners has been put out of business, Berto seems to be using the same tactics to keep people in line.”

“Oh God, not the same kind of torture.  And Rylie has actually watched some of that shit?” Darius sounded appalled. “I thought you were going to tell me when she contacted you.”

“Back off, Dare.  We just heard from her yesterday,” Clint said.  “We’re telling you now.”  Clint pulled Lydia back down beside him.

“Were you able to track her down further than the boonies of Oklahoma this time?” Darius demanded.

“Not yet, we’re still working on it,” Lydia said.

“Who is Rylie?  Can she really help us?” Beth asked.

“She’s a woman with more daring than sense,” Darius bit out.  “She’s almost your age, Beth.  She faked her own death when she as seventeen, and she’s been off the grid ever since.  Now she dabbles in some of the scariest shit imaginable.”

“I don’t understand.”

“She’s a hacker,” Lydia explained.  “She gets a lot of information.  I think she’s used her skills to get money for some of the kids she used to be in foster care with.  We have evidence she arranged for donations to a home for abused and neglected children.”

“So she’s robbing people,” Beth said.

“No, she’s not a thief.  Not exactly,” Darius defended.  “Explain it to her Lydia.”

“When I did some digging, I found out she was funneling funds from people like Guzman.”

“Which is horrifying.  Can you imagine what would happen if she got caught.  Someone needs to rein her in.”  Darius looked like he might burst a blood vessel.

“Let’s get back on track.  What did the transmission tell you?” Jack asked.

“It was one of the normal ones, if you can call this kind of thing normal,” Clint grimaced.  “One of Berto’s former men was getting cut as a warning to others.  He had apparently abused some of the merchandise.”

Beth had an idea of what the terms ‘cut’, ‘abused’, and ‘merchandise’ meant, and once again she was feeling ill.  This time when Jack tried to pull her closer she didn’t let him.  Her body was too rigid, and she couldn’t be soothed.

“The good news is we got some close-ups of the victim’s gang tattoos, and he is out of Veracruz.  We’d been thinking they would be operating out of the Port of Lazardo Cardenas because of the Asia connection, but it looks like they’re using the Gulf of Mexico instead.”

“That is good news,” Aiden said.

“I agree with O’Malley.  Great work, Clint.  You too, Lydia,” Mason complimented.  “The question is, do we tell DHS and DEA?  Right now they’re focused on Cardenas.”

“Hell Mason, it could be the Pacific side as easily as the Atlantic.  We’re not sure this information is a good lead,” Clint said as he rubbed Lydia’s shoulder.  “We just don’t know.  We need more intel.”

“Yeah but, Clint, which one do you think it is?  What does your gut tell you?”

“Veracruz.  Lydia and I are working all of our contacts.”

“Not all of them,” Aiden said.  “All of my mother’s people are from the Yucatan Peninsula.  I can’t tell you how much time I’ve spent down there, I’m practically a native.”  Beth really looked at the man and realized despite his Anglo name, and light eyes, he looked a huge Mayan warrior.

“Veracruz isn’t on the Yucatan Peninsula,” Drake protested.

“It’s close enough.  If I go down there, especially if I have family with me, I’ll get answers about Berto’s new business.”

“Then we have a plan,” Mason said with satisfaction.

“Good, because I ordered pizza.  It should be here any minute.  I’m starved.”  Beth stared at Drake.  The man was unbelievable.

****

“D
ammit Drake, you never order sides or wings.  What the fuck is your problem?” Finn groused.

Drake put the eight pizza boxes on the dining room table.

“I bought you your damn lunch, what more could you ask for?”

“I just told you—wings.”  The men gathered around the dining room table.  Beth couldn’t imagine eating a bite.  Lydia sat next to her on the couch.

“I can’t believe these guys.  I thought Aiden was going to punch Mason,” Lydia said.

“He seemed like a hot head.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Lydia said as she rolled her eyes.

“Beth, are we good?” 

Beth put her arm around her big sister.  “I’m still disappointed about the engagement party, but I intend to torture Clint about it for the next year.  It’s not your fault.”

Lydia smiled.  “I’m good with that.”

“There sure is a lot of testosterone in this room.”