Page 66 of Beast

Yup—the scar on her shoulder. She’d shown me that also.

My heart beat rapidly in my chest, my jaw clenched.

I needed to see her face again, look into her eyes. That’s the only way I’d know for certain.

Why hadn’t anyone rescued her? She was an American for Christ’s sake!

But this wasn’t a fucking movie. There weren’t FBI and CIA agents on the ground in Aruba searching for kidnapped Americans, especially since there was no proof she had been abducted. Any sightings of her would first be passed to the local police, who were corrupt as fuck. Her parents could’ve hired one of the many private contractor groups filled with former SEALs who did this shit for a living.

She didn’t need a private contractor group—she now had me. I’d trained my entire adult life for missions like this one.

There was a three hundred thousand dollar reward for her safe return. But I didn’t want any money. Giving Annie her life back would be reward enough. If I saved her, I had to remain anonymous. Any hint of an active duty Navy SEAL going rogue would ruin my career on the Teams.

I glanced back at her pictures. Man, she’d been beautiful. Could’ve been my high school sweetheart. She was half Latina, looked almost like a young Wonder Woman. Her black hair had been shiny; her hazel eyes had been bright. A soccer star, a prom queen, a little girl in pigtails. And I had treated her like she was a piece of trash.

Fucking traffickers. Most Americans were completely oblivious to the sex trade. They thought it only happened in third world countries. But girls were kidnapped off the streets in Middle America, and forced to service assholes like me. I wanted her to be just another piece of ass who I could use and forget, but the pain in her eyes reminded me too much of my own hell.

We were headed back to the states tonight. What the fuck was I going to do? Tell my men? Ask my command? It wasn’t that easy. Everyone thinks Navy SEALs are above the law, that we can do whatever we please without any consequences. Like the ridiculous story about one of our snipers who shot and killed two civilian men and wasn’t even brought in for police questioning. Bullshit. There’s protocol, and busting into brothels was way out of our jurisdiction. I’d have to talk to my commanding officer. He’d send me to Captain’s Mast for going to a brothel. Any authorized rescue attempt would have to be cleared with the FBI and CIA. There would be an investigation to see if she was who she said she was. They might set up a sting operation. And the crooked cops in Aruba could tip off her pimp. If her pimp had any inkling of what was going on, he’d probably kill her without a second thought.

I wasn’t going to let that happen.

Were all those prostitutes trafficked? Prostitution was legal here, and I deluded myself to think that at least the women were there willingly. And I couldn’t save everyone in the place. It would cause an international incident; most of them were probably from Eastern Europe or Central and South America. But I’d be damned if I let Annie, or any other American trapped there, spend one more day than they had to in that hellhole. Other men didn’t get why I hadn’t shed a tear when I found out my ex-fiancée had cheated on me. But the national anthem? “The Star Spangled Banner” had me bawling like someone shot my dog. I’d watched my buddies die protecting our country’s freedoms. And I’d lay down my own life before I let some traffickers steal Annie’s.

She was twenty-three now, two years younger than me. She’d spent her entire adult life in a foreign country as a sex slave. I couldn’t even fathom her miserable existence.

Enough men had used her and then abandoned her. I wasn’t going to be one of them.

Vic made his way through the tangled maze of hungover SEALs in our sleeping quarters. “Want to get lunch?”

If I flaked on them two days in a row, they’d know I was up to something. “I can’t. I’m going to get a massage.”

Kyle’s head popped up in his rack. “As long as it includes a happy ending, I’m in.”

These men were my best friends—I didn’t want to lie to them. We’d saved each other’s lives more times than I cared to remember.

“No can do, I’m already late. I’ll be back in a bit and we’ll go have a drink before our ship leaves.” I slipped a watch on my wrist and left the ship.

I had to see Annie before they shuffled her to another brothel and I lost the opportunity forever. Tattoos and scars could be faked. I needed to be one hundred percent certain the girl with the hollow eyes really was Annie.

Would the pimp get suspicious if I came back two days in a row? I doubted it. If she had survived five years, she must’ve gained their trust. They probably thought she was so strung out that she wanted dope more than she wanted her old life back. That’s how these lowlifes worked—strip these girls of their identities and leave them with nothing left to fight for.

But she’d told me her name. She trusted me. And I’d walked away from her.

Some hero.

The streets seemed less bright today. I’d actually looked forward to my Team’s mission in the Caribbean waters. Aruba was a better destination than Afghanistan as far as I was concerned. But now I’d rather be roasting in the mountains than investigating the underbelly of paradise.

I stopped by a tourist shop. Purchased some water, snacks, lotion, and a dress for Annie. Also bought her a small necklace, which I placed in my pocket.

The same pimp found me on the street. “Hey, hey. You had good time? Welcome back, my friend.”

I hated the way these vipers called me friend. Did he even know that Annie was a kidnapped American? Often these girls were traded to other pimps, so he might not know her true identity if she kept her cover. Even though he had a gun, I could take this fool in a second, even unarmed. Were there more armed men watching this place? Without my men and my weapons, I couldn’t take any chance of smuggling Annie out.

I followed him back to the brothel. He was about to ring the bell but I stopped him. “I want the same girl I had last night.”

“Star? Sure, sure. How about two girls? I give you a good price.”

I shook my head. “Nope, one will do. ‘Star’ did a good job.”