Page 11 of Protection for Asher (Safeguarded By The SEAL #4)

Squat woke to the sound of his phone going off. He groaned as he rolled over, picking it up off the charger on the nightstand. They were headed out. He had two hours, and they would be in the air.

He wouldn’t even hope that they were being sent in to take out the criminal organization holding Asher. Another group would go in, maybe someone closer to the Middle East. Unless something had popped, and then maybe they were going over there.

He hadn't gone to Thario's on Saturday or Sunday.

It was the first weekend he'd stayed away.

Thario had joined his team for dinner, but talk hadn't turned to searching for Asher.

He felt like he was betraying her by not looking.

How long could he keep it up? Would he still be searching for her next year, in a decade?

He'd done what they could. At least all the guys told him he had. It wasn't enough, just like it wasn't enough for the hundreds of thousands of people who went missing around the world every year. There was too much pain and suffering, and no one gave a damn.

When he got back, he would sit down with Thario and learn as much as he could from him.

When he retired from the military, he would fill his days with helping the cause.

They needed more than just a few guys looking for missing people on the weekends.

More men and women needed to be active in stopping human trafficking.

It was dirty work, and he hated the things he’d seen.

But saving people took hard work, and it wasn’t always pleasant.

At least he could be satisfied that they’d stopped a few trafficking rings.

The FBI and Homeland Security had been busy with information Thario had sent them.

Squat wouldn’t call it a treasure trove, but it had been a lot of information they’d gathered on multiple people who haunted the dark web with their sick perversions.

When he arrived at the base, they loaded onto the transport and headed out. They hadn't been given information yet, so they could be headed anywhere. It didn't really matter. They would go in and do the work they were told to do and leave.

After getting some shuteye, he woke to find Griz and Shine awake and talking. He moved to sit next to them.

“Any idea where we’re going?” Squat asked.

Griz shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Is Sharp awake?”

Shine nodded. “He’s back in the head.”

Squat saw one of the officers coming their way. “Looks like we’re about to get our marching orders.”

Griz’s lips thinned. “Great.”

They were given a packet of information detailing their mission.

They would be operating in a nation they normally didn't enter.

He wasn't thrilled at that prospect. Getting out would be just as difficult as getting in.

If they were discovered, it would cause already hot tensions to rise even higher.

After the rundown, they were told they had an hour before landing.

They were headed to a carrier and would board rubber raiding rafts that would take them to land.

Then, they would start their mission. The target was a well-funded terrorist who was planning something big, and they wanted to stop him before he had a chance to act.