Bravo (Hunt Brothers Search & Rescue #1)

1. Bradyn

CHAPTER 1

brADYN

S weat beads along my brow, but I don’t dare wipe it away. Weapon trained straight ahead, I move near soundlessly through the jungle with my German shepherd, Bravo, at my side. He doesn’t make a sound either, both pointed ears poised as he listens for any sounds that might mean someone is onto us.

So far, so good, though. I pray our luck stays strong.

“We’re closing in on the north side,” Alpha team whispers through my earpiece. They aren’t my men, but over the last couple of months, we’ve worked so closely together that they feel like an extension of my family.

“Zulu is closing in on the south.” Another callout whispered in my earpiece.

“Foxtrot is nearly on the east side.”

I glance over at the only other man currently on my team. Silas Williamson, my cousin on my mother’s side, is a former Navy SEAL turned private security operative. Since my brothers were all otherwise occupied, with one finishing up another job and the others working our family ranch in Texas, I called him in to help me wrap this thing up.

And even though he currently resides on the East Coast with his pregnant wife and the niece he’s raising since his sister’s passing, he didn’t hesitate to step up and help.

He offers me a nod, so I whisper, “Bravo is closing in on the west.”

It’s been three months of me living off of MREs and sleeping only four hours a night. Three months of solo work, tracking men across the ocean and through jungles on the other side of the world. And, hopefully, all of this is about to come to a happy ending.

Well, as happy as it can be.

I can only pray we’re not too late.

What started as a missing person’s case turned into a full-on human trafficking bust. Thirty-seven girls aged fourteen to twenty-two were traced back to the same place our girl went missing. A gas station out of San Antonio.

And now, with God on our side, we’re about to take thirty-seven names off the missing person’s roster.

Ahead, a branch creaks, and I shift my weapon, peering into the jungle as I prepare for someone to come out of the brush—but no one does. A bird takes off into the sky, a screeching caw filling the air as it goes, so I keep moving forward, my gaze trained ahead except for the moments I shift it to check Bravo’s body language.

Aside from my brothers and Silas, the German shepherd is the only one I trust to always have my back. He’s sharp, fast, and lethal when necessary.

That is unless we’re home and my mom is sneaking steak into his dog bowl. Then, he’s a hundred-pound ball of goofy fluff.

Home.

How I cannot wait for mom’s home-cooked meals, sleeping in my own bed, and watching the sun rise over the ranch. Soon, I remind myself. Soon, I’ll be home, and what will make it even better is that these girls will be with their families, too.

Finally, the building comes into view.

According to our inside source, the structure is comprised entirely of cinderblocks they flew in so they could keep the construction of this place off any record. We’re in the middle of a jungle in South America where the nearest coastline is a three-day walk. If we hadn’t found an inside source, we likely never would’ve found the place.

But we did. And here we are.

Thank God.

Shots ring out, booming through my earpiece and echoing through the jungle. Birds scatter, and Silas and I both hold our position—the shots aren’t being fired at us.

“Shots fired, shots fired! Zulu team pinned!”

Silas and I pick up speed with Bravo maintaining right beside me. We sprint through the plants and trees, still doing our best to keep our steps as quiet as possible. My back presses against hot concrete as we take positions on either side of the door. With the teams engaged in gunfire, our hope is that we can get in and get the girls out so they aren’t caught in the line of fire.

Silas bows his head for a moment, and I do the same.

God, protect us. Guide us so we can rescue these girls. Please, Lord. Be with us. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I open my eyes and wait for Silas to do the same.

He does. I offer him a nod then plant charges on the hinges of the heavy metal door. We turn our faces and step to the side as I set them off.

Pop. Pop. Pop. The hinges break. Silas lets his weapon dangle from its sling as he pulls the door free then steps aside so Bravo and I can take the lead.

“ Zook, Bravo,” I order. Search. He doesn’t hesitate before plunging into the darkness. I follow, Silas coming in right behind me.

Adrenaline surges through my veins as we make our way down a narrow hall, all while the other teams battle on the opposite side of the compound.

Bravo stops and begins pawing at a closed door. I glance back at Silas, who offers me an understanding nod, before I grip the handle and shove the door open, raising my weapon as I go.

“No! Please!”

I lower my weapon slightly and take in the scene before me. The room is smaller than the average living room, but it contains girls and young women plastered up against the walls and each other. Their eyes are wide and terrified, their faces and clothing streaked with dirt.

“Please don’t hurt us,” a woman pleads. I turn to my right, and my gut twists. Something isn’t right. I can’t explain it, but something feels— off.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” I tell them. “Everyone, on your feet. We’re here to get you out.”

The woman who spoke is the first to stand, and she rushes toward me, wearing a gleeful smile on her face. And then I catch the shimmering sight of a dagger as she draws it out and poises to jam it into me.

Bravo lets out a warning before he leaps onto her arm, teeth sinking into her flesh.

She screams, and the knife clatters to the ground.

“ Aus! ” I order him. Let go.

Immediately, he releases her, taking his place at my side, and the woman stumbles back. Silas pushes her into the far wall and zip-ties her arms behind her back.

“You can’t have them!” she roars.

“Bravo team here, we got the girls. Headed out to the rendezvous,” I say to the other teams. The gunshots have ceased now, and the comms have been full of chatter about arrests being made. “Woman attacked us; she’s zip-tied in the back room and ready for transport.”

“Copy,” I hear. “We’ll handle her. Good work, Bravo. See you on the other side.”

I take a look at the terrified faces before me as I count each and every one. Forty-one. Even more than we’d planned on. Thank You , God. “Rebecca Fisher?” I call out, hoping that the girl we’re here to find is among the rescued.

“Here.” A seventeen-year-old high school senior pushes to her feet and walks forward. She’s still wearing the same clothes she’d last been seen in, and aside from being terrified and dirty, she doesn’t appear to have been hurt. At least, not physically. Mentally is another story. I know all too well what these girls are going to have to go through to get their lives back.

“I’m Bradyn. That’s my partner Silas, and this is Bravo.” I point to the dog who is sitting at my side. “Your parents hired us to find you.”

“My parents?” She lets loose a sob. “They were looking for me?”

I know from the report that they’d had a big fight when Rebecca wanted to go off and meet an older boy. Even as they’d forbidden her from going, she’d gone and was abducted. Their last words were exchanged in anger, and I’m so glad I get to be the one to bring her back so things won’t end there.

“They never stopped,” I tell her with a smile. I turn to address everyone in the room. “All right, ladies. How about we go home?”

“You do good work, Hunt.”

“I can’t take any of the credit, Frank. It’s all God.”

Frank Loyotta chuckles and takes a seat behind his desk while I remain standing and staring into the conference room where all of the women are waiting to be collected by their family members. They’ve showered and been fed and tended to medically. We were beyond grateful to know that, aside from some bumps and bruises, nothing else happened to them.

They were lucky.

So many aren’t.

My thoughts take a dark turn, but I shove them down. Today is a victory. I will not have that stolen by ghosts of the past.

“Your cousin head home?”

I nod. “Silas was out on the first flight today. His wife went into labor this morning, so he took off.”

“That’s wonderful. You’ll pass on my congratulations and my many thanks?”

“Will do,” I reply. “What happened to the men we arrested?” I take a seat beside him, grateful to be back in the States. It was a long nine hours on the flight back from South America, but the Dallas skyline was a welcome sight, if not brief, as we shuttled to the building that serves as the main headquarters for Find Me, a nonprofit made up of other veterans who are working to put an end to human trafficking.

As soon as I’d realized just what I was dealing with, they were my first call. While not actual police, Frank has far more contacts than I do.

“They’ll never take another breath as free men,” he says. “We turned them into local authorities in South America and are keeping tabs on what’s happening with them. But my contact out there says they’ll never walk free again.”

“Good.” I know vengeance belongs to God, but there are moments like this where I wouldn’t mind taking it into my own hands. If not for the ones we rescued, then for the ones we didn’t.

“You know, we have some openings—” he starts.

“I appreciate it, Frank, but you know I’ve got my team.”

He smiles. “I know, but you just say the word. I’ll open up spots for all five of you and your canine partners.” Frank offers Bravo a smile.

“I appreciate the offer.”

The door opens, and I hear a woman yell, “Rebecca?”

Her parents are here. “That’s my cue. Thanks again, Frank.”

“Anytime.” He shakes my hand. “Call us up if you want to work together again.”

“You do the same.” I release his hand and head out into the main room at the same time Rebecca opens the conference room door and rushes into the open arms of her sobbing mother. Both parents surround their daughter, holding her as the three of them cry.

My own eyes burn with emotion as I take in the view. I don’t have kids yet, and I can’t imagine the pain they must have suffered while she’s been missing. The horror of not knowing what happened, and whether or not their child was still alive.

I remain where I am until her father, William Fisher, turns toward me and wipes his eyes. “Bradyn. I can’t— I don’t—” He breaks down and wraps his arms around me. Shoulders shaking, I return the embrace, my heart full that I was able to return their daughter to them.

“You don’t have to say anything.”

“You saved her. You saved our girl,” he sobs as he pulls back.

“God saved her,” I tell him. “He put me where I needed to be.”

“And I will thank Him every day of the rest of my life.” He wipes his cheeks. “I don’t know what we would have done if?—”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” I tell him as I clasp a hand on his shoulder. “Because everything worked out.”

“I’m so sorry,” Rebecca sobs. “I should’ve listened. I should’ve?—”

“Baby, it’s okay. Please, it’s okay,” her mother cries. “You’re home now. That’s what matters.”

“You helped me bring these girls home,” I tell Rebecca. “Stand on that when the darkness closes in.”

She looks up at me with red-streaked blue eyes and nods. Then she rushes forward and wraps her arms around me again. “Thank you, Bradyn.”

I return the hug. “You’re welcome.”

As she pulls away and gets settled back with her parents, I offer them a smile. “If you head to the front desk, they’ll get you cleared to take her home. They have resources, as well, to help with the transition period. It can be hard, going from a high-stress situation back to normal day-to-day. PTSD isn’t just something soldiers face.”

“We’ll make sure she’s okay,” her mother says as she sniffles then reaches forward and takes my hand. “Thank you, Bradyn. For everything.”

“No need to thank me,” I tell her. “I’m just glad we had a happy ending.”

Rebecca and her mother head toward the front desk while her father reaches into his pocket and offers me a check.

“I wish I could give more.”

“You don’t need to pay me at all,” I tell him. We work on a pay-as-you-can system, wanting to make sure no one feels like our help is out of reach.

“I want to. I know you said it wasn’t necessary, but I want you to keep doing this. I want you to keep bringing little girls home to their parents.” His eyes fill again, and he shoves the check into my hands. “Please. It’s not much. But it can help.”

Because I sense he won’t take no for an answer, I accept the offering. “Thank you, William.”

“Thank you,” he replies. “You gave us our entire world back. And for that, we’ll never be able to repay you.”