“They should all be here soon,” Lou Ellen said, pressing the group text to send an alert to the team. The only ones she didn’t text were Hawk, who was in Arizona for a funeral, and Gray who was in New Jersey until after the new year.

Slade would be there quickest because he and Taylor still lived in his apartment in the bunkhouse. Caleb and Levi shared the bunkroom, so they would be right behind him. Logan would be a few minutes, because his and Susan’s house was in between town and the compound.

Thank goodness Dex and Grace were in town for the holidays. Their computer guru could work his magic to dig into the police and FBI databases to find out which gang that thug who had the girl was affiliated with, and his likely whereabouts.

Lou Ellen even called in Cade Winters, who was no longer with the team, since he was in medical school. They needed to find that girl fast, and when they did, Cade could treat any injuries she might have quietly. He was also former Delta Force and CIA, so he might have some insight to share with her on Griff’s situation and suggestions on how she could fix it.

“Let me show you where you’ll be staying.” Lou Ellen laughed nervously, which was a condition that rarely afflicted her. But since they’d arrived at the compound, Griff had fallen into silent mode again, so she was filling in the silence with chatter. “You can take a quick shower and I’ll find you a change of clothes. I’m sure with all the men around here, I can find something to fit you.”

Griff followed her down the hall to Logan’s apartment at the back of the office, where she stopped to punch in the security code. The door clicked open and he followed her inside, still without a word. She hoped like hell he’d find his tongue before the men arrived, because they needed info only he could give to help him.

“The bathroom is over there,” she said pointing to the closed door across the suite. “There’s water and soda in the fridge over there if you want some. Just help yourself.” She turned to leave, but bumped right into Griff’s broad chest. His hands shot up to her shoulders and his fingers dug in as his intense eyes burned into hers.

“Oh, sorry—I, ah—” she said, but when his hand drifted up to cup her cheek, tingles zipped down her throat to her nipples and her train of thought derailed.

“You are an angel,” he said, stroking her cheek with his thumb. The sincerity in his rich voice grabbed her heart and squeezed hard. “Thank you for helping me. You’ll never know how much it means.”

Lou laughed again, but it came out sounding like a giggle, which appalled her. She hadn’t giggled since she was sixteen years old.

“Everyone needs help now and again. It’s my pleasure to be able to do it,” she said, as she stepped back. “As for being an angel, I’m sure you’ll revise that opinion once you know me better. My personality tends to veer toward the other end of that spectrum.”

He frowned as his hands dropped to his sides. “I sincerely doubt that. There aren’t many people who would help someone on the fringe. You help a lot of those people without wanting a thing, and don’t look down on them while you do it. Don’t minimize that, it’s a gift.”

“I’ve been on the fringe and it’s not a pleasant place,” she replied. After her second husband almost bankrupted her, she was homeless for a brief time and hopeless. If not for Allison Rooks, she might still be in that place. What she was doing wasn’t exceptional, it was paying forward the blessings she had received.

He actually laughed. “I don’t believe that, but whatever the reason you help the shadow people, we thank you.”

“Lou! Where’s the fire?!?” Slade shouted down the hallway.

“That’s Slade—he’s about your size, just a little beefier, so I’ll get him to find you something to wear.” She laugh-giggled again and felt her face heat. “I have to warn you, though, he’s into crazy drawers, so there’s no telling what you might get.”

“Thank you. I’ll take anything that’s clean,” Griff replied.

She patted his shoulder as she walked past him to the door. “You take as long as you want in there. We keep it stocked, so you should find everything you need. If not, let me know.” Why in the hell did her throat close up tighter with every word?

Because this man hasn’t even kissed you and you are as revved and ready to go as if he’d just given you an orgasm. No man had ever done that to her before. He looked into her eyes with that smoldering look and her damned panties melted.

Lou Ellen shivered as she left the suite. She found Slade at her desk with his boots propped up on the top while he texted. The smile on his face said he was texting with his wife. Probably SEX-ting, knowing them, because they went at it like rabbits, which could explain her recent pregnancy announcement.

“Does Taylor let you prop your boots on the furniture? If so, I need to talk to her,” Lou said as she stopped beside the desk to stare at his boots. His wife was petite, but fiery. There was no doubt who ruled the roost in their relationship, but she let Slade think that was him. Smart girl.

He broke eye contact with his phone to grin up at her. “My beautiful wife lets me do anything I want to do,” Slade replied, sliding his feet off the desk. “And don’t you go trying to change that. What’s the emergency?”

“You’ll find out when everyone else gets here,” she replied as she walked behind her desk. She looked around for his sidekick, but Lola wasn’t with him. “Where’s Lola?”

“With Taylor and Buddy,” he replied. “Those two mutts are inseparable. Taylor hates to hear Buddy whine, so I left her.”

“Well, you might be needing her for this mission. And I need you to round up a set of your clothes for me, please.”

“For who? And what mission?” he asked, frowning as he stood and went into ops mode.

“For Griff. You’ll meet him in a few minutes,” she replied. “We have a rescue mission to help him with.”

“Roger that—I’ll be back in a few,” he replied, as he walked to the front door. The door opened as soon as it closed and Caleb and Levi walked in wearing serious expressions.

“What’s the emergency?” Levi asked, his eyes scanning the room as Caleb stepped up beside him to do the same.

“I’ll fill y’all in as soon as the rest of the crew gets here. There’s no sense repeating myself. We’re going on a rescue mission,” she replied. “I’d suggest you get your arsenal ready, because guns will definitely be needed where we’re going.”

“Where are we going?” Caleb asked.

“Northeast Dallas into MS-13 territory,” she replied.

“Tonight?!?” Levi shouted as he glanced at Caleb.

Lou Ellen nodded. “Tonight and every night and day after until we find her.”

“Find who?” Levi asked, and Lou Ellen sighed. “Okay, okay, we’ll wait for the crew in the conference room.” He walked down the hallway and Caleb followed.

The office door opened again and Slade strode in with Lola and a stack of clothes in his hands, which he handed to her. Lou Ellen smiled at the dog and bent to scratch her between the ears, earning a quick lap of her tongue on her wrist.

“Dex, Logan and Cade are on the way. Levi and Caleb are waiting in the conference room,” she told Slade. “I’m going to deliver these clothes and I’ll join you in a minute.”

“You called in Cade? This must be a big mission if you called in the big gun,” Slade said with a laugh.

“It is a big mission, but the big gun is in Logan’s suite. You’ll meet him in a few minutes,” Lou Ellen replied cryptically and Slade’s smile slipped.

“You’re really gonna make me wait? I’m second in command here, and you know how slow Logan is. It will probably be an hour. It’s eight o’clock at night. I could be doing other things right now, like making out with Taylor.”

“You’ve been doing enough of that lately. The rabbit died, so give her a rest, big boy,” Lou Ellen said, and Slade frowned.

“What rabbit? What are you talking about?” he asked, and Lou Ellen threw her head back and laughed as she walked down the hallway to the suite. She stopped at the door and pushed in the code, then went inside when it clicked open.

Halfway across the suite to the dining room table, she looked left when the bathroom door opened and steam billowed out. A leanly muscled Adonis filled the doorway covered only in a towel wrapped low on his hips. Lou Ellen missed a step and stumbled. The pile of clothes in her hands went flying and she stopped to stare.

He smiled, showing even white teeth, as he strode out into the living room, running his hands through his wet hair. “God, I feel like a new man,” he growled, scrubbing his hand over his square, clean-shaven jaw as he stopped in front of her.

Lou Ellen whimpered, because there was no way she could shove the words out of her mouth. Holy shit, you look like a new man too. A young man—much too young for me to be lusting over.

“How old are you?” Lou Ellen asked, the words rolling out of her mouth without permission. The corner of his lips quirked up into a sexy, feral kind of smile she felt down low as he stepped closer.

“Old enough to know what I’m doing and young enough to go the distance,” Griff replied, his eyelids drooping as he focused on her mouth.