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deceitful whore.”  
    Gina shivered.
    “Who were they from?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. The postmark is often from Las Vegas, but that’s as far as we got.”
    “Where was the security detail when your nanny went out?”
    She looked up to find Jack still staring at her. “She didn’t think she needed anyone just to go for coffee. It was broad daylight, and the coffee shop is only a block away.”  
    Gina rubbed her temples. She was trying so hard not to be furious with Cassie. It wouldn’t do any good and it wouldn’t help find Eli, even if it would be satisfying to blame someone. Besides, Cassie was nearly inconsolable right now anyway.
    In truth, the threats were always against Gina, not Eli. And since Gina was the visible one, the high-profile one, Cassie hadn’t considered that an anonymous woman with a toddler would be identifiable to anyone. And she shouldn’t have been. But someone had obviously been paying very close attention.
    Jack came over and sank down in front of her. He took her hands in his and waited for her to look at him. “Gina, I’m sorry this happened. But I don’t know what you want me to do. This is a job for the police or the FBI, not for a soldier. If you want me to make some calls, I’ll see if I can’t get the FBI involved discreetly—”
    “No!” She gripped his hands tightly. “I was with you on that island. I know what you did, what your team did. You know all about covert ops, and you can find where Eli is and get him before they know you’re coming. You did it with Athenasios and those men. You did what no one else had been capable of doing. You are the right man for the job.”

CHAPTER FIVE

    SHE WAS HOLDING HIS hands tightly and her face was white. Her green eyes were wide and liquid, and she looked at him like he was her savior. Like he was the only one who could fix this for her.
    But how could he fix anything? He was one man, and this wasn’t his area of expertise. His gut roiled with the idea that he had to tell her no, but he had to be honest with her. It was a blow seeing her again. He hadn’t expected it. He’d seen her on magazine covers and television, so he’d gotten used to that little knot of tension in his gut each time.
    But to see her again in the flesh? To touch her? His body vibrated like a guitar string pulled too tight. Any second and the string would snap.  
    “Gina, sweetheart, the military doesn’t get involved in something like this. It’s a domestic kidnapping case, not a terrorist plot. I want you to get your baby back, and I’ll stay here with you if you need me to, but you have to let me call the FBI. This is their area of expertise, not mine. Or my team’s.”
    Her expression fell—and then her face twisted in anger. Her cheeks flushed bright and her eyes were glassy. “If this was your child, would you be saying these things to me? Would you tell me that you couldn’t help, but you could call someone? Would you leave your child’s life in the hands of a bunch of strangers who might very well fuck the whole thing up?”
    “I know you’re upset, but you aren’t being reasonable. The FBI isn’t going to fuck it up.”
    “You don’t know that!” She ripped her hands from his and shoved to her feet. Then she stalked past him and started to pace. Her long blond hair shimmered under the lights as it whipped around with her movements. She was wearing stiletto boots and a black miniskirt with a purple silk tank top tucked into it. A wide black belt cinched her small waist and emphasized the swell of her hips and breasts.
    She was beautiful. Gut-wrenching, cock-hardening, ball-busting beautiful.
    And she was angry. The hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention as she sizzled and sparked. But he had to calm her down. She’d called him, of all people, and he knew that meant something. But he wasn’t a magician and he couldn’t change the laws. The military did not handle domestic kidnapping cases.
    “Babe, it’s