Page 28 of Protecting Talia

After breakfast, she lay down for a nap, and he contacted one of his buddies who was into computers. The guys on his team were better friends with Thario than he was, but he got along with the guy.

“Hey, Zip, what do I owe this pleasure?”

He stepped outside, not wanting Talia to hear him discussing her life. “I have an issue.”

“What’s up?”

“I’m seeing someone who has a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

He glanced around and ducked his head, lowering his voice so none of the neighbors could hear. “If you ever meet her, you can never say anything.”

“This sounds serious.” Thario’s voice was flatter, less friendly, more business-like.

“Just promise you won’t ever hold this against her.”

“You have my word.”

“Okay. So her family trafficked her into porn when she was a teenager. People recognize her. I don’t know if there is anything that can be done, but I don’t like it. She was attacked by her new landlord. He tried to rape her.”

“Fucking mother fucker. Give me the details, and I’ll see what I can do.”

Zip blew out a breath. “Is there really anything you can do?”

“Maybe. She was a teen, right?”

“Yes. She was thirteen.”

“Fuck. Let’s get to work on it. I can’t destroy physical copies, but I can find shit on the dark web and go nuclear on it. I can also make anonymous reports about people viewing it. It may take a few months, but I’ll scrub as much of her footprint from the web as I can.”

Zip breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. And listen, don’t tell her.”

“You’re thinking of not telling her what you are doing?”

“I don’t want her to know because I don’t know how she will take it. I don’t want her to think I’m ashamed of what she did because I’m not. I don’t care about that. I just want her to be safe, and she can’t be safe with idiots thinking they can get a piece of her because she did something when she was younger.”

“I get it. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem. It gives me something to do. And Zip, don’t be a stranger. Frog would love to meet her.”

“We’ll come by, maybe next weekend.”

“Awesome. I’m looking forward to it.”

Zip went inside and heard Talia stirring. He hoped she hadn’t heard his discussion with Thario. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel bad about her past. She’d experienced enough trauma with that to last a lifetime.

After she showered, he helped her place new bandages, and they headed out to the store. She had on a hat and sunglasses, which she said were because of the black eyes and scratches, but he knew she didn’t want to be recognized.

They were on the frozen aisle when someone came up behind them. “Hey, I thought it was you. How are you doing?”

Talia froze beside him, but she didn’t need to worry. It was one of the SEALs who’d retired recently and they were talking to him.

Zip turned and shook Wolf’s hand. Talia still looked wary, so he gently put his arm around her and pulled her closer. “Wolf, this is Talia.”

Wolf’s eyes narrowed an almost imperceptible amount as he took in Talia’s injuries. He recovered fast and shook Talia’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Caroline is coming around the—there she is.” He waved his wife over, and she didn’t bat an eye as she shook Talia’s hand while Wolf introduced her.

---