Before I had a chance to respond, even though I was unsure what I planned to say, Reed called out from somewhere, “The secretary’s on the line.”
“Coming.” Ryder offered me a hand to stand. “You ready for this?”
“Talk to the secretary of defense about why my husband is back from the dead? Not to mention, he tried to recruit Trevor to work for him? Sure, no problem. An absolute walk in the park after this awkward conversation with you.”
His expression turned glum. “I forgot to ask you how you’re handling that news about Trevor.”
HowwasI handling it? Clearly not well. “Not sure what to think about it, to be honest. I feel bad that he turned down what sounds like a dream job for an operator because of me.” Maybe I’d lied to my brother and my ship wasn’t sinking. It was already at the bottom of the ocean, alongside Alex’s.
“Do you think Trevor wants to get back together?” He frowned. “Better question for me to ask is ifyoudo.”
“I’ll always love him, but not in a romantic way. Maybe I was too young when we met. We rushed into things, and I don’t know ...” I forgot he didn’t know my backstory yet. “I’m not a bad person for not wanting to get back together with him, even though Chase could have—”
“Chase needs his mom happy, that’s what he needs.” He pulled me in for a quick hug as Reed called out again.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re coming,” Ryder hollered, releasing me from his comforting bear hug. “Let’s get this over with.”
I followed him out of the bedroom and down the stairs, hating the fact I wouldn’t have a chance to clear the air with Alex before the call.
I wasn’t sure what I planned to say other than to apologize, but that felt like the best place to start.I just need to get through a secure call with everyone first and pretend like there isn’t a war going on inside me.
When we entered the den at the backside of the cabin, Secretary Chandler’s face was already being broadcast on the TV screen. I barely acknowledged him, my attention shooting straight to Alex.
Alex was standing off to the side of the room with his back to the wall, one hand loose at his side, the other resting over his heart.
Two wounds. I felt responsible for both.
“What can you tell us?” Ryder’s voice cut through the fog in my head, snapping me back to why we were there, and I took a seat on the couch, folding my legs underneath me.
“Before I say anything, open your email and have Audrey electronically sign the NDA. What I’m about to share can’t leave this room, and she doesn’t have classified status.” Secretary Chandler motioned to Ryder’s laptop sitting on the coffee table with a sense of urgency. “My daughter told me she already shared a little too much in her presence as it is.”
Yeah, like about Trevor.
Ryder quickly followed orders, handing me the computer. I didn’t bother to even skim-read, but I did catch a word or two while scrolling to the place to sign. You know, likeprisonandtreason, so that was great.
Ryder took the laptop from me once I’d basically signed my life away and returned it to the coffee table. “It’s done. Now, please, explain everything.”
Chandler put on his glasses and leaned forward as if verifying he now owned my life; then he removed them and sat back in his leather chair. “Mitch reached out to JSOC last year in January, demanding he speak to me. He said he had sensitive information provided by a credible source that’d do serious damage if it got out.”
I was going to be sick.
“Mitch thought I’d help, given his connection to Audrey and Trevor’s ties with my family. He may have also known I knew Trevor for even longer than that. Mitch wouldn’t share anything until I had him protected. And byprotected, I mean faked his death. He believed he’d be killed, along with anyone he loved, if word got out that he was handing over the intel he had to us.”
My hand instinctively lifted to my cheek, haunted by the memory of that “love.” My thumb slid across my lower lip, tracing where Mitch had once split it open.
“‘Love,’ my ass,” Ryder hissed, resting a protective hand on top of mine as if remembering what I’d shared with him yesterday. “Only loves himself.”
Chandler let the tension sit for a moment before continuing. “I told him the US government’s not in the business of faking deaths.” He worked at the knot of his tie next, then slipped it off and set it on top of his glasses.
“But he manipulated you into agreeing, right?” I took a guess, and from his nod, I was clearly right.
“Mitch threatened to upload everything he had online if we didn’t cooperate. And to prove he wasn’t bluffing, he showed me a video of something that’d be damning if it were ever to see the light of day. He also said good men had been wrongly branded as traitors.”
“Like Arlo?” Alex asked, and now the dots were starting to connect. “Was he his source?”
Well, I thought they were starting to connect.I was still in a bit of a daze.
“I’m familiar with that name, but not because Mitch shared it. He never had a chance to give me any names, because he was killed on the way to the safe house.”
