“Now that we know where the leak came from and who was behind it”—i.e., Russia and not someone inside—“we don’t have to play dead. I will contact command and explain what happened. They can decide how they want to handle our sudden reappearance.”
In an attempt to quiet the public interest roused by Brittany’s “Lost Platoon” articles, equating the missing platoon of Navy SEALs from a secret team with the famous Lost Legion of Rome, the navy had recently announced that a platoon of SEALs had been killed in a training exercise.
Baylor and Donovan looked relieved by Scott’s pronouncement.
Colt not so much.
“You sure that’s a good idea, Ace?” Colt asked withthat lazy drawl that belied the savvy operator whose mind was always working every angle. Colt wasn’t a part of their team anymore, but he still worked for the military in some kind of clandestine unit that Scott didn’t know much about—didn’t want to know much about, as he was sure it was of questionable legality.
It was the first time Colt had used Scott’s call sign in over three years. But if his former friend thought Scott was going to forgive and forget all that had passed between them, he was out of his mind.
Colt had been the senior enlisted man in Team Nine when Scott had joined as a young lieutenant. Colt had showed him the ropes and taught Scott everything he knew about being a SEAL. To most people their friendship didn’t make any sense. Scott was by the book and believed in rules. Colt didn’t. But somehow they’d jelled. Scott had looked up to him as an older brother, which made Colt’s accusations and turning on him even more unforgivable. How could Colt think he would ever do that to a teammate and a friend?
Scott and Kate hadn’t betrayed Colt; Colt had betrayed them.
“We don’t have a choice,” Scott said. “Technically we’ve been AWOL since the explosion. Without a good reason to not come forward, we could have a hard time explaining ourselves.”
Or defending themselves against a court-martial.
“I wouldn’t be so ready to make a reappearance,” Colt said. “Not until you learn the extent of the damage done by Mick and Natalie. We don’t know what Mick was able to pass on to his superiors before he was killed. We also don’t know the extent of their cell here in Washington. I suspect it was a small one since the guys Mick had with him when he took Brittany were more hired thugs than professionals. But that isn’t to say there isn’t someoneelse out there. Who else knows there were survivors? Mick found out about Donovan, but what about the rest of you? You guys are safer dead than alive.”
“You think they might come after us again?” Donovan asked.
Colt shrugged. “I don’t know. I just think it will be easier to find out why they went after you in the first place if you all stay dead.”
“They went after him to shut him up,” Baylor said. “The Russians don’t want any survivors showing up to ruin their nice little story about what happened out there. Ivanov won’t want to appear to be avoiding the war that he vowed to start if there were any more ‘incursions.’”
But if that was true, coming out would be the safest thing for them.
Scott watched Colt’s face. His expression didn’t give anything away, but Scott could guess what he was thinking. “You think there’s more to it?”
Colt met his gaze for the first time since learning that he was Kate’s brother. “I think it’s worth not jumping to any conclusions too quickly. Not until we know all the facts.”
Ironic advice coming from Colt, given his conclusions about Kate and Scott.
“Which could be easier to find out with help from the inside,” Scott pointed out. He was close to his direct superior in the chain of command, the commander of SEAL Team Nine, Mark Ryan. Scott wasn’t looking forward to explaining why they hadn’t come to him right away.
Colt guessed the direction of his thoughts. He didn’t have much regard for the brass in general. “Ryan might be your friend, but he’s an officer first, and he’ll do his duty even if he doesn’t like it.”
The same thing could be said about Scott. Once. Butlook at him now: scruffy, AWOL, and definitely not by the book, unless it was calledHow to Look Like a Lowlife. He didn’t even recognize himself.
“What are you getting at, Colt?” Kate asked.
“The government is going to be looking for someone to blame, and right now that’s Taylor. They’ll want to know exactly what and how much he told her.”
Scott felt his spine go ramrod stiff and his shoulders turn just as rigid. Blood surged through his veins at a boil. “It sounds as if you are accusing me of something, Wesson.” Colt didn’t shy away from Scott’s fury. Scott looked around the table at the other blank faces staring at him. “Is that what you all think?” He swore. “I didn’t tell her a damned thing!”
The sound of his voice reverberated in the oval room, shaking the floor-to-ceiling windows, which were there to take advantage of the river view.
Suddenly memories came back to him. Images. Snippets of conversation and clumsy questions when they were lying naked and twisted in the sheets after she’d just brought him to his knees for the God-knew-how-many-eth time.
When he was at his weakest.
“I heard there is trouble brewing in Syria again....”
When all of his defenses had been shattered.
“You’ll tell me when you have to leave... and when you’ll be back?”
