“But Wyatt was a Navy SEAL, for Christ’s sake.” Having been in the Navy, himself, Matt was clearly taking this one personally. “I’d think SECNAV would want to find the bastards responsible and bring them to justice.”
“He does, Turner,” Jake assured Matt. “We all do. Unfortunately, there’s a lot riding on this, so it has to be handled with kid gloves. That’s where we come in.”
“Meaning, the government doesn’t want to get its hands dirty and risk upsetting the almighty politicians.” Running a frustrated hand through his hair, Matt cursed under his breath.
Making sure they were all on the same page, Nate asked, “Isn’t this agreement the one where Turkey will vow to be an ally of the United States and give up all their mass weaponry, including any nuclear devises they may or may not have in their possession?”
“Yep,” Kole answered Nate’s question. “Just like the one we signed with Korea a few years back.”
“But, if it is a solid lead and Yavuz is dirty, we need to know before the treaty deadline.” Jake’s expression turned fierce. “No fucking way do we want our country’s president signing an agreement with a sadistic fuck who’d do that”—he clicked the remote and, once again, the two pictures of Craig Wyatt filled the screen—“to anyone, much less one of our own.”
Nate looked at his boss. “I guess we’d better figure this shit out pretty damn quick. That agreement is slated to be signed in three weeks.”
“Which is why we’re going wheels up in—”
A knock on the door behind Nate interrupted the discussion. It slowly opened, and Gracie peeked her adorable head inside.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt, but Agent Ryker is on the phone, and he says it’s urgent. Something to do with the new assignment he has you working on.”
Nate ignored the funny way his heart began to beat just from seeing her again. Jesus, he really needed to get laid.
“Thanks, Gracie. I’ll take it in here.”
“Oh, and I called the phone company. They’re supposed to be sending someone out this afternoon to figure out what’s wrong with the intercom system.”
“Perfect.”
Jake gave her a smile as he sat the remote down and walked over to the small table in the corner of the room. Picking up the phone’s receiver, he pressed the button to access Ryker’s call.
Before beginning the conversation with the Homeland agent, he turned and said, “Thanks for taking care of that, Gracie.”
With a smile and a nod, she started to leave, but froze when her eyes caught a glimpse of the large pictures displayed on the screen.
“Hey, I know him.”
“You do?” Kole asked, sounding surprised.
“Yeah. That’s Craig Wyatt. He’s one of…”
Whatever else Gracie was going to say got cut off when she glanced at the picture on the right.
“Oh, my God!” she gasped, both hands flying to cover her mouth. Blinking back tears, her entire body began to visibly shake as her wide eyes shot to Kole’s. “Please tell me that’s not Craig.”
Cursing, her future brother-in-law scrambled to reach the remote, but Gabe was closer. Snatching it off the table, the large man turned the projector off, but it was too late. The damage had already been done.
“Jason, I’ll have to call you back.” Not waiting for Ryker’s reply, Jake hung up the phone and made his way to Gracie.
Sitting in the chair closest to her, Nate sprung to his feet. “Here. Sit down.”
Clearly in shock, Gracie did as Nate said.
With her arms wrapped around her center, she began rocking back and forth. “Oh, God, Nate. Is that really him? Is Craig really dead?”
The grief and sorrow in her voice gutted him. Crouching in front of her, Nate took both her hands in his.
“I’m afraid so.”
“W-why?” she cried. “Craig was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known.” Gracie clutched her stomach. “Oh, God, I think I’m going to be sick.”
