His heart broke at the site of her sitting like that, as if she expected Gracie to simply call her up and say hello.
“That really necessary?” Kole glared up at him from across the room.
He was sitting at Jake’s dining room table going through the files Ryker had given them. They contained copies of pretty much everything Homeland had on Edric Yavuz., Achim Akmar, and Adrian Walker.
Kole was his best friend, but right now, Nate was pretty sure the guy would give him a second bullet hole if he thought he’d get away with it.
Ignoring Kole’s death stare, Nate addressed the group. “We’re wasting our time with this shit. It’s been three fucking days and we’re no closer to finding Gracie now than when we started.”
“He’s right,” Jake and Gabe entered the room together. “Which is why Gabe and I decided to bring in some help. Another team.”
“Who?” Nate asked their boss, clearly not liking the idea.
“They’re good, Carter,” Gabe stated with confidence. “And, they’re already positioned near Turkey, which is where we believe Yavuz took Gracie.”
“You know where she is?” Nate took three long steps toward Gabe. “Then, why the hell are we still here?”
Jake raised his palm. “We don’t have an exact location, yet, but we hope to, soon. King,” he looked to Zade. “Why don’t you and Nate run into town and grab some pizzas? Put them on the company card. In the meantime, Gabe and I will be in the war room on a conference call with Ryker. He’s helping coordinate our meeting with the guys from the other team.”
Nate wanted to start yelling again. “All due respect, Jake, I don’t want to go to town for fucking pizza. I need to be here. Helping.”
“You need a break, Carter.” Nate opened his mouth to argue, but Jake stopped him cold. “That’s an order.”
Jake and Gabe disappeared down the hallway to the back of the house. Zade stood from his seat at the end of the couch and said, “Come on, Nate. Sooner we get the food, the sooner we can get back to work.”
“Take Turner with you. I’m staying here.”
Matt, who was sitting in the chair across from Kole, looked at Zade, then over to Nate.
“Uh, Carter? Boss said it was an—”
“Order,” Nate finished for him. “Yeah, I got that. Listen, we don’t need some other guys coming in and telling us what to do on this. We can find her on our own.Ican find her. But I won’t if I’m playing fucking pizza delivery boy instead of being here, where I’m needed.”
Kole looked as though he was about to say something, but pressed his lips together and kept silent.
“What?” Nate held his arms out to his side, opening himself up to whatever his friend wanted to throw at him.
Kole shook his head and mumbled, “Nothing,” before turning back to the file in his hand.
Fuck that.
From across the room, Nate hollered out, “You got something to say, Jameson? Say it.”
“Kole, don’t,” Sarah sat up a little straighter in her chair.
“It’s okay, Sarah,” Nate assured her. “Really. I mean, I already know what your fiancé is thinking. I just want to hear him say it.” He looked back over at Kole. “You’ve been keeping that shit in ever since you got back, so go ahead. Spit it out.”
“Come on, guys,” Zade tried to keep the peace amongst the two friends. “This isn’t helping.”
“No, he’s right.” Kole stood from his chair and slowly began walking toward the living room. “You want to know what I’m thinking? Fine. You had one job, Nathan. One. Fucking. Job. And you’re gonna stand there and whine because Jake has someone who might be able to help us get Gracie back faster? Seriously?”
“We know nothing about these guys, Kole.” Nate took a couple steps closer. “You really want to risk her life by trusting some other team we’ve never worked with? Guys we’ve never even met before?”
“Well, we wouldn’t have to, if you’d just—”
“Kole!” Sarah reprimanded her fiancé, but it was too late. The damage was already done.
“If I’d what, Kole?” Nate brought himself nearly toe-to-toe with his friend. “Say it. We wouldn’t be asking for help if I’d just what?”
