“It’s possible the attack on the hotel was about taking her out.” Archer rejoined the debate. “But there’s still no way anyone would have known she’d be with us on the jet.”
“One person knew.”
All eyes turned to Van, who stared back at Logan with a wrinkled brow.
“Who?” The man frowned, appearing generously confused.
“Who do you think?”
It took a few seconds for Logan’s understanding to finally sink in. When it did, he immediately started shaking his head.
“No.” A stern bark. “No way.”
“He’s the only person, aside from our client’s pilot, who knew where we would be and why.”
“Wait, who?” Chase’s gaze bounced between them.
Rather than answer the other man’s question, Logan raised an angry palm Van’s way. “Just stop, okay? This line of thinking is a waste of time, and?—”
“Who?” Chase asked again.
But like Logan, Van ignored the question to finish making his point.
“Akimi told Kam that the guy who tried taking us all out three years ago was an American,” Van growled. “One in a position of great political power, remember?”
“Guys!” Chase’s voice rose to a level that made it impossible to ignore. Blowing out a breath, the frustrated man stared them down before enunciating his next words with exaggerated clarity. “Who. The hell. Are youtalkingabout?”
Logan glanced over at Chase before bringing his pointed stare back to Van’s. With a slow, almost indiscernible shake of his head, he silently told Van to keep his mouth shut.
Sorry, brother. No can do.
“Webb,” Van revealed what the other man clearly wanted kept under wraps.
Several under-the-breath curses sounded around him as the others processed what they’d just heard.
“Wait, seriously?” Lucky’s gaze shifted back and forth between Van and Logan. “You really thinkSECNAVis involved in this mess?”
“No.” Logan vehemently denied the outlandish claim. “That’s not what we’re saying.”
“I’msaying it,” Van countered.
But even Archer wasn’t convinced.
“Come on, Van.” The man’s expression turned incredulous. “We all know you aren’t Webb’s number one fan, but what you’re accusing him of…” He raked a hand through his thick waves of dark brown hair. “You’re talkingtreason, man.”
Worse than that. I’m talking about murder.
But either way…
“This has nothing to do with my personal feelings.” He needed to make that point crystal clear. “This is about uncovering the truth. About Hunt’s death…our careers…” He paused. “If I suspected anyone other than Webb, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
“But Webb is the one you suspect, despite the fact that you have zero evidence to support your wild accusation.”
Van’s shoulders rose and fell with a sigh. He fully understood Logan’s gut reaction to defend the powerful man. It was the same reason the guy wore blinders where SECNAV was concerned.
“Webb served with your dad,” Van stated what they already knew. “From what you’ve told us before, the two were pretty tight.”
“Mike didn’t just serve with my dad, Van.” Logan referred to the powerful man by his shortened first name. “They were best friends. And after my dad was killed in action,Webbwas the one who was there for me and my mom. He helped plan the funeral. Spent time with me to give her a break. The guy even mowed our lawn for fuck’s sake.”
