Page 14 of Every Last Breath

Sybil Parker sashayed by, working her Louboutins and chic body-hugging dress with serious prowess. She gave Maddox the once-over with those shark eyes. The woman stayed in motion, circling, sniffing for blood in the water. Put the great white in Jaws to shame.

Parker was the one person in the Gray Box the DGB hadn’t handpicked and couldn’t fire. Only the DNI, the director of national intelligence, could touch the insider threat monitor. Her sole responsibility was to keep an eye on personnel, communications, and networks, ensuring everything stayed aboveboard and no one misused access.

Every government agency had ITMs. Considering the Gray Box was plugged into the networks of the CIA, FBI, and every other alphabet-soup agency, Parker’s position carried hefty weight. She knew it, too, and needled the DGB whenever possible, igniting epic battles.

Maddox hurried to Janet’s desk and picked up the line with Reece on hold. “What’s up?”

“He’s verifying the Russian threat is credible and running a background check on you.”

Cole had resources to tap. Not good. Meant he wouldn’t need her for a safe place to stay.

“I think you’re right that he’ll come to you. He wants his investigator to find out who you’re fucking.”

So Cole still cared about her on a primal level. Even if it was only a testosterone-fueled, territorial one. “Anything comes up, any issues, bring it straight to me.”

“We’ve got your back. Always. But cover our asses and get Dad’s blessing.”

Castle opened the door, leaving the big guy’s office.

She lined up her thoughts like ammo in a magazine. “Will do. Got to go.”

Meeting Castle’s gaze, she searched his face but found the usual stony blockade. Then the oddest thing happened. He smiled, throwing any read on him into left field.

“How did it go?” His voice was off, too light, too airy. “Did you get lucky?”

“In a Twilight Zone way, yes.” She kept her tone calm. “You took those shitty photos of him, didn’t you?”

He dragged a hand over his bald head, the one telltale he was uneasy. “Yeah. I did.”

Castle didn’t know how empty she’d been for near a decade, but he’d witnessed the Reznikov train wreck, knew what she’d lost. She nursed her simmering anger but reined in the urge to punch him. Losing her temper, regardless how righteous, was a luxury she didn’t have.

“That’s low,” she said, level, controlled. “Even for you.”

“We all have our trials. I chose to follow orders. No matter how difficult.” Castle folded his arms, flexing big bear muscles. Not the cuddly teddy-bear type either. “Buck up. The only easy day was yesterday.”

“Are you ever going to stop being a dick?”

“Yep, got it marked on my calendar. It’s the day you stop being a candy-ass.”

Painting on a careful smile, she said, “Thanks for the heart-to-heart, Castle.”

“Anytime, buttercup.”

Sad truth, that was probably the most intimate chat they’d had in years. He kept everyone at a distance. Something ugly had happened to him on his last mission as a Navy SEAL, something so painful it led him to the Gray Box. Something ugly and painful had led most of them here.

She pivoted and strode into the DGB’s office.

“Close the door. Take a seat,” Bruce Sanborn said from behind his black glass-top desk.

Her boss had the look of a natural-born covert operative—hunky build, above-average height, a face resembling someone you knew or wanted to, but no one you quite remembered. The perfect camouflage of ordinariness.

She shut the office door and sat.

“Castle opposed my decision not to tell you Cole Matthews’s true identity.” Sanborn leaned back in his leather chair. The gray sprinkled along the sides of his dark hair, the patience in his warm brown eyes, the timeless bow ties he wore, gave him a sense of elegant wisdom.

But she questioned his judgment this one time. “Why was the truth kept from me, sir?”

“There wasn’t much information in your personnel file on your association to the Reznikov family, besides a brief liaison with Nikolai.” His low, gritty tone and relaxed demeanor echoed his managerial philosophy: authority speaks, but real power whispers and carries a bazooka. “I squeezed Castle to see what he knew. Discovered your file has gaping holes. It appears your relationship had been more than brief and casual. That you feel responsible for what happened to the asset.”