Page 57 of Every Last Breath

Castle scrubbed a hand over his face. “Let’s assume you’re right and we have a leak. If the mole knows we’re on to him, it’ll be that much harder to plug. We need to keep this close-hold.”

“The fewer people you trust on this,” Cole said, “the better.”

“Did Lover Boy just say I was right?” Castle folded his arms across his chest.

“No.” The word stabbed the air. “I only said you weren’t wrong.”

“I agree.” Maddox stared at her brother, knowing he was going to fight what she had to say next. “I don’t think we should tell Sanborn.”

“Sanborn needs to know,” Castle said as if issuing an order rather than making a suggestion.

If Sanborn wasn’t the leak, she’d be the first in line to tell him.

“If we have a mole, it could be anyone,” Gideon said, echoing her thoughts.

A frosty calmness settled over Castle, sending a chill creeping over her skin. “Not him. Not the DGB.”

She didn’t want to entertain the idea either, but someone inside the Gray Box had just jeopardized this mission and their lives. Someone they trusted without a doubt before tonight.

“Castle, you sound awfully certain,” Cole said, “like you hold him in high esteem, but what do you know about him?”

The one person who knew Sanborn the best was Knox and he was deployed.

Sanborn was tight-lipped, epitomized discretion, kept their black ops pitch-black. In the intelligence community, he was respected and feared. Their boss knew so much about government dark arts, it was piss-your-pants scary, which also meant he’d know everything about how to cover his tracks.

“I know he keeps his distance because getting too close to us would cloud his judgment,” Castle said. “He has to make tough calls and sometimes, he needs to bring down the hammer if we step out of line. I know he wouldn’t sell out this country for money. I know I can trust him with my life. With your life.” Castle stabbed the air in her direction.

“That snazzy suit of his wasn’t simply tailored,” Cole said. “The perfect fit, handcrafted stitching around the lapels, working cuffs—it’s custom. Expensive. And he’s wearing a Tag Heuer watch. A chump change government paycheck didn’t pay for that.”

Sanborn was always impeccably dressed, but she had never examined his clothing under a microscope. Cole made a good point that civil servants weren’t rolling in dough.

“The DGB is the very antithesis of an open book. I don’t know anything personal about him,” Reece said. “Do you?”

“He was married for a long time,” Castle said after a moment of silence. “Janet let it slip once that his ex-wife bought those suits, the cuff links, and watches he wears. When he talks about marriage, it’s with fondness, like he doesn’t enjoy being single. I know the Gray Box and his reputation are all he has.” He squeezed one hand in the other. “He’d never risk losing or damaging either.”

“Maddox almost died tonight.” Cole rubbed the back of his neck. “Trusting the wrong person, someone who has most likely had special training in deception, could get all of us killed. You can’t afford to take that chance.”

Her brother rolled his eyes.

“There’s too much at stake.” Maddox stared at Castle. “We need to find Novak and retrieve the bioweapon. Then we’ll tell Sanborn about our suspicions that we have a mole. That’s the safest, smartest play. Am I wrong?”

Castle’s jaw hardened, Adam’s apple bobbing as he met her eyes. “You’re not wrong.”

Chapter 17

Gray Box Headquarters, Northern Virginia

11:22 p.m. EDT

The adrenaline high had drained from Maddox somewhere over the Atlantic on the helicopter ride. Fatigue was sludge clogging her veins.

Her bruised ribs hurt. Sitting in the conference room, her only comfort was from the baggy running shorts and V-neck tee she’d changed into and a couple of aspirin. The frosted walls pressed in on the room. She squirmed in her seat, anxious for the briefing to get underway.

Janet circulated around the table, refilling coffee cups, handing out her homemade jam thumbprint cookies and slices of zucchini bread the guys gobbled by the fistful.

Maddox sipped her coffee, clutching her sore neck. A hot shower would do wonders, but that luxury would have to wait.

“The drone tracked the helicopter from the yacht. It landed at the WMN-TV heliport,” Sanborn said.