“My thoughts exactly, Mr. Boyer.” Webb slid his hands into his pockets and widened his stance. “According to the most current intel, there have been no other threats made toward you or your team, nor are there any active plans for further retribution. But you men wanted answers, and you damn well deserve them. Now, I get that this isn’t a confession, and we still have to locate her, but I wanted to look you all in the eye and deliver the news in person.” His gaze slid back to Van’s. “That’swhy I’m here.”
Holy shit. They finally had an answer. After three years of non-stop anguish, heartache, and countless sleepless nights, Chase and the team finally knew the identity of the person behind Hunter’s death.
Now we just have to catch the murderous bitch and bring her to the States where she can stand trial for acts of terror…and murder.
“You’re still going after her, right?” Lucky asked their former boss’s boss. “I mean, now that you know who she is, you’re not letting this go. Right?” He scooted closer to the table, resting his elbows on its smooth surface. “Because if that woman recently had someone torture a CIA asset for intel on our team, then it sure as shit doesn’t seem like she’s done with us to me.”
“I won’t give up until Dawari is either behind bars or dead, Mr. Lucas.” Webb nodded. “Once we have enough evidence for a solid conviction, I can officially put a team on the ground to locate and bring her in. But JAG is going to need more than conjecture and chatter to build their case, and since this investigation is completely off-books and under the radar, it’s going to take some time.”
The deep grunt coming from Van expressed not only his, but the entire team’s frustration. After all this time, they finally had the name and face of the person responsible for the loss of an American hero, as well as their careers. And now they were being asked to wait.
Again.
A familiar pang of loss and regret filled Chase’s core. Not a day passed by that he didn’t think of their fallen brother. And every time Hunt’s memory drove through his mind, so did the rising urge to find those responsible and end them.
We aren’t stopping, Hunter. We’re still here. Still fighting for the justice you deserve.
“So that’s it?” Lucky asked the man in charge of the Department of the Navy.
Webb met his stare before giving his chin a single dip. “For now. But rest assured, this is nowhere near the end. I have an entire team of operatives and assets working on this.”
“Off the books, of course.” Van reiterated the man’s recent point with an edge of attitude.
“It’s either off the books or not at all, Braddock. Your call.” When no one said otherwise, Webb presumably took their silence as permission to continue their search for justice. “For now, gentlemen, I’d take this as a win. Our biggest obstacle has been finding out the who. Now that we have that answer, the rest should fall into place. I know asking you to sit on your hands and wait…again…is a lot. But given the walls we’ve already hit with this mess, if I were you, I’d take this one as a win.”
“Hunt’s dead,” Van bit back. “No one fucking wins.”
“You’re right. Regardless, I will continue fighting for at least a sliver of peace for you and your teammates.”
The look on Webb’s lined face said the man meant those words to his very core.
“Thank you,” Chase offered quietly. “For coming all this way and for…not giving up.”
“Kaamisha Dawari came after one of my teams.” A flash of anger filled Webb’s hardened gaze. “She may not have fired the bullet that killed Hunt, but as far as I’m concerned, she may as well have.”
I couldn’t agree more.
After a few more comments and final parting words, Secretary Webb said his goodbyes and left. Chase and the others followed suit, exiting the war room with a renewed weight pushing down on their shoulders.
It was almost as if the closer they got to answers, the heavier Chase’s sense of dread became. Which made no sense, given how badly he and the others needed to close this chapter of their lives.
For their sake and Natalie’s. And for Hunter’s memory.
“You’ve got walk-ins today, right?” Lucky asked as the two men made their way down the long hallway.
“Yep.” Chase approached his office door.
Since opening their doors, the members of Eagle’s Nest Securities alternated the duty of handling clients who showed up to the office without an appointment. A necessity with businesses like theirs because, as they’d seen far too often, the need for personal protection didn’t always come with advanced warning.
Crazy exes and stalkers tended to enjoy the element of surprise.
Once the firm was up and running, Chase and the others—including Natalie, who was instrumental in the start-up of Eagle’s Nest after surviving her own harrowing experience with violence—all voted to ensure one of the five-man team was available for consults during regular office hours.
Today, that job fell to him.
“Good, because my day’s jam-packed. Between paperwork from that last job, back-to-back-to-back appointments with both current and potentially new clients, and now looking into that Dawari chick, I’ll be lucky to make it home in time for dinner.”
“Call Ellie,” Chase suggested the guy call his wife. “I bet she’d be more than happy to bring something to the office.”