“I need you to stay vigilant,” he stressed. “You’re being sent out soon on a mission, but you need to be even more aware of your surroundings than usual when you’re stateside. So far, the threats have been directed to the admiral, and we’re not certain how they found out his home address. Or what photographs and private information they think they have.”
“Hell. I assume his wife knows about this?” Blake asked.
“She does. The teenage daughter was briefed about the situation as well.”
“What’s she do?” Grayson asked, raising his eyebrows. “High school student?”
“She’s in college,” Commander Hutchinson said. “She just turned nineteen a few months ago. Although she was away at school, for the moment, she’s back home and doing her courses virtually. At least until this is settled.”
Grayson nodded, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. “Think she released any private information on the admiral, either intentionally or not? Or put up her own incriminating photos? College kids have all those social media accounts these days. They post damn near everything online.”
“We don’t have any reason to believe she’s involved in something unsavory. That’s all being investigated of course. The teenager could very well have social media accounts we’re unaware of.”
“And they could’ve put her in a compromising position,” Grayson said.
“Maybe she got tired of daddy’s strict rules,” Logan mused. “She certainly wouldn’t be the first college kid who turned ‘girls gone wild.’”
Troy smirked but looked around at his teammates. “It sounds like anything’s damn near possible. That’s got to be hell on the admiral worrying about his family.”
Their CO spoke again. “It’s a major concern for him. In addition, Admiral Rice and his wife are celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary soon. It’ll be a big event, and the admiral wants this shelved before then.”
Blake’s eyes flicked to their commander. “You think that’s possible? My understanding was that the anniversary party is next month.”
“Affirmative. And we have no idea who this involves or how long a complete investigation will take. NCIS is guarding the family, but we’re not spreading word to the rest of base in the event someone here is involved. They might not be sending the threats, but they could’ve leaked his home address.”
“Hell,” Jackson muttered. “A potential traitor here? We just dealt with that shit in Bagram.”
Ethan stiffened beside him. The traitor in Bagram had resulted in a suicide bombing at the gate, Ghost’s fiancée Hailey being badly injured in a building explosion, and Ethan’s girlfriend Kimberly being kidnapped. The guys hadn’t even known their women when it happened, but life had a damn strange way of working out. Troy was happy for his buddies, despite the circumstances that had led to them meeting their significant others. Both men seemed happy as hell.
“We don’t know who’s behind the threats. The information I’m sharing with you stays in this room,” Commander Hutchinson said. “Ace’s team will be informed as well,” he said, referencing Everett “Ace” Walker and another SEAL team on base. “Aside from several officers in my chain of command, the investigators, and the admiral’s family, most people are unaware of the situation. We want it to remain that way for now. If the threat is coming from one of our own, hopefully they’ll out themselves.”
“And if it’s not?” Blake asked.
“The investigation will continue. The perpetrators haven’t revealed themselves yet. It could be a known U.S. enemy demanding the information and access to our nuclear warheads. It could be a servicemember hoping to sell the highly classified intelligence to the highest bidder. For some reason they think he’ll cave given the threats. If you notice anything suspicious, come directly to me. His family’s safety is a top priority for the Navy.”
“Understood, sir,” Blake said.
“Ace could look into it,” Troy said. Ace headed the other SEAL team on base but was also a computer whiz. He could’ve easily gotten a career in cybersecurity. He was strong as hell though and seemed to enjoy the physical side of being an operator.
“We’ll explore all our options. If NCIS needs assistance, Ace can step in on the computer forensics side of things. That guy is a goddamn computer genius. But for now, we need to table this discussion. We’ve got another pressing matter to discuss regarding Somalia.”
Chapter 3
Three days later, Caitlyn hobbled on her crutches toward her office. She had another dress on over her purple cast. Maybe she should’ve purchased some wide-leg pants or something, but dresses were working for her so far. And there was no way she was sacrificing her skinny jeans for a cast that would be off in another week.
“Hey girl!” Harper called out, hurrying up behind her. “I’ll grab the door.”
“Thanks,” Caitlyn said appreciatively, handing her the key. “You’re here early. I thought you were coming by at nine?”
“Yep. I’ve got a meeting with a client then though. I wanted to drop off the brochures with my updated pricing list. I so appreciate you keeping a stack of them here.”
“Of course. Believe me, most of my clients are happy when I refer them to vendors and already have the info here for them. It saves them a lot of work.”
“And brings me new business,” Harper said with a wink as she held open the door. Caitlyn moved inside on her crutches, glancing over at her best friend. Harper had on skinny ripped jeans, a black tank top, and long cardigan. She looked trendy, while Caitlyn still felt awkward with her crutches. She couldn’t wait to get her cast off and wear jeans, leggings, and whatever the heck she felt like. Dressing around
