Page 9

Story: Trusting Grace

“You can’t run domestic ops. You can’t investigate American citizens without FBI approval.” His voice dropped, edged with steel. “You want me to gather intel, and I’d say this isn’t through the proper channels, Lynne.”
“That’s why we call it black, Nash.” Her voice was calm. Brutal. “You know shit always happens, and it gets buried. This time, this is for the right reasons, even if costs me federal time.” She paused. “I know you’d do anything for your brothers.” She took a step closer, and he glimpsed pain, desperation flickering in her eyes before it was masked. "You want to know what really happened."
Silence stretched between them, brittle as ice. He’d walk through fucking fire for the truth. He knew it. She knew it. Daily living was fucking torture, and it wasn’t even that he longed for relief. He wanted the truth. He needed the goddamned truth. What difference would it make if he was trapped in his home or a cell? Lynne’s mouth kicked up in a satisfaction that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She was damn good at what she did.
"I have someone else on this already," she added, voice smooth as glass. "Off-book. Someone who knows how to read code like most people breathe."
His voice went low, almost a growl. "Who?"
"Grace Harlan."
That name hit like an old alarm. He didn’t know her. But he knew the rep. Smart. Cool under pressure.
“I thought NCIS buried her.” She got a raw deal. Maybe they’d deep-sixed him, too. Maybe together, they could dig their way out.
“They did,” Caspari said. “But she’s looking for something, just like you. Together you might find what I need. Maybe what you both need to move on.”
He hated her for knowing exactly how to say it.
He hated himself more for wanting to believe it.
He stared at the floor, then back at her.
“I know the where. When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Our cover?”
“It’s already in place. Black Kite auditors. No one fucks with government oversight.” She paused. “She demanded first class. I’ll throw it in.”
He gave a long breath through his nose. “I need to clear?—”
“Already done,” she said. “You’re on vacation. Two weeks. That’s how long you have. She hunts the code. You contain the threat.” She took a breath, her voice going fierce, her eyes moist. It set him back on his heels. Caspari raw? “There’s something there, Nash. I can feel it in my black heart, connections, buried data, answers that the three of us would face charges, buck protocol, and fake credentials to find. Ineedit.Youneed it.Graceneeds it. This is something weshare.”
For a long moment, Nash didn’t move. Old instincts stirred, rough and stubborn, scraping against the hollow spaces inside him. Duty. Honor. Country. The words were more than slogans. He hadn’t been a good man lately. Hadn’t been a good anything. But he knew how to stand when it mattered.
He knew how to shoulder what was his, even when the weight felt like it would drive him into the ground. Leadership. Perseverance. Loyalty. The only easy day was yesterday. He could still hear the words, sharp and ruthless, hammered into him through the years and the wars and the brotherhood he’d lost.
He nodded, slow and controlled. “Hoo-yah.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “One more thing. Get me a clean gun in Colorado Springs. Something tactical, no piece of shit.”
Then he gestured toward the two men still on their knees. “Now vacate my premises and take your operatives with you. They might need a refresher at the Farm. I might be benched, but I’m never out of the fight, Lynne.”
She gave a half-smile. “I never thought you were. Someone will be in touch about the gun.”
“No piece of shit, Lynne.”
She nodded, cut them loose, gestured. Her men stood awkwardly and left without a word.
Nash didn’t lower his weapon until he heard their engine start and the tires crunch gravel. He stood in the kitchen doorway long after they were gone. Caspari was a professional liar. He knew that.
But if there was even a sliver of truth in what she offered, if Grace Harlan really could find the thread he had lost, then maybe, just maybe, he could sleep without the nightmares, the memories of his teammates' faces haunting him.
Maybe it was the start of something else.
He was only out two weeks of vaykay.
His brothers were worth that, and more.