Page 23 of Code Name: Admiral

The elevator doors opened to the lobby, and I followed him out to the street.

“If it was one of your people, you’d suggest the same thing.”

“What I’d do with someone else has no bearing on what I intend to do myself.”

“And if I pull rank?”

I stopped walking. “I already told you. You’ll have to fire me.”

“She’s dangerous.”

I shook my head. “She’s broken.”

Grit studied me. “Are you the man to put her back together?”

“If she’ll let me.” I shook my head a second time. “Scratch that. My answer is yes.”

“You’re this certain after what? A few hours?”

“Hell yeah, he is.” I felt my best friend’s presence before I registered his words. “How ya doin’, Admiral?” Diesel asked.

“Better now that you’re here,” I admitted.

“How are you, Deez?” Grit asked, extending his hand.

“Happy to be alive. How about you?”

Grit chuckled. “Dealing with an HR issue presently.”

“Good luck with that,” he responded, looking over at me. “Doc and Merrigan Butler told me to assure you their offer of a position with K19 Security Solutions remains wide open.”

“Fucking Doc,” Grit muttered under his breath. “He won’t stop until he’s drained the bureau of our best agents.”

“They won’t stop there,” said Diesel. “There’s hardly anyone left at the agency. At least anyone worth mentioning.” His eyes scrunched at the man, who, for now at least, was still my boss. “I’m sure they’d be happy if you made the leap too.”

Grit poked my chest with his finger. “He goes, I might follow.”

If it was their intention to distract me, they were doing a good job of it. I checked the time. Forty-seven hours and fifteen minutes more of this, and I just might make it with my sanity intact.

“We need to talk strategy,” Grit said, his tone shifting back to business. “The cemetery service will be our best shot at containing this situation.”

I nodded, though “containing” felt like the wrong word. Alice wasn’t some threat to be neutralized—she was a wounded soul acting out of raw pain and a desperate need for justice. Or revenge. Sometimes, the line between the two blurred until they became indistinguishable.

“I want surveillance teams in place the morning of the service,” I said once the three of us had returned to Alice’s apartment. “Full coverage of every approach and exit point.”

“What about coordinating with the NYPD?” Tank asked, his fingers moving across his tablet. “We could arrange for plainclothes officers to supplement our teams.”

“No.” The word came out sharper than I’d intended. “Keep this in-house. The fewer people who know about this, the better.”

“Do you think there are leaks coming out of the PD?” Grit asked.

“I think the Castellanos have their hooks in deeper than we know.” I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated. “Bobby didn’t get where he is without protection from somewhere.”

The implications hung heavy in the air. If there were corrupt cops working with the family, bringing in the NYPD could compromise everything. Worse, it could get Alice killed.

“What about the cousin angle?” Diesel asked quietly.

I felt my jaw clench. “What about it?”

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