Page 38 of Code Name: Admiral

“That depends on you.” I kept my tone neutral. “But whatever’s coming, it’s bigger than any of us.”

His hand moved to the back of his neck. “I’m in. Tell me how you want me to proceed.”

“For now? Just know we’re pursuing this independently. The fewer people who know the details, the better.”

He nodded slowly, accepting the implicit message that he wasn’t being fully briefed. “Fair enough. I should get back to Federal Plaza. Keep up appearances.”

“Wait.” Something in his tone made me pause. “What appearances?”

“Someone needs to be your eyes inside. Might as well be me.” He pulled out his phone, showing me a message. “Meeting called for zero eight hundred tomorrow. All assistant directors and above.”

“They know we’re onto something,”

“Exactly. Which means I need to be there, looking appropriately concerned.”

I studied him. “You’re taking a hell of a risk.”

“Sarah Gordon was one of ours,” he said simply. “We owe it to her to see this through.”

It was exactly what a loyal bureau man would say. It was also exactly what someone trying to monitor our investigation would say.

“Just be careful what you report back,” I warned. “To anyone.”

His eyes met mine. Message received.

“Keep your comms open,” I added.

“I’ll brief you myself on whatever happens at the meeting and beyond it. And, Admiral, when this breaks open—and it will—I want to be there. For Sarah.”

I nodded noncommittally. Time would tell whose side Grit was really on.

“Take your team with you.”

“Understood.”

I watched Grit’s car disappear down the drive, already composing a message to Tank:Track his every movement.

Roger that.

I stalked into the bedroom, needing to process everything that had happened in the last hour.

“Hey,” I heard Alice say. “Are you okay?”

When I shook my head, she shut the door behind her, approached, and put her arms around me. I was glad she didn’t ask what was wrong since I wasn’t ready to talk. Too many things were swirling through my head for me to even put enough words together to explain.

I closed my eyes, breathing in her scent and wishing I could shut the rest of the world out. I didn’t want to think or talk about the Castellanos, my cousin, her sister, or that there was a traitor to the country I’d pledged to protect and serve within the FBI—maybe even higher up than that.

Alice raised her head from where it rested on my shoulder and looked into my eyes. When I opened my mouth to speak, she cut me off by bringing her lips to mine.

Our kiss deepened, and for a moment, I let myself get lost in it. In her. The world narrowed to just us like I’d wanted it to—her soft lips, her hands gripping my shirt, the way her body fit so perfectly with mine. For a few precious seconds, there was no conspiracy, no corruption, no looming threats. Just Alice.

An alert from her monitoring system shattered the moment.

“Argh,” she muttered against my lips before pulling away. “I need to?—”

“Go ahead.”

I followed her out to the main room and watched as her fingers flew across her keyboard. Seconds later, lines and lines of data appeared on the screen. I stood behind her. “Talk to me.”

---