Page 56 of Hidden Attraction

“It’s our job to check into everyone, search every shadow,” Chase said evenly. “We know you’re clean. Now we need to know who’s not.”

There was a moment’s pause. Then the commander gave a short nod, a glimmer of respect flashing across his face. He sank to the chair behind his desk and waved for them to sit. Though Chase’s nerves had him itching to pace the confines of the small office, he saw Alyssa seated first before taking his own chair.

“You have my attention.”

Chase met the man’s gaze squarely. “A portal was opened that day on the computer. You know who opened it.”

The commander’s mouth thinned. “Yeah. I know.”

“So where’s the guy?” Chase’s fists curled in his lap.

The corner of Thorne’s eye twitched, but he only hesitated a beat. “In the brig,” he said grimly.

“The brig? All this time? Why haven’t you turned him over to the CIA?”

Chase’s gut tightened. They were trained to spot cracks, to ferret out betrayal—but it tore his guts out that someone on the inside turned and caused all of his brothers to die.

He jolted to his feet. “We need to question him.”

The commander hesitated, then nodded. “I’m not sure you’ll find what you’re looking for. In all the years Hyde has been in the brig, he’s never cracked under questioning.”

Chase could make him crack. He could makeanyonecrack.

The commander leaned back, fist pressed to his lips. “For what it’s worth…I feel responsible. This happened on my watch.”

Chase shook his head. “You’re not the one who tampered with that bird.”

“Still,” the commander said, voice low. “I let a snake in my house. And that’s on me.”

Chase understood that guilt too well.

“Point is,” the commander continued, “if you two think there’s a bigger threat out there…you’ll have my full cooperation. Whatever you need.”

Alyssa’s eyes relented slightly, but her voice was steady. “Thank you, sir.”

Chase pushed off the desk. “Where’s the brig?”

The commander stood. “Follow me.”

Chase hesitated a moment longer, something still gnawing at him.

“One more thing, sir,” he said, straightening. “Why’d you have Rezvan tailing us?”

The commander didn’t flinch, but something colder settled behind his eyes.

“Rezvan wasn’t following you. Not exactly,” he said. “I put him oneveryoneconnected to the investigation. Standard protocol when we’ve got a potential leak and no idea how deep it runs. I needed to make sure nobody was playing both sides.”

Chase firmed his jaw, absorbing that. It made sense. Ugly, but necessary.

“So you didn’t trust us either,” he said quietly.

The commander shook his head once. “Trust had nothing to do with it. You know better than anyone that trust without verification gets people killed. You checked into me. I checked into you.”

Chase let out a slow breath, tension bleeding off his shoulders. As much as he hated it, he understood it.

“Fair enough,” he said.

The commander’s mouth quirked in something close to a grim smile. “Good. Because we’re all going to need to trust each other a hell of a lot more than we have.”

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