Page 71 of Always Been Mine

“Red Bridge is a series of interconnected ops starting with the destruction of Project Infinity, the downfall of the Zorin Bratva, and the possible manipulation of the Russian conflict in Ukraine.”

“Are we still talking about weapons? Arms dealing?”

“Yes. There were two major players—Komarov and Zorin. You infiltrated Zorin, and Project Infinity agents went undercover with Komarov. My counterpart handling the Komarov side got assassinated. I suspected his boss was the culprit. This was a few weeks before John Cooper and Sarah Blake died in the car accident. Red Bridge had become operational. CIA was cut off from Komarov, so whoever was the mastermind of Red Bridge received most of its profits from weapons sales to South America. He was also receiving a cut from Zorin, which is why I think you may have met him and is his motivation to get rid of you, because of the possibility that you could ID him.”

The admiral paused, waiting for some acknowledgment from Gabe. “Go on.”

“Zorin made an enemy with our Red Bridge suspect when he decided to go into the black market nuke business without Red Bridge.”

Things began to click into place. This was around the time John Cooper, who was then known as Jase Locke, met withGabe at the behest of the admiral. “Had you always known that Travis’s wife was alive?”

“No. I only had my suspicions.”

“You never told me how you got in contact with Jase Locke,” Gabe asked.

“He contacted me through a common operative. He never mentioned Caitlin, only that he may have the location of the missing nuclear material.”

This started a series of meetings between Gabe and Locke. The last time was when Locke handed him a letter for Caitlin. Probably the same meeting where Caitlin had seen him.

“So what’s this got to do with Ukraine?” The region had been in turmoil since the revolution that ousted their president. The interim Ukrainian government was at odds with Russia ever since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, but there was fear in the International community that this was just the beginning of a more nefarious goal.

“You know the rumors that Russia is supplying arms to the rebels?” Porter asked.

“That’s not even a rumor, is it?” Gabe snorted. “Rumor is Russia is about to invade Ukraine.”

Porter nodded. “There’s reason to believe they’re going to use unconventional weapons to suppress the Ukrainian army.”

“You’re not talking about chemical weapons, are you?” Gabe asked. It had been done recently by the Syrian government. “They’ll be shunned, even by their allies.”

“No. I’m talking about—”

Rhino started growling softly.

The admiral stiffened in front of him, their eyes meeting in unspoken comprehension.

Someone was at the door.

Gabe drew his 9mm once more, but before he reached the window, he heard a door slam and a car pull away. He peeked outside and saw nothing. Usually the light from the streetlamps would illuminate a silhouette at his door. His eyes drifted further and his throat caught. There was a big lump sprawled across his front walkway.

A body?

No. No. No.

He threw open the door, ignoring the admiral’s shout of caution.

“Fuck me. Fuck me,” Gabe muttered hoarsely as he ran toward the unknown mass and sank to his knees. A body was wrapped in a blanket, nothing exposed except strands of long hair. It seemed like forever before he could bring himself to peel away the blanket. What would it reveal? Gabe had never been more terrified in his entire life.

“Babe . . .” his voice broke.

“Don’t!” An arm banded around his chest and pulled him back.

“What the fuck, Ben?” he growled with half a mind to knock the admiral on his ass.

“Not chemical weapons, Gabe,” the admiral whispered harshly in his ear. “Bioweapons. A virus. Check if the body has a fever.”

His blood chilled. Gabe wrenched free of the admiral and immediately crawled to the mass on the walkway. This time he didn’t hesitate to pull back the blanket. The lighting cast a ghostly glow over Beatrice’s features; her lips were pale. Her skin was cold, but that wasn’t the reassurance he sought. His hands circled her throat, fingers searching for a pulse. When he found a strong beat, Gabe fell back on his ass, an overwhelming relief momentarily robbing him of strength. He shifted to his knees and uncloaked her body further. He felt for injuries that might discourage lifting her. Finding none, and ignoring the wetness he’d felt along her arms, he carried her back into the house.

“Remove the laptop from the couch,”Gabe ordered the admiral. There was blood all over the blanket. Laying Beatrice carefully across the furniture, the blanket fell open. She was wearing sweats and blood soaked the sleeves of her hoodie.

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