Page 19 of Eight Years (The Trident Trilogy 1)

“And, I know your dad wouldn’t want you here,” he continues.

“You knew my dad?” I say slowly.

“I was at his funeral, Millie. I talked to you there. You’ve grown up, but you haven’t changed that much.” His eyes are still intense, but he’s smiling at me now.

“I don’t remember much about that day,” I say, looking down.

Actually, I don’t remember a thing about that day. I was still in shock, and what little did register with me back then, I’m still actively trying to forget.

“He wouldn’t want you here,” he repeats. “He didn’t want you in this life. Not even close to it.”

“Well, he isn’t here anymore,” I say bluntly.

“I called Chase when I found out you were coming down here. He thought you were living in London. He didn’t even know you were in the CIA.”

I lived with Chase and his family for months after my dad died. They had quite literally saved me. I couldn’t have survived it all without them.

“Yeah, we lost touch,” I say, not meeting Culver’s eyes.

“He said you lost touch when you left for college. You stopped returning his calls, and then your phone number didn’t work at all. He was your dad’s best friend. You know that. You lived with them for months after. . .” His voice fades away. He saw my face the first time he mentioned my dad dying. He’s trying to avoid that again.

“I chose to move on. I had to move on. And, this has nothing to do with why I’m here,” I say, finally looking up.

“Are you sure? Chase seemed pretty upset that you were coming here. He wanted to know what the target package was,” Culver says. “I couldn’t tell him because he doesn’t have clearance anymore, but he asked me if it had anything to do with Bosnia. Why would he ask me that? What’s he not telling me?”

Well, at least, now I know Chase didn’t tell him. I look at Culver directly in the eyes. “I have no idea why he would ask that. Maybe he’s still in contact with someone here, and they tipped him off.”

“You’re lying to me, Millie,” Culver says carefully. “Chase is lying to me, too. I don’t like that. But, I guess that’s where we’re at, and frankly, if you’re up to something, I want to be the one in charge of you. I owe that to your dad.”

“I’m not up to anything. I just need to get Petrovic. I would do it alone if I could. Believe me, I don’t want to be back here,” I say.

“From what I remember Mack telling us, you might have the skills to do it alone. He said he had you trained up on everything we do here. Are you still a dead-eye shooter?”

“I don’t shoot very much anymore.”

I don’t do anything anymore that I used to do with my dad. I had to shut down anything that reminded me of him.

“I read through your file,” he says. “One of the top interrogators in the agency after only three years. Impressive. And you speak several languages, including Bosnian. Why Bosnian?”

He’s still trying to dig for information. “I lived in a predominantly Bosnian neighborhood when I was at NYU. I just picked it up. Languages come easy to me.”

He knows I’m lying. He’s good at this. Way better than most people.

“Huh,” he says, looking up from my file. “Well, it’s a nice coincidence then that your first target is Bosnian.”

I just stare back at him. Anything I say now will confirm I’m lying.

“Millie, the information you have on Petrovic looks solid. The target package is legitimate, but please tell me if there’s anything else I need to know. I know you know from your dad how these teams work. We need all of the information.”

“My dad never talked about his time here to me. I don’t know anything about how you work. And, everything you need to know is in my package,” I say.

“I notice that there’s no mention of your parents or your family in your file. I know the agency tries to hide any relationships to high-ranking military officials or special operators for your safety if you’re captured. That’s why they omitted it, right?”

“Yep. That’s it,” I say. “And, I’d appreciate if we could keep it between us here. Did any of the other guys work with my dad?”

“The team leader, Mason Davis, was in the pipeline by that time, but he was still in San Diego, and just a rookie. Different squad. He probably won’t put it together. I think you should tell him though. The entire team really. They’d like to know that you’re part of this family.”

“I’m not part of this family.” My eyes start to water again, so I look down. Oddly, I cry as much when I’m frustrated as when I’m sad, and I’m starting to get really frustrated. I wanted to fly under the radar here, get the job done, and just get back to D.C.

“You’re part of the family, whether you think you are or not. It’s just the way it is. But, I won’t tell them if you don’t want them to know,” Culver says standing up. “I have another meeting right now. Be back here tomorrow morning for a briefing at eight. You can meet the team and read them into the package. Bring a go bag. Sounds like we’re going to be wheels up pretty quickly on this one.”

He gets up to open the door for me, but stops at my chair first. He leans down and looks me directly in the eyes. “Millie, your dad was one of the best guys I’ve ever met. He saved my life more than once. You can hate me, hate the SEALs, hate all of this, but I will die myself before I let anything happen to you. Do you understand that?”

I just nod my head. I don’t trust my voice.

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