Page 61 of False Flag

She met his gaze, fire in her eyes. “So no motherfucker can claim that archaeologists aren’t willing to look at the data that’s been collected. When I tell the world that Gerard Campbell is a fraud, no one can claim I didn’t apply the scientific method to my evaluation of whatever he claims to find as evidence.”

Jake was shocked she’d say it out loud, but he supposed hiding her purpose was impossible the minute her ex was on the scene.

She huffed out a deep breath. “Thank you for interrupting Beau and for tossing him out.” She headed for the front door.

He caught her arm. “Anastacia, wait.”

“Don’t call me that.” She jerked her arm back, and he released her.

“Staci,” he whispered. “We’re not done.”

“If you came here because your brother told you about me⁠—”

“No. I’m not here for you.” This was true. He was here because the VP had cozied up to a billionaire who was buddies with an oligarch who had twice specifically targeted Navy SEALs for death, along with a podcaster who ran a group of domestic terrorists.

“You’re here for Gerard Campbell. Because you’re an apostle.”

“Apostle?”

Her voice dropped to a whisper so quiet he could barely hear the words. “And that, Jacob Burns, is why I left.”

Chapter Nineteen

Staci stayed in her room at dinner that night. She would probably kick Beau in the balls if she saw him, and then there was the fact that Dahlia had tracked down Staci in the library for the sole purpose of telling her that a hot guy had joined the team. He was living in Heron House because all the rooms were taken in Geoduck, but he would be here during mealtimes.

The only plus side to this was that Jake would be nearby during the times she was most likely to cross paths with Beau. Jake might be an apostle, but not only would he never hurt her, she also had no doubt he’d deliver on his threats if Beau touched her again.

Beau would touch her again. It was only a matter of time.

So she hid in her room, not in the mood to face any of them. Dahlia could flirt with Jake to her heart’s content. To the best of her knowledge, Dahlia wasn’t married, so Jake wouldn’t have another adultery charge to add to the investigation.

She hated herself a little bit for doing a search on adultery in the military—which, shockingly, wasn’t firewalled. She knew it was a punishable offense but was clueless on the details. From what she found in a quick search, she had to assume the adultery—if it had happened—had occurred weeks ago for the investigation to be underway already. It was highly unlikely Jake could have been suspended for something that happened after the paintball party.

Not that it mattered. It was just such a sudden turnabout. Did people usually get suspended during investigations, or was that a SEAL thing?

Maybe it was because SEALs could be deployed at any moment. Like when Diana was rescued from the terrorists who’d abducted her. You didn’t want to send in a guy who wasn’t a hundred percent focused on the job. Loss of focus could endanger everyone on the team.

It seemed pretty foolish for a guy who’d worked so hard to get his Trident—she’d heard it took about two years from start to finish—to screw around with a married woman. Was Jake that kind of foolish?

What did she know about him, really?

Rand and Chris liked him. But did they know about his fascination with Gerard Campbell?

Staci set aside the book she wasn’t reading, angry with herself. She’d hidden in her room so she didn’t have to see him, but she was spending every minute thinking about him.

She stood and grumbled at herself, then decided what she needed was ice cream. She could probably safely sneak past the TV room where the team usually gathered to watch one pseudoarchaeology show or another. She could be back in her room with a bowl of Tillamook Mudslide in a flash.

Growing up as an Army brat, she’d spent a few years in the Pacific Northwest, specifically Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Washington. Her mother had died six months before that particular PCS assignment, and the only thing she cared to remember from that time was Tillamook ice cream.

Being here brought it all back. Thankfully, the freezer was well-stocked.

She slid by the entertainment room and made her way to the kitchen. She pushed open the door and stopped dead in her tracks when she came face-to-face with a shirtless Jacob Burns.

He was, unfortunately, as beautiful as she remembered.

“Something happen to your shirt?”

“I, uh…it was needed elsewhere.”