Page 88 of Breached

“No, Nicole.” She grabbed my hand. “I know that look. I’m telling you to stay out of it. If Paul thought even for a second you could or should help, trust me, he’d already have asked.”

“I just wonder⁠—"

“Nicole, no. There’s a darkness around Rafe and his men, and Paul doesn’t want you anywhere near it. Besides, they’re headed to Vegas shortly, anyway. With the resources Grim Gates has, it’ll only be a matter of time before he gets all the answers he needs. Shadows has been through enough, and let me tell you, we still have some major hurdles to get through tonight. Promise me you’ll drop it.” She pulled away from the wall and nodded for me to follow her to join everyone else who had begun to sit at the table.

“I promise,” I whispered, not wanting to cause unnecessary waves for anyone else. She was right—everyone had been through enough already. Rafe Hunter could find help elsewhere.

Once Paul spotted me, he quickly stood and pulled out my chair, brushing his warm hand over my shoulder. I closed my eyes momentarily, thinking how nice it felt.

“Thank you, everyone, for making dinner tonight.” Cole held up a glass. “And welcome, General Bruce, to Shadows. It’s your first time here, and I hope you enjoyed your quick tour around the grounds.”

“From what I was told—well, it sure didn’t do it justice,” General Bruce said as he nodded, but even as the pleasantries were spoken, the tension in the room could be felt. It wasn’t lost on anyone. Then thankfully, he dove right in. “All right, let’s get this part over with.”

I reached under the table for Paul’s hand and squeezed it, and he flattened it out, palm down, on his thigh and covered it with his own. I instantly felt calm. I wondered if he knew the kind of effect he had on me.

“I know you all are used to things going a certain way under General Frank, but I run things differently, and if we are going to work together here, I need to know what’s going on before it happens. So,” he looked around the table, “tell me about the explosions at the Rosarito and New Mexico tunnels.”

Not one person moved in their seat, shifted a glance, spoke, or fidgeted. If a pin fell to the floor, it would have echoed in the quiet of the room.

General Bruce’s eyes went to slits, and it was obvious he wasn’t happy with the silence. He scratched his chin. “Colonel Logan, you don’t really think staying quiet is going to help your case, do you? I know you and Blackstone have a relationship with Rafe Hunter and his team.” He stared at Cole, who simply looked at him. “I know they are working a job in New Mexico on Esmeralda Perez’s compound. I’m sure you are aware of the massive explosion that took place there on the very same day as the attack here.”

Mark coughed and the general shot him a look.

“I can’t have loose cannons out there, going behind my back. I have to be in the know about any operation your teams take on. I need to be able to trust you. Maybe we aren’t there yet, but this isn’t the way to gain mine.” He paused. “I’m going to ask again—did you have anything to do with⁠—”

“I knew about the tunnels,” I said. I felt Paul’s hand flex on my leg, and it prompted me to speak. I pulled my hand from under his—I knew the conversation wasn’t going in the direction they’d hoped.

General Bruce swung to face me. He was completely taken aback. The rest of the table stared at me as well. You’d think someone had been shot.

“Repeat what you just said, Miss Winter.”

“I knew about the attack at the Perez compound and also about the one in Rosarito, but I never told them about it.” I nodded toward the table and reached for my water glass in an attempt to look casual. I knew he hadn’t yet mentioned the attack at the tunnel in Rosarito, but I was sure he was about to.

“You’re telling me you knew about the bombings in both those tunnels but never told any of the people here about it? Not Colonel Logan, not me?”

“That’s correct, sir.” I nodded.

“Explain.” He leaned down and placed his hands on the table.

“With all due respect, I didn’t report it to you because you fired me.” I started there because, frankly, I was still salty over that wound. “But that never stopped me from keeping in touch with my connections at the Washington Post or my reporter friends still in the field.” I let that soak in. “I heard there was talk about the Devil’s Reach making a move to blow up the Rosarito tunnel. I also heard Grim Gates might have had a part in destroying Esmeralda’s tunnel.” I waited a beat to gather my thoughts and not rush my words. My story was ninety-five percent true, and history had been made over all this, and the teams getting in trouble for it just didn’t make sense. So, if I could deflect the general and take some of the heat off them, so be it. I looked at him dead on and kept my voice earnest.

“Look, sir, I didn’t tell the teams because they had enough on their plates with what was happening here with Bruno Perez. I know you know just how important the safehouses are, and Shadows could quite possibly have been lost. These men would have fought to the death to stop that from happening.” I took a huge breath. “And to be honest, sir, if you spend more than three minutes with Trigger or Grim Gates, you’d know that even the US military couldn’t stop them once they set their mind to something. If I may offer my opinion, I think the world is in a better place for what they did.”

General Bruce stared at me, then to my shock, a small smile broke over his face. I saw Cole quickly shoot a glance at Savannah, and she slowly shook her head.

“All right,” General Bruce tipped his head back toward the ceiling and let out a huff, “I see it now.” He tapped his finger on the oak table. “Frank warned about how you all are, wives included,” he pointed at Savannah, who gave a one-shoulder shrug, “thick as thieves, cover for one another no matter what the cost. I won’t lie—I admire the shit out of it.”

Paul’s grip suddenly went slack on my leg.

“Don’t think for a second, Miss Winter, that I believe that at least your boyfriend didn’t know about the tunnels, let alone Logan, but you’re right on two things. One, we are better off without those tunnels. It would have been years before we got through the red tape to shut them down. And two, I did fire you. I find myself rethinking that.”

I couldn’t believe what I just heard. I excitedly turned to Paul but couldn’t read his expression, and as I looked around, I saw admiration on the guys’ faces, and pride filled me.

“Bottom line,” General Bruce continued, “I want this to work,” he said to everyone. “I know I’m not Frank, and I run things differently, but in time you’ll see you can come to me, and I’ll work with you, not against you, in whatever you need to do. I’ll never admit that when I’m standing in Washington Headquarters.” He smiled. “But I can see there’s a gray area that sometimes we’ll have to work in, and when we do, I’ll support you in any way I can. Just don’t shut me out.”

Cole stood and offered him a hand. “I admit, I wish we’d had this conversation months ago, sir. I appreciate you coming here, addressing the situation at hand, and speaking your piece. We hear you, and we’d be proud to work alongside you.”

“Thank you.” General Bruce shook his head and visibly relaxed as he took his seat.