AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You may not have to answer these questions here, Officer Richards,” Danforth cut in. “But youwillhave to answer them down at the detention center.” He looked up at me. “We will be taking all related files and computers as well. I assume you have no further objections?”
I felt sick. Jack was someone I had taken under my wing, and I couldn’t believe I was going to let this happen to him, but he did seem like he deserved it. “Take him,” I swallowed hard.
“You’re going to fucking regret this,” Jack snarled. “I can’t believe you would turn on one of your own like this. What happened to the brotherhood?”
I turned my back on him and listened to the sound of the handcuffs closing around his wrists.
I didn’t want to believe that Jack could have done what he’d been accused of. But if you had asked me this morning, I would have said he wasn’t capable of sabotaging the power lines either—and he had just come right out and admitted to that.
I would have to allow for the possibility that I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did. And if that was true?
Maybe Alison had been right all along. Perhaps hewasguilty.
I hadn’t even been willing to look at her evidence.
Well, I was going to look at it now. As the other agents gathered files in Jack’s office, I went into my office. Ignoring the stares coming at me from everyone who had just witnessed Jack’s arrest. I was sure they had questions, but I wasn’t going to answer them right now.
Instead, I quickly sat down at my computer and pulled up last year’s automotive file.
My heart sank. It was just as Alison had suggested. Someone had set up an extra layer of security around it. My clearance got me in with no problem, but an outsider wouldn’t have been able to access it without an additional password.
I didn’t know who had put this extra security in place—but I could guess. And though I wanted to be wrong, I suspected that a more profound examination would reveal Jack’s technological fingerprints all over it. If it had been done at a computer he was signed into, he was cooked.
There was no question of not turning in this evidence. If Jack had embezzled funds, loyalty to the SEALs demanded that I turn him in for it.
I opened the file, dreading what I might find, and started to review the numbers Alison had indicated weren’t adding up.
Right away, I could see that she was right. Still, I pulled out my calculator and carefully added everything up twice. Then I copied the data into a spreadsheet and had the spreadsheet do the math for me.
The result was the same every time.
Alison had been telling the truth—seventy thousand dollars was unaccounted for.
It was beyond belief.
We were supposed to be above this bad behavior. Now the reputation of the SEALs was tarnished. And though I still felt bad about letting Jack be dragged out of here in handcuffs, I couldn’t deny that he had deserved it any longer.
Even though I probably should have stayed at my desk, ready to deal with whatever the rest of the day would bring now that this had been unleashed, I couldn’t stand it. I needed to do something physical to get my mind off things. I decided to hit the gym for a few hours—I had to work on my conditioning anyway. The fact that I wasn’t on active duty was no excuse to let myself go.
I had my workout clothes in a locker at the gym, and I changed into them and settled into an easy run around the track, letting myself warm up. I settled into the familiar feeling of my muscles working, which was simple and made for a great distraction. After a while, I opened it up and ran a bit harder, straining myself, letting the pain of the workout clear my head.
It wasn’t until afterward, when I left the track and went to the free weights, that I wondered what Alison was doing today.
She would know that this arrest was happening.
And with a pang of guilt, I recalled our last conversation and how awful I’d been to her.
She was just doing her job, and I had accused her of underhanded tactics and fabricating information to make herself look good at my expense.
What an absolute dick move that was. I wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to speak to me again.
It was too much to hope that we’d be able to continue our physical relationship, and that thought was a gut punch. I had never had such great sex in my life. And it wasn’t just that she was hot, either—she wasfun. She was the girl you’d want to wake up next to and keep hanging out with, not just to see if you could score twice.
But I’d never have the chance to do that now. She wouldn’t want anything to do with me after the way I behaved, and I couldn’t blame her.
Still, I did want to apologize. I owed her that much.
But I had no idea how to go about it. Call her up and tell her I was sorry I’d accused her of falsifying information. Yeah, that would be pleasant.
