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“Yeah, I need a favor. Can we come in?”
Raymond’s eyes widened when Kelsey followed Cole into the room. “Kelsey, good to see you.”
“Good to see you, too. It’s been a while.” She dropped the diaper bag on the floor and walked over to the window with Eddy in her arms, giving Cole and Raymond as much privacy as she could.
“What the hell?” Raymond asked in a low voice. Cole briefly outlined what had happened since he got the email from Edwin the day before. In the background, Eddy started to whimper, and Kelsey talked to the infant to soothe him.
“Oh, man, that’s messy,” Raymond sympathized.
“Yeah. Kelsey and her son—”
“Yourson,” Raymond pointed out, since he knew the whole story there, too.
“Yeah, my son,” he amended, not wanting to get into that issue, “need protection. Can you watch over them until I get back? I don’t want anyone on base bothering them.” He didn’t think that likely, but you never knew. Especially since it still wasn’t known who’d really leaked that SEAL team’s location. There was a traitor somewhere in their midst.
“You bet,” Raymond instantly agreed. “Go do what you need to do. I’ve got this.”
“Thanks, man.” Cole caught Kelsey’s eye for a second before heading across base to Commander Dobson’s office. He had to wait fifteen minutes before he was ushered in by a young corporal. Cole saluted the silver-haired man, whom he’d always respected.
“Lieutenant Williams,” Dobson greeted him and gestured to a chair in front of his desk.
Cole would have preferred to stand during the dressing down he expected about his actions that morning. The Navy had its own public relations, and talking to the media was to be left to them. He’d been out of line. “About this morning. I assume you saw the news, sir. I apologize for that.”
Dobson waved him off. “That’s not why I called you in, lieutenant. I need to talk to you about Commander Reeves. Even before that impromptu news conference this morning, I knew you were close with him and his daughter, so I want to share some intel with you. Here’s what we’ve uncovered so far through our investigation into his disappearance.” He pulled out a folder and began taking out documents and lining them up in front of Cole. “Take a minute. Look these over.” Dobson sat back in his chair and waited while Cole scanned the papers. The first was a list of SEAL missions going back six months, including which teams had been deployed and the outcome of their missions. Another document had a list of SEALs, referring to them by name and including addresses and contact information. The last pages showed the exact location of the ambushed team along with a list of their armaments.
“Why are you showing me this, sir?” Cole asked. “Most of this is above my pay grade.”
“It’s above most pay grades, lieutenant. This intel was all accessed from Commander Reeves’s computer just before his disappearance.” He tapped the last document that detailed the information on the ambushed team. “Commander Reeves was able to gain access to files he had no business viewing. Considering he’s AWOL, it’s not too much of a stretch to think that he sold information to someone and caused the deaths of several good men.”
“Is this why his name was given to the press?” Despite the evidence before him, Cole couldn’t reconcile the man he knew with the portrait of a traitor that Dobson was painting.
“I wouldn’t have chosen to do that, but the orders came down from above. No one’s trying to make Reeves a scapegoat, but there are serious questions about his loyalty in high places. And you have to admit, these findings are damning.”
“I can’t imagine Commander Reeves ever willingly participating in something that would harm a SEAL or the interests of the United States,” Cole said.
“People do things all the time that no one predicts. If Reeves were here to explain or defend himself, this would be playing out differently. With him missing…” Commander Dobson held his hands up as if to indicate that anything could happen and that it was all out of his hands.
“Why are you sharing all of this with me?” Cole asked. He was a SEAL and proud of it, but his rank didn’t allow him to know what he’d been told, no matter his relationship with Edwin—or with Kelsey.
“The investigation of Commander Reeves is continuing. As someone who is close to him, I need to know if he’s reached out to you in any way. Have you heard from him since his disappearance?”
“No, sir,” Cole answered without hesitation, keeping his gaze steady on the other man’s. Cole wasn’t sure of his own motivation for lying to a senior officer, but he’d felt compelled to do it, some instinct telling him that it was the right choice. Not that there was anything incriminating in the email that Edwin had sent him…but still, that instinct was one that he’d learned not to ignore. There always ended up being a solid reason behind it in the end, something he hadn’t consciously noticed at the time. He’d sort that out later. For now, he couldn’t flinch and give himself away.
“Sir?” The young corporal who worked in the commander’s office knocked and opened the door. “Colonel Taylor from the public affairs office is on his way down. The media is requesting an update and he wants to discuss a follow-up statement with you.”
“We’re not sharing any additional details at this time,” Commander Dobson said.
“Yes, sir, but he insisted on seeing you. He’ll be here any minute.”
“I’ll have a word with him in the outer office.” The commander went out, leaving the door ajar behind him and Cole alone in the office.
Within moments, Cole could hear him in conversation with another man about a public statement. From what he could hear of their voices, neither man seemed to be in a position to see him here inside the office. His eyes went to the documents spread out in front of him. Before he could rethink it, he pulled his phone out and began taking pictures of them. His actions were beyond dumb and grounds for a court-martial, but Kelsey needed to see the evidence that the Navy felt they had against her father. She’d have no way of getting this intel through any other channels, since the military didn’t share well with others.
Cole’s phone was safely in his pocket when Commander Dobson returned. Cole stood and spoke first. “Sir, unless you have something else you want to discuss, I would like to request a thirty-day emergency leave effective immediately.”
“To be with Edwin’s daughter?” Dobson asked.
“Yes, sir.” There was no point in hiding his relationship with Kelsey. Dobson had seen them together at the Navy Balls, and there weren’t many secrets among the SEALs. Dobson likely thought he wanted to provide support to Kelsey through the media onslaught. Which—true enough, hedidwant to support her through that. He would just be protecting her at the same time.
