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“Yes it was. I’m the sniper. I should have noticed—”
“Wait, what?” Gage interrupted. “Dude, have you been blaming yourself for that all this time?”
“Of course I blame myself,” Spencer insisted. “You guys rely on me to watch your backs, and I failed. I let you down. I letmyselfdown. And I damn well let Nick down.”
“No,” Kyle said, firm and implacable. “You didn’t. Look me in the eye, Spencer, and hear what I’m saying. You know I wouldn’t bullshit you. I’m saying this because I absolutely believe it’s true. What happened to my brother was not. Your. Fault.”
The words hit like a blow to the solar plexus, and for a second, Spencer wasn’t sure how to draw in breath.
Scotty, a look of genuine concern on his face, slapped him hard on the back, jolting him into inhaling again. “Jesus, man, how long have you been carrying that?” he asked.
“Since it happened. I’m…not sure I’ll be able to let it go, even now,” Spencer admitted. “But it helps to hear that you guys don’t think I’m to blame.”
“Of course we don’t,” Scotty said, while Kyle and Gage nodded.
For a moment, they sat in silence, then Kyle cleared his throat, clearly ready to move the conversation along. “I got a call from Commander Brighton. He thinks we can use Williams’s deal to find Arrieta and Nick’s real killer.” He sniffed. “Not sure about that myself, but at least with Coran in custody, we’ve got one more piece of the puzzle solved.”
“Still can’t believe Williams was SHEEPSKIN,” Scotty said. “To think that geezer could create a secret network to track terror cells and that he was the one using Natalie’s stories as part of the scheme.”
“Looks can be deceiving.” Kyle scowled. “Just think about Natalie. We trusted her. Hell, Nick thought heaven and earth revolved around her, and then…” He cursed under his breath and took a long swig of beer before continuing. “Anyway, Williams is denying ordering the hit on Nick, but I’d bet a fortune he knows who did and why. Brighton said the FBI has kept the guy in twenty-four-hour lockdown with only closed-door interrogations since they brought him back to the States. According to the agents in charge, he’s hemorrhaging information about all kinds of stuff. Still claims what he did with the attack on that village makes him some kind of hero.”
“How are we going to find out what he knows?” Gage asked. “The Bureau isn’t really into sharing intel.”
“He’s right,” Hayley said. “They’ll have that information under the highest security clearance. I might be able to hack in, but it’ll take me a while.”
“Don’t bother,” Kyle said. “Brighton’s sending someone over with some new data. Someone on the inside, he said.”
“Really?” Spencer perked up a little. A tussle with some federal agents might be just the ticket to work off some of his tension. “Want me to handle them for you?”
The front door opened again, and Scotty glanced up. “Oh, man.”
“What?” Spencer turned and did his best not to gape. “Toni?”
Her dark eyes were unreadable as she walked up to their table, her gaze never leaving his. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Spencer said. Okay, not exactly genius-level conversation, but damn. His brain felt like pudding. He’d imagined seeing her again a million times, imagined what he’d say, what he’d do, what she’d be wearing.
Spencer looked her up and down—from the toes of her plain white sneakers, up her long, jeans-covered legs, over the purple T-shirt that clung to her luscious curves, and finally to her pretty face.
Nothing in his imagination could ever live up to the real thing.
“Uh, can I sit down?” Toni asked, and Spencer felt like an ass all over again.
“Oh, yeah. Sure.” He stood and grabbed her a chair amid snorts and snickers from his fellow teammates. He kicked Scotty’s shin hard to get him to move back, then pulled up a seat for Toni right beside his. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” She gave him a polite smile.
He slumped back into his own chair and did his best not to stare at her like some besotted baboon. Whatever game he might’ve had where she was concerned was completely gone. “Would you like something to drink?” he managed to say, his throat tight with adrenaline.
“Uh, sure.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
“Cool.” Spencer hailed the bartender. Once the guy brought her drink, he all but fell out of his chair, rushing to pay for it. Not good. Not good at all.
“So, Toni,” Kyle said, giving Spencer a get-it-together look. “Commander Brighton said you had new information we might find useful?”
“Yes.” She pulled a folder out of her bag and slid it across to Kyle, who started scanning the contents immediately.
“Looks like your father had another meeting set up two weeks from now in Tennessee?” Kyle said when he looked up again.
