Page 16 of Keeping Her Secrets

7

Mustique turned off the alarm and let Jake and Nick into the house at 6:00 in the morning the next day. She’d slept poorly after the deep emotional conversation with Ash the previous night. Realizing her feelings for him were becoming so complex had been a surprise to her. She’d never had trouble hiding part of herself away from people, but now found herself in a position where she wanted him to know the real her, warts and all. It was a terrifying thought because then she might lose him—not that she had him, really—but whatever they had meant something to her, and she didn’t know if she wanted to risk it. Jake and Nick arriving was at least a buffer to any uncomfortable conversations they might have.

“Morning,” Jake said as he and Nick shouldered past her.

She assessed the two obviously pissed off retired SEALs in front of her. “You look worse than I feel. Ash is in the kitchen making coffee.” She gestured for them to proceed her.

Ash was pulling four mugs from a cabinet as they entered the room. “Hey, I thought we were coming to you.”

“You were, but we have information and didn’t want to wait.”

“Oh.” The trio sat at the kitchen table as Ash served them fresh coffee—strong and black.

“We found the shooter from last night,” Nick started.

“Wow, that was fast. Who is it?” This was moving way faster than she expected, but something about the look on their faces told her she wasn’t going to like the answer to her question.

Nick and Jake both frowned at Ash. “It was Clint Moody,” the latter said.

Ash reared back as if someone had struck him. “No way. No fucking way Moody is the shooter. Are you fucking kidding me? That boy bleeds red, white, and blue. He would never get into bed with a man like Hanley and betray his team, especially not men he’d served with.”

“We thought the same, but the evidence is saying differently.”

“What evidence?” Ash paced, hands-on-hips, his face a mask of anger. Mustique wanted to go to him, to offer comfort in some way, but she knew he wouldn’t want it right now.

Nick leaned back in his chair. “Brody was checking the CCTV around the hotel just before and just after the shooting. The footage shows Moody walking away from where the shot was taken carrying a long case back to his rental car.”

“Circumstantial,” Ash defended, and she knew he wasn’t going to accept this without solid proof. She didn’t blame him; if it were one of the girls from Zenobi, she would be responding the same way.

“Agreed, which is why we thought we could all go and talk to him and find out what the hell is going on. We don’t want to believe a team guy is responsible either, but he’s the lead we have, and we have to follow it and remain level-headed. Can you do that?” Jake raised an eyebrow at Ash.

He glared at his friend. “I’m not some little pissant, straight out the water at Dam Neck, Jake. I’m Echo One, and you fucking know it. I can keep my cool and act like a fucking adult.”

“Good, how about you start then, so we can get going?”

Ash stomped out of the room, and Mustique eyed the other two men. “He’s just upset,” she said, defending him.

“I know he is, but he needs to snap out of it and treat this like any other mission,” Jake replied.

“I know, but this just got personal.”

“If you ask me, it was personal from the beginning.”

Ash marched back in. “You ready?” He was dressed in jeans, a black leather jacket, and biker boots.

“Shit, he looks as hot as you in that get-up.” Nick smirked at Jake.

Jake’s gaze whipped to his husband, his eyes narrowing. “That’s gonna cost you, Junior…later.” His voice was low and sexy, and Mustique felt the sexual tension spiral in the room. It was H-O-T, hot.

“Time to go,” she said instead.

The four of them decided to take two cars, so they could split up after and start their previous objectives if they got nothing from Moody.

“You okay?” she asked as Ash drove the black Jeep back toward the hotel. He’d been quiet, and she wanted to hear what was on his mind.

“I guess.” He glanced at her, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. “I just… I noticed Moody seemed off the other night, and I should have asked him why, but I got distracted. I won’t forgive myself if I missed this.”

“This, whatever this is, is not your fault, Ash. Everyone makes their own choices in life, and they have to live by them, even if they don’t want to.”