Free Breaking Through (Book 2 of the SEAL TEAM Heartbreakers) by Teresa Reasor

solid. You wouldn’t have stood by while he hurt the kid, and you wouldn’t have laid a hand on him yourself. I’d stake my career on it.”
    Brett drew a deep breath. Having Hawk back him up beat some of the edges off his worry. “Thanks for saying that.” But Hawk’s beliefs weren’t tangible evidence. He drew a deep breath. “Will you pull up Derrick’s report and see what he filed?”
    “Yeah, I can do that.”  Hawk took a swig of his beer. “When we were investigating who was responsible for your injury, Greenback said you tried to counsel Derrick and Flash just before the mission. He said Derrick was upset about something. You may want to talk to him. See if he remembers anything.”
    “Roger that.” Finally, something proactive he could do.
    “There’ll be radio transmissions logged. When you dropped the kid, you’d have radioed to let base know he’d been delivered.  There’ll be a record somewhere.”
    “I hope so. Otherwise—”
    “Don’t go there. We’re going to sort it out.” Hawk slapped him on the back.
    Despite Hawk’s reassurance, Jackson’s words still taunted him. All of this was tied to Derrick Armstrong’s anger management problems. In Iraq. Here at home. Brett’s gut clenched. And it was going to cost him everything if he couldn’t fucking remember.
     
     
     

CHAPTER 7
     
    Tess Kelly ground her teeth against the angry words and scowled at her editor, Elgin Taylor, from across his cluttered desk. How many times did they have to have this argument?
    The thin walls did nothing to block the telephone ringing somewhere down the hall. The smell of burnt coffee intruded from the kitchenette just off the main office. Though his office looked out onto what had once been the bullpen of the paper, very few people stirred there. Reporters today could work from anywhere and submit the story with one click of their mouse.
    “Your lifestyles article was good, Tess. Why can’t you be satisfied with a brush now and then with politicians, military personnel and their wives? Why do you want to be in the thick of things?”
    Because that’s where all the good stories are. Because my father wouldn’t be standing on the sidelines.
    Shifting her weight, she drew in a deep breath and folded her arms against her waist. “I’ve been doing the stories you assign me for more than a year, Mr. Taylor. When you hired me, you promised you’d give me the opportunity to stretch my wings as a reporter. The events I usually cover are not what I would call an opportunity.”
    “You’re offering our readers something they want to read, whether you’re interested in it or not. We have to pander to our readership in order to survive. Do you know how many traditional papers are going down? We’re all having to go to this ePub bullshit to keep the doors open.”
    “The ePub model is allowing you to reach a wider audience while saving resources and money, sir. More people can subscribe and read our paper without the cost of printing or distribution. It’s the same paper, just a different delivery format.”
    “Maybe I should transfer you to the marketing department since you understand it so well,” he said, his tone sour.
    God forbid . “What will bring in a wider readership, sir, are hard-hitting stories that play on current interests. We’re sitting in an area rich with story opportunities. Going at them from a sharper angle will garner wider attention. I don’t have to tell you that.”
    Taylor sat up, resting his elbows on his desk. His thick gray hair, more salt than pepper, gleamed beneath the florescent lights.  “Sharper angles, huh? Any time you start talking sharper angles, I have to call the legal department and vet something to make sure we don’t get sued.”
    “I’ll always have three dependable sources before I write the story, Mr. Taylor.”
    He waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “I know.” Then he scrubbed his face irritably. “The problem is that, for every story