Free Navy Justice (Whidbey Island, Book 5) by Geri Krotow Page B

that they’re going to slip up increases with each hour I remain undercover. These seemingly loner operatives could help us blow open a much larger network.”
    She leaned back in her chair. It was mind-boggling to consider how much the FBI and other LEAs did to keep the country safe on a daily basis.
    Her task was much simpler.
    “Tell me about your boss.”
    “Mike Rubio. You met him briefly during the Norfolk trial. He was the officer in charge of my SEAL team. We’ve worked together for almost two decades.”
    “And yet you have no way to contact him other than through official channels? I’m not getting this, Brad. You have to have someone to reach out to. And won’t he be worried about you?”
    “He might be, but we’ve been through worse. I already told you. I can’t make a move until I know where the cell is and what they’re up to. Or if my team’s narrowed in on them or even taken them out by now. That might not show up in the press right away.”
    “Yeah, I know.” So many Navy cases had initially attracted media attention, but after it was determined that it would be in the nation’s best interests to keep the facts classified, reporters had been notified and the cases left to die a quiet media death.
    “Do you think Mike’s looking for you?”
    “I’m sure he is.”
    She knew that Mike was like family to Brad. It was the SEAL bond.
    “I understand, but you don’t have to be a SEAL to understand that you share deep bonds with your teammates.”
    His teammates. Afghanistan.
    He nodded.
    “The
overseas operatives
you mentioned, the terrorists—you had something to do with targeting them downrange, didn’t you?”
    Admiration flashed in his eyes a second before his expression returned to its battle-hardened mode. “That’s classified. But yes, I may have a connection, or a personal interest if you will, with the bad guys driving these domestics to commit terrorism.”
    She wanted to push him on this, to find out more. If he’d been on a witness stand, she would have. But he was in her living room, and she knew he’d shut down completely if she got too close to the truth.
    He thought he was protecting her, no doubt.
    “It must be hard to have left the Navy, only to find the same bad guys are wreaking havoc in your own country.”
    “Yeah, it’s not pleasant. But at least I know who I’m dealing with.” He stared down at his clasped hands.
    A moment later he looked up at her again. “It’s a kick in the gonads that we didn’t take care of them all during the war. I thought we had, on several occasions, but this particular group is like a hydra.”
    “That’s their basic structure, isn’t it? The sleeper cells exist to become operative and go live just when they seem to be eradicated.”
    “Yup.”
    He stood up and started to pace. “I feel bad telling you all this, but since it’ll help you find the information I need...” He turned to her, his gaze searching for something she didn’t understand.
    Or didn’t want to.
    “If I’d overlooked anything during our debriefs, one of the other guys would have spoken up. Same goes for Mike. I’ve often seen things he missed. That’s the point of the debrief and operations report. Everything of consequence, and a lot of extra stuff no one ever uses again, is in those reports. I’m telling you, Joy, any leads from our contacts downrange have been thoroughly exhausted by now.”
    “Hmm.” She’d read some of the reports from the raids on Farid’s village. Even with her need-to-know status as a JAG, she’d come across several places in the reports that had been sanitized for the legal proceedings. The lines blacked out by a Sharpie had troubled her then and troubled her now. Was the answer to the cell’s motives in those lines?
    “Spit it out, Joy.” She loved the way they’d slipped back into their easy working relationship. They’d worked well together and shared similar views on world events. And Navy justice.
    She’d