Backblast by Candace Irving (miss read books TXT) 📕

a solved case? A traitor thwarted, and a terror incident actively prevented.

At least this round hadn't made the nightly news.

"Chief?" She'd clearly confused the general.

From the nod John offered her, her sincerity hadn't baffled him. But then, she'd already discovered that John was well into mapping out how her brain worked, whether she was ready for the added intimacy or not.

"Yes, sir. I'm particularly grateful for the leak. If you'll provide a list of those you shared my BI with, we can use it as a starting point. If we assign an agent to meet with them face-to-face, we can winnow those names down until we have—"

"Just one. The bastard who passed your BI to Durrani."

"Yes, sir."

And that would give them their traitor.

"I'll scratch out the list as soon as we've finished here. If those initial names have shared your BI, and with whom, I do not currently know. But I will do all I can to assist in finding out." The determination faded from the man's eyes as the blue within turned solemn. "And I am truly sorry for the violation of privacy and trust."

"Thank you, sir."

To her relief, the general sat. For some reason, his regret had made her uncomfortable. Which caused her craving for the caffeine in front of her to bite in that much harder. She slid the cooling cup of coffee closer and lifted it to her lips.

The risk paid off. Her hand and fingers were steady enough.

She downed the contents of the cup as quickly as she dared, lest her nerves suffer a relapse.

Palisade nodded as Regan returned the cup to the table. "We'll consider the issue closed then. As for which agent will be doing the interviewing with the diplomats and their staff, that'll be up to you. Corporal Vetter witnessed your interview with Durrani. He saw Durrani smack his forehead onto the table so the bastard could rip into his own carotids before you launched yourself up onto that table to push him upright. Vetter also testified that you did your damnedest to save Durrani's life, even though the man was fighting you. Chief Yrle briefed me about the interview's audio file as well. The contents back you up. While we all knew they would, it too was a necessary step, and now it's complete. Agent Chase, you are officially back in charge—of the case on this ship and the remaining questions that need answering regarding the unknown woman from the cave, as well as the traitor. Agent Riyad will assist you."

Agent Riyad was not happy with that.

Not only had the scowl returned, but lo and behold, it was leveled squarely on her as she went further out on that limb of chimeral tangled nerves, reaching for the pot of coffee with her still reasonably steady hand so she could refill her cup.

Captain Hoffman returned to the wardroom, slipping back into his seat to hand over a sheet of paper and converse quietly with the general. What was on that sheet, she had no idea, but from the general's frown the contents appeared serious.

She sat back, taking in the frown across from her. What the hell was the spook's problem this morning? He was acting as though he'd lost his best lead.

Did he honestly believe she was glad Durrani was dead?

Good Lord, the loss of potential intel alone was incalculable.

As she raised her cup, she caught a glimpse of John. He was shooting his own silent ire across the table. Which made the spook bristle. Visibly.

Riyad's scowl slid over to her right arm, then down.

She stiffened as John's left arm stretched out in response, casually coming to rest along the top of her chair. Except that arm was anything but blasé. The warning it carried was personal and professional—and very clear.

Fuck with her, and you're fucking with me.

What the devil had happened between these two men this morning? Because something had. And it had centered on her.

Had Palisade and his aide been privy to it? Was that why the general had made a point to seat her next to John? As some awkward show of support?

The humiliations just kept piling up.

And her arm. Riyad was still staring at it.

Worse, John refused to move his. With that annoyingly hefty major's oak leaf embroidered on his ACUs seriously outweighing the chief warrant officer two bar stitched to hers, she couldn't even jab her elbow in his ribs to get him to remove it. Not in front of witnesses, including a general.

She turned to glare at him. Not only did John ignore her, the arm stayed. As did that infuriating arrogance.

"Major?"

She and Riyad turned along with John to face his boss.

"Sir?"

"We need to wrap this meeting up. Much as I hate to admit it, this isn't the only shitshow on the planet today. Just got some new intel I need to act on."

"Yes, sir." John turned to her and nodded.

It appeared she had the floor.

She took advantage of the opportunity to eradicate at least one of her problems—that arm. She shoved her chair back, rudely dislodging it as she stood.

She didn't even bother glancing at John or Riyad as she turned to her left to walk around the back of her chair before she headed up the table. She drew her phone out of her cargo pocket as she reached the general's side and clicked it open to the slew of photos she'd taken in the stateroom that the Marine guards had shared.

Palisade nodded to the phone as she set it down in front of him. "What am I looking at?"

"Staff Sergeant Brandt's smokes. He's got several packs in his quarters. Chief Yrle and I searched the stateroom shortly before I came up here. I found this one tucked between the staff sergeant's mattress and the side of the ship." She reached down to slide her index finger across the screen to move to the next image. "This is a photo of what I discovered in the bottom of that pack. The cigarettes were all