Page 72 of False Flag

Staci cut her off. They could talk about the email she’d sent this morning later. Instead, she told Freya as succinctly as possible what had happened, swallowing her tears as she recited the cold facts.

There was a long pause before Freya said in a soft tone Staci had never heard before, “Oh, Staci. Honey. I’m so sorry.”

And then Staci was crying. Again.

Shit. This was not badass Valkyrie behavior.

“Sorry,” she said through tears. “I’m fine. Really. Just a little…shocked.”

“You know it’s okay to not be fine, right?”

“Of course. I just…I just… I’m not weak. I can handle this.”

“I know you can. I know how strong you are, sweetie. I saw you in the hospital last year. I know exactly what and why you’re fighting. And we’re all allowed moments to grieve. To process. That’s not a sign of weakness. It’s the core of our strength.

“Tonight, you need to cry and grieve and be there for Jake. I’ve got logistics and strings I can pull here. We can talk about your email tomorrow. Or even the day after. For now, you don’t have to do a damn thing except make sure he eats something.”

Freya’s breath caught, then she continued. “He just lost his brother. It doesn’t matter what their relationship was in the end. It’s a gut-wrenching loss, and I’m so glad you’re there for him so he doesn’t have to go through it alone.” Again, her breath hitched, and Staci remembered Freya had lost her own brother more than twenty years ago. She’d been all of eighteen years old and lost her whole family at once. She’d had to face that nightmare alone in a foreign country.

“Take good care of him. Check in tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Freya.”

“You got this, Staci. I know you do.”

The call disconnected, and Staci stared at her phone, wondering if she’d been misreading Freya all these years. She wasn’t a warm and fuzzy kind of person. She wasn’t even a lukewarm kind of person. This had led Staci to think that Freya only tolerated her because she was Morgan’s friend. But the warmth in Freya’s voice had been unmistakable. Impossible to hide.

And now she wondered if Freya hid affection because she didn’t know how to show it in times when emotions weren’t brought to the surface. Much as Staci had mistaken Kira’s shyness for being aloof.

In that moment, she was grateful to have felt Freya’s friendship. She’d called her for logistics, but instead received the message she needed to hear: tomorrow, the fight would resume. Tonight, she needed to be there for Jake.

“I’m so sorry, Jake. I know it’s too early to make any decisions, but if you do end up holding the memorial in your hometown in Washington, Diana and I will be there. I’m sure the whole team will come if possible.”

“Thanks, Chris. I—” Jake ran a hand over his face. He’d made it all the way through this conversation without breaking down. He didn’t want to spoil that now. He took a slow, deep breath. “I appreciate that. More than I can say.”

“In the meantime, if you need backup, Xavier Rivera and another former SEAL named Luke Sevick are just across the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Port Angeles.”

Jake knew Xavier Rivera was a former teammate of Chris’s from back when he was based at Coronado. Two and a half years ago, Rivera had run a training exercise in Olympic National Park for Chris’s platoon. The team, armed only with Simunition, had come under attack by Russian mercenaries. Three SEALs had been murdered. Jake’s current teammate, Teague Collins, had barely survived.

“Sevick’s the one who helped with the rescue at the end of the Lake Olympus Lodge Exercise?”

“Yes. He’s with NOAA now. Married to marine biologist Stefan Gray’s daughter.”

In a different time or place, this degree of separation would be exciting. If it hadn’t been for the ROTC scholarships, Jake would have studied marine biology in college. Stefan Gray ran an oceanographic institute in Monterey Bay, California, and traveled the world on a state-of-the-art scientific research vessel. Jake still had fantasies of being Gray when he grew up.

“Luke loves scuba even more than you, if that’s possible. If you need help in the water, he’s your guy. Rivera will cover you on land. I wish we could get NSWC to send in the team, but they can’t. Not when your mission is off-the-books.” He cleared his throat. “Or, rather, when you’re on leave.”

Chris’s slight slip didn’t matter. They weren’t on Letora Island, and they spoke on a secure burner phone. His senior lieutenant hadn’t been in the room when Jake was called in for the meeting at NSWC, but as OIC of the team, Chris—and only Chris—had been brought into the loop. Jake assumed it was because everyone wanted to protect Teague Collins from himself. If he learned Osborne was in the Laskin files, he was liable to do some hacking that could land him in the brig.

Regardless of the reason for secrecy, Jake was grateful he could reach out to Chris, who was his closest friend on the team, before calling his XO and CO. Now that the military was the only family he had left, he’d needed to speak to a friend.

“I’m going to stay in Victoria for a few days, but I will go back and finish what Lloyd started. I will find out what that asshole Gerard is doing, and why he murdered my brother.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Staci ordered dinner from a delivery service. She had no clue what Jake liked or wanted, but Lloyd had talked a lot about fishing with his brother, and Victoria had no shortage of fish restaurants, so she ordered a selection that included salmon and pasta, fish and chips, Dungeness crab Louie salad, and seafood chowder.

She paced the tiny living room, wondering if she should knock on his door or leave him alone. He might still be on the phone, or he could be sleeping. She didn’t want to interrupt or wake him.