Page 24 of Breached

“It takes more than glue and material to sell it,” Gary said as he cleaned up his mess, “it takes courage.” He looked at me. “And from what I hear, sir, you have lots of that.” He smiled at me. “Good luck.” He gave a polite bow, picked up his bag, and left.

Mark came strolling in, devouring a banana like they were on a third date. He stopped in front of me and took me in slowly. He swallowed then went in for another bite. “Huh. We had orders all those years never to engage with Eric Noah, and here I am standing next to you. Honestly, if we got into hand-to-hand combat, I’d never know it was you.”

“Well, lucky for you. I’d smell that banana of yours a mile away, and I’d be gone before you’d ever see me.” I glared at his snack.

He snickered. “I can’t help that my daily dose of potassium threatens you.”

Suddenly, the door opened, and Cole walked in looking less than happy.

“Impressive.” He pointed at me then jumped into business. “I know we went over a few things before Frank came in, but I need you to add something else to your list.”

“I’m listening.” I folded my arms, not channeling the body movements I had created for Eric. I hadn’t completely slipped into that mindset yet.

He licked his lips, and I knew I wasn’t going to like this. “I just spoke with Nicole. She had a call from Jack at the Washington Post.” He paused as I stood. “Turns out Bruno sent his brother a photo of her and Chase that day—at Zack’s.” I knew he couldn’t bring himself to say the day our family was attacked. I tilted my head as I let what he said sink in. “Apparently, his brother was drinking and running his mouth at a bar, and Rafael Cruz got wind that Nicole and Chase are up north. Now they have crossed the border and are heading this way.”

“What the fuck?” I tossed my hands in the air. “Shit just keeps coming.”

“Well,” Cole went on, “if Eric is in the know, like Bruno thinks you are, you’d know that.”

He was right. The Cartel was an undisciplined bunch of mainly criminals. It played in our favor more often than not. “Those friggin’ guys can’t keep anything to themselves.” I shook my head.

“Where is she now?”

“Still with one of the soldiers, Prescott. She has orders to keep Nicole going over the drone footage from the compound, looking for familiar faces. Hunter provided footage from one of his people. She won’t know you’ve left the base.” He looked back at the door. “Now that Hunter and his team are here, we need to loop them in so there isn’t a chance Eric takes a friendly bullet. If something goes sideways and we can’t go in, they’ll take it. We can’t blow our cover, or Bruno will disappear, and we’ll be blind again.”

“I agree.” As much as Hunter had a bad rep for what happened back in Kandahar, I knew he was trustworthy. He’d been completely screwed over for standing up for what he believed in. That was the downside of the army and the men above you.

“Why don’t I know the whole story about what happened with him and their team?” Keith piped in.

Mark squeezed his shoulder. “You were dealing with stuff.”

“Mm.” He dropped his head, and I knew he pictured his dead wife, Lexi. “I guess that can wait for another time.”

Cole opened the door, and a moment later, Hunter’s team entered the room. Instantly, they reached for their weapons when they saw me as Eric Noah.

“Stand down,” Cole called as he shut the door. I leaned against the table and tried not to be affected by the look of hate on their faces for the man who was in the room with them. “Only the people in this room right now and General Frank know the truth of what you're about to hear.”

“What, that you’ve got one of the biggest Cartel right-hand men in your pocket?” Hinge grunted and elbowed Viper. Neither man lowered his weapon.

“No, that the Cartel has one of our right-hand men in their pocket.” Cole grinned. “Guys, you remember Agent Paul?” He waved his hand at me.

Hunter kept his weapon high as he squinted at my face. We had known each other for a good number of years, so the fact that he couldn’t recognize me should have made me happy.

“Lower your weapons, men,” Cole warned. They did, but only slightly. Hunter tilted his head to the side.

“What was the first thing I said to you when we first met?”

I kept my southern drawl in place like I always did when I was Eric. “You asked why I called myself an agent and not an operator.” I didn’t miss a beat—I remembered that day well.

“And what was your answer?” He needed more proof.

I rubbed my nose—I’d never adjusted to having a beard and hated it was back. “That I changed my title from operator to agent, ditched my first name—because it was also my father’s—so my sister couldn’t track me down. She was better off not knowing me.”

“Fuck,” Hunter shook his head and relaxed, then looked at his team, “that’s a damn good disguise. Even the low pitch of your voice and the way you draw out your words was enough to throw me completely off.”

Viper let his gun fall to his side and pulled the toothpick out of his mouth. “Out of curiosity, what is your first name?”

I looked at John and then back at Viper. “Henry Eric Paul, actually. Named after my bastard father.” Viper laughed. “I needed a name that would make me instinctively turn around. My father’s name is Eric Henry Paul. The quickest way to get my attention would be to think he was in the room.”