Page 29 of Breached

“Good to know.” I waited a beat. “Hey, have you ever met Rafe Hunter?”

“Hmm, no, but Savi just walked in. Want me to ask her?”

I shrugged as if she could see me. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

The phone made a strange noise, and then I heard her telling Savi about what I asked. Suddenly, Savi was on the phone.

“Hey, Nicole. Rafe Hunter, as in six-foot-five, intense green eyes, built like a brick house, oozes morally gray main character vibes?” She laughed. “Oh, yeah, I met him once last year—and once was enough.”

“Meaning?”

“Cole said he was a damn good tier-one lieutenant commander, but something happened, and he and his team left the military after a particularly intense mission. I guess his men still call him Commander out of loyalty. Anyway, Cole won’t tell me, and I didn’t dig, but I got the warning to stay away. I know Frank won’t entertain any conversation on it either. I got the impression that whatever happened isn’t over.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Mike told me once that Rafe has ties with Grim Gates and the Devil’s Reach, and he’s got one foot in the grave and one on the flag. Whatever that means.”

“Scary,” I said. “You call him Rafe?” However, interesting.

“Yeah, he told me to call him that. He’s kind of scary, all right, but the fact that the guys are okay with him being there means they trust him, so he can’t be all bad.”

That was true. Blackstone was a great judge of character. If they were working with the man and his team, then they must be good guys.

“Thanks for chatting, Savi.”

“Anytime. Here’s Mia.”

“Hey, I’m back.” Mia yawned, and I felt bad for her looking after a house full of children.

“You should get some rest.”

“Yeah, I should,” she agreed. “What about you?”

“I think I need to go find something to keep my mind off the guys and Chase.” She let out a funny sound. “What?”

“They’re monitoring Bruno’s compound, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That means one or all the guys are up listening, hoping to catch something. Maybe see if they need anything.”

I loved the idea of being useful. “Thanks, Mia. I might just do that.”

“Anytime. I’ll keep you in the loop with Chase.”

“Thanks.” I hung up.

Within ten minutes, I was dressed and out the door, headed for the war room, hoping they’d be there. As I stepped inside, I didn’t see any of the guys. Maybe they were resting or in a different room.

Then I spotted Hunter and his man, Atlas, with earphones on, feet propped up on the tables, heads tilted back against the wall, eyes closed. Though the way Hunter’s jaw flexed told me he could feel me in the room. I thought they were at the compound.

“Ms. Winter,” Hunter’s voice was gritty and low—his eyes barely open enough to see me, “something you need?”

“Commander Hunter,” I said as I shook off the fear that came with him and tightened the tie on my sweater.

“Call me Rafe,” he said.

“Rafe, then.” I tried for a smile. “A pair of headphones would be great.”