many layers of security we were barely scratching the surface. And the fuck of it was, Liberty had some of the information we needed but was bound by oath. None of us would put her in the uncomfortable position of having to choose between finding the person who had endangered her life and her vow of absolute silence.
“Self-inflicted?” I asked as Drake sat down.
“According to our sources, that’s what the Army’s prepared to rule it.”
“Fuck. That’s not good. Did he leave a note?”
“Nope. And there’s more than a few things wrong with the crime scene.”
I settled back in my chair and braced. I’d gotten to know Drake well over the last nine months he’d been with Triple Canopy. He was normally the most laid back of all of us except when it came to his fiancée. Then the calm slipped and deadly intent toward the person responsible for her capture and subsequent torture took over.
“Those would be?” I prompted.
“Greg Berkshire was right-handed. GSW to the left temple. There are also ligature marks around his wrists. His house was ransacked, and his computer wiped clean.”
None of that coincided with a suicide. But I was more interested in how Drake knew about the Lieutenant Colonel’s house being ransacked.
“You know this how?”
“We got word and Logan got his ass over there before CID could get there.”
Logan had been Drake’s second-in-command when they were in the teams together. So it was only natural now that they both worked for Triple Canopy. Logan would still be Drake’s go-to person. Trey, Matt, Luke, Logan, and Drake made an exceptional team, which was exactly why Clark, Lenox, Levi, and Jasper wanted all five men to come aboard.
I wholeheartedly agreed. When an element worked, you did your best to keep them together. The pitfall to that was getting them to work with others outside their unit.
“You get approval to send in Logan?”
Drake’s eyes narrowed and he leaned forward, gearing up to take my head off. But I beat him to the punch.
“Brother, you are not in the Navy anymore.”
“Know that,” he grunted.
“Right, which means you’re no longer jammed up with government procedure and rules. But you still have a chain of command and protocol you have to follow. That protocol’s in place so if shit goes sideways we can take your back and not have to guess at what you were doing and why. We are all dedicated to finding the person responsible for what happened to Liberty. I get you feel like it’s your duty as her man to shoulder the burden, but it is not. You have firepower at your disposal. Don’t shut it out.”
Drake held my gaze then jerked his chin. “Understood.” He leaned back in his chair.
Now that that was over, it was time to move on.
“Did Logan get his computer?”
“Yeah. He gave it to Dylan.”
Dylan Welsh was a computer genius. Natural talent that had been honed under Blake McCoy’s expert guidance. Blake was also a natural but her skills had been sharpened by the CIA. Together, the two made an excellent team. However, like her husband Levi, she was supposed to be retiring, and like her husband, she was slowly doing that but not willing to completely step back until they’d found justice for her daughter.
“Then Dylan will find something for us. Any word from Liberty?”
“Yeah, she’ll be home in a few days.” There was no missing the terseness in Drake’s voice.
“She see any action?”
He blew out a breath. “Always.”
“Has she made a decision about reenlisting?”
“Not yet. She has awhile left on this contract.”
I nodded my understanding. Drake wanted Liberty safe—ideally, that’d be her not signing another contract—but Drake knew better than to voice that opinion to her.
“We’ll meet first thing tomorrow to go over whatever Dylan’s found on Berkshire’s computer.”
“Copy that.” Drake stood but made no move to leave. “Happy for you, Brady.”
Since Drake had opened the door, I decided to walk through it.
“Liberty still have nightmares?”
Drake’s posture stiffened and went on alert.
“Sometimes. Rare, but they still come.” His gaze became knowing and he asked, “Is that what’s held you back from Hadley?”
“Part of the reason, yeah. When they hit, sometimes I can wake myself up before they get bad. Other times I wake up when I crash onto the floor after twisting around in bed. I don’t want her to see that shit but I really don’t want to accidentally hurt her because I’m trapped in hell and have no control over my body.”