Breaking Through (Book 2 of the SEAL TEAM Heartbreakers) by Teresa Reasor Page B

us were killed that same day. All eight. ”
    Shock ricocheted through Tess. She pressed her fingertips against her lips. “So, you’re basically saying you can’t even prove you dropped the boy off.”
    “Yeah. That’s what I’m saying.”
    “What about Armstrong?”
    “He won’t talk to NCIS. Which makes us both look guilty as hell, since he’s the only one with a memory.”
    “He’s just playing it smart.” She pointed at him. “You shouldn’t say anything without legal representation, either.”
    “I don’t think that will make a difference. My CO thinks someone’s pushing for a quick resolution.”
    “Why not just find out what happened to the kid?”
    “One kid in a sea of missing and displaced people? Communications are spotty, intel is too. It’s like looking for a newborn star in the next universe.” He looked out over the bay. “NCIS must have hit a wall or something and now they’re looking around for some passable theories. It’s been more than two months. The Iraqi government must be putting diplomatic pressure on someone.”
    “The Navy has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in your training, Brett. They’d be throwing all that away.”
    “To prevent an international incident. To give an important contact in Iraq closure, and ensure continued cooperation. They give murderers in this country free passes all the time in exchange for their testimony. If you don’t think they’d burn me and Derrick both at the stake, you’re mistaken.” He sat up, and his knees brushed hers, then settled on either side of her legs. “In the SEALs you plan for the worst so you’re prepared if it happens. If you have a choice between rations and a full magazine, you take the bullets. I’ve not sat on my thumbs waiting to train, and I’m not sitting by while they tank my career and my reputation for an easy fix to a diplomatic problem.”
    He leaned forward. His hands cupped her linen-covered legs at knee level, his thumbs rubbing back and forth across the top, setting off nerves she hadn’t even known existed. And though he seemed unaware of what he was doing, Tess felt every stroke through the fabric as though it hit bare skin. Her breath caught in her chest and swallowing grew impossible.
    His gaze held hers, intent with outrage. “I have a clean reputation in the SEAL community. More than a few commendations. I’ve got proof if you need it. I may have a Swiss cheese memory as to the events of that day, but I know myself. I sure as shit didn’t touch that kid. And if Derrick—I’d have stopped him.”
    Tess moistened her lips and covered his hands with her own before the urge to slide closer overwhelmed her. “Brett.” Fire blazed across her cheeks at the husky sound of her voice.
    He released her and held his palms up in surrender. “Sorry.” His grin held rueful chagrin and more charm than she could ignore. “I wasn’t purposely putting a move on you. Not that I wouldn’t want to, when all this shit is over.”
    She shook her head, more to clear her hormone-fogged brain than in denial of his statement. “What is it you expect from me?”
    “You said you wanted an interview. I’m prepared to give you whatever information you need, without any of the secret stuff of course. In exchange, I want you to contact your father and put him on the scent of this new story possibility.”
    “You realize that could blow up in your face? He won’t pull any punches.”
    “Whatever happened to that kid, I had no part in it. That’s the only thing he’s going to learn about me. So, I’m good.”
    He seemed so certain. Confident. But if he had no memory … She didn’t want him to be guilty of anything. But what if he was?
    “What do you think happened?” she asked.
    “I think the al-Qaeda or the Taliban scooped him up as soon as we left. They might have thought he could tell them something useful. Or they might have sent him to one of their induction camps to train him. Or both.