Page 109 of It's Always Been You

“Admiral.”

“Have a seat.”

After settling in a chair, Travis waited for the admiral to speak.

“How’s Caitlin?”

“Honestly? She’s not too happy with you.”

“We weren’t going to bother her. All she had to do was decrypt the files.”

“Are you admitting that you’ve installed spyware on her laptop?”

“It’s useless to deny now, right? I called the instant the laptop was destroyed.” Porter sat back in his chair, spearing Travis with a beady look. “Who else knows about Hephaestus, Travis?”

“Sorry, Admiral, I’m not giving you ammunition to put a hit on anyone.”

“Jesus Christ, Blake, you make me sound like the fucking mafia,” the admiral said with no small amount of exasperation. “Well, whoever does—I figure either Shephard or Reece knows—they have the good sense to keep their mouth shut or good men will die. We’re at a crucial point of a three-year op.”

“So enlighten me, Admiral. Give me something to convince Caitlin that seven tons of weaponized plutonium will go a long way in promoting fucking world peace.”

“What I’m about to tell you doesn’t leave this room,” the admiral said carefully.

“I’ll have to tell Cat,” Travis said, a bit incredulous.

“Of course.” Porter waved his hand as if it was a given. “We’re trying to come out of this with most of the money in our hands—”

“You’re selling the plutonium? Since when did the CIA participate in black market nukes?”

Porter just stared at him with a look that made Travis shut up.

“We’re not letting go of the plutonium. We’re setting up the Zorin Bratva to take the fall. Grigori Zorin has buyers from North Korea, Russia and Iran already salivating for this high-grade nuclear material. We plan to take their money, and take them down as well.”

“That’s a lofty goal, Admiral,” Travis said dubiously.

“If planned strategically, the payoff is worth it.”

“So was taking in the gullible Travis Blake part of your grand master plan?” Travis hated that he let some bitterness tinge his tone. The admiral had no loyalties.

“No. I saw great potential in you, Blake.”

Travis gave a short bark of mirthless laughter. “I don’t need you to patronize me, Admiral. If you can assure me you’re certain this will take down that piece of shit, GrigoriZorin, and his entire Bratva, I’ll convince Caitlin to give you what you need.”

“My man inside tells me that Zorin has his buyers lined up. He’s also done a background check so there will be no delay in receiving the funds. The auction site will be on neutral ground. Hungary.”

“Why Hungary?”

“Think, Travis. The most likely section of the Carpathian Mountains that holds the plutonium cache would be Ukraine. At about the time the Soviet Union collapsed, hundreds of tons of the material disappeared. There are only three people who know where this particular stash is. Two of them are dead, one has amnesia.”

“If she does this, will you leave us alone?”

Porter regarded him impassively.

“Goddamnit,” Travis cursed and stood up.

“I will. But, Blake, she may need a job after you let her go.”

“I’ll never let her go,” Travis growled. “If you have doubts about my commitment to her . . .” He stepped forward and said with all the determination he was feeling. “Get this. I—am—marrying—her—again. So you can take your duplicitous face elsewhere and leave us alone.”

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