“Any danger to Bella comes straight from Seaver.”
“Were you dishonorably discharged from the army?” Coleman asked.
Decker let out a guffaw.
Austin pulled his head back in disbelief. “What? Hell no. I was honorably discharged with a handful of medals.”
“I can verify that,” Decker said. “He got one of those medals saving my life.”
“And there wasn’t a weapons-running investigation involving you when you quit?” Coleman asked.
“Jesus Christ,” Decker said with a disgusted shake of his head.
“Where the fuck are you getting your intel?” Austin asked.
“Directly from the head of the DOD,” he said flatly.
Austin started boiling again. “That’s Seaver. She’s on the Senate Armed Services Committee with Doherty. She planted that shit in my file.”
“That’s a big accusation.”
“It’s not an accusation. It’s the truth.”
“Great,” Coleman said. “Then let’s sit down and get everything straight so we’re on the same page. Take off these cuffs and pull out your military records.”
“I’ll sit down, I’ll straighten this shit out, I’ll even pull out my military records, but those cuffs aren’t coming off anytime soon.”
While Decker shoved Coleman into a chair by the shoulder, Austin collected all the papers on his desk, then turned his back to the other men, opened the flap of the envelope Everly had left, and pulled the paper halfway out.
I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.
This was my last resort.
Austin’s gut clenched, but the apology was way too little, way too late.
Something triggered in his mind, and Austin read it again.
This was my last resort.
All the air left Austin’s lungs. His shoulders dropped. But he was still too terrified to hope.
“Let me see it,” Coleman said.
He swung around. “Coleman, you’re not in any position to be ordering me around.”
“My name’s Steele. Roman Steele. She was my soldier. Let me see her note.”
Soldier. Everly was a soldier. It fit. It fit perfectly. And Austin experienced another wave of humiliation.
He held the paper toward him and watched Coleman’s—no, Steele’s—expression as he read the words. But Steele’s gaze jumped to Austin’s.
“Do you know what that means?” Steele asked. “Do you know where she is?”
Maybe. But if Steele didn’t, Austin sure as shit wasn’t going to give it away. And he’d have to wait to investigate his theory.
Austin threw his arms out to his sides. “If I knew where my daughter was, do you think I’d be sitting around here? Everly’s your soldier. You’re the one who’s known her since she was a kid. If there was some hidden message in there, you’d know better than I would.”
Steele considered a long second before rasping, “Dammit. She’s so fucking fired.” His angry gaze met Austin’s. “We’ve got a lot of shit to straighten out, and none of us is going anywhere until it’s hashed out. Stop worrying about your daughter. She couldn’t be any safer than she is with Everly.”