SEAL Admiral Asked Her Rank As A Joke — Until He Noticed Her Sniper Tattoo And Froze
Chapter 16
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"Warehouse, south side of base. Two guards outside, three inside with hostages. You've been getting encrypted messages for six weeks: first small things—reports, schedules—then escalation. Instructions to interfere with anyone showing unusual interest in Kane. Yesterday, when I showed up, they told you to make sure I failed publicly."Brooks backs away, face collapsing. "I didn't have a choice! They said they'd kill them! They showed me proof! I had to—""I know. That's why I'm here: to get them back."Kane processes everything: the woman he thought dead, the network he thought dormant, the threat he didn't know existed. "If this is true, why hide? Why not come directly to me?""Because I needed to know who the traitor was. I needed the network confident enough to move openly, and I needed you to see me shoot before I told you what was coming." She looks steadily at him. "Five years ago in that valley, you asked over the radio who I was. I said it didn't matter—you just needed to stay alive. Same situation now, Admiral. You need to stay alive long enough to testify. I'm here to make sure that happens."Lynn steps forward. "Captain Cross, what do you need?""Extract Lieutenant Brooks's family. I have 43 minutes before they're moved to a secondary location. After that, we lose them." She turns to Brooks. "I can get them back, but you help me. Tell me everything, right now."Brooks cries openly: six weeks of terror, impossible choices, being crushed between protecting family and betraying an oath, finally breaking through. "Warehouse, industrial district, south side. I don't know the exact address. They blindfolded me when they showed me they were alive.""I know where it is. I've been surveilling the network for three months. I know their safe houses, protocols, personnel." She looks at Kane. "I need your authorization to conduct a hostage rescue on US soil within base perimeter. Now, sir."Kane doesn't hesitate. "You have it. What else?""I need Lieutenant Brooks with me, and you stay here surrounded by witnesses until this ends. The network won't move on you while there's a crowd." She pauses. "And I need Range Master Ellis to pull security footage from three months ago. Any vehicles entering the industrial area between 0200 and 0400 hours. The person running this network is on this base: high rank, trusted, operating in plain sight."Ellis is already moving. "On it."Kane looks at Vera. Really looks, seeing past the uniform to the person underneath: the woman who saved his life, who spent eight months in hell, who's been hunting her father's killers for 16 years."Why didn't you just tell me when you arrived?"She meets his eyes. "Because I needed you to understand who I am before I asked you to trust me. Yesterday, you saw a nobody. Today, you know I'm Ghost. The woman who saved your life. The woman who doesn't miss. And now I'm asking you to trust me one more time."She pauses, voice dropping."Eight years ago, my father and you were investigating procurement fraud together. Partners. He found evidence of a corruption network embedded in military procurement and intelligence. The night before he was going to brief the Secretary of Defense, someone planted a bomb under his car. I was 13 years old. I watched the news footage, watched them carry him out in pieces."