Chapter 22

Wednesday morning, Jay arrived at the base with the final copy of Nichole’s article in hand. He’d asked the guys to show up early, and they were all going to read the article together. His stomach knotted, and the stress didn’t let up as he entered the building. He wasn’t sure what Apple’s problem was since the guy hadn’t said anything more. The tension still sat between them. He hated the feeling that something was wrong. They needed to work this out before they were called out on another mission.

“There you are,” Griz said as Jay stepped in.

“I have it. There may be a few minor changes because of spelling errors being caught at the last minute, but this is it. It will go to print on Friday.”

Shine took a copy and headed to his desk. “Thanks, man.”

The rest of the guys took a copy, heading over to their desks or standing off to the side. Jay had read the article two more times since the weekend. They’d discussed any issues that might come up, but he hadn’t seen one problem with what Nichole had written. She hadn’t mentioned once who had come in to rescue the group or any secrets she’d learned. The article focused on her perspective as a person held captive and what that had done to her.

Squat finished first. “Not bad. It’s actually good.”

Jay took back the copy of the article. “I thought so.”

Griz came over and handed him the pages. “It’s good. I don’t think she revealed anything.”

Next was Shine. He shrugged as he handed over the pages. “She did great. I liked it.”

Sharp was next. “Those hours that she doesn’t know what happened hit hard.”

Jay swallowed over the lump in his throat, not wanting to let his emotions rise. “Yeah. It sucks that she doesn’t know.”

Sharp squeezed his shoulder. “I don’t have any problems with it.”

“Thanks, Sharp.”

Apple stood, his lips thinned. “It’s not bad. There’s nothing in this that reveals our secrets. But can you really trust her? Like she could easily betray you.”

Agitation rose, but he pushed it down. “She won’t.”

Apple shook his head. “But how do you know? Like, what if she does?”

Griz crossed his arms over his chest. “Apple, what is going on? This isn’t about Nichole. What else is happening in your life?”

Apple narrowed his eyes and then shook his head. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

They all exchanged a look, and then Sharp stepped closer to Apple and put his hand on the guy’s shoulder. “No, this isn’t nothing. Something is bothering you. What is it?”

Apple turned away from them, and Jay knew something wasn’t right. Apple’s shoulders were stiff as he clenched his hands into fists. This went beyond Nichole.

Griz moved closer and put his hand on Apple’s shoulder. “Man, we can’t help you if you don’t talk.”

A shudder rippled through Apple before he snorted. “Fuck.” Apple turned to face them. “There was someone I trusted. They were close. I thought she was the one. I sacrificed another relationship that had promise for this woman. She used me. I found out right before we were to get married.”

Griz cleared his throat when Apple didn’t continue. “What happened?”

“She took information from me. I was lucky that my superior believed me. I could have received a court marshal. Instead, she was convicted of stealing the information. The blog and all her content was wiped off the internet. Like I said. I was lucky. I wasn’t punished, though they could have taken everything from me. I’m lucky it didn’t follow me here. I thought I could trust her, but she betrayed me.”

Squat shook his head. “Wow, I didn’t know that happened to you.”

“No one knew. That was part of it. She was military, Army. She was trying to expose something, but the news didn’t really get out.” Apple met Jay’s gaze. “I don’t want this woman to betray you like I was betrayed. It almost ruined me.”

“Apple, Nichole isn’t like that. I know you don’t know her, but she won’t betray me. She won’t deal out our information for her gain.”

Apple shook his head, his cheeks flaming red. “But how can you know for sure? What if later she decides to write a story about you, and then you’re exposed? You’ll have to watch everything around her. You can’t trust her.”

Jay shrugged. “We already have to do that. Everything we do at work could be used against us. I’ll never reveal anything to her, just like I would never reveal our stuff to anyone else. Just like Sharp can’t reveal stuff to Danika.”

Apple threw up his hands. “But Danika isn’t a reporter.”

Jay could tell Apple was going to have issues based on his past relationship. He needed the chance to get to know Nichole better, but that wasn’t going to happen this week. She was boarding a plane to New York in a few hours. Then, she would be on a news shows and the interview circuits. She hadn’t booked a return trip yet since she didn’t know when she would be returning.

Worry slid through him. What if she didn’t come back? But she’d said she would. He had to trust her. They’d connected and were tight. The love he felt from her wasn’t an illusion. What they had was special, and Nichole wouldn’t throw it away for some limelight reporting.