Chapter 10 #2
"Professionally? Absolutely. She's brilliant. Personally? She's got a smart mouth and an attitude problem, but she's the best at what she does."
"Sounds delightful."
"She's British. That should tell you everything." I start typing a message. "Her name is Lennox Bradshaw. Goes by Nox. If I can get her cleared through Rivera, she might be willing to take the contract."
"Do you think she would?"
"If the problem's interesting enough. And this definitely qualifies." I pull out my phone. "Won't know until I ask."
I dial her number. She picks up on the third ring.
"Caine. It's been a while." Nox's voice carries that familiar British clip. "What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into now?"
"Federal investigation. Need someone who can track a ghost through military network architecture."
"A ghost? How delightfully dramatic." Keys click in the background. "And here I thought you'd gone soft doing protective details for senators' wives."
"Not a senator's wife."
"Oh?" The keys stop clicking. "Do tell."
"Civilian trauma surgeon. Equipment theft investigation turned into something bigger. Database manipulation, sophisticated trail covering through military systems."
"Military systems specifically?" Her tone sharpens. "Not just civilian network protocols?"
"Someone who knows base architecture, security protocols, audit structures. Professional level work."
"Which means defense contractor background or active duty with cyber training." More clicking. "What's the scope? Single penetration or ongoing access?"
"Ongoing. They manipulated inventory databases, audit logs, reconciliation reports. Made fraudulent transfers look legitimate for months."
Nox whistles low. "That's not ghost work. That's someone embedded in the infrastructure. You're looking at persistent access, probably multiple entry points." A pause. "NCIS is handling this?"
"Rivera's team. They've got cyber analysts but they need someone who understands military networks specifically."
"Rivera. That hard-ass from the San Diego investigation?" She laughs. "God, she hated me. Kept insisting I needed official oversight while I was in their systems."
"You were bypassing their security protocols."
"Because their security protocols were shite. I proved my point." The clicking resumes. "Right. This is interesting enough. When do you need me?"
"Tomorrow morning if you can swing it."
"Tomorrow?" She sounds amused. "You're not asking, you're recruiting. Must be serious." A beat. "Or you're more invested than usual. Which is it, Caine?"
I glance at Gwen, who's watching me with curiosity. "Both."
"Both. Interesting." Nox's tone shifts, becomes more pointed. "Who are you protecting?"
"Dr. Gwen Abernathy. She documented the equipment discrepancies. Blew the whole thing open."
"Clever girl. And you're doing protective detail personally?" She pauses. "That's not standard protocol for you. Usually you delegate that to your team."
"The situation's complicated."
"I'm sure it is." Nox sounds like she's smiling. "Tell me, is she there right now? Can she hear this conversation?"
"She's here."
"Brilliant. Put me on speaker."
"Nox—"
"Speaker, Caine. Don't make me fly out there just to embarrass you in person."
I switch to speaker and set the phone on the coffee table. "You're on speaker."
"Dr. Abernathy? Lennox Bradshaw. I've worked with Thatcher on a few occasions." Her accent sharpens slightly, the kind of calculated professionalism that slides into a British knife edge. "He's never mentioned protecting anyone personally before. You must be quite impressive."
Gwen leans forward slightly. "He speaks highly of your work."
"Does he? How uncharacteristically generous." Nox's laugh is dry. "Let me guess—he told you I'm brilliant but have an attitude problem."
"Something like that."
"Accurate on both counts. Now, the equipment you documented—what tipped you off initially? Most people wouldn't catch database discrepancies unless they were specifically looking."
"Nurses kept complaining about missing equipment. When I had them check the system, it showed adequate stock but the cabinets were half-empty. I started documenting the gap."
"And you kept digging instead of reporting it to your supervisor?" Nox sounds genuinely interested. "That takes either remarkable instinct or remarkable stubbornness."
"Both," Gwen says.
Nox laughs again, warmer this time. "I like her, Caine.
She's got spine." The clicking resumes. "Right.
I'm clearing my schedule. Send me the clearance details and I'll be there tomorrow morning.
But I want access to the original database logs, not sanitized reports.
And I want to talk to your cyber analyst before I start.
I need to know what they've already found so I'm not duplicating effort. "
"I'll coordinate with Rivera," I say.
"See that you do. And Caine?" Her tone turns sharp again. "If this is as sophisticated as you're describing, whoever's behind it has resources. Real resources. They're not going to appreciate someone poking around their infrastructure."
"Understood."
"Make sure Dr. Abernathy understands too. People who can manipulate military databases aren't going to stop at equipment theft." A pause. "Keep her close. And I mean that professionally, before you get defensive."
"I'm not—"
"You absolutely are. I can hear it in your voice." She sounds satisfied. "It's good. You needed to stop brooding about Suzy and move on. This one sounds like she's worth the trouble."
Gwen's eyebrows shoot up. I resist the urge to grab the phone and end the call.
"We're done here," I say.
"No we're not. I still need dinner. Somewhere decent this time. No chains, no base commissary rubbish. You're buying because I'm doing this as a favor."
"You're doing this because the problem's interesting."
"That too. But you're still buying." Keys click one final time. "See you tomorrow, Caine. Dr. Abernathy, pleasure speaking with you. Try not to let him brood too much. He's terrible at it."
The call ends. I look at Gwen, who's trying not to smile.
"She seems delightful," Gwen says.
"She's effective."
"She's also very observant." Gwen moves closer. "She knew about us in under thirty seconds."
"Nox's good at reading people."
"Or you're terrible at hiding how you feel about me."
"That too."
"Dinner we can do." She closes her laptop. "But if she's anything like Sullivan, I'm going to need alcohol."
"She's nothing like Sullivan. Different skill set entirely." I pause. "Though she does have opinions about everything."
"Wonderful. Can't wait."
I coordinate with Rivera via text, getting Nox cleared for base access. Rivera agrees immediately, which tells me she's as concerned about this cyber component as I am.
By the time everything's arranged, it's late. Gwen's yawning, fighting to keep her eyes open.
"Bed," I tell her.
"It's early."
"It's been a long day. We were up until the early hours last night." I pull her up from the couch. "And we have another briefing tomorrow morning."
"Fine. But only because you're being reasonable."
In the bedroom, we strip down to essentials. I slide into bed and she curls against my side immediately, head on my chest, leg thrown over mine.
"This is becoming a habit," she murmurs.
"Good habit or bad habit?"
"Good. Definitely good." She traces patterns on my chest. "Even when people are trying to kill me."
"Especially then." I press a kiss to her hair. "Sleep, Gwen."
"Bossy."
"You love it."
Her breathing evens out within minutes. I lie there in the dark, listening to her sleep, feeling the weight of her against me.
Four years ago, I couldn't have imagined this. Couldn't have imagined letting someone close enough to matter again. But here she is, trusting me to keep her safe, fitting into my life like she was always meant to be here.
Nox's arrival tomorrow will shift things. She'll dig into the network, find trails the NCIS analysts missed. We'll get closer to identifying the third party. Closer to ending the threat.
My phone buzzes one last time. Sullivan, naturally.
Sullivan: Captain, Garcia wants to know if you need any recovery time or if you're good for the op tomorrow.
I type back:
Tell Garcia I'm unavailable. Still on protective detail until NCIS resolves the threat.
Sullivan: Got it. We'll handle it. Also Santos says good luck with Gwen… and don’t fuck this up.
I set the phone down and tighten my arm around Gwen. Her breathing has already evened into sleep, body warm and trusting against mine.
Tomorrow Nox arrives. Tomorrow we dig deeper into whoever's pulling the strings behind Garrison and Briggs. Tomorrow the investigation moves forward.
But Briggs pinged three miles out and then vanished. That doesn't sit right. Neither does Garrison slipping every roadblock Rivera set up.
They're still out there. And people who run don't usually stay gone for long.