One Dark Wish by Wray Sharon

Author:Wray, Sharon [Wray, Sharon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2019-09-24T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 29

Nate ran a hand over his head, nails scraping his scalp. He hated his long hair and wanted nothing more than to cut it. Except he’d been ordered—by Kells—to keep it long. Even in the prison hospital, it hadn’t been cut. Had that been Kells’s order as well?

Nate reread the emails, focusing on the signatures at the end of each document. Every step of the way Kells had signed away Nate’s honor, reputation, and life.

But why? Kells had been Nate’s CO since he’d become a Green Beret. Kells was the strongest commander in all of Special Forces. Everyone knew it, and every man wanted to serve under him. Kells was tougher than most but also fairer than all.

As far as Jack’s accusation? Yes, Jack had been there the night of the ambush, but there was no way Jack would’ve betrayed Nate. They were friends. They were brothers.

“Nate?” Sarah squeezed his knee again. “We’ve been pitted against each other. Your need to protect versus my need to reveal. Yet if we want to save you, we have to solve this cipher.”

“You mean save you, right?” He rose and stepped over her research. “If you solve this cipher, you save your career.”

“This isn’t about me. This is about your fear that you can’t save everyone you love.”

He held up her phone. “Everyone I love is only out for themselves or in danger, and I’m not strong enough to save them.”

“That’s not true.” She took the phone and tossed it onto the couch. “I’ve spent my life studying the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with their massive societal upheavals and wars. And there are two things I’ve learned. First, the people we admire in history are never defined by their deeds but by their enemies. The stronger the enemy, the stronger the person must be to succeed.”

“Sarah—”

“Second, men of war begin their careers with a moral certitude, a belief that what they’re fighting for is true and just. Yet almost all end their careers steeped in cynicism that destroys their souls. Look at the pirate captains and privateers who’d once been proud officers in the British Navy. Look at the Fianna.”

His sigh carried the sorrow of the damned. “What does this have to do with me?”

“You became a soldier and, for some reason, the target of an enemy whose stealth, intelligence, and cunning were beyond anything you could’ve anticipated. Whose machinations landed you in a POW camp, all horrors and tortures included.”

He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. “It broke me, Sarah. When it was all over, I could barely walk. I had little memory of the years in the camp, and I didn’t speak the entire time I was in that prison hospital.”

“You’re wrong, Nate. You didn’t come out broken. You came out more determined than ever to protect and save those you love.” She cupped his face with both of her hands. He wanted to moan when her cooler fingers caressed his hot, scratchy skin. Instead, he closed his eyes. “You came out a man of honor.

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