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"You gonna fill us in on the woman?" asked Caleb "All we know is you came back to Delta for one last mission Is she it?"

David nodded "She has to stay alive, no ," said Caleb evenly "She's a woer than just the fact that she's a woroup of roup, they were the Swarm"

"So how does she fit in?" asked Grant

"She's smart Really smart Monroe tracked me down and pulledperson who has any chance at all of cracking this old code It contains the location of a cache of stolen warheads

Needless to say, the Sants it for themselves, which means they also want her"

"Oh, God," whispered Grant, his golden eyes going ith fear

Caleb's face darkened with anger, his nostrils flaring

David looked froure out what the hell was going on "You gonna share why you're both so freaked out?"

Caleb sed hard before he spoke "We also intercepted a co about how so off plans for the production of unned to be undetectable by radar, with enough range to reach anywhere within a couple of hundred miles inland

We weren't too worried because there'd been no chatter about bioweapons, which was our biggest concern"

"But if they get their hands on those nukes" concluded David, feeling his stomach sink to his boots

"Then they'll have everything they need to wipe out any major US coastal city of their choice," finished Caleb

David's buddies both looked at hi He wished to God he could "We can't let that happen"

"How close is she to breaking the code?" asked Grant

"I don't know Close, I think, but I don't want her knowing about this She's already under too reement

"What can we do to help?" asked Grant

David took a deep breath before he was able to speak Things were quickly becoear? Perimeter alarms, coed to get here at all We figured they wouldn't look for us for a while, considering our op, but ht away"

David spat out a violent curse "This place isn't secure"

"No, it's not," said Caleb "I built it to be private, not necessarily defensible I can usually take care of myself no matter where I am"

"I don't mean to insult your cabin, man I just don't! knohere else to take her"

"A safe house?" suggested Grant David grunted "Not so safe The last tere at were attacked Someone on the inside leaked her location the first time The second time I did it myself so I could take them out"

The buddies shared a look that promised violence if they found the person responsible for leaking classified information

"So, how do you want to play this, Captain?" asked Grant, his gold eyes glinting with eagerness

David shook his head "We stay here until she's finished cracking the damn code Once we knohat it says, we estions"

Caleb's black eyes narrowed in thought as he scanned the tree line "There are only a couple of ways up this mountain and only one road that comes all the way up here Grant and I can keep watch there while you stick by her side"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," said David "I'm not sure she really wants me around"

"I'll stay with her," volunteered Grant, waggling his blond brows

David gave him an order that would have been anatomically impossible to obey

Grant just smiled

Caleb shook his head like a father over bickering boys "I'll stay with her if you want, and you know I'd never touch another man's woman, but I think if you ask her, she'll want you instead"

"A et that coffee," said Caleb "I'll go get our gear"

"Want so to talk to David about soossip like an old lady"

Grant blinked in surprise but said nothing as Caleb logged off with long, powerful strides

"What's he talking about?" asked David