Pushed to the Edge (SEAL Team 14) (20 page)

Now that former Congressman Henning had been
executed, she was going to expand her article to include a detailed
investigation into his murder.  From what Victoria could gather, there were
really only two possibilities for the culprits: the terrorist cell that
kidnapped him or someone from Mr. Henning’s circle of acquaintances. 

Her friend Olivia had once told her that when in
doubt trust in Occam’s razor.  Specifically, that among competing possibilities
the one that is the least complex is probably the correct solution to the
inquiry. 

However, in the case of Richard Henning’s killing,
the most obvious answer to the “Who shot Henning?” question was that the Haqqai
network (who had already taken credit for kidnapping the former Congressman)
had finished what they had started.  This possibility also happened to the one
that most TV reporters were now running with.  But Olivia didn’t buy it.

True to his word, Joshua arrived back after
lunch.  Victoria was still sitting at his kitchen table, using his laptop, and
reviewing documents from her attaché case that she had laid across his table. 
She looked up when Joshua opened the front door.

“Hey,” he said as entered the kitchen.  “Were you
able to get in contact with your mother this morning?” 

Joshua was carrying a manila folder with him that
was tucked underneath one of his strong arms.  He laid it down on the opposite
end of the table.  Even in his regular camos he looked gorgeous. 

And yes, gorgeous was the appropriate word to
describe him.  He had movie star good looks that would give even Jake
Gyllenhaal a run for his money.  But unbelievably, he wasn’t conceited. 

Joshua was only three years older than Victoria,
at thirty years old.  When Victoria had first met him she had been sure that he
was only looking for a quick roll in the hay with the cute “big girl.”  But he
had never treated her like she was anything less than beautiful to him. 

He’d actually appeared to love her curves, curves
that she had been ashamed of (or at least hesitant to embrace) for a good
portion of her life.  She was a tall woman, so her curves didn’t necessarily
make her overweight.  However, at certain times she wished that she were that
perfect size six. 

“Yes.  I called her as soon as you left this
morning.  She was pretty freaked out when I told her that I had just
interviewed Henning right before he was shot.  I didn’t want to scare her too
much though so I left out the part about the break-in.”

“Okay, good.  Well, I contacted a couple of
friends of mine who are located in the Northeast and they’re going to take a
little road trip up to NY.  They’ll be on deck to keep an eye on your mom until
we get this whole mess sorted out.  She won’t even know that they are there.”

All Victoria could do was stare at him for a
moment.  When she was finally able to speak her words came out in a soft
whisper, “Thank you, Joshua.”

“No problem.  Henning’s death complicates matters,
though.  I spoke to my commanding officer today to let him know that you were
with Henning right before the shooting.”

“What, why?”

“Because it’s material information that they would
need to know Vicki.  You were with Richard Henning moments before he was shot. 
I talked to my CO this morning and he wants me to bring you in for questioning
at the base later this afternoon.  You may remember something during the
questioning that is probative to the investigation,” Joshua said, his light brown
eyes were intently watching Victoria’s face.

“Great, that’s just awesome.  The FBI and Dallas
Police Department interviewed me for hours about what I saw already, Joshua. 
And why would your bosses need to speak with me anyway about Henning’s murder?”

“Yeah, I’m aware that you’ve been interviewed before. 
But now you’re going to have to talk to some of the members of the naval
command in Coronado.  You know that the Navy has a counterterrorism unit, and
it’s no secret that Henning was kidnapped late this past year by a terrorist
group, so I imagine that my commanders believe that it may be useful to
determine what you saw.  And besides, you’re a seasoned reporter, so you should
be used to interviews by now.”

“I’m used to conducting interviews
not
being the interviewee,” Victoria said sharply. 

Joshua didn’t break eye contact with her, but he didn’t
comment either.  He just stared at her with those brown eyes of his.  No
surprise there, Joshua was something of the “tall, dark, and quiet” type. 
During their past relationship, it had initially surprised her that Joshua
really didn’t talk all that much.  Or maybe she had just beaten him to the
punch before he could get a word in edgewise.

“Okay, fine, Joshua.  If that’s what’s needed.”  In
a battle of wills, Victoria always hated giving in.  But in this instance, answering
a few questions from his commanding officers was the least she could do, especially
considering that he was helping her out even though they weren’t even dating anymore.

“You should know that I have been called away for
a new assignment,” Joshua continued.  “I’ll have to head out tomorrow morning.”

What?
  He was leaving already?  Victoria couldn’t
believe it.  She should have been used to it.  After all, his career in the
SEALs was one of the major contributing factors to their split.  Still, she
couldn’t help the uneasy feeling of the settled low in her stomach at his
words. 

“Wait.  Why?  You have to go overseas tomorrow?  I
thought that you were on leave?” she asked incredulously.

“Yeah, well you know, shit happens.  I’ll be able
to drive you back here to my home after your interview, but then I’ll have to
head back to base to fly out tomorrow morning, bright and early.  Don’t be
worried though, I’ll make sure that I have some people looking out for you
while I’m away, until we can get this whole thing sorted out.  I heard back
from Malcolm while I was out, so far there’s no indication from his contacts
that you’re on this terrorist group’s radar.  Odds are that the break-in was
just a random burglary.”

“I’m not worried about me.  I’m worried about
you.”

Joshua turned around from the refrigerator.  He
was holding a bottle of water in his left hand, which he opened and took a sip
out of.  “Yeah, since when?”

“What?”

“Since when have you been worried about me,
Victoria?”  Joshua’s eyes darkened with anger, and some other sort of emotion
that Victoria couldn’t place.  She took a hesitant step back.  “Since you broke
up with me a year ago after two years of being in a committed relationship with
me?” he continued.  “Since you basically told me to go screw myself?  Since you
made me feel like a
dick
for being in the military—for serving my country?”

“How can you say that?”  Victoria was completely
floored.  Did he really think that she hadn’t cared for him?  That she still
didn’t care for him?  “You broke up with me!  I told you that I wanted to be
with you. 
You
chose the teams over me,” she yelled back.

“Yeah well, you left out the part where you gave
me that ridiculous ultimatum.  When we first started dating, I was up front
with you, Victoria.  Right from the very beginning.  I never lied to you.  I
told you that I was in the Navy, and that it was my intention to make a career
out of it.  It wasn’t a secret.  I didn’t try to hide it from you.  And you still
went out with me, dated me.  Hell, you fucked my brains out for two years.  So
knowing what you knew, how could you think that it was right for you to throw
my career back in my face, years later?”

“Look, I don’t want to talk about this.  You were
right last night.  We shouldn’t dwell on the past.”  

“No.  I want an answer from you.  You at least owe
me that,” he said, challenging her.  He grabbed her arm abruptly before she
could leave the room.  He wasn’t holding her arm hard enough to bruise her. 
Victoria knew that he would never intentionally hurt her.  But she didn’t want
to have this conversation with him right now . . . or ever.

“What difference does it make at this point?  Our
relationship is over,” she screeched out.  Knowing that she sounded a bit
frantic, she took a deep breath and let it out before she continued.  “Look,
this situation is too hard for both of us, and I shouldn’t have come here. 
I’ll go to the interview with you this afternoon and then I’ll leave.”

“What?  That’s a stupid ass thing to do,
Victoria—”

“No, it’s not stupid.  What was stupid was coming
here in the first place.  I shouldn’t have imposed on you.  I can figure this
out on my own.  I have some other contacts that may be able to help me piece
things together.  And besides you said yourself that there’s no indication that
I’m being targeted by the same terror group.”

“Fine, Tory.  If that’s what you want.  Run away,
per usual.  With all the running that you do, I’m surprised that you’re not
your perfect size four,” Joshua said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Victoria’s eyes snapped up and met his.  Her
stomach flipped over, and she felt slightly sick.  “Fuck you,” Victoria said
back to him, her face flushing with heat.  Unfortunately, the heat that rose to
her face didn’t prevent a chill from sweeping over her. 

She watched as Joshua slammed his water bottle
down on the kitchen table, “Yeah, been there, done that.”  He then grabbed his
car keys from off of the counter and headed back out the door.  “We need to
leave here in the next fifteen minutes for your interview.  I’ll be waiting for
you in the car.”

****

Joshua fumed while he waited in his jeep for
Victoria to come outside.  It took approximately ten minutes before she
shuffled out of the front door with her purse.  He saw that she had changed
from a T-shirt and jeans into a skirt and blouse.  Inhaling deeply, Joshua
counted down from ten.  He had promised himself that he wasn’t going to do this
with her.  He’d promised himself that as mad as Victoria had made him in the
past—that as mad as she still made him now—he was not going to fight with her
again. 

He noticed that she didn’t slam the door when she
got into his car.  She looked calm, but he knew her.  Victoria was trying to
hide the fact that she had been crying. 

Damn
.  He hated it when she cried.  And he
knew that she had been crying over what he had said to her.  That fact alone was
enough to make him feel like shit. 

He was an asshole for what he had said, to poke at
one of her weak spots like that.  He knew that she was sensitive about her
weight, that it was something that she struggled with more than she should have. 
What he had said had been a low blow.  He had wanted to hurt her when he’d made
his comment—to wound her as sharply as she had wounded him—and he had
succeeded. 

Joshua decided not to bring up the proverbial
“pink elephant in the room,” and drove to the base in silence.  After flashing
his military ID to the entrance guards, he hazarded a look over at Victoria. 
She was still staring out the passenger window, her hands tightly clutching the
handles of her purse. 

“So you’re going to be meeting with my commanding
officer, Mark Dewitt.  He should only have a few questions for you,” Joshua
brusquely commented.  He parked his car and they both got out of the vehicle. 

Victoria didn’t say anything as he led her through
to the ground floor entrance of one of the conference rooms where the meeting
was supposed to take place.  To his surprise, in addition to his CO Jack
Ryland, FBI director, and Admiral Taylor were both seated at the oval
conference table. 
What the hell had he just walked her into?

“Lieutenant Laurent, thank you for bringing Ms.
Sanchez in for her interview, you can be seated outside until the close of the
meeting,” Mark stated.

“Wait, sir.  What exactly is this interview
about?  I was under the impression that you only had a few questions for Ms.
Sanchez—she didn’t see the actual shooting of Richard Henning,” Joshua
replied.  He glanced over at Victoria and she was looking back at him with
questioning eyes.

Joshua watched as his CO’s eyes narrowed at him in
warning.  “Yes.  I recall that that’s what you said when we spoke earlier this
morning.  However, the point of this interview
Lieutenant
, is to get the
needed information from Ms. Sanchez, not your second hand account of what she
may or may not have seen.”  His commanding officer’s voice had taken on a
frosty edge to it.

Joshua knew that he was skating on thin ice with
his CO—really, he was bordering on insubordination—but he didn’t care.  He had
the distinct feeling that he’d just unwittingly walked Victoria right into the
lion’s den.

“Should I contact Ms. Sanchez’s lawyer?” Joshua
asked with as much edge as he could put into his voice.

“No, it’s okay.  I don’t have anything to hide. 
It’s fine.  I can take care of myself,” Victoria said evenly.  She looked at
him, but somehow her eyes didn’t quite reach his.  

Joshua and Mark squared off for a tense moment
before Joshua said, “Okay, I’ll be right outside if you need me.” 

****

 
“Okay
gentleman, what questions can I answer for you?” Victoria asked.  She sat down
in a chair at the table that was directly across Joshua’s superior officers. 
She could tell that his CO was beyond pissed off at the exchange between him
and Josh by the irritation that was evidence on his face.

 Although Joshua hadn’t been outright
disrespectful, and hadn’t violated the chain of command, she was sure that he’d
still hear about it later.  The three men stared back at her with annoyed looks
on their faces.

“Why were you interviewing Richard Henning?” Mark
Dewitt asked, “We’ve contacted your boss at the
Dallas Star Gazette
and
he has confirmed that he did not assign this case to you.”