At the time, it didn’t seem like a big deal. After all, he’d trust Xavier with his life. He was a good man and a very old friend. He’d warned Audrey that Xavier wasn’t the relationship sort because he knew she was still hurting from a bad breakup and didn’t want to see her hurt again, not because he had any misgivings about the two of them hooking up if that was what they both wanted.

He’d never dreamed Xavier would hurt her more than even Audrey’s ex ever had.

None of it made sense. For Audrey to have denied the permit because she’d been rejected after a one-night stand, she’d have had to have known why Xavier was at the lodge. Which meant Xavier must have spilled the beans after all. But Audrey claimed she didn’t know anything about his role in the compliance process.

None of it sounded like something Xavier would do.

The end result was an ugly tangle Jae had managed to avoid for the last month. Now he feared his neutral stance between two close friends was about to be tested.

If Audrey had entered the park and interrupted the training, she could be in serious trouble. Sure, the cameras gave her a legitimate reason for concern, but if Xavier or the other trainers believed she’d spoiled the training for revenge, she could end up in jail.

How badly did I fail her as a friend?

His call went straight to voicemail. Again.

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. It was possible she’d made it to the site, taken photos, and was back on the road and out of cellular range again. But wouldn’t she have called him? Cell coverage was decent in the meadow.

Jae tried Xavier’s number, knowing it was unlikely he would answer given that the training had probably started.

He looked out at the pounding rain, feeling sorry for the team that had to work in this. Xavier had said he hoped for a storm to kick off the training, but Jae figured he’d gotten more than he wished for. This rain would be brutal—not cold enough for snow, just heavy and miserable.

If Audrey had entered the park, she could be in trouble. If the training had been interrupted, the hundreds of thousands of dollars that had been poured into the setup and running of it could be wasted. Not to mention the national security implications. Jae had no idea what this training was about, but he figured it wasn’t generic as the Navy had claimed. There was a specific op they were preparing for, and it was big.