Chapter 9
9
JUDE
T he panic room's hydraulic door sealed behind Jude with a hiss. Emergency lighting bathed the safe house corridors in cold blue shadows as she moved through familiar space that had turned hostile. She positioned charges at precise intervals, each one calculated to create maximum confusion while minimizing structural damage.
Her body operated on pure muscle memory, but her mind kept circling back to Carmen's voice: I love you . Three words that should have complicated everything but instead crystallized her purpose into perfect clarity. She wasn't just protecting a diplomat anymore. She was fighting for their future.
The first attacker appeared at the corridor junction, moving with the distinctive grace of special operations forces training. Jude recognized the stance before he registered her presence. She closed distance fast, redirecting his weapon before he could fire. His knife appeared exactly where training said it would, but she was already inside his guard. A precise strike collapsed his throat. Quiet, efficient, final.
She caught his body before it hit the floor, easing him down silently. His gear confirmed her suspicions: American- made, high-end, the kind only certain contractors could access. She appropriated his radio, already tuned to their command frequency.
"North sector clear," a voice crackled through the earpiece. "Moving to breach point Charlie."
Jude placed another charge, mentally mapping enemy positions through their radio chatter. They were good—coordinated, disciplined, thorough. But she had something they didn't: intimate knowledge of this building's secrets and absolute certainty in what she was fighting for.
Two more hostiles swept the intersecting corridor. She let them pass, noting their formation. Former Delta Force, maybe Rangers. Their movements carried that particular precision born from years of joint operations. She waited until they cleared the corner before triggering the first charge.
The explosion wasn't meant to kill. It sent dust and debris cascading through the hallway, disrupting their practiced coordination. She moved through the chaos like smoke, neutralizing the first operator before he could orient himself. His partner managed to squeeze off one shot—silenced, professional—but she was already gone, leaving unconscious bodies in her wake.
More radio chatter confirmed her plan was working. The teams were shifting positions and responding to the apparent breach attempt. Each repositioning drew them further from the actual escape route while creating gaps in their coverage.
She placed the final charge near the building's main support column. This one carried more punch, enough to make them think she was attempting a structural collapse. The kind of desperate move they'd expect from someone running out of options.
A shadow moved wrong at the end of the hall. Jude dropped and rolled as bullets sparked against the reinforced walls. Three attackers this time, all moving with the synchronization that screamed military training. She used their practiced coordination against them, forcing them to cluster to maintain formation.
The fight was brutally efficient. She recognized their hand-to-hand style—the same CQC techniques she had learned in BUD/S—and countered with moves they wouldn't expect. When it ended, she acquired another radio and fresh magazines for her weapon.
"Teams One and Two, converge on breach point Delta," the command channel crackled. "Target is attempting to create an exit route."
Let them think that. Let them commit resources to preventing an escape that would never come. She headed back toward the panic room, every sense straining for threats. The path was clear, exactly as planned. They'd pulled units to counter her apparent attempt at breaking out, leaving gaps in their coverage.
Carmen waited at the panic room door, weapon ready, dark eyes bright with trust and knowing that made Jude's chest tight. No questions, no hesitation. Just absolute faith that they would face whatever came next together.
"Seven minutes until the main charge goes off," Jude said quietly. "They'll throw everything at containing that breach."
Carmen nodded, already understanding. "And we will use the maintenance tunnel they haven't found."
"Intel confirms the tunnel exits three blocks east. Sarah has a vehicle waiting." Jude checked her weapon one final time. "Ready?"
Instead of answering, Carmen kissed her. It wasn't like their previous kisses—desperate or gentle or full of unspoken words. This one felt like certainty, like a promise, like coming home.
"Always," Carmen whispered against her lips.
They moved through the shadows together, their steps falling into perfect synchronization. Outside, their enemies prepared for an assault that would never come. Inside, two women who'd found each other against impossible odds made their own fate.
The final charge would detonate soon, drawing every hostile toward the wrong location. But Jude barely registered the timing anymore. Her world had narrowed to the woman beside her and the future they would fight for.
Together.
They moved through the safe house like ghosts, their footsteps whisper-soft against the marble floors. Jude led them down service corridors she'd memorized during security sweeps, each turn bringing them closer to the hidden maintenance tunnel that would lead them to their freedom. Emergency lighting painted everything in shades of blue and shadow, transforming the familiar space into alien territory.
The main charge would detonate in four minutes. Until then, they needed to stay invisible.
A door clicked somewhere above, too gentle to be accidental. Jude pressed Carmen against the wall, instinctively shielding her. Three sets of boots moved across the upper floor, their rhythm carrying the unmistakable cadence of combat veterans.
"Two teams sweeping east," the voice crackled through Jude’s stolen radio. "No sign of the targets."
Carmen's warm breath brushed against Jude's neck as they waited, as their bodies were pressed closely together in darkness. Despite the danger, Jude found herself cataloging unnecessary details: the silk of Carmen's blouse under her fingers, the subtle notes of her perfume cutting through cordite and concrete dust, and how her pulse raced steady and strong where their bodies touched.
The teams above moved on, following the trail of evidence she'd left to mislead them. Once the infiltrators’ footsteps faded, Jude led them deeper into the building's arteries. They passed through the kitchen where gleaming steel counters reflected emergency lighting like underwater mirrors. Every shadow held potential threats, but Carmen matched her movements perfectly, reading her body language with the same precision she used to analyze diplomatic negotiations.
Three minutes until detonation.
The door to the wine cellar emerged from darkness—their entry point to the maintenance tunnel. Jude reached for the handle just as movement flickered in her peripheral vision. She spun, shoving Carmen behind a steel prep table as gunfire shrieked against the kitchen’s industrial appliances.
Two hostiles stood at the kitchen entrance; another moved through the dining room. Their coordination suggested extensive training together—probably werre from the same unit and familiar with each other's styles. The kind of team that could anticipate their partners' moves without verbal communication.
Jude drew their fire while calculating angles and distances. The kitchen's layout provided multiple lanes of cover, but it also created choke points they could use to trap her and Carmen. She recognized the technique from joint operations training: divide the space into sectors, control movement options, and force the target into predictable responses.
A bullet cracked the industrial refrigerator by her head, spraying coolant in a fine mist. She used the distraction to change position, noting how Carmen had already shifted to cover the opposite approach. No words needed, just deep trust built over their protection detail together that had since crystallized in the past twenty-four hours.
"Target located," one attacker murmured into his radio. "Kitchen, northwest corner. Moving to contain."
Jude allowed herself a small smile. Their professionalism would be their undoing. Their need to report positions and coordinate movements created precious seconds of vulnerability. She counted footsteps, tracking their approach through sound alone.
The first attacker cleared the corner exactly where training would have dictated. Jude was already moving, redirecting his weapon while driving her knee into his solar plexus. His partner tried to compensate, but Carmen had anticipated the move. The wine bottle she threw hit him perfectly, shattering his concentration long enough for Jude to close the distance.
The fight was brutally efficient. Jude recognized their hand-to-hand style—close-quarter combat techniques taught to special operations forces—but she'd learned to counter those moves during hundreds of training sessions. When they tried to establish dominant positions, she flowed around their strikes like water. Each attempt to contain her created openings she exploited with military precision.
The third hostile attempted to flank them through the dining room. Carmen's warning came as a shift in pressure rather than words. Jude rolled aside as a knife blade sliced through the space she'd occupied seconds earlier. She caught the attacker's wrist, using his own momentum to drive him into an industrial stovetop.
Two minutes until detonation.
"Clear," Carmen said quietly, already moving to check the fallen hostiles. Her diplomatic composure remained perfect despite the violence, but Jude saw how her hands trembled slightly as she collected spare magazines and radio equipment.
Jude did a final sweep while Carmen secured their exit route.
"Company," Carmen warned, her voice carrying urgency without panic. More footsteps approached from above—heavier this time, with the measured pace of experienced operators moving to contact.
One minute until detonation.
They slipped through the wine cellar door just as shadows of operatives appeared in the kitchen entrance. The cellar's darkness wrapped around them like a blanket, filled with the musty scent of earth and aged wood. Rows of vintage wine bottles caught emergency lighting in strange patterns, creating an underwater effect that made depth perception difficult.
Jude guided them between racks of priceless vintages, following the path she'd memorized during security sweeps. The maintenance tunnel entrance waited behind a false wall, the kind of secret rich arms dealers loved to build into their properties.
Boots on the cellar stairs could only mean multiple teams were converging on their position. Jude reached for the hidden latch just as the first explosion rocked the building above. Dust rained from ancient wooden beams as the main charge detonated, sending shock waves through the foundation.
Secondary explosions followed, each one carefully placed to create maximum confusion. The cellar's wooden racks swayed dangerously, bottles crashing to the floor in waves of shattered glass and spilled wine. Their pursuers stumbled on the stairs, professional coordination disrupted by the building's violent movement.
Thirty seconds to clear the area before the final charge.
The false wall clicked open, revealing darkness beyond. Jude ushered Carmen through first, then followed smoothly behind her. The door sealed behind them just as more explosions thundered throughout the structure above.
They moved quickly through pitch darkness, guided by memorized steps and the cold certainty of shared purpose. The tunnel's rough walls pressed close, carrying the weight of earth and concrete overhead. Each explosion felt more distant, muffled by layers of soil and stone.
When the final charge detonated, its shock wave reached them as little more than a tremor. But Jude knew what their pursuers would find: a building that appeared to be collapsing, with evidence suggesting they'd been caught in the structural failure. The perfect cover for an escape no one would think to look for.
"Your plan worked perfectly," Carmen murmured as they navigated the darkness. Her fingers found Jude's in the black, twining together with familiar warmth.
"Our plan," Jude corrected softly. "I couldn't have done it without you."
The words felt inadequate against everything they'd become to each other. But Carmen's answering squeeze of her hand conveyed complete understanding that didn’t need lengthy explanations. They moved through shadows toward freedom, leaving chaos behind while forging their own path forward.
Together.
Darkness pressed against them like velvet as they moved through the maintenance tunnel, each step measured and precise. The space felt ancient, a remnant of Bogotá's colonial past transformed into an escape route by arms dealers who understood the value of hidden paths. Moisture beaded on rough stone walls, catching the dim glow of their emergency lights in diamond patterns.
Jude kept one hand on the tunnel wall, counting steps and turns while monitoring their surroundings through their other senses. The thunder of explosions had faded to distant echoes, but new sounds emerged from the darkness: water dripping through decades-old stonework, the whisper of their movement against confined walls, and the steady rhythm of Carmen's breathing beside her.
They passed beneath a junction where modern concrete met colonial stone. The air changed subtly. It was fresher, carrying traces of the city above. Jude checked her watch, calculating distances against memorized blueprints. Two more intersections before they reached the extraction point.
"Movement ahead," Carmen murmured, her voice barely a breath. She'd already dropped into a defensive stance, proving how much she'd absorbed from her protection detail.
Jude killed their light, letting darkness swallow them completely. The sounds clarified in blackness: multiple sets of boots moving with purpose, radio static, the distinctive click of weapons being checked. Someone else knew about their escape route.
"Three hundred meters to the exit point," a voice echoed through the tunnel. "Sweep every junction and maintenance shaft. They have to emerge somewhere."
The voice triggered immediate recognition, one she'd hoped never to hear again. William Chen, former Delta Force commander turned private contractor. They'd run operations together in Yemen before everything went wrong. Before his unit had been compromised by corporate money.
"Will's here," she breathed against Carmen's ear. "He's the one who leaked our protocols."
Carmen's small intake of breath conveyed perfect understanding. They'd wondered who could have provided such intimate knowledge of their security procedures. Will had helped write many of them during joint operations between their units. He would’ve had more than sufficient knowledge to leak.
Lights swept the tunnel ahead as Chen's team began their search pattern. Jude guided them into a maintenance alcove, pressing close together in the confined space. Carmen's heartbeat was steady against her chest, the same calm she showed during tense negotiations that had now transformed into silent strength.
"Grid pattern sweep," Chen's voice commanded. "They'll try to double back toward the square. Teams Three and Four, cover the north access points. Five and Six, move to contain the south exit."
Jude felt Carmen’s smile in the darkness. Chen was good, but he was thinking like a soldier. He assumed they would follow standard evasion protocols, the same ones he'd helped develop. But their experience had taught them both that sometimes the best path forward was the one no one was expecting you to take.
They waited in perfect stillness as lights passed their position. Chen's teams moved with professional precision, but they were looking for obvious threats. None of them thought to check the maintenance alcoves—cramped spaces that most soldiers would consider too confined for effective movement.
When the search teams passed, Jude led them deeper into the tunnel network. They moved away from the obvious exit points, following a route she'd discovered during late-night study of the building's original blueprints. The arms dealers who'd modified these passages had created multiple escape options, including ones that weren't marked on any official plans.
Water sloshed quietly under their feet as the tunnel's grade changed. The air grew heavier, thick with decades of underground moisture. Carmen matched her pace, reading her movements in darkness as easily as she read diplomatic negotiations in full light.
"Second team reporting in," crackled through Chen's radio frequency. "North exits are secured. No sign of targets."
Let them focus on conventional escape routes. Jude guided them through a narrow passage that connected to the city's old storm drain system, the kind of alternative path that most military teams would dismiss as too risky to be seriously considered. But she'd learned to think differently since meeting Carmen. Sometimes the most dangerous route was the safest, simply because no one expected you to take it.
The passage ended at a maintenance shaft that rose toward street level. Old metal rungs created a ladder up the shaft's wall, each one tested during previous security sweeps. Jude went first, climbing slowly to minimize noise while keeping her weapon ready.
Cool air brushed her face as she neared the top. The shaft's cover had been prepared days ago: hinges oiled, edges cleaned, and every detail arranged to allow a silent exit. She eased it open just enough to scan their surroundings.
Dawn painted Bogotá's streets in dewy, golden light. The extraction point waited exactly where planned: an abandoned market two blocks east, where Sarah would have their vehicle ready. No sign of Chen's teams; they were still focused on the main tunnel exits.
Jude helped Carmen climb up the last few rungs, both of them emerging into early morning light that felt impossibly bright after the tunnel's darkness. They sealed the shaft behind them, leaving no trace of their passage.
"Clear," Sarah's voice whispered through their emergency radio, the first friendly contact since the safe house fell. "Vehicle is ready at the secondary location. No pursuit visible."
They moved through streets like the other early morning travelers. Carmen had changed into civilian clothes before they had entered the tunnel—a detail that proved essential now. Jude had stripped her tactical vest and weapons into a backpack and replaced them with a casual sweatshirt and baseball cap. They both had on sunglasses. No one looked twice at what appeared to be a professional woman and her companion walking together at dawn.
The market's walls rose ahead, weathered stone that was shining with rose-gold light by the sunrise. Sarah waited in a delivery van, engine already running. They climbed in smoothly, and the vehicle merged with morning traffic before anyone could register their presence.
"Teams One through Four are still covering all the main exits," Sarah reported as she drove. "Chen's got them convinced you're trapped in the tunnel system. Backup units are being called in to sweep the entire network."
Carmen's hand found Jude's in the van's shadows, their fingers twining together with familiar warmth. The contact grounded them both. A reminder that they'd just survived the worse odds together.
"Let them search," Carmen said softly. "By the time they realize their mistake, we'll have the evidence secured and transmitted to every major news outlet in South America."
Jude squeezed her hand gently, understanding the deeper implications. They hadn't just escaped with their lives. They'd survived with the proof needed to expose everything: corporate corruption, military contractors acting as mercenaries, and the systematic destruction of indigenous communities.
The sun climbed higher as Sarah drove them toward a new secure fallback location. Through the van's windows, Bogotá slowly woke to what seemed like an ordinary morning. But nothing would be ordinary after today.
They'd survived betrayal and violence, found strength in each other, and forged a path forward that no one had expected. Now they just had to make sure their truth reached the people who needed it most.
Dawn's light caught Carmen's hair, making it shine like starlight. Jude watched her in the growing brightness, memorizing how she looked in this moment of hard-won victory. They'd fought their way through darkness together.
Now it was time to step into the light.
The secondary safe house that Sarah brought them to occupied the top floor of an unassuming apartment building in Bogotá's diplomatic quarter. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered clear sight lines in all directions, while sophisticated security systems monitored every approach. Perfect for their needs, yet unremarkable enough to avoid unwanted attention.
Jude completed her security sweep with practiced efficiency, each room presenting fresh proof of Sarah's careful preparation. Surveillance feeds showed quiet streets below. No signs of pursuit, no suspicious vehicles, no indication that anyone had connected this location to their escape.
"Chen's teams are still searching the tunnel network," Kate reported through their newly established secure line. "Local police have been called in to help sweep the entire system. No one's looking in this direction."
Relief crept through Jude's muscles as adrenaline began to fade. Her body started calculating the morning's cost: bruises from close combat, strained muscles from the tunnel climb, and small cuts from broken glass in the wine cellar. Each pain carried memories of their fight for survival.
She found Carmen in the main room, silhouetted against windows that faced the rising sun. She'd shedded her dust-covered jacket, and morning light caught the silk of her blouse in ways that made Jude's breath catch. Even after everything, she maintained that quiet elegance that had first captivated Jude's attention in Washington.
"The files are transmitting," Carmen said without turning. Her voice carried the same steady strength that had guided peace negotiations through war zones. "Every major news outlet in South America will have proof of corporate corruption within the hour. Maria Elena's people will finally have justice."
Jude moved closer, drawn by gravity she'd stopped fighting. "Your diplomatic career?—"
"Was always meant to serve justice." Now Carmen turned, and Jude saw the certainty in her eyes. "Even if it costs me everything professionally, exposing the truth makes it worth any price."
The morning light glinted off Carmen’s beautiful face as she closed the distance between them. Her fingers traced the fresh bruise on Jude's jaw, the touch impossibly gentle against Jude’s combat-roughened skin.
"You're hurt," Carmen murmured.
"It’s nothing serious." Jude caught her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm. "Though I'm pretty sure that vintage wine you threw was worth more than my yearly salary."
Carmen's laugh held equal parts relief and lingering tension. "I'll expense it as a security necessity." Her expression softened. "You saved my life. Again."
"We saved each other." Jude drew her closer, needing to feel her warmth and reassure herself that they'd both survived. "I couldn't have made it through that tunnel without your trust. Your strength."
"Trust goes both ways." Carmen's free hand came up to trace the shape of the cut on Jude's cheek—the one from the assassination attempt that felt like years ago instead of days. "You let me fight beside you instead of just trying to protect me. That means more than any security protocol."
The space between them disappeared as Carmen leaned in, her lips brushing Jude's with exquisite tenderness. The kiss tasted of adrenaline and victory and promises they'd both almost died to keep. Jude pulled her closer, deepening the contact until they were breathing the same air.
When they finally broke apart, Carmen's eyes held a heat that had nothing to do with combat and everything to do with survival. "Stay with me?"
The question carried layers of meaning beyond just this moment. Jude saw their future reflected in Carmen's gaze: more missions, more fights for justice, and more battles against corruption. But now they would face everything together. They were stronger for having found each other.
"Always," Jude whispered against her lips.
This time when they kissed, it felt like coming home. Like finding shelter after storms, like victory hard-won and worth every cost. Carmen's hands slid under Jude's shirt, tracing scars and muscles with familiar devotion. Each touch carried the weight of everything they'd survived together.
As they removed each other’s clothes, slowly, they moved together with the same synchronization that had guided them through combat, reading each other's bodies with practiced ease.
Jude leaned in to brush her lips softly against Carmen’s, just to get a taste, but Carmen had enveloped Jude’s lips around hers. Jude leaned in against Carmen, deepening the kiss and savoring the hint of salt on her lips.
Jude was already feeling her desire grow stronger, but when she moved to get on top of Carmen, Carmen had already twisted her leg between Jude’s legs to trip her and get the advantage. Jude flipped on the bed in one fluid motion, taken off guard by Carmen’s swiftness, and smiled up at the woman who had already so fiercely captured her heart.
Carmen leaned in close to Jude’s ear. “Got you.”
Jude’s eyes narrowed. “I let you.”
“Yes, love.” But there was no conviction in her words. Instead, Carmen positioned herself in between Jude’s legs. When she leaned down for another kiss, Carmen’s right knee edged closer to Jude’s pussy until it pressed against it. Carmen applied soft pressure as she circled her knee against Jude as their tongues danced together, flitting in and out of their mouths and rolling over each other
Jude reached up, her pleasure already building in her core, and softly traced the swell of Carmen’s breast while staring deeply in her eyes. Carmen’s gaze softened at the edges as she stared back, and Carmen placed a finger under her chin to lift it slightly to lock their lips again, this time with a little more intensity.
Carmen’s knee kept working its magic, and Jude closed her eyes to savor the moment. She let her hand idly move from Carmen’s breast up her chest then back down, touching the softness of her stomach before she moved her hand downward, resting just under her stomach.
Carmen shifted and let Jude’s hand drop on the mattress underneath them, and Jude looked up in Carmen’s eyes that were already dancing with desire. Her lopsided smirk grew bigger before she slipped her hand between Jude’s thighs. “Not yet,” she purred. “It’s your turn. Let me love on you.”
Jude wriggled to reposition, trying to suppress her smile. “All yours, babe.”
Carmen leaned down and slowly—painfully slowly—teased Jude by running the tip of her tongue around Jude’s clit but not quite hitting the spot on purpose.
Jude growled in a low voice, but Carmen just chuckled. “Patience, my love.”
She continued circling around-but-not-quite-on Jude’s clit, dipping every so often between her folds, and Jude felt herself get slick from want. Jude shifted her leg to give Carmen space, trying to get Carmen to focus on spot that would make her see stars. But it was futile. Carmen must have known what she was trying to do and kept evading, countering Jude’s movements almost before Jude could shift in a new position.
“I said to be patient .” Carmen slipped in a finger and swirled it inside her before entering another.
Jude’s core tightened and heated up. “Please,” she whimpered softly.
“What was that?”
Jude sighed. Carmen knew exactly what she was doing; Jude could hear it in the playful lilt in her voice.
“Please,” she repeated. “I want you. I crave you.”
“I like you like this.” She smirked and added another finger, then pressed her palm against Jude’s clitoris, putting pressure exactly in the right place. “Good girls get rewarded.”
Carmen leaned in and kissed Jude, then trailed feather light kisses on Jude’s cheek, on her jaw bone, along her throbbing carotid, down her neck, across her chest, and over the swell over breasts before she licked Jude’s nipple then captured it in her mouth and sucked.
Jude inhaled sharply, the sensation overwhelming her, and she grabbed Carmen’s breast and squeezed. Hard.
Carmen shifted above her and nibbled on Jude’s nipple in protest, but Jude’s leg started to get slick from Carmen’s wetness dripping on her.
Carmen kept sucking on Jude’s nipple and began to thrust her fingers in a delicious rhythm, and Jude felt the pleasure build inside her until it felt like it was going to completely overwhelm all her senses, but at the last possible second, Carmen took out her fingers and trailed another path of kisses, more insistent this time, down her breast, down her long torso, over the barely there swell of her stomach, and down, down, down.
Until she reached the spot just above Jude’s clit.
And she paused.
Jude could feel Carmen’s breath over her clit, teasing her in ways she didn’t know she could be teased.
Just when it was almost too much for Jude, Carmen buried her face between her thighs and ran her tongue over her clit and sucked on it lightly. Then harder. And harder still until Jude couldn’t form coherent thoughts and her mind was static and she scrunched the bed sheets in her fists to keep holding on to let this moment last forever.
But her orgasm came hard and crashed over her body, completely overtaking her entire body until she felt like her soul had escaped for a few seconds and experienced total bliss.
When she finally caught her breath, Carmen was already lying beside her, staring at her as if she were trying to memorize every detail of her face, that smirk still firmly in place.
“I told you good girls got rewarded.”
Jude laughed and leaned in close to kiss Carmen. Except it wasn’t with the passionate insistence that had consumed them like feral lovers like before, but it was filled with the love and admiration that filled them with contentment and peaceful knowing that they had finally found their person. Finally.
Later, wrapped in sheets that smelled of their passion, they watched dawn transform into full morning. Carmen traced idle patterns on Jude's skin while Jude played with her hair. The city hummed with life below their window, unaware of how much had changed in the past twenty-four hours.
"What happens now?" Jude asked softly.
Carmen smiled against her shoulder. "Now we make sure the truth reaches everyone who needs it. The indigenous communities get their land rights protected. The corporate mercenaries face justice." She pressed a kiss to Jude's collarbone. "And we find new battles worth fighting."
"Together?"
"Together." Carmen raised herself on one elbow, looking down at Jude with eyes that held equal parts love and certainty. "After all, every good diplomat needs protection she can trust completely."
Jude pulled her down for another kiss that tasted of future possibilities. They had survived betrayal and violence, found strength in each other, and forged a path forward that no one had expected. Whatever came next, they would face it as one.
The sun climbed higher over Bogotá as they lay tangled together in morning light. Outside, their evidence spread across news networks and social media, exposing corruption that had festered too long in shadows. Inside, two women who'd dedicated their lives to different forms of protection found peace in each other's arms.
They had fought their way through darkness and emerged stronger. Now it was time to build something lasting in the light.
Together.