Chapter 5
Elena watched Reed move around her hotel room with the quiet efficiency she remembered from their time together at the facility.
He checked sight lines through the windows, tested the locks on the door, and evaluated the room’s security with the practiced eye of a man who’d spent years keeping people alive in hostile territory.
She found herself studying the way his shoulders moved beneath his expensive suit jacket, the confident set of his jaw as he assessed potential threats.
He was still devastatingly handsome, maybe even more so now with the added authority that came with success.
The boy she’d fallen in love with had grown into a man who commanded rooms simply by walking into them.
Stop it, she told herself firmly. You don’t have the luxury of thinking about how good he looks.
But her traitorous mind kept cataloging details anyway. The way his dark hair caught the lamplight. The familiar gesture of running his hand through it when he was thinking. The broad span of his shoulders that made her feel protected just by being in the same room.
He was strong in ways that went beyond the physical, though she could see he’d maintained the muscular build of his SEAL days.
Reed had always been her anchor, the steady presence that made her feel like she could take on the world.
Even now, after five years apart and all the hurt between them, his very presence made her feel like maybe—just maybe—this impossible mission might actually work.
“We need to move you,” Reed said, turning away from the window. “This location is too exposed. Too many variables.”
Elena nodded, already mentally preparing to pack the few belongings she’d brought. “I have a secondary safe house across town. It’s not much, but—”
“No.” Reed’s voice was firm. “My building has a secure floor. Corporate housing for visiting executives. No one will think to look there, and my security team can monitor all access points.”
The thought of being that close to Reed’s world, that integrated into his daily life, made Elena’s heart race for reasons that had nothing to do with operational security.
“Reed,” she began carefully, “I want you to understand something. What we’re up against—Webb isn’t just corrupt. He’s dangerous. The people he works with, the clients he sells to... they don’t hesitate to eliminate problems.”
Reed’s expression hardened. “I was a Navy SEAL for fourteen years. I think I can handle—”
“That’s not what I mean,” Elena interrupted urgently. “I don’t want to hurt you again. Being near me, helping me—it puts you at risk. It puts your family at risk. Your brothers, your business, everyone you care about could become a target.”
She took a shaky breath, forcing herself to voice the fear that had kept her awake for years. “I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you because of me.”
Reed’s eyebrows went up, and something that might have been amusement flickered across his face. “I appreciate that, but I can take care of myself.”
The casual dismissal of her concern sparked a flare of irritation. “Reed, I’m serious. Five years ago, I had to choose between protecting you and completing my mission. I chose to protect you, and it nearly destroyed us both. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“What mistake?” Reed stepped closer, his blue eyes intense. “Protecting someone you cared about, or letting me think you were dead?”
The question hit like a physical blow. Elena wrapped her arms around herself, the familiar weight of guilt settling on her shoulders. “Both. All of it. I should have found another way.”
“Well, we can’t change the past,” Reed said quietly. “But we can make sure this ends differently.”
Elena wanted to believe him. Wanted to trust that this time, they could win without losing each other in the process. But she knew Webb too well, knew the resources he commanded. She knew he'd do anything to protect his operation.
“Tell me about Vancouver,” Reed said, shifting the conversation back to operational matters. “What kind of security can we expect at this auction?”
Elena pulled out her laptop, grateful for the familiar routine of mission planning. “Webb’s hosting it at the Blackwood Estate, about forty minutes outside the city. It’s a private compound, heavily fortified. Multiple security perimeters, electronic surveillance, armed guards.”
She opened a file containing architectural blueprints she’d acquired through carefully cultivated contacts.
“The auction itself will be held in the main house, but Webb will have the WATCHDOG access codes in a secure server room in the basement. Physical isolation from the main network, biometric locks, the works.”
Reed studied the blueprints over her shoulder, and Elena tried to ignore the way his proximity made her pulse quicken. He smelled like expensive cologne and something uniquely him, a combination that brought back memories of quiet mornings and whispered conversations.
“Guest list?” he asked.
“Invitation only. Representatives from at least six foreign intelligence services, plus various criminal organizations with the resources to afford Webb’s asking price.
” Elena scrolled through another file. “I have partial identities on most of them, but Webb’s been careful to compartmentalize information. ”
“How many people?”
“Twenty-five, maybe thirty. Plus their security details.” Elena rubbed her temples, feeling the familiar headache that came with thinking about the scope of what they were up against. “Reed, these aren’t just buyers. Some of these people... if they get their hands on WATCHDOG’s capabilities...”
“They won’t,” Reed said with quiet conviction. “We’re going to stop this.”
Elena looked up at him, seeing the determined set of his jaw, the steady confidence in his eyes. For a moment, she allowed herself to believe him. To trust in the man who’d once promised to protect her from anything the world threw at them.
“There’s something else,” she said reluctantly.
“Webb isn’t just selling access to WATCHDOG.
He’s been upgrading it. The system I designed was powerful, but what he’s created.
..” She swallowed hard. “It’s beyond anything I imagined.
Real-time facial recognition tied to every security camera in major cities.
Social media monitoring that can predict behavior patterns.
Financial tracking that can freeze assets or manipulate markets at will. ”
Reed was quiet for a long moment, processing the implications. “He’s created a tool for controlling populations.”
“Exactly. And once it’s in the hands of hostile governments or criminal syndicates, there’s no taking it back.
The damage will be permanent.” Elena closed the laptop and looked directly at Reed.
“I need you to understand what you’re agreeing to help with.
This isn’t just about stopping an auction or bringing down a corrupt official.
We’re talking about preventing the complete erosion of human privacy and freedom. The stakes couldn’t be higher.”
Reed met her gaze steadily. “Then we had better make sure we don’t fail.”
The simple statement, delivered with such quiet certainty, made Elena’s heart skip a beat. This was the Reed she remembered—the man who faced impossible odds with unshakeable determination. The man who’d once made her believe she could save the world.
“We’ll need a team,” she said, forcing herself to focus on practical matters. “At least six people, maybe eight. Surveillance specialists, technical experts, someone who can handle close protection...”
“I have people in mind,” Reed said. “My head of security used to be Delta Force. My tech specialist is former NSA. They’re good people, Elena. People I trust with my life.”
“And now you’re asking them to trust you with theirs.”
Reed’s expression softened. “These people knew what they signed up for when they came to work for me. STAR Enterprises doesn’t just build corporate security systems. We’ve been involved in some very serious operations over the years.”
Elena felt a stab of something that might have been jealousy. In the five years she’d been hiding, running, surviving day by day, Reed had built a company, a team, a whole life that she knew nothing about. He’d moved on in ways she never could.
“What is it?” Reed asked, apparently reading something in her expression.
“Nothing,” Elena said quickly. “I just... I’m glad you built something good. Something meaningful.”
“Elena—”
“We should get moving,” she interrupted, standing and moving toward her travel bag. “If we’re going to relocate tonight, I want to do it while there’s still enough traffic to provide cover.”
Reed watched her pack with the efficiency of someone who’d learned to live out of a suitcase. Everything she owned fit into a single bag—a fact that wasn’t lost on either of them.
“Ready?” he asked when she shouldered the bag.
Elena looked around the sterile hotel room one last time, then at Reed. Standing there in his expensive suit, looking every inch the successful businessman he’d become, he should have seemed like a stranger to her.
But he didn’t. He looked like home.
“Ready,” she said.
She hoped she was telling the truth.