Chapter 8
Reece couldn't sleep. He'd signed on to keep Maggie Brooks safe, to be the barrier between her and whatever she'd found at Darkwater.
But somewhere between theme parks and lake days, between watching her laugh on an airboat and feeling her hand slip into his like it belonged there, the lines between work and personal interest had blurred beyond recognition.
She'd gotten under his skin in a way no one ever had.
It wasn't just her quick mind or the way she saw patterns in computer systems the same way he saw patterns in people.
It was the loyalty that ran bone-deep in her.
That Nebraska stubbornness, as she called it, that refused to quit.
The way she looked at him sometimes, like he was more than just the guy keeping her safe. Like he was someone worth knowing.
He'd spent three and a half weeks learning her.
The way she tucked loose hair behind her ear when she was thinking.
How her laugh started quietly and built into something unguarded and real.
The taste of her mouth when she'd finally kissed him in Key West. He smiled to himself.
The woman was addictive. And that kiss was all the sweetness he ever wanted or needed.
Maggie never strayed too far from his mind.
He knew the warmth of her palm against his, the way she fit against his side when they walked, how her breath caught when he kissed the spot just below her ear.
He'd memorized her the way he used to memorize exits and threats, except this felt nothing like survival.
This felt like the opposite. Like living in a way he'd never known how to do.
And if he were honest, that enthralled him more than any mission ever had.
Because Maggie Brooks wasn't an assignment anymore. She was the reason he woke up smiling. The reason his limited time in Florida didn't feel temporary. The reason he checked his phone obsessively, not for threats, but to make sure she was still there, still safe, still his.
She wasn't just someone to protect anymore; she was someone he was falling for, hard and fast and without any of the discipline or control he'd built his life around.
And when this month ended, when she went back to Darkwater, and reality crashed back in, he had no idea how he was going to let her go. He just knew, with absolute certainty, that he didn't want to.
His phone buzzed on the nightstand, and he picked it up, expecting a text from Maggie. Instead, his dad was calling.
Reece answered. "Hey."
"You awake?" Jason's voice was quiet, the kind of quiet that meant his mom and sister were already asleep down the hall.
"Yeah."
"Good. I need to talk to you about something, but first, tell me how you're doing."
Reece leaned back against the headboard, staring at the ceiling. "I'm fine."
"That's not what I asked."
Silence stretched between them. Reece could hear his father breathing, patient and steady, the way he always was when he knew Reece needed space to figure out what he wanted to say.
"I don't know, Dad," Reece said finally. "I think I'm in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
"The kind that doesn't have an exit strategy."
Jason was quiet for a moment. Then, softly. "Maggie."
"Yeah."
"Tell me about her."
Reece exhaled slowly. "We drove to Key West last week. She didn't talk much, just watched the water and the bridges and the sky. And when we got there, she looked at me and said it felt like the edge of the world. Like we could just keep going and never stop."
"And?"
"And I wanted to," Reece admitted. "I wanted to keep driving. Anywhere. As long as she was there."
His dad didn't interrupt, for which he was grateful. He wanted to tell his father about the woman who’d snagged his attention and his heart.
"We went to a theme park," Reece continued.
"She'd never been to one. And she smiled the whole time.
Not the polite smile people do. The real one.
The one that made her eyes light up. And I just … I couldn't stop watching her."
"Sounds like you're fascinated."
"I am," Reece said. "She's brilliant, Dad.
The way she thinks, the way she sees problems. It's like watching someone solve a puzzle no one else can even see.
But it's more than that. She's stubborn as hell.
She doesn't quit. And she looks at me like I'm not just some operative doing a job. Like I'm someone who matters."
"You do matter, son."
"I know. But she makes me feel it."
Jason was quiet again, and Reece could picture him sitting in his office, cane leaning against the desk, coffee cup half-empty beside him.
"We went fishing," Reece said. "She didn't catch anything, but she laughed the whole time. And when I caught something big and let it go, she asked why I didn't keep it. I told her the catching was the point. And she just nodded, like she understood exactly what I meant."
"Did she?"
"Yeah," Reece said. "She did. Sport isn’t killing; it’s the process and the memories."
He rubbed his face with his free hand, feeling the stubble rough against his palm. "We went out on a lake. Just floated on innertubes for hours. Talked about family. About home. She told me about Nebraska, about growing up on a farm. And I told her about you, Mom, and the munchkins.”
His dad laughed, “You realize your brothers and sister are adults now, right?”
“Yeah, but they’ll always be the munchkins to me.”
“What else did you talk about?”
“Almost everything. About the discipline you taught me. About how Mom and you went through a hard time. I didn’t tell her about the Siege, but I told her that it was bad, and we got through it together, as a family. And she got it, Dad. She understood all of it."
"She sounds like good people."
"She is," Reece said. His throat tightened. "And … hell, I don’t know how to explain it … like when I’m with her, everything clicks into place. Like I've been waiting for that moment without knowing it."
Jason's voice was warm now. "That's how it happens sometimes."
"Is it stupid?" Reece asked quietly. "To fall for someone this fast?"
"No."
"But it's only been a few weeks. I’m a fool, aren’t I?"
"You're not," Jason said simply. "When you know, you know."
Reece was quiet. His dad was the best. Maybe he’d call Talon and ask if he’d been like that when he met Riley.
"You want to know something?" Jason asked, pulling him back from his thoughts.
"Yeah."
"When I met your mom, I knew."
Reece sat up slightly. "Seriously?"
"Seriously," Jason said. "After she doused me in water, exploded soda all over me, but way before she almost killed me with pepper.”
They both laughed. The stories of his mom’s klutziness were epic. Jason finished, “but I understand what you mean. With her … everything just made sense. The noise in my head went quiet. The restlessness stopped. And I looked at her and thought, 'There she is. That's the one.'"
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," Jason confirmed. "Love doesn't follow a timeline, son. It follows your heart. And if what you're feeling is true, then it doesn't matter if it's been three weeks or three years."
Reece swallowed hard. "I think I'm falling in love with her."
"I know you are."
"How?"
"Because I can hear it in your voice," Jason said. "You sound different. Lighter. Happy.”
Reece closed his eyes. "What if I screw it up?"
"You won't."
"How do you know?"
"Because you care enough to worry about it," Jason said. "That's half the battle right there. The other half is showing up. And son, you've always been good at that."
Reece exhaled slowly, the tension in his chest easing slightly. "Thanks, Dad."
"Anytime."
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Then Jason's tone shifted, just slightly. "Now, I need to talk to you about Darkwater."
"I figured."
"Hold for a conference call with my specialist."
Reece blinked. "Wait, what?"
There was a brief pause, then a robotic, distorted voice came over the line.
Reece straightened. He'd never met his father's specialist and actually thought the guy was a figment of his Dad's imagination sometimes.
The robotic voice that came over the line was weird but understandable.
There would be no way he'd be able to recognize the person’s real voice if he ever heard it.
"All right," Jason said. "We're all here."
The specialist didn't waste time. "I'll start with the problem."
Reece closed his eyes briefly. Maggie was the problem, or at least she was involved in the problem.
"Darkwater looks clean," the specialist continued. "Too clean. Their public architecture is pristine. Audit trails, oversight layers, and ethics are baked into every pitch deck. If Guardian moves now to take them down, it’ll look like a power grab."
Jason exhaled quietly. "Which it isn't."
"Correct," the specialist said. "But perception is what matters.
Especially when you're dealing with intelligence clients and international partners.
Guardian stepping in without solid, presentable proof that we didn't cultivate turns us into the aggressor.
I can get you all the information. That isn't an issue … "
Jason finished the sentence. "But it would be perceived as a power grab, which would set our missions and partnerships with other nations back years."
"Or, in some instances, break them," the specialist added.
Reece shifted slightly. "So, unless something blows up publicly from the inside or a source not connected to Guardian finds the issue and exposes it, you can't touch Darkwater."
"Exactly," the specialist replied.
Reece was silent for a beat. "What about what Maggie found?"
The specialist's tone sharpened. "She's close. Closer than she realizes."
His father interjected. “But suspicion isn’t enough. Not legally or politically. We need evidence from inside the system. Something she can document. Something she can present.”
“And she can’t do that alone,” Reece said.
“No,” His father agreed. “And she shouldn’t.”