Chapter 12
Two days prior.
Maggie packed with precision. Not the rushed kind.
The careful kind that came from knowing she might not get another chance to do it right.
Each electronic device was powered down, wrapped, and sealed.
She hadn’t brought anything that was unnecessary.
Nothing of sentimental value; that was all back at the facility.
Zipping the bag, she then rested her hands on it for a moment, breathing through the quiet.
This was different than her other trips to the rig. Before, she'd left Darkwater irritated and convinced she'd return with fresh eyes. Now, she was returning with knowledge she couldn't unlearn and a sense that someone on the platform was doing what she suspected.
Her phone buzzed.
She didn't look at it immediately.
Instead, she slung the bag over her shoulder and stepped into the hallway of the hotel. The corridor outside her hotel room was lit with recessed lighting that hummed softly overhead. Footsteps echoed farther down. Someone laughed. Someone else cursed quietly. Ordinary sounds.
Maggie walked out of the hotel.
She’d learned to look at the area where she was walking.
To see the dangers that may be present. Reece had asked questions about what she saw, and she’d realized that she rarely paid attention to what was around her.
She’d changed in the last month. Maggie felt it before she saw it.
The prickle between her shoulders. Stopping, she scanned the area.
There. A man stood near the far intersection, leaning against the wall, pretending to scroll on his phone.
He looked up when she stared at him, then looked away too quickly.
Maggie pulled her backstraps out of the side of her luggage and swung the bag onto her back.
She kept her hands free to defend herself.
That was what Reece had said that first day, and she hadn’t forgotten it.
She started walking again. Her pace didn't change, but her fingers tightened around the straps of her backpack. She kept walking.
Her phone rang. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and answered it.
"Keep moving," a calm mechanical voice said the moment she answered. "I'm with you."
Her pulse kicked. "Who is this?"
"A friend of Reece's. And right now, the only reason the man following you hasn't gotten closer."
She didn't slow her pace. "Why?"
"Because they want to see where you're going," Max replied. "And because they don't know how much I see."
When she passed the intersection, the man pushed off the wall and fell in behind her at a distance that could still be a coincidence.
"Keep talking to me," the man said. "Your stride's good. Don't change it. Nice to actually talk with you this time."
Maggie swallowed. "You've contacted me before. At Darkwater and at the hotel on my personal computer."
"Yes."
"How?"
There was no hesitation. "I can access any computer system in the world."
She huffed out a breath that was half disbelief, half grim amusement. "That's not comforting."
"I try."
They reached the outer walkway, the one that led toward the helipad. Wind swept in from the open side of the structure, carrying salt and fuel and the faint metallic smell of machinery.
"Why me?" Maggie asked quietly. "Why do you need me?"
"I don't," the man said.
She frowned. "And … that's also not reassuring."
"Guardian does," he continued. "Reece does. Humanity does."
Her steps faltered for half a beat, then steadied.
"If what Darkwater is doing is what you think they're doing," the voice said, "finding the answers and exposing them could change the world."
Maggie nodded as she walked, eyes forward, heart pounding. "Because if they gain access to that information—"
"Very bad people could do very bad things," the voice interrupted calmly. "And that's what we're here to prevent."
She let out a soft, breathy laugh. "You mean that's what you're here to prevent?"
There was silence on the line. Long enough that she wondered if she'd lost him.
Then Max spoke again, slower this time. "What if you were allowed to restructure the company?"
Her brow furrowed. "What?"
"What if you," he said, "with all your ethics, morality, and common sense, were allowed to redesign Darkwater from the inside? What would you do?"
The helipad lights came into view ahead, bright against the dark sky.
She sighed. "So much. So damn much."
Max chuckled quietly. "Work on that when you have downtime."
"That's not my job," Maggie said.
"Absolutely true," Max replied. "But think about it anyway. What would the code of ethics for a company that compiles and sells information look like? Where would the boundaries be? Where would checks and balances fall?"
The helicopter blades began to turn on the helicopter waiting at the pad that Darkwater had established on the waterfront. The thump of the blades vibrated through the ground beneath her feet.
"I've seen your work," Max continued. "You're an elegant coder and extremely proficient in systems. But there's more to you than code.
You were top of your class in every class at MIT.
Full-ride scholarship, and you proved your high school yearbook wrong.
They should have voted you most likely to succeed, not class sweetheart. Don't sell yourself short."
She reached the edge of the pad, wind whipping her hair free from its tie. She glanced back once.
The man following her had stopped at the threshold of the helicopter restricted area, pretending interest in something else entirely.
He didn't cross the line.
"Check in and board now," Max said. "Once you're airborne, they lose you."
Maggie nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "I'll think about it."
"I know you will."
She disconnected the call and swiped her badge at the gate that would access the helipad.
It opened immediately, and she handed her bag to the crew member reaching for it.
As she climbed into the helicopter, the noise swallowed the world, replacing fear with motion.
She reached for the earphones that would dim the noise and allow the pilot to speak to her or the other passengers going out to the platform.
Maggie glanced at the others. She recognized everyone from the facility but didn’t know them personally.
As the aircraft lifted, Maggie looked down at the shrinking lights below.
Darkwater and Reece were waiting for her. And now, she understood that what she was carrying back with her wasn't just suspicion. It was a responsibility. But thankfully, she wasn't walking into it alone.
* * *
The helicopter ride back to Darkwater felt shorter than it should have.
Maggie sat strapped in, the harness tight across her chest, watching the platform grow from a distant speck to a sprawling structure. Her hands were folded loosely in her lap, but her nails dug into her palms. The closer they got, the smaller she felt.
Steel and glass. Clean lines. Purpose-built. From the air, it looked exactly the way it was meant to look.
Untouchable.
Her stomach tightened as the rotors slowed and the deck crew came into view.
She forced herself to breathe evenly, to keep her posture relaxed.
She was back. The moment her shoes hit the deck, the familiar smells rushed her.
Salt, fuel, and whatever it was from the systems running below her feet.
The wind whipped her hair across her face, and she tucked it behind her ear with practiced efficiency.
For a split second, comfort flared. It was the memory of arrival, of returning to a place she'd thought would be her life's work.
She’d walked these corridors for over a year without thinking about who watched whom. Without wondering which conversations were logged and which silences mattered.
Now, every surface felt hostile. The deck crew moved with their usual efficiency, unloading cargo and directing personnel. The lead supervisor, Marcus, gave her a brief nod. Standard greeting. Nothing more. She returned it and moved toward the access doors, her bag slung over one shoulder.
The transition from open deck to climate-controlled interior was jarring as always. The roar of wind and ocean cut off instantly, replaced by the low hum of ventilation systems and the almost subliminal vibration of machinery.
Fluorescent lighting cast everything in flat white. The rubber-sealed doors closed behind her with a pneumatic hiss.
"Maggie," a voice called.
She turned with an easy smile already in place.
Jonah Pike stood a few steps away, tablet tucked under his arm.
His expression was neutral enough to pass for casual.
Pike was one of the first people she’d worked with when Darkwater was building its presence.
He was odd, but they’d never had any problems with each other.
She’d done several jobs for him when the systems were being brought online.
"Welcome back," he said.
"Thanks," she replied. "Feels strange being gone that long."
"Mandatory leave will do that," Jonah said, falling into step beside her as she headed toward the residential levels. "You disappear for a month, and suddenly everyone remembers how much they rely on you."
She laughed lightly; the sound was a bit harsh, but she was nervous. "I doubt that."
He studied her a moment longer than necessary. Not overtly weird or over the top, but measuring her nonetheless.
"How was your time off?" he asked. "You go somewhere?"
There it was. Maggie adjusted the strap of her bag. "I stayed in Florida. Stayed busy working on my tan."
“You do have a healthy glow.”
She smiled up at the man. “Thanks.” She also went to theme parks, spent days on lakes, and went deep-sea fishing. Oh, and found a man who never left her side. But she gave Pike none of that information.
Jonah raised an eyebrow. "Is that all you did? Work on your tan?"
"Well, I read, too," she said and rolled her eyes. "I also slept way too much and tried to convince myself not to open a laptop."
"And?" Jonah asked.