Chapter 24
It had been three days since Guardian had taken the platform. Three days since Reece had beaten Jonah Pike into unconscious submission. Three days since her world had turned upside down and somehow landed right-side up.
She’d watched as the people from Guardian worked.
Watched as Reece and his family did the right thing, for the right reasons, even when it was the hardest thing to do.
Her feelings for Reece grew with each interaction she witnessed or was involved in.
The respect he showed the security teams was obvious.
He interacted with people from every division on Darkwater and did it with grace and authority and never with entitlement or abuse of power.
It was beautiful to see the people who remained on the platform smiling at him, happy in the knowledge that he was part of the security force there to protect them and take down the rot.
But today was a day of reckoning of sorts.
She'd assumed it was about testimony. Formal statements.
Legal preparation for the trials that would inevitably follow Darkwater's collapse.
She'd worn her best professional outfit.
Black slacks and a burgundy blouse with her hair pulled back into a presentable ponytail.
She was trying to look competent and composed despite the bandages still wrapped around her palms.
The door opened. Reece stood there, looking far better than he had three days ago.
The swelling on his face had gone down. The bruises were fading to yellow and green, and his split knuckles were healing.
She hadn’t seen him since he left her quarters this morning.
They usually had lunch together, but today, he’d begged off.
He smiled when he saw her. "You're early." He bent down and kissed her quickly.
"I'm nervous," she admitted.
"Don't be." He stepped aside, gesturing her in. "This isn't what you think it is."
Great, then what exactly was this? “Yeah, that doesn’t help.”
Smiling, Reece put his hand on her back, while Maggie took a deep breath and entered the conference room.
It was smaller than the other executive conference rooms she’d been in. It was more functional and more personal. A single table was surrounded by comfortable chairs with windows overlooking the ocean. Seated around that table were the people who'd helped save her life.
Jason King sat at the head. She really liked him. He was calm and had an aura of authority that seemed to be his destiny. His cane leaned against the table beside him.
Jacob King sat to his right. Arms crossed. Watching her with those sharp tactical eyes that missed nothing. He moved like he was a tiger stalking prey, but he was uproariously funny at the most unexpected times.
Jared King sat across from Jacob. He was the one she was nervous about. He was the lead investigator, and she hadn’t had much interaction with him. He sat with a tablet in front of him.
Jewell King sat beside Jared. Her hair was up in a messy bun with several pencils stuck through the loops of black hair. She didn’t look when she came in; she was busy working on her tablet.
And Reece moved to the chair beside his father after pulling out her chair directly across from Jason.
"Ms. Brooks," Jason said. "Thank you for coming."
“Maggie, please.” Maggie folded her hands in her lap over her tablet, trying not to fidget.
“Maggie,” Jason studied her for a moment. Not unkindly. Just measuring. Assessing. "I imagine you're wondering why we asked you here," he said.
"I assumed it was about testimony," Maggie said carefully. "Statements for the trials."
"We'll need those eventually," Jared confirmed. "But that's not why you're here today."
Maggie's confusion must’ve shown on her face because Jason smiled slightly.
"This is a planning session," he said. "With POTUS’ blessing, we're bringing Darkwater back as a private entity. But we're doing it right this time. With real ethics, accountability, and oversight."
Maggie blinked. "You're … rebuilding Darkwater?"
"Rebranding it," Jewell corrected. "The Darkwater Security Initiative. Under Guardian Security's umbrella but operating with a completely different mandate and chain of command. Well, until you get to the top. Because he owns it. Right?" She looked at Jason.
The man smiled and winked at his sister.
“Absolutely correct, Button.” Turning to Maggie, he said, "We're not dismantling what was built here.
The platform is sound. The technology is sophisticated.
The location is strategic. What was wrong was the people running it and what they were using it for.
Since these are seized assets in international waters, we have purchased the assets from the United States Government.
Adrian will never see the outside of a jail cell, so any potential gain from the sale of his property would be forfeited to the government anyway. "
Maggie frowned but followed the logic. “That’s fast, though, right? He gets due process.”
“He will, yes.” Jason smiled. “We aren’t worried about ownership rights. I assure you it’s all done in accordance with applicable laws.”
“Which laws?” Maggie asked.
Jason smiled widely. “The ones the Department of Defense, POTUS, and the National Security Council, among other entities, choose to apply.”
She blinked and then got the drift. “Oh. Okay. So, you have it legally. What are you going to do with it?”
Jacob leaned forward. "Guardian needs an offshore intelligence capability.
Primarily for national security, protective intelligence gathering, and independent verification of information.
Darkwater can be that. But only if it's rebuilt from the ground up with the right people and the right principles. "
Maggie nodded slowly, processing everything flying her way. "Okay. But what does this have to do with me?"
Jason's expression shifted. Serious. Direct.
"We want you to run it."
The words hung in the air.
Maggie stared at him. She blinked, shook her head, and frowned, "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"
"We’re offering you the position of Chief Operations Officer," Jason clarified.
"You would be responsible for the day-to-day management of the platform. Well, personnel and systems. Not logistics or security, we have other people in mind for those positions. You’d be making sure Darkwater operates according to the charter we establish. "
"I'm a data analyst," Maggie said.
"You're more than that," Reece said quietly. "You found the gates. You traced the corruption. You asked the questions no one else was asking. You put yourself at risk to do the right thing."
"That's different than running the entire operation," Maggie protested.
"Is it?" Jason asked. "You understand the systems better than anyone. You know what went wrong and why. You have the technical expertise and the moral clarity. Those are the qualities we need in someone who's going to help us re-establish this facility."
Jewell spoke up. "There will be people over you in the chain of command. They will be handling classified intelligence that's above your clearance and dealing with specific Guardian-related issues that overlap.”
Jason continued, “They will also make any strategic or operational decisions that require federal coordination. You wouldn't be making those calls. But the day-to-day operational structure? The ethical framework? How the facility actually functions day to day? That's where we need you."
Maggie's mind spun. "You want me to design how Darkwater should work?"
"Within some limitations, but yes, we want to know how you’d set the facility up for success," Jason said simply.
She looked around the table, at the faces watching her. Then she smiled.
"DM Dude told me to start thinking about that."
Jared’s eyebrows rose. "DM Dude?"
"The Guardian contact who kept DMing me," Maggie said, still smiling. "He never told me his name. Just appeared in my DM box, giving me instructions and keeping me sane. When this first started, he told me to think about how I'd restructure Darkwater if I had the chance."
Jewell laughed quietly. "I’ve never met DM Dude either, but he taught me so much when I was first starting with Guardian. What have you come up with?"
"For the last three days," Maggie continued, "while you've all been swamped with interviews and processing and legal coordination, I've been doing nothing but thinking about his question. About how it should have been structured. How Darkwater should’ve been something ethical and not the mess it became. "
She pulled her tablet off her lap and turned it on. Then she opened a document she'd been working on for the last seventy-two hours or so. Complete with notes, diagrams, and principles.
"Here's what I have," she said.
Jason leaned forward. "Tell us."
Maggie took a breath and began.
"First, let’s talk purpose. We need to be crystal clear about what Darkwater exists to do.
Not intelligence brokerage. Not selling information to the highest bidder.
Protection. That's the mandate. Darkwater should provide protective intelligence, maritime security, and offshore risk mitigation in places where conventional authority is compromised or absent. "
Jared made a note and then looked up at her. "Go on."
"Second, foundational principles need to be addressed.
Everything we do has to be governed by a core set of rules that can't be bent or broken.
" She pulled up her notes. "Prevention over exploitation.
We use intelligence to warn and protect, not to manipulate or coerce.
Purpose-bound intelligence access. Every data query has to be linked to a legitimate protective function.
No fishing expeditions. No profiling people just because we can.
" She looked up to see if anyone was looking at her like she was insane. All she could see was agreement.
Jacob nodded. "We’re with you on that point, too. Please continue."