Chapter 26 #2
Navigation through the carefully landscaped grounds required constant awareness of camera positions they’d mapped during reconnaissance.
Casper’s digital manipulation could fool automated systems, but human guards conducting physical patrols would see exactly what stood before them.
Todd moved from shadow to shadow, using the vegetation to mask his approach toward the predetermined rendezvous point.
The outcropping of red sandstone where they’d agreed to meet rose from the ground, their weathered bulk offering concealment.
As Todd approached the natural fortress, movement caught his eye.
A figure hunched against the rocks, so still he might have mistaken it for another boulder if not for the familiar outline that made his heart stutter with recognition. Sadie.
She sat with her back pressed against the stone, her dark clothing making her nearly invisible in the shadows.
But even from twenty yards away, Todd, with his night vision goggles, could see something wrong in her posture.
The Sadie he knew would stay hidden, but still vibrate energy that he could always feel, no matter where they were. But this Sadie was too still.
Todd closed the distance between them with swift, silent strides, his tactical awareness scanning for threats even as his attention focused entirely on the woman who’d haunted his thoughts for so long.
As he drew closer, he noted the way her body rested against the rock as if it were too difficult to stand. Fuck!
“Sadie,” he whispered, dropping to his knees beside her position.
Her eyes were on him, and she reached out. In the pale glow, her face transformed with relief so vivid his heart tightened. Despite the drugs, her gaze held the sharp intelligence that had first attracted him to her.
“Todd,” she breathed as a beautiful smile curved her lips.
Without hesitation or consideration for tactical protocols or operational security, Todd gathered her into his arms with the fierce protectiveness of a man reclaiming something precious that had been lost to him.
Her body molded against his with familiar perfection, soft curves fitting against his harder angles like they’d been designed for each other.
The embrace contained relief that she was alive, fury at what had been done to her, desperate love that he’d spent too long denying, and the bone-deep satisfaction of finally holding her again.
Her arms wound around his neck with surprising strength, and her face pressed against the hollow of his throat where his pulse hammered with emotions too powerful for words.
For a heartbeat, nothing existed beyond this moment of reunion. Not the mission, not the danger, not the facility full of predators. Only Sadie’s warmth against his chest, her familiar scent cutting through the desert air, and the way her body trembled against his with exhaustion and relief.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured against her hair, the words carrying promise that he would protect her. “I’m here now. I’ve got you.”
She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes, her face pale but determined in the starlight. “The offices,” she said, her voice weaker than he was used to but still strong. “We need to get to the offices before I lose the ability to function completely.”
“What did you have for dinner?”
“I asked for bottled water and toast. So I don’t think anything more was given to me. But the server called Yelena over, and she quizzed me. I simply told her that my stomach was upset, but she’s sharp. I know she’s suspicious.”
The assessment of her condition sent rage flooding through Todd’s chest like molten steel. But beneath the fury, pride bloomed at her unwavering commitment to the mission despite what it was costing her personally.
“Can you do this?” he asked, his hands framing her face as he studied her features for signs of imminent collapse. “Sadie, if you’re not able—”
“I’m capable,” she interrupted, steel threading through her voice. “For a few more hours, I’m capable. Let’s finish this.”
The determination in her eyes reminded him of why he’d fallen for her.
It wasn’t just her beauty or intelligence, but the unshakable courage that made her willing to sacrifice everything for justice.
Even poisoned, even compromised, even facing odds that would break lesser people, Sadie Hargrove refused to quit.
God, I love this woman.
Todd helped her to her feet, noting how she swayed slightly before finding her balance. Her hand found his, their fingers intertwining with the kind of perfect fit that felt like coming home after a long wandering.
“Do you think you can keep something down?” Todd had brought medical supplies. From his tactical pack, he retrieved a small bottle of anti-nausea medication and a sealed water bottle. “Take these. This anti-nausea will help counteract some of what they’ve given you.”
Sadie accepted the pills with hands that shook slightly, her eyes meeting him with gratitude that made his chest ache.
“Sip the water,” Todd instructed, watching as she swallowed the medication with a desperate expression. “Your body needs hydration to process everything they’ve been forcing on you.”
Her gaze held his, and he wanted to drown in her eyes. “Together,” he said, the word carrying weight beyond their immediate tactical situation. “We do this together, and then we go home.”
“I can’t wait to get back to Montana,” she agreed with a smile.
He started to tell her that the home in Montana was going to move beyond the bunkhouse for them. But there was more to say before he broached that concept. But the idea of home held promise, so he simply nodded.
But first, they had to survive the next few hours in a place where wealthy women went to rejuvenate, and the ones that didn’t… disappeared. Together, they would expose Dr. Selinski’s operation.
As they moved through the shadows toward Serenity Dunes’s administrative wing, Todd felt the familiar calm of operational focus settling over him.
This was what he’d been trained for and spent years perfecting.
He could move through any hostile territory, even those that were coated in luxury.
He was fighting for the woman whose hand anchored him to hope, whose courage inspired him to be better than he’d ever thought possible.
He let go of her hand, nodding for her to move behind him, ready for whatever it took to complete the mission as they approached the building that held the secrets they needed.