How about the Leyland Group Lovelies?”
Groans wafted up to the high ceilings as Sam Hilton shielded himself from the balled-up notebook paper, candy wrappers, and Post-it Notes being hurled his way.
“Don’t let them get to you,” Daniel said. “They may not appreciate your humor, but I do.”
A yellow highlighter sailed toward him.
“Duck and weave, dude,” Sam said. “It’s the only way to survive this crowd.”
Daniel tilted his chair back until he met with resistance, then gently bounced back and forth as he absorbed the scene before him. All the conference rooms were occupied, so the Leyland Group team had commandeered a corner of Trendsetters’ huge kitchen and break area. Some had dragged in nearby desk chairs and rearranged existing furniture to make a circle, other sat right on the floor.
As he studied his coworkers, he was taken aback by the realization that he would miss this—he’d miss them. He averted his gaze from the faces around him, confused by the sudden tightness in his chest. In the nearly two dozen undercover operations he’d worked since joining FinCEN two years ago, he’d become accustomed to his routine. As the quiet but friendly new guy at the office, he came in, did his job, and then left with no regrets.
Not this time. He’d connected with these people on a level he’d never encountered with past jobs. No doubt it was due in large part to the collaborative office environment Trendsetters fostered, but it was more than that. The creative energy and hunger for innovation he saw in his coworkers reminded him of his college days, when his imagination and drive wasn’t stifled by federal regulations and congressional budget cuts. There was a kinship with his Trendsetters R&D teammates, one that harkened back to the comradeship he’d found in the Marines.
He glanced over at Samiah and the tightness in his chest intensified.
Now that he was no longer ignoring the reality of his eventual departure, he couldn’t even think about her without regret clawing at his throat. He knew an end date was imminent. His breath caught every time he received a call from the 703 area code. Every passing hour brought him closer to the moment when Lowell Dwyer would pull the plug on this operation. Daniel still didn’t know how he would handle that.
Their team broke into groups of three, each working on a different aspect of the last-minute details before their presentation on the Leyland Group project tomorrow. Daniel had just finished his explanation of the backend safeguard that had been added to the software when his phone vibrated in his pocket. It stopped, then started again. He took it out and looked at the screen.
Sorry, right number. HQ
“Hey, I’ll be back in a minute,” Daniel said.
“Is everything okay?” Samiah asked, her brow furrowing with concern.
“Yeah, just a friend from my days in the Marines,” Daniel said. “I’ve been trying to get hold of him but it’s been hard because he’s stationed abroad. Who knows when I’ll get the chance to speak with him again?”
God, the lies came so easily.
She shooed him with both hands. “Go on. Hurry.”
He bent over to kiss her, but remembered where they were and picked up the empty water bottle next to her instead.
What the hell?
They’d both agreed that they didn’t want this thing between them to become fodder for the office rumor mill. Samiah had experienced enough of that after the Craig incident. For Daniel, it was more about mitigating the hurt and embarrassment she would undoubtedly face if he had to disappear from Trendsetters without a trace.
He grimaced at the sour taste that thought left in his mouth.
Daniel went downstairs, but encountering yet another downpour, opted for a corner of the lobby to make his call. He switched to his secured cell phone and called into FinCEN headquarters and asked to be patched to Preston August’s desk.
“Hey Preston, what’s up?” Daniel said when he heard the click on the other end of the line.
“It’s not Preston.” His spine went rigid at the sound of Lowell Dwyer’s gruff voice.
“Sir?” Daniel replied.
“Do you have five minutes to talk, Collins?”
“Yes, sir,” was his immediate answer.
“I have a proposal for you,” his supervisor began, and Daniel’s heart started to thump like a bass drum within his chest. “All intel shows that the outfit in Vegas is preparing to go dark and move their base of operation to Seattle. I want us to move in before they have the chance to do that, and I want you to run lead.”
A tidal wave of euphoria surged within his chest and spread to his extremities. This was it. The gold prize.
“You know what I think about you as an agent, Collins,” Dwyer continued in what passed for gentle when it came to his brusque tone. “This is the kind of opportunity that can catapult your career. Much more so than what you’re doing down there in Austin.”
The exhilaration still shuttling through his bloodstream began to wane as the full implication of his boss’s offer began to crystalize. If he answered in the affirmative, Dwyer would have him sitting at a gate at Austin-Bergstrom Airport tonight. There was probably a team of people working on the formal explanation email that would be sent to Trendsetters’ HR director.
The dread tingling at the base of his neck spidered out to the rest of his body.
He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t leave. Not this soon. He needed more time.
Seriously, man, what the fuck?
He had a career to think about. The stakes were so high he could barely wrap his head around the enormity of this moment. He’d spent the past two years striving to prove to himself that he’d made the right choice when he turned down all those high-paying tech job offers in exchange for joining FinCEN. To prove he not only belonged, but that he was an asset. As the lead agent on the most monumental case to hit the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in years, everything he’d been working toward would be within his reach.
But how was he supposed to just pack up and leave? Even if Dwyer gave him time to tie up loose ends, the idea that in a couple of days he would be forced to say goodbye to Samiah forever sent a shock of panic rioting through him.
He couldn’t do it. Not yet.
“I…uh…I appreciate this vote of confidence, sir, but—” He stopped. Swallowed. “But, it wouldn’t feel right to leave things unfinished here.” Wrenching anguish twisted in his gut. “It may not have the panache of Vegas, but I’ve put too much time and effort into solving this case to just let it go.”
A daunting silence stretched out for several moments before Dwyer said, “You never cease to surprise me, Collins. Or to impress me.”
Daniel huffed out a humorless laugh. “You’re impressed that I turned down a career-changing opportunity?”
“I am. Don’t think I haven’t paid attention to the friendly competition between you and Stewart.”
He wouldn’t describe the pissing contest between himself and Bryce as “friendly,” but cool, cool.
“There’s a healthy rivalry,” Daniel said.
“And you know I’ll likely offer this job to Stewart now that you’ve turned it down, right?”
He bit the inside of his cheek to squelch the litany of profanities on the verge of spilling from his mouth.
“I understand that, sir. Stewart’s a sharp agent. No doubt he’ll thrive in Vegas.”
“The case Stewart’s working right now is as critical as what you’re doing in Austin. The difference between the two of you is that he won’t think twice about jumping ship. A half-dozen commendations look impressive on a résumé, Collins, but you know what also matters? Being able to sleep soundly at night, knowing you did the right thing for the right reasons.”
Daniel slumped against the cool glass window, his eyes falling shut.
He wasn’t doing this for the right reasons. He was doing this because he’d gotten in so deep with Samiah that he had no idea how to get out.
He turned to look out the window; the earlier downpour had dwindled to a light drizzle. A CapMetro bus shrink-wrapped with an advertisement for the Waterloo Music Festival pulled up to the stoplight, a light gray exhaust plume billowing from its tailpipe.
“Thank you for that,” he said.
“Get back to work,” Dwyer said. “Just because you’re passing on Vegas, it doesn’t mean I’m letting you hang out in Texas indefinitely. You need to wrap up this case.”
“I hear you, sir,” he said.
He disconnected the call but remained at the window, his pulse matching the methodic beep of the delivery truck backing into a loading dock across the street.
He’d been cognizant of the fact that the plug would eventually get pulled on this job. Which begged the question, why choose to stay here, knowing his time in Austin was coming to an end, instead of taking Dwyer up on his offer to lead the Vegas job?
Daniel shook his head. It wasn’t as if he had to ask that question. He already knew the answer.
He didn’t know what to do with the emotions suddenly swirling around in his head. He was with Joelle for six years, and when she gave him an ultimatum between their relationship and his career, he’d chosen the latter. He’d hardly taken time to contemplate it. He’d set out a path for himself once he left the Marine Corps, and his focus had remained on that trajectory ever since.
Where in the hell was that focus now?
He’d lost it his very first day on the job. From the minute he encountered Samiah at that coffee machine and began to see everything through a different lens. From that day he’d started to veer off his well-laid path, deviating to one that he and Samiah could possibly travel together.
But they weren’t together. All of this was based on a lie. And when that lie finally came to the surface, the likelihood that she wouldn’t want anything to do with him was so great it hurt him just to think about it.
He had to remember what mattered most, his duty to his family and to his career. He’d sacrificed too much. He couldn’t jeopardize this thing he’d worked so hard for. Not for anyone, including Samiah.
* * *
With the press of two buttons, Samiah simultaneously dimmed the lights in the conference room and brought the eighty-four-inch Microsoft Surface Hub on the far wall to life, the Trendsetters logo in the center of its touchscreen display. Moving to stand beside the digital whiteboard, she tapped the screen, bringing up the presentation she’d spent much of last night revising after deciding that what they’d collaborated on yesterday just wasn’t good enough.
“Our team was tasked with coming up with a workable solution for the Leyland Group’s failing customer management software and networking system, including an overhaul of their WLAN design,” Samiah opened. “It was a complicated endeavor based on the size and scope, but also due to the sensitive nature of the medical files the company handles. The popularity of DNA tests has turned this into a booming business, and those companies are starting to understand just how important and difficult it is to keep their customers’ personal data safe. The number of nefarious things that could be done if their systems are breached is endless.”
She tapped the screen again, then used the electronic pen to draw a circle around the design scheme displayed on the smart board.
“We took a multipronged approach, developing a solution that is scalable as the company grows, but also not so involved that it will confine them to only one way of securing data.” She handed the stylus to her coworker. “Sam will take us through some detection techniques and expand on how the new vulnerability scanner will work.”
After handing the presentation off to Sam, Samiah traversed the length of the conference room, opting to prop her elbow up on one of two standing-height tables that butted against the opposite wall. From this vantage point she could observe the entire room and gauge how the guys in charge were assessing what was being laid out for them.
The reins of the presentation were passed on from team member to team member. None of them had been tripped up by the slight changes she’d made, which once again proved that she and John had put together one of the best teams ever.
She could bring them all with her if she took the Outreach Department head position.
Samiah wasn’t even sure where she stood yet regarding Justin and Barrington’s offer, but that hadn’t stopped her from arranging and rearranging the structure of the department a thousand times in her head. She wanted to bring in people from all aspects of the company, not just Human Resources or the Public Relations departments. Every division had a stake in this. This current project was the perfect example of the magical outcomes in store when creative minds from all areas of the company came together for a common goal.
She could be directing all that magic. All she had to do was say yes.
Samiah tucked those thoughts back into her mental lockbox and returned her attention to the presentation. This wasn’t the time or place to let her mind wander.
It was Keighleigh’s turn to present. She began by pointing out the various flaws in the Leyland Group’s previous applications. After a few minutes, she started to discuss potential patches for unforeseen security risks that might develop in the future. Samiah stood upright, her spine going ramrod straight.
This bitch.
Why hadn’t she anticipated this? Of course Keighleigh would pull this kind of bullshit move, despite every single person on their team knowing that she was once again usurping Samiah’s idea. This is what she got for scheduling her conniving, spotlight-stealing coworker’s portion of the presentation to go right before what should have been her big finish.
“This is ingenuity at its finest,” Barrington said once the other woman was done. “How do you suppose we implement these potential fixes, Keighleigh?”
Samiah caught the flash of panic behind Keighleigh’s strained smile before her coworker pointed to the back of the room and said, “I’ll leave that to our fearless team leader to explain.”
Seething, Samiah started for the other end of the conference room before Daniel’s words stopped her.
“Why don’t you go ahead and do it, Keighleigh?”
Every head in the conference room turned to him, but his eyes remained on a stunned Keighleigh Miller. The smile on his face belied the tension emanating from him. He was pissed. For her.
Samiah’s heart melted.
“Daniel’s right,” Barrington said. “Bring this home for us. I’m sure Samiah doesn’t mind.”
If there was a dictionary entry for scared shitless, Keighleigh Miller’s face would be in the little square box right next to it. Her wide, panicked gaze flew from Daniel’s to Barrington’s to the smart board, and finally to Samiah’s.
A small part of her—the tiniest, most infinitesimal part that was still capable of empathizing with a fellow human being, even if said human being was straight-up trash—felt sorry for Keighleigh. But then Samiah mentally gut-punched that tiny part of her and sat it in a corner, facing the wall.
Keighleigh deserved every second of the excruciating misery she was no doubt feeling right now. She’d manipulated her way into this job, riding coattails and passing off the ideas of her fellow coworkers as her own, with no thought about the consequences of her actions. Well, it was time baby girl faced the music.
The atmosphere in the room quickly reached nails-down-a-chalkboard levels of discomfort as they all sat there waiting for Keighleigh to continue. In what she could only describe as an attempt to bank a few brownie points to get into heaven, Samiah finally decided to have mercy on her coworker.
Her phone began vibrating in her dress pocket, but she ignored it as she continued onward, plucking the stylus from Keighleigh’s hand and tapping the smart board’s screen.
“Thanks for setting that up for me, Keighleigh, but I’ll take it from here.”
Samiah dismissed her with a brief tilt of her head, then went on to succinctly explain the implementation plan. She answered every single question her superiors lobbed at her, showing them just why Trendsetters was lucky to have her. She was impressive as fuck, and everyone in this room knew it.
Once the presentation was done, the Leyland Group team members received the accolades they deserved for a job well done. After a significant amount of backslapping and congratulatory fist bumps, everyone began to file out of the conference room. Samiah lingered behind. So did Daniel.
Once they were alone, she walked up to him and held her hand out. “Brilliant move there, Mr. Collins.”
He huffed out a laugh as he shook her hand.
“She had it coming,” he said. “How is she going to stand up there and present your part, knowing that we all know she didn’t have anything to do with devising that implementation plan?”
“Because she’s gotten away with doing things like that from the moment she started here,” Samiah said. “Keighleigh has ridden that ‘everyone is on the same team’ horse into the ground, and no one has called her on it.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’ll be accused of not being a team player, or of being a show-off.”
“Yet that’s exactly what she did.” He hooked his thumb toward the smart board. “That was all about showing off. Someone needed to call her out.”
Samiah shrugged. She couldn’t argue with him. She was just as culpable when it came to allowing Keighleigh to get away with the shenanigans she’d been pulling since she first started at Trendsetters. They’d all allowed it. But not Daniel. He’d spoken up on her behalf.
Samiah glanced over both shoulders, making sure they were alone and that the windows of the conference room were still opaque. Then she tilted her face up and placed a quick kiss on his lips.
“Thank you for having my back,” she said. “It’s not easy to find people I can trust around here. It means a lot.”
The muscles in his jaw flinched and he averted his eyes.
Samiah frowned. “Is something wrong?”
He blinked hard then shook his head. “No. Not at all.” His smile returned. “Congratulations on that presentation. You think we’ll get a pizza party out of this?”
“A pizza party? I won’t settle for anything less than steak and lobster,” Samiah said. “And considering the money the Leyland Group paid for this rush job, I may demand that steak and lobster be served on the deck of a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean.”
His eyes bugged. “Would they actually do that?”
Samiah burst out laughing. “Don’t get too excited. They don’t treat us that well here. But you should expect a nice dinner, at the very least. And maybe some premium Trendsetters’ swag.”
“That works for me.”
“Oh, shoot!” Samiah snapped her fingers. “I meant to talk to Justin before he left. We need to discuss my security access.”
“What about it?”
“A new team was just formed to help Huston-Tillotson University—a small historically black university here in Austin—with networking issues. It’s similar to a project I worked on last year, so they’re restoring some of the security clearances I previously had. It’ll give me access to all the databases I’ll need for research purposes.”
“Oh.” He nodded. “That’s…um…cool. You, uh, want to grab lunch?”
“Sure.” Samiah regarded him with a slight frown. He seemed…off. “Just give me a few minutes to check email.”
She returned to her desk to find an email from Barrington waiting in her inbox, thanking the entire team for their hard work on the Leyland Group project. As a token of the entire Trendsetters family’s appreciation, the team was invited to dinner at the Driskill Grill in the famed Driskill Hotel. On top of that, they were all being treated to a day of adventure at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in New Braunfels.
After weeks of working so closely with them, Samiah wasn’t sure she wanted to spend time at an amusement park with her teammates, but whatever. It was a nice gesture.
Her cell phone vibrated again and Samiah remembered the text she’d missed while in the middle of the presentation. She took out the phone and saw a text from London with a link to a gossip site.
She groaned as a still shot of her pointing a menacing finger at Craig Walter’s face anchored a headline that caused her eyes to bulge.
“Oh. My. God.”
There were two knocks on her door before it opened.
“Hey, are you ready?” Daniel asked, poking his head in her office.
Samiah held up her phone, a grin spreading across her face. “Craig is being sought by the police. He’s been scamming seniors out of their social security checks.”
“What?” Daniel sprinted to her desk, taking the phone from her. “Takes a special kind of asshole to steal money from elderly folks.”
“The same kind of asshole who dates multiple women at the same time and makes a living out of lying,” Samiah said. She ejected her access card from her computer, slipped it in her purse, and locked up her desk. “But the authorities are on his tail now, so Craig’s cheating and scamming days are numbered. Let’s go to lunch. Today calls for celebratory tres leches from that cute cantina on Brazos.”
Daniel swept his hand out. “After you.”