Tansy felt better as they jogged back to the lodge a few hours later. Sex was definitely a relaxant, but it was so much more than that.
Sam had opened up about the worst parts of his job. He’d trusted her with the deep, dark reality of what he’d experienced. She couldn’t imagine having that horror living in her head.
And she’d been so caught up in being embarrassed about being a dupe. It was still bad, but Sam’s honesty had helped her put it into perspective.
Sam, Joe, and Nico lived in a different world. Hers was filled with possibilities and potentials. Theirs was filled with dark souls and darker deeds.
Tansy needed to suck up her embarrassment and help deal with the fallout of her stupidity instead of hiding from it.
Added to her more balanced feelings, or maybe because of them, she’d made a leap in her programming. After she’d implemented the new code, she and Sam had tested the hologram in the dusk and it had worked well.
If it worked that well in the sunlight, she knew she could send it off to her DOD contact. Once she had her phone, she’d email and see how they wanted to handle delivery.
Email delivery certainly wasn’t secure enough, especially with the situation surrounding the tech.
Maybe she’d take a road trip to Washington and deliver it. Get it out of her hands completely. That would also keep attention off Midnight Lodge and away from Phail. “If I deliver the tech to Washington, do you want to do a road trip with me?”
Sam grinned. “Couldn’t keep me away. But I’m hoping they’ll send someone here to pick it up.”
That would work as well. Anyone watching or keeping track would see military people arriving and leaving.
“That would be even better.” She would suggest it in her email.
As usual, they slowed as they neared the lodge. It was comforting knowing Joe and Graham were inside and everything was safe.
“I’m sorry if Graham thinks I’m ungrateful and whiny.”
Sam laughed again and then nodded, so they moved forward. “Graham had your back when you went up to grab your things. Told me and Joe we were nuts to have kept his arrival from you.”
Well, that helped her feel better as they walked inside. The two men sat in the main room, looking at their phones.
Joe rose and crossed the room to pull her in for a hug. She went willingly and squeezed him back. “I really am sorry for the ambush, Sis. You forgive me yet?”
Because he knew she would sooner or later. And why not? He was her big brother and always on the lookout for her. “Of course. I love you, Joe.”
His arms tightened. “Love you too, Tansy.”
Graham gave her a cocky salute and a friendly grin, making the last of her tension disappear.
When Sam tugged on her hand to sit with him on the other couch, she didn’t resist. She had to start facing reality.
Even if reality sucked.
Joe put the kettle on the pellet stove. “How’s the project coming? Are you close?”
Tansy nodded. “I think so. I made some changes, and it looked good in the test, but it wasn’t ready before sunset. I need to test it in the daylight and see from there. I’ll do that tomorrow.”
Sam patted her leg. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you. Troy texted, saying that the new security equipment for the sawmill area will be here tomorrow. He and Marcus are going to bring it out.”
That was odd. “Why?”
Sam smiled. “I think they’re curious. They want to see how the new devices work. They want to know what happened today. I think they’ve become invested.”
The men smiled, but Tansy frowned. “I feel like I’m under a microscope.”
Graham laughed. “That’s what happens when you do the Tony Stark, Tansy Stark thing. If you weren’t making cool stuff, no one would give a shit.”
Tansy opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. How was she supposed to respond to that?
Sam and Joe laughed, then Joe handed her a mug of tea. Peppermint. He’d found her stash.
She sipped it while the guys talked about the new security devices. Invisible lasers to cover several areas around the sawmill. They would be a good addition, especially connected to their phones for easy monitoring, but the property covered more than thirty acres of land. They couldn’t block all access.
She needed more information. “Does anyone know where this Howard guy is? Is there any more information about him or James?”
All three of the men frowned when she mentioned James. They liked him even less than one of the FBI’s most wanted. All because he’d hurt her.
Joe answered her. “Nothing concrete. Nico’s digging into all the info they have and coming up with a profile for us. And he’s got someone looking into where he might be. The man has dozens of properties around the world.”
As every evil terrorist should, she supposed.
“How did James and Howard meet? Is that even likely? James isn’t the type to know terrorists.”
Eyebrows rose around the room.
She sighed. “You heard James today. He’s a slimeball on multiple levels, but he’s not a sophisticated criminal. Someone’s using him or he’s stumbled into something way above his level.”
Sam squeezed her hand. “Nico’s got his analysts working on it.”
Maybe she should pull in her own analyst. Tessa Flores was the queen of finding patterns in data. She was officially a zoology analyst. She studied a wide variety of fauna and studied how climate change was affecting them and their behaviors. She also knew more about hive mentality than anyone Tansy knew, and she was a whiz at seeing patterns no one else could pick out.
Joe nodded. “He’s also pulled in Flynn Walker. I think you met Flynn once?”
She had. When they’d lived in Sacramento, Tansy had shared an old Victorian house with Joe and Nico. They’d each had their own floor for their apartment.
Joe and Nico had hosted a few parties and convinced her to mingle at a few of them.
Flynn Walker was a cowboy at heart, even wore the boots and his Stetson most of the time. He worked in the organized crime division of the FBI. “You think Howard has connections with organized crime?” This kept getting worse.
Joe shrugged. “It’s possible. Or maybe Stephens is involved with them. Maybe both. It’s a line to tug.”
Because it was a fishing expedition and Tansy was the bait.
Sam regretted the necessity of discussing Howard and Stephens with Tansy.
She was tense again.
And sad.
Those gorgeous dark eyes of hers held so much sorrow.
She’d done her Tai Chi exercises twice before going to bed. When they’d made love, he’d felt her desperation to lose herself in the feelings and to forget everything.
But whenever he’d woken through the night, she’d been awake. Either working on her tablet, staring into the dark, or doing yoga.
The only light spot had been when Joe had hollered, making everyone jump out of bed.
They’d been barreling down the stairs when Joe had started to swear. “Tansy! What the hell are these things, and why are they in my room?”
He’d like seeing her laugh as she’d changed the schedule for Marie and Albert, the second floor CleanySaurs.
And then she’d pretended to sleep so he wouldn’t worry.
Now, it was still dark, and they were heading out to the fort.
At least she hadn’t tried to evade him or head out alone. She’d waited until he woke and wouldn’t allow him to coax her back to bed.
“I need it to be done, Sam. The sooner I can finish it, the sooner I can get rid of it.”
Tansy didn’t appear to realize that she was worth more than any tech. Not only to Sam, but to anyone wanting that marvelous brain.
At least she knew she had Sam and the others in her camp. They would protect her.
Sam sent a text to Joe that they were heading out. After a check on all the camera feeds, they started jogging. The morning was crisp and smelled of spring. Mostly mud, but with the smell of green things growing in the background.
There were a few clouds, but Tansy should get the sunshine she needed for her checks. Hopefully, her final checks.
He’d be as relieved as she was when the tech was in someone else’s hands. Although his guard wouldn’t relax. Not for a long while.
Because he figured if this Howard wanted the tech bad enough, it might be easier to kidnap the one who’d created it than try to steal it from the DOD.
Not information he planned to share with Tansy until it was absolutely necessary.
Tansy might be super-smart, but she didn’t deal with evil often. Hopefully, she’d keep on believing she was safe after the tech was perfected and gone.
If her mind was occupied with new projects, she wouldn’t turn it toward her personal safety. She never did. He didn’t want her living life afraid at every corner.
They took a different route, which Sam knew because he now recognized more of the landmarks. Twisted trees, clumps of rocks, glimpses of the lake.
As he ran, he planned how he could use the area for Midnight Security without interfering with Tansy or the environment. There were so many options.
Obstacle courses. Orienteering challenges. Tracking training. It would be perfect for training dogs to find lost people and various substances as well. He’d have to think about adding that in the future.
Over the last few weeks, he’d gone from being completely lost in his career and personal life to being zoomed in on both.
Midnight Security was coming together with input from his friends. Graham was a hundred percent in. Joe and Nico were interested in being partners, but could only work on actual classes around their work assignments.
He had some feelers out with a few more friends, including Flynn Walker. His buddy worked in the FBI’s organized crime division. That was another department that had a lot of burnout. Some of these jobs weren’t forever jobs. The work was draining and dangerous. Some people switched departments, others moved to new states. And some found something new.
Sam was ready to start his something new. At some point, he would need to fly to Sacramento and pull up roots there. Quit the job officially, pack up the apartment.
And come home to Tansy.
Because he wanted to always come home to Tansy. And he wanted her to always come home to him.
They hadn’t been together all that long, but he wanted to tell her he loved her. Tell her he wanted to marry her and make a life with her here on her land.
After they got rid of the threat, he’d tell her.
He refused to think she didn’t feel the same. Tansy didn’t hide her feelings all that well. She cared about him; that much was obvious. She’d never have slept with him if it had been simple curiosity or a dry spell. Not with all the connections they had, connections that would be strained if they’d messed it up.
But, even with the surrounding mess, they were doing okay. Better than okay.
She had to feel the same.
Sam considered blurting it out as they neared the fort, but he’d rather do it when they could celebrate properly, not when they were worried about arms dealers chasing her down.
They did a quick check around the cabin, but it appeared secure. Still, Sam took out his gun before they entered the clearing. He went through the door first and cleared the space.
Tansy let out a soft breath of relief that he likely wasn’t supposed to hear.
She moved straight to the standalone computer and booted it up. He knew now she made multiple backups on encrypted flash drives and concealed them in various places. Once the project was out of her hands, she’d delete all the information.
Although an extremely reliable copy would still be in her head.
Which is why Sam wouldn’t relax his guard.
Tansy sank into her work, and Sam tried to do the same. He was worried about the delivery of the hologram. He hoped the DOD would send people and wondered if he could talk Tansy into insisting on it.
A soft beep from Tansy’s watch had her head popping up, and she looked outside. “The light should be good now. We can test the hologram. You want to take your own observations?”
He hadn’t done that yet, so he nodded.
Outside, they each chose a tree and climbed. With her light frame, Tansy easily out-climbed him. She grinned down at him and then switched her attention to her tablet.
Sam hadn’t seen the hologram from this high up before and it was wild.
One moment, the solar panels covered the roof.
The next moment, no solar panels could be seen. It was a plain shingled roof.
Tansy made notes on her tablet, then fired questions at Sam about what he saw. He answered as well as he could.
“Okay, time for the second mode.”
Before he could ask what that meant, the shingles disappeared, and the area in front of him was simply another part of the forest. He could see the tops of both deciduous trees and conifers.
He hadn’t even realized she was working on two different modes.
“How much of a gap can you see between the hologram and the real trees?”
Sam studied it. “I’m not high enough to be accurate, but it looks like there’s a bigger gap on the north than the other sides.”
“Estimate how big.”
And the questions went on.
More for the third mode, which was a rocky terrain. That version didn’t work as well in the middle of a forest, but he assumed it would be great elsewhere.
This woman was incredible.
When Tansy was satisfied from that angle, they changed trees and did it again.
And again.
When they climbed down, he was exhausted and exhilarated. Watching Tansy in perfectionist mode was fun and more of a turn-on than he’d expected.
“Time for a break, Tans.”
“What? Why?”
He rolled his eyes. “Because you’ve been at it for hours, and both your body and brain could probably use a break.”
She turned to him with eyes full of mischief. “What kind of break are you thinking about?”
He hadn’t been thinking about sex, well, no more than usual, but now he was.
His phone rang, and they both sighed. He pulled it out. “I have to take it or they’ll worry. Hey, Joe, what’s up?”
“Hey. I’m here with Marcus and Troy. We’re installing those new security beams at the sawmill. Got a minute to answer some questions?”
Tansy laughed softly and moved toward the dock. At the end, she started the stretches that would flow into her Tai Chi routine.
She’d used the dock once or twice before, but like her runs to the fort, she varied her routine. No matter where she was, she was a joy to watch. He watched her fluid movements while he figured out the logistics with Joe and the others.
Tansy suddenly went limp and collapsed to the dock.
Sam cried out and ran to her.
A scuba diver raised himself up high enough to slap a breathing apparatus over Tansy’s mouth and then pulled her into the water with him.
By the time Sam got to the end of the dock, there wasn’t even a ripple left to say where they’d gone.