I didn’t pull my hand away immediately.

Instead, I watched Adrian.

His breathing.

His posture.

His eyes.

Everything about him had changed.

The arrogant Navy Commander from ten minutes earlier was gone.

Now I was looking at a man waiting for confirmation that his operation was working.

I smiled.

“Lead where?”

His grip tightened.

“Home.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re safer with me.”

That was almost convincing.

Almost.

My secure phone vibrated again.

A second message appeared.

TEAM IN POSITION. AWAITING AUTHORIZATION.

I deleted it.

Then I looked at Adrian.

“Perhaps you’re right.”

His confidence returned.

“Good.”

He released my hand.

We stood.

But before we reached the door, I stopped.

“Commander?”

He turned.

“You forgot your watch.”

He glanced down instinctively.

That tiny reaction confirmed what I needed.

He wasn’t worried about the watch.

He was worried about time.

Something was scheduled.

And whatever was happening at my residence wasn’t simply a burglary.

It was an extraction.

They weren’t looking for valuables.

They were searching for something specific.

Something my father had died protecting.

Something Adrian believed was inside my house.

I walked beside him toward the exit.

Outside, rain hammered the pavement.

His vehicle waited at the curb.

A black SUV.

Two men sat inside.

Neither looked like Navy personnel.

I noticed their shoes first.

Then their posture.

Private contractors.

Not sailors.

Adrian opened the passenger door.

“Get in.”

I looked at him.

“Where are we going?”

He smiled.

“To your house.”

I stepped inside.

The vehicle pulled away.

For several minutes, nobody spoke.

Then Adrian’s phone rang.

He answered without identifying himself.

A voice spoke briefly.

Adrian’s expression tightened.

“Understood.”

He ended the call.

I looked out the window.

“Bad news?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

I smiled faintly.

“That’s reassuring.”

The SUV turned toward my neighborhood.

But I knew the route.

And I knew something was wrong.

We were approaching my residence from the wrong direction.

They weren’t taking me home.

They were taking me somewhere else.

Three minutes later, the vehicle stopped outside an abandoned warehouse near the waterfront.

Adrian opened my door.

“Out.”

I stepped onto the wet pavement.

Inside the warehouse, several men stood around a table.

One of them looked at Adrian.

“Where’s the drive?”

Adrian pointed at me.

“She has it.”

I laughed softly.

The men stared.

Adrian frowned.

“What?”

“You brought all these people…”

I looked around.

“…because you thought I had an encrypted drive in my handbag?”

His expression hardened.

“Open it.”

I placed the bag on the table.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

Then I opened it.

There was no drive.

Only a notebook, my identification wallet, and the medal I had carried for years.

Adrian’s face changed.

“You’re lying.”

“No.”

I looked directly at him.

“You were given the wrong information.”

One of the men reached toward me.

I stepped backward.

Then the warehouse lights suddenly went out.

For two seconds, everything was darkness.

Then red emergency lights illuminated the room.

A voice echoed from hidden speakers.

“United States federal agents. Nobody move.”

The men froze.

Adrian stared at me.

“How?”

I reached into my coat.

This time, I didn’t pull out my phone.

I pulled out my identification.

The highest-level clearance markings were visible beneath the emergency lights.

Adrian’s face went completely white.

I looked at him calmly.

“You should have checked who your blind date was.”

Then the warehouse doors exploded open.

Not with violence.

With authority.

Federal tactical teams entered from every side.

And behind them walked the one person Adrian had spent months trying to avoid.

My deputy director.

He stopped beside me.

“Admiral.”

Adrian whispered the word.

“Admiral?”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

Then I looked at him.

“And now we can finally discuss your real assignment.”