Page 83 of Cyclone

No Cyclone.

Just him.

And her.

Exactly how it was always supposed to be.

44

Jude

Isat on the edge of the bed, the weight of that memory pressing down like a stone.

I hadn’t seen his face clearly then.

Just the shape of him. The eyes. Thatsmile.

But now, after the man at the pier… after the note…

There was no doubt in my mind.

It was him.

He was there in Syria.

And he was here now.

And back then, he watched me like I was his.

Now, he wanted toprove it.

I remember how the guy gave me the creeps back then. Tyler and I were still dating, and they sent me to this horrible place when I first went to work for the CIA. I couldn’t wait to leave that place.

I told Tyler about him, and he told me to forget the creep. But the memory stayed with me for a long time. I can’t believe he came here. Is he here to kill me?

45

Cyclone

The warehouse was abandoned.

Just like the file said.

No lights. No cameras. Just wind slamming against a rusted tin roof and the echo of my boots on concrete.

Sean and Gage flanked the east and west entrances. Oliver sat in the van out front, tapping into satellite coverage while River coordinated from base.

This wasn’t a raid.

It was afeeling.

A gut pull to a name on Jude’s list.

An old CIA guy, who once ran logistics on black op sites—retired, vanished, supposedly living off-grid outside Riverside.

Only he wasn’t retired.

Not really.

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