Page 65 of Shadowed Hearts: Frost
Sacramento's morning fog cloaks Vertex Models' entrance. I adjust my binoculars for the third scan in fifteen minutes, the dense mist simultaneously concealing our position and obscuring potential hostiles. A double-edged tactical situation.
"This fog's perfect cover, but visibility's shot to hell. Good thing I could drive this route blindfolded." Jax's fingers drum an incessant rhythm against the steering wheel, his restless energy filling our armored SUV.
My jaw tightens. "Cut the drumming. We need to focus."
Jax rolls his eyes but stops, shifting in his seat instead. I return to methodically arranging my equipment in the back of the vehicle, checking sight lines, confirming thermal imaging calibration, verifying our comms are secure.
Beside me, Vanessa's fingers fly over her keyboard, her dark hair pulled back in a messy bun, revealing the neon pink streaks. Something tightens in my chest watching her work, her intensity, her single-minded concentration unnervingly similar to my own, yet completely different.
"You stay in the vehicle with Cole. Period." I keep my voice flat, not looking up from adjusting my gear.
Her typing pauses. "I've done surveillance before, you know. Maybe not with a gun, but information gathering is literally my specialty."
Cole turns in the front passenger seat, extending his hand with that measured politeness he uses for recruitment. "We haven't been properly introduced. Cole Tanaka, strategic operations."
Vanessa shakes his hand, her eyes lighting with recognition. "Wait, you're C.T. The job offer guy."
"Guilty as charged." Cole's mouth quirks into what passes for a smile on him. "Your expanded Paradise Elite analysis caught our attention. The network scope you identified represents exactly the kind of tactical intelligence we specialize in."
She glances between us, pieces clicking together in that rapid-fire way her mind works. "So when I sent Asher that data about the twenty-three agencies, you were already analyzing it."
"Standard protocol," Cole confirms. "Though your encryption methods were... impressive."
"Look, I'm not asking to kick down doors," Vanessa continues, her leg bouncing against the seat. "But I need real-time access to their systems. Live feeds, not screenshots you take later. That's how I caught the financial patterns that led us here."
Heat rises up my neck. The image of someone coming after her in her loft flashes through my mind. Blood spatter on her walls, her body crumpled on the floor. If I hadn't been there... My hands freeze on the equipment.
"This isn't some coffee shop recon." My voice comes out harder than intended.
Cole looks up from his tablet. "Her technical insights would be valuable, Frost. I can monitor her position from here."
Something raw and territorial stirs inside me. Cole doesn't understand the stakes. What nearly happened to her. What I felt when that operative had his hands on her.
"Negative." The word comes out like a bullet.
In the rearview mirror, Jax's eyes meet Vanessa's with a knowing smirk, and something inside me clenches tight. Her presence in this vehicle, in my world, has disrupted everything. My precision. My focus. The barriers I've maintained for years.
Vanessa catches my eye, her expression challenging but something else there too, understanding, maybe. She breaks the tension by turning back to her equipment.
"Fine, I'll be your eyes from here. But you're missing out on my exceptional skills."
"I'm well aware of your skills," I murmur, and a flush creeps up her neck.
The fog thickens outside, swallowing the building across the street. Jax adjusts our position slightly, maximizing escape routes while Cole activates thermal imaging to compensate.
"Better position now," Jax announces.
Vanessa watches me as I inspect my rifle, and I sense her gaze. Even surrounded by mission gear and tactical equipment, something powerful and undeniable connects us. Like a current runs through the space between our bodies.
I check the time on my watch: 7:43. Two hours and no activity worth reporting. My body's used to stillness, the waiting game. My mind isn't.
Vanessa mutters something under her breath, fingers dancing across her keyboard. The soft blue glow from her screen illuminates her face, highlighting the intensity in her eyes. She's been working on Vertex's security since yesterday, staying up all night to identify vulnerabilities, but now she's finally executing the breach protocol she prepared.
"Almost there," she whispers, not to me but to herself. "Come on, you stubborn... got it!"
She bounces slightly in her seat, the motion drawing my attention to where our thighs nearly touch in the cramped backseat. The proximity feels dangerous in ways gunfire never has.
"You're in?" I keep my voice neutral despite the unwelcome heat coursing through me.
