Page 47 of Todd
“Chaosismanageable. Complete disaster is something else entirely.” His voice dropped, becoming rougher with emotion. “I care about the mission’s success, but I won’t sacrifice you in the process.”
She laughed softly, the sound carrying affection despite their dire circumstances. “Don’t turn romantic on me now, Todd Blake.”
But even as she teased him, warmth flooded through her at his words. The protective fury in his voice, the way he prioritized her safety over operational objectives, and the careful way he held her hand, as if she were something precious, all spoke to feelings that went far beyond professional concern.
Tomorrow night, she thought, memorizing the feel of his calloused fingers against hers.Tomorrow night, I get the evidence we need, and then maybe we can finally move forward with what we feel.
The desert wind whispered around them, and for a moment, Sadie allowed herself to imagine a future where her world with him was more than missions.
Their eyes held, and both leaned closer at the same time. Their lips met in one of the openings of the chain-linked fence. It was just a touch, the press of flesh against flesh, but her body felt alive.
As their bodies separated, his fingers squeezed hers tightly. “When this is over… we need to talk.”
She nodded, praying their words would align. “Yeah…”
“But I’ll give you this now,” he continued. “We no longer need to hide what we feel for each other.”
Her heart nearly leaped from her chest, and her head jerkily bobbed up and down. “Yeah,” she breathed.
A sound nearby had them jump apart. Regret filled his face as he said, “Hurry back, but be careful. Let me know when you’re in your room safely.”
Nodding silently, she held his gaze for another few seconds, memorizing every inch of him. Then, turning quickly, she disappeared back into the shadows.
The journey back to her quarters should have been routine as she followed the same carefully memorized path through shadows and blind spots that had carried her safely to Todd. But as Sadie approached the guest building, voices drifting across the still desert air made her blood turn to ice water.
She dropped behind a cluster of ornamental barrel cacti, avoiding the tiny daggers of their spines. She peered through the gaps between the cacti, noting two figures standing near the main entrance, illuminated by the soft pathway lighting that had seemed so welcoming during daylight hours.
Yelena Mirov’s platinum hair gleamed like polished silver in the artificial glow, her severe features carved from shadow and light. Even at this distance, her posture radiated the authority that made the employees unconsciously step aside when she approached. But it was her companion that made Sadie’s skin crawl with recognition and unease.
Eli Park, the groundskeeper she’d noticed during her first days at the spa. Where the other staff members maintained facades of ethereal serenity, Eli’s face bore the harsh lines of someone who’d seen violence and wasn’t afraid to dispense it. His work clothes were dusty from whatever nocturnal activities had brought him outside, and the way he held himself suggested coiled violence barely contained beneath a veneer of employment.
“I’m telling you, I saw movement out there.” Eli’s voice carried the gravelly undertone of a longtime smoker, each wordedged with frustration. “Something by the west fence line, near that maintenance shed.”
Sadie’s heart hammered against her ribs so hard she was certain they could hear it from fifty feet away. The west fence line. Exactly where she’d met Todd just minutes earlier.
“Are you certain, or are you jumping at shadows again?” Yelena’s voice dripped ice.
“I know what I saw.” Eli’s tone hardened with defensive anger. “Been working security long enough to tell the difference between desert rats and something bigger. This was human movement, deliberate-like.”
Security. The word confirmed what Sadie had suspected—beneath the Serenity Dunes’s peaceful facade lurked a surveillance apparatus designed to monitor every guest's activity. Eli wasn’t just a groundskeeper, but was enforcement disguised as maintenance staff.
“The perimeter cameras showed nothing unusual,” Yelena replied, but her voice carried a note of consideration that suggested she was taking his report seriously.
Sadie thought with grim satisfaction that Casper’s camera interference must be working, even as she worked to slow her breathing.
“Cameras can malfunction,” Eli countered, his voice dropping to a menacing growl. “Or be tampered with. I’m going to do another sweep and check for signs someone’s been nosing around where they shouldn’t be.”
Sadie pressed herself deeper into the shadows as Eli turned toward the very area where she’d spent the few minutes. She hoped he didn’t find evidence, but just in case, she needed to be back in her room if they decided to check.
“Do that,” Yelena agreed, her tone carrying deadly calm. “And Eli? If you find anything... or anyone... handle it quietly.We can’t afford complications, not when we’re so close to completing the current phase.”
Current phase.The clinical terminology sent a shudder through Sadie. Whatever Serenity Dunes was building toward, whatever Dr. Selinski’s ultimate goal might be, they were approaching a critical juncture that made suspicious guests an unacceptable risk.
Eli nodded once, the gesture sharp, then melted into the darkness with surprising stealth for such a large man. Yelena remained motionless for several more heartbeats, her gaze scanning the shadows as if she could sense Sadie’s presence through sheer force of will.
Finally, the spa manager turned and glided back into the building with unsettling silence. But even after her departure, Sadie remained frozen behind the cacti, her mind racing through the implications of what she’d overheard.
They suspected.Maybe not her specifically, but they were aware that something might be wrong in their carefully controlled environment. Eli’s patrol meant that future meetings with Todd would be exponentially more dangerous, possibly impossible.
