Daniel tilted his chair back until he met with resistance, then gently bounced back and forth as he absorbed the scene before him. All the conference rooms were occupied, so the Leyland Group team had commandeered a corner of Trendsetters’ huge kitchen and break area. Some had dragged in nearby desk chairs and rearranged existing furniture to make a circle, other sat right on the floor.

As he studied his coworkers, he was taken aback by the realization that he would miss this—he’d miss them. He averted his gaze from the faces around him, confused by the sudden tightness in his chest. In the nearly two dozen undercover operations he’d worked since joining FinCEN two years ago, he’d become accustomed to his routine. As the quiet but friendly new guy at the office, he came in, did his job, and then left with no regrets.

Not this time. He’d connected with these people on a level he’d never encountered with past jobs. No doubt it was due in large part to the collaborative office environment Trendsetters fostered, but it was more than that. The creative energy and hunger for innovation he saw in his coworkers reminded him of his college days, when his imagination and drive wasn’t stifled by federal regulations and congressional budget cuts. There was a kinship with his Trendsetters R&D teammates, one that harkened back to the comradeship he’d found in the Marines.

He glanced over at Samiah and the tightness in his chest intensified.

Now that he was no longer ignoring the reality of his eventual departure, he couldn’t even think about her without regret clawing at his throat. He knew an end date was imminent. His breath caught every time he received a call from the 703 area code. Every passing hour brought him closer to the moment when Lowell Dwyer would pull the plug on this operation. Daniel still didn’t know how he would handle that.

Their team broke into groups of three, each working on a different aspect of the last-minute details before their presentation on the Leyland Group project tomorrow. Daniel had just finished his explanation of the backend safeguard that had been added to the software when his phone vibrated in his pocket. It stopped, then started again. He took it out and looked at the screen.

Sorry, right number. HQ

“Hey, I’ll be back in a minute,” Daniel said.

“Is everything okay?” Samiah asked, her brow furrowing with concern.

“Yeah, just a friend from my days in the Marines,” Daniel said. “I’ve been trying to get hold of him but it’s been hard because he’s stationed abroad. Who knows when I’ll get the chance to speak with him again?”

God, the lies came so easily.

She shooed him with both hands. “Go on. Hurry.”