I nodded once. “Good. The middle drawer on the left in the bathroom is open.”

“Yeah?” he said, unable to tone down his excited expression.

“Yeah.” My heart was pounding, but I kept my face smooth. Each time we took things to a new level, after the initial panic was over, I’d never once regretted it. I wanted to be with Zeke, even if I had to fight my demons daily, sometimes to emotional and mental exhaustion. I’d never backed down from a fight, and this time I’d win something I’d lost a long time ago: me.

He leaned over, planting a quick kiss on my lips. “I’d better get dressed. I need to start dinner, and you have to get around for work.”

“Right behind you,” I said. The robe fell to the floor, and Zeke pulled on his navy-blue boxer briefs, a pair of gray sweats, and a plain white T-shirt. I willed myself to feel relaxed at the domesticity of it all.

chapter twenty-four

mine

Naomi

“T

urn around, sir,” the man on the other side of the blast doors of Deep Echo said through the speaker. The Deep Echo security team stopped getting annoyed a couple of months before and just accepted that Trex and I were going to visit them every day. The warning was just procedure. No guns, no posturing.

“Do you ever leave?” I asked the man on the com. “Do you even know it’s Thanksgiving?”

“Turn around and walk, lady,” the soldier said.

I took a step closer. “What’s your name, soldier?”

“Dean, ma’am. This is your last warning.”

I lifted my fist and gave them the finger. “Happy holidays, assholes.”

“Thank you,” he said. “Happy holidays to you too, Naomi.”

Trex and I traded looks then headed back down Echo corridor to Delta. The Complex was quiet, only a skeleton crew working the control room and security, and a couple dozen essential personnel. Our steps were louder than usual against the metal grid that led to Delta, the water dripping from the ceiling louder, the whispers louder.

“Think they’ll ever let us back there?” I asked.

“I’m more concerned at this point that those guys will never get out,” Trex said. “No amount of money would make that contract worth it.”

“Maybe they know too much, like that lab rat was saying.”

“Then I need to mind my fucking business. Tonight’s our first night in the new house.”

Martinez and Sloan met us back at headquarters a few minutes before lunch, and Harbinger came in right after us, but it seemed extra quiet.

Trex stared at the door for a full minute then turned his head toward the com clipped to his lapel. “Trex actual to Kitsch, check in.”