Page 38 of Ground Zero

As their eyes met, Maverick felt something shift between them. Not just gratitude, but a deeper connection forged by shared danger, mutual trust, and a shared faith.

And it was that very connection that made this whole situation infinitely more complicated.

CHAPTER 21

Sheridan felt the moment, felt the electric awareness that had nothing to do with the adrenaline of their escape and everything to do with the man sitting across from her.

The way Maverick had looked at her while she stitched his wound. The quiet strength in his voice when he talked about wanting to protect people.

All of that made her want to know him more. And that was something she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Since Liam.

However, she couldn’t afford to let her guard down. Not yet. Not until she knew for certain what was really going on.

“We need to figure out who planted that tracker on me.” She deliberately moved away from him to clean up the medical supplies.

“Any colleagues stand out to you?” Maverick asked, shrugging and pulling his sleeve down as if trying to forget their connection also.

Sheridan shook her head. “Not really.”

“I suppose it could have been one of my colleagues,” Maverick said.

Sheridan thought back to her interactions at Blackout. When could someone have gotten close enough to plant a tracker without her noticing?

Her mind raced through everyone who’d had access to her. Ty Chambers. Colton Locke. Jake Laudner. Even her own boss, Assistant Director Cook, had been around her earlier in the day.

Any one of them could be the traitor. Any one of them could have sentenced her to death with a device the size of a quarter.

“We really are completely on our own,” she said.

Maverick frowned “It looks that way.”

The weight of their isolation settled over them like a suffocating blanket. Two people against a terrorist organization that had infiltrated the highest levels of both their agencies. Two people with less than seventy-two hours to stop an attack that could cripple national security.

She paused from cleaning up and leaned back against the couch, almost as if defeated. “What do we do now?”

Maverick looked at her with those intense green eyes, and she saw her own determination reflected back at her.

“We stop them,” he said simply. “Whatever it takes.”

Maverick stared out the rental house window, his instincts screaming that something was wrong.

They’d gotten rid of the tracker, but that didn’t mean they were safe. If Sigma had found them once, they could find them again. She’d been here earlier. Those guys probably knew that.

They were on borrowed time.

“We can’t stay here.” Maverick turned to Sheridan. “Even without the tracker, this place is compromised.”

“Where do you suggest we go? We can’t exactly check into a hotel.”

Maverick peered through the curtains at the house next door. It was dark, and it had been dark since they’d arrived. No cars were parked in the driveway, nor was there any other sign of occupancy.

“There.” He pointed. “There’s no rental sign posted on the side, so the place is probably someone’s second home. It doesn’t look like they’re staying there right now.”

Sheridan looked skeptical. “Breaking and entering?”

“Temporary relocation.” He shrugged. “We stay dark, keep watch on this place from there. If anyone comes looking for us, we’ll see them first.”

She considered his idea, then nodded. “I guess that’s better than sitting here waiting to be cornered.”