Page 9 of Secrets We Fight

I’d studied the building’s blueprints while Tanner had driven us to Fallon’s condo, but I couldn’t resist messing with him. “That’s classified.”

He grinned and stepped on the accelerator when the light turned green. “Okay, I see how it’s going to be. But yeah, during the winter I work out at the gym on days I’m not doing indoor training and circuits for rowing. Think you’ll be able to keep up with all the exercising I do?”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Absolutely. Need to make sure you’re in good shape if you’re responsible for my safety.”

I threw my head back and roared with laughter. “My stamina is quite high, thank you very much. You should be the one worried about keeping up with me.”

“Is that so?” He smirked. “Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until Friday to find out. I’ve got a ton of studying to do today and tomorrow for an exam. The election last night threw off my entire schedule, and I’m behind on some classwork.”

And your hookup last night probably didn’t help, either.

I shook my head to rid it of the intrusive thought that felt too much like jealousy.

Fallon pulled into the underground garage of his building and parked in his space. “I meant to ask earlier how all of this works?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, I assume you work in shifts. What time do you leave? Do you get days off? That kind of thing.”

We unbuckled our seatbelts as I responded, “Typically, there are three shifts: days, mids, and nights. Since you’re in class during the day, the hours for those three shifts have been altered a bit. For now, the day shift will start about an hour before you leave for school and end around 1700 or 1800 hours.”

“You’re going to make me use military time now?” He rolled his eyes.

“Sorry, habit.” I grinned and continued. “Under normal circumstances, agents rotate through the various shifts every two weeks, but I’ll stay on days during the week, at least until the end of the school year. We want to avoid drawing too much attention to your detail in class if we can help it. However, you’ll see most of us nearly every day during various shifts because we work a lot of overtime based on the agency’s needs.”

“Sounds complicated.”

We climbed out of his car.

“It can be, but you don’t need to worry. You’ll always have protection around you.”

* * *

My shift endedat 1800 hours, and after telling Fallon I’d see him before class the next day, I left his condo and walked to the one next door.

“There’s our star student,” Agent Jones called out as I stepped inside.

“Very funny,” I huffed. “At least I’m not stuck in this place all day.”

“I prefer watching camera feeds over trying to blend in on campus.”

He had a point.

“I hear you, and I’ve got to do it again tomorrow, so I’m going to go chill for a bit.” I walked toward the bedrooms and took the first twin-sized bed that didn’t have anyone’s stuff on it, yet. I kicked off my shoes and lay on the bed. Finally being off shift, I couldn’t wait any longer to find out when I could see my daughter since I was back in the city and off the campaign trail. I pulled out my phone and sent Alexis, Poppy’s mother, a message:

Hi there. I’m in town, and I’ve got some news. Are you and Poppy free to meet for dinner on Friday?

It didn’t take her long to reply:

Hey! We’re actually going away for the weekend to visit my parents. Do you want to come over tonight instead?

Not wanting to wait until the following week, I answered:

Sure. I can be there in thirty minutes

Great. See you soon