Page 70 of Code Name: Harbor

But eventually, he said, “If you would have asked me that yesterday, I wouldn’t have had an answer. But tonight I told a woman who’s been at my side for eighteen years that I would end her myself if she touched you. I made a choice in that alley I didn’t know I was capable of making. So the honest answer is I don’t know if I can walk away from the rest of it yet. But I know I’ve found something I want more than I want the rest of it. And that’s new for me.”

I laid my head against his shoulder again. It was a good enough answer for me, and I wasn’t sure I had the right to ask him to give up the only life he’d ever known. “I’m completely falling for you, Finn. Smuggler and all.”

A sound came out of him that wasn’t quite a laugh. He pressed his mouth to the top of my head and left it there for a moment.

Fingers snap in front of my face… once, twice, three times, and I blink out of the memory to find Cole there.

“Looks like someone is into some data,” he says, chuckling.

Luckily, I was focused on my screen as I recollected my conversation with Finn last night. “Yeah… lots and lots of data. Those numbers are hypnotizing.”

“I bet. Got a minute to talk?”

“For you, always.” I close BOB’s overlay because it hasn’t moved in two hours and won’t miss me.

“Let’s head upstairs. Rumor has it Anna brought in snickerdoodles.”

“My hips will thank her,” I mutter and follow him up the staircase to the fourth floor.

The community kitchen is empty and quiet except for the espresso machine running through a self-clean cycle. Cole bypasses it and heads right to the drip pot that looks freshly made and pours us two cups. I spy the plate of snickerdoodles and remove the plastic wrap, taking a cookie and biting into it. I make a mental note to add an extra gym day this week.

“You look like shit,” Cole says as we settle at the table.

“You always know exactly what to say.”

I expect him to laugh, because we’re joking, right? Instead, he says, “I’m worried about you.”

“Why would you be worried about me?”

Cole stares at me as if waiting for me to come to the conclusion about why he’s worried, but when I don’t say anything, he sighs. I watch as he takes a sip of coffee, ignores the cookies and sets the mug down.

“I went to talk about Finn Marlowe,” he says.

A mild pulse of anxiety hits me. “And that’s why you’re worried?”

“I’m not going to beat around the bush. I’m sure you already know I interviewed him yesterday and he admitted you two were seeing each other.”

I nod but keep my mouth shut.

When I don’t say any more, Cole scrapes his hand over his jaw. “Jesus Christ, Josie. This isn’t an interrogation.”

“It sure feels like one.”

“Look… I can put two and two together. Finn’s out on the water in the dead of night with no running lights and fishes you out. You come to Jameson with information about Voronin from a protected source. It’s not difficult to figure out it’s Finn, which means he knows Voronin, which means Finn is into some dirty stuff himself.”

“He’s not,” I exclaim, dropping the cookie to the table. “He’s a good man, Cole. He’s a business owner, which I’m sure you checked out. And you’re only guessing that Finn’s the source.”

“I’m trying to do more than guess right now,” he says bluntly.

“Cole, please don’t ask me questions and I won’t have to lie to you.” I hold his eyes. “I care for him and he’s concerned about me. Those are both true statements and all you need to know.”

“Are you safe?”

“Yes.”

“With him?”

I roll my eyes. “He’d protect me with his life. In fact, he’d prefer I leave town until…” I stop, unwilling to put Finn and Voronin in the same sentence together. I take a beat. “He pulled me out of the water, Cole. He’s the only reason I’m still drawing breath and I’m asking you to trust me on this one.”