Page 93 of Code Name: Harbor

If fact, I knew it before I asked the question. I asked it anyway because some part of me needed to make them say no out loud so I could be angry at something other than my own uselessness.

“Fine,” I say and while it comes out tight, there’s no heat in it.

“Thank you,” Malik says softly and then we move on.

We spend another forty minutes on the details and by the time Royce closes her laptop, the operation has a shape, a timeline and a go order. The room starts to break up, the sound of chairs being pushed back from the table, Royce’s people gathering folders, Malik already turning to Cole about the command post staging.

Reid bumps my shoulder with his on the way out. “For what it’s worth, he’s right and I hate it too. You’d be the best set of eyes on that water, but we need you safe.”

“I know.”

“We’ll get him, Josie.”

“I know that too. Promise me you’ll stay safe.”

He grins at me. “Always.”

I gather my laptop and walk out of the conference room with my spine straight and my face composed, but the second I clear the door and turn the corner toward the restrooms, the composure starts to crack at the edges a little.

I push into the women’s restroom, breathe a sigh of relief it’s empty and call Finn.

He picks up on the second ring. “Hey. You okay?”

I keep my voice low, even though the room is empty, and I proceed to betray my people at Jameson just a little. “I can’t give you the details, you know that, but I need you to know that they’re going to make a move against Mikhail tonight. The operation is both on water and land.”

A beat of silence on his end. “Okay.”

I inhale and pinch the bridge of my nose. “I just want you to know because… well, your team’s going to be… you know, doing their thing on the water.” I flounder for the right words. “And I don’t want anyone getting caught or hurt in the crossfire. So maybe you should call off that thing you’re going to be doing, you know?”

Finn doesn’t say anything, and it makes me feel the need to babble.

So I do. “The waters tonight might not be safe. There’s going to be law enforcement out there. A lot of it. Boats that aren’t they’re supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be.” My throat tightens around the next part. “I’m worried about your…thing. About the timing. I just need you to be careful. All three of you.”

There’s a pause, and then, impossibly, he laughs. Soft. Warm. Not dismissive but the laugh of a man who seems thoroughly charmed by me.

“Babe… I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you looking out for me, but have you seen the size of the water out there?”

“Finn, I’m serious—”

“I’m serious too, Josie. The Salish Sea is twenty-five hundred square miles. Two operations could run all night and never come within fifteen miles of each other. And I’m not even going to bother asking you where your operation’s going to be. I wouldn’t put you in that position and I’m positive we won’t run across each other.”

“But you were there when Mikhail tried to kill me,” I point out. “So the water’s not that big.”

“That was lottery-type odds, and that won’t ever happen twice in the same lifetime,” he says confidently.

I press the heel of my hand against my eyes. I know he’s probably right, but I’m terrified something will happen. I’m afraid that Connie and Marcus will get caught, and then that means Finn will probably get caught.

He told me last night he’s getting out and this is the last run. He’s almost free and I can’t stand the thought of losing him.

“I love you,” I say. “I just need you to be able to come home tomorrow when this is all said and done.”

“I love you too. And Josie… I am home, with you. Okay?”

“Okay,” I whisper.

“Hey.” His voice lifts, deliberate, pulling us both up out of the dark. “Here’s what we’re going to do tomorrow on the first day of our new life. We’re going to the grocery store and we’re going to get dough and fresh mozzarella and I’m going to fire up the pizza oven on the patio and make you the best Margherita you’ve ever had in your life.”

A laugh comes up out of me, wet at the edges. “That sounds lovely.”