Because it was a fishing expedition and Tansy was the bait.
Sam regretted the necessity of discussing Howard and Stephens with Tansy.
She was tense again.
And sad.
Those gorgeous dark eyes of hers held so much sorrow.
She’d done her Tai Chi exercises twice before going to bed. When they’d made love, he’d felt her desperation to lose herself in the feelings and to forget everything.
But whenever he’d woken through the night, she’d been awake. Either working on her tablet, staring into the dark, or doing yoga.
The only light spot had been when Joe had hollered, making everyone jump out of bed.
They’d been barreling down the stairs when Joe had started to swear. “Tansy! What the hell are these things, and why are they in my room?”
He’d like seeing her laugh as she’d changed the schedule for Marie and Albert, the second floor CleanySaurs.
And then she’d pretended to sleep so he wouldn’t worry.
Now, it was still dark, and they were heading out to the fort.
At least she hadn’t tried to evade him or head out alone. She’d waited until he woke and wouldn’t allow him to coax her back to bed.
“I need it to be done, Sam. The sooner I can finish it, the sooner I can get rid of it.”
Tansy didn’t appear to realize that she was worth more than any tech. Not only to Sam, but to anyone wanting that marvelous brain.
At least she knew she had Sam and the others in her camp. They would protect her.
Sam sent a text to Joe that they were heading out. After a check on all the camera feeds, they started jogging. The morning was crisp and smelled of spring. Mostly mud, but with the smell of green things growing in the background.
There were a few clouds, but Tansy should get the sunshine she needed for her checks. Hopefully, her final checks.
He’d be as relieved as she was when the tech was in someone else’s hands. Although his guard wouldn’t relax. Not for a long while.
Because he figured if this Howard wanted the tech bad enough, it might be easier to kidnap the one who’d created it than try to steal it from the DOD.
Not information he planned to share with Tansy until it was absolutely necessary.
Tansy might be super-smart, but she didn’t deal with evil often. Hopefully, she’d keep on believing she was safe after the tech was perfected and gone.
If her mind was occupied with new projects, she wouldn’t turn it toward her personal safety. She never did. He didn’t want her living life afraid at every corner.
They took a different route, which Sam knew because he now recognized more of the landmarks. Twisted trees, clumps of rocks, glimpses of the lake.
As he ran, he planned how he could use the area for Midnight Security without interfering with Tansy or the environment. There were so many options.
Obstacle courses. Orienteering challenges. Tracking training. It would be perfect for training dogs to find lost people and various substances as well. He’d have to think about adding that in the future.
Over the last few weeks, he’d gone from being completely lost in his career and personal life to being zoomed in on both.
Midnight Security was coming together with input from his friends. Graham was a hundred percent in. Joe and Nico were interested in being partners, but could only work on actual classes around their work assignments.
He had some feelers out with a few more friends, including Flynn Walker. His buddy worked in the FBI’s organized crime division. That was another department that had a lot of burnout. Some of these jobs weren’t forever jobs. The work was draining and dangerous. Some people switched departments, others moved to new states. And some found something new.
Sam was ready to start his something new. At some point, he would need to fly to Sacramento and pull up roots there. Quit the job officially, pack up the apartment.