"Agreed. Maybe make it an annual thing. Two weeks somewhere warm where we can pretend we're normal people."
"I like that plan." Logan swam closer and pulled her against him. "I've been thinking."
"About?"
"About after this. About what comes next." He paused. "I've got another two years on my contract with Delta. After that, Icould re-up or I could transition to something else. Training. Consulting. Something that keeps me stateside more."
Mara pulled back to look at him. "You'd leave Delta?"
"Not right away. But eventually. Yeah." Logan's expression was serious. "I've been doing this for twenty years. Maybe it's time to think about what comes after. Especially now that I have a reason to want to be in one place."
"Logan, I would never ask you to give up your career. Not for me."
"You're not asking. I'm offering." He tucked a wet strand of hair behind her ear. "I love what I do. But I also love you. And I'm starting to think that maybe I can have both. Just in different forms. Different stages of life."
Mara didn't know what to say. She'd never expected this. Never imagined Logan would consider leaving the teams for her. "What about you?" Logan asked. "You ever think about stepping back from Shadow Veil? Letting someone else run operations while you focus on the bigger picture?"
"Sometimes. Sloane's been hinting that I should transition more to leadership and let the younger operators take the field work." Mara wrapped her arms around his neck. "But I'm not ready yet. I still need to be in it. To be the one who goes for them."
"I get that. I felt the same way for years." Logan kissed her forehead. "We don't have to figure it all out now. Just wanted you to know I'm thinking about it. About our future. About how we make this work long-term."
"I'm thinking about it too." Mara kissed him. Slow and deep and full of promise. "And I like where my thoughts are going."
They swam back to shore and spent the afternoon doing absolutely nothing. Reading. Napping in the shade. Talking about everything and nothing. As the sun started to set, theywalked down the beach hand in hand, watching the sky turn orange and pink.
"Five more days," Mara said. "Then back to reality."
"Reality's not so bad. Not anymore." Logan squeezed her hand. "We've figured out how to make it work. The distance. The deployments. All of it."
"We have." Mara stopped walking and turned to face him. The sunset painted everything in gold light. Logan looked at her with an expression that made her heart skip. "What?"
"Nothing. Just thinking about how different my life is now. How much better." He pulled her close. "How lucky I am that you came for me in that compound. That you didn't leave me behind."
"I'll always come for you. You know that."
"Yeah. I do." Logan kissed her as the sun disappeared below the horizon. "Same goes for you. Always."
They walked back to the bungalow as the first stars appeared. Made love slowly with the ocean breeze cooling their skin. Afterward, wrapped in sheets and each other, Mara thought about their conversation. About Logan considering leaving Delta. About her own future with Shadow Veil. About what their life might look like in two years, in five years, in ten.
She didn't have all the answers. Didn't need them yet. They had time. They'd keep figuring it out together.
"I love you," she said into the darkness.
"I love you too." Logan's arms tightened around her. "Thank you for this. For two weeks of just being us."
"Best two weeks of my life."
"Same."
They fell asleep tangled together, the sound of waves lulling them into dreams of a future that looked different than either had imagined but better than they'd hoped.
Somewhere in Syria
Rashid Nazari sat in a dimly lit room reviewing intelligence reports on a laptop. Four months since the Americans had hit his compound. Four months since he'd lost his second prisoner and barely escaped with his life. Four months of operating from the shadows while he rebuilt his network and planned his revenge.
The woman had been useful. The American operator he'd taken from the trafficking raid. She'd told him nothing useful about his wife and son, had resisted every interrogation technique he'd employed. But she had confirmed what he'd suspected. That the team who'd taken his family had been the same team who'd rescued the first American prisoner.
Shadow Veil. That's what his sources called them. An all-female rescue organization operating outside official channels. Based somewhere in the United States. Run by the woman he'd held. The woman the Americans had come for.
