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"Stop." She crossed the room and took my hands. "You found him in six days. That's incredible. The fact that he ran means you're close. You're scaring him."

"Or whoever hired him is."

"Either way, we're making progress." Her fingers tightened on mine. "You haven't failed me, Code. You're the only reason I have any hope at all."

The words settled into my chest, warm and solid.

"I'm going to find him, Katherine. I promise you that."

"I know." She smiled, small but genuine. "Now eat a brownie and some breakfast before Bonnie comes back and force-feeds you."

I grabbed one of the brownies. The chocolate was rich and fudgy. Bonnie's baking was dangerous.

Katherine pulled a chair next to mine, close enough that our shoulders touched. She picked up a brownie too.

"So where do we start?"

"We start by digging deeper into Russell Dunlap's life." I turned back to my screens. "Somewhere in his past is either a connection to you or a connection to whoever might have hired him. Bank records, phone records, credit cards. Everyone leaves a trail. We just have to find it."

My phone buzzed with a text and I smiled. Thompson had come through. “Sending you encrypted files. Might have something.”

I pulled up my secure email. Three attachments from Thompson. Financial records, communication logs, travel history for Russell Dunlap going back five years.

"What is it?" Katherine leaned closer.

"Maybe our break." I started opening files. "Maybe nothing. But it's more than we had an hour ago."

She settled in beside me, watching as I worked through the data. Her presence grounded me. Made the exhaustion less overwhelming.

We were going to find Russell Dunlap. We were going to stop him.

And then I was going to figure out what the hell to do about the fact that I was falling for Katherine Lord.

But first things first. Hunt the threat. Protect the woman.

The rest could wait.