She woke to the full sun shining on her face, her hands moving against strange bed sheets. A strange bed in a strange room. It was funny how the light of day had changed things, burning the images into reality. Burning this reality into fact, into her head. It had really happened . . .

She also wondered what the light would do to Logan’s face. Holly turned over and craned her neck for a view of her slumbering ex-lover. Or, current lover. She wasn’t too sure of the exact classification, but he was at least last night’s lover. Most definitely last night’s lover. And an amazing one at that.

“Logan?” she called it out again after seeing his empty side of the bed, projecting her voice into the hall beyond his half-opened bedroom door. Holly slid her hand across the cool empty space where there once was so much heat.

Immediately, the feeling of abandonment rushed in. A familiar rush of emotion that had come on at the start of Logan’s army deployment. Back when she had a reason to feel that way. Back when they’d had a relationship. The pain worsened until even he had enough of the guilt. It wasn’t just his physical departure; it was the emotional retreat that lingered even after his return.

He was hardly ever there, even when he was sitting a few feet from her across the dinner table.

Holly had her own guilt to deal with, the absurdity of feeling rejected by a soldier just because he couldn’t reject his own country. It was so absurd and infantile. And it was temporary, just like his deployments. But still she couldn’t march, despite his willingness to trudge both home and away.

But it shouldn’t have ever been trudging at all.

He must have felt it, too. He must have felt the guilt. Until finally the day when he had set her “free.”

The sad reality would soon rush in: Logan was the only guy she ever loved. He’d left her because he thought she deserved more, someone who loved her back. A man who could be there for her when he couldn’t.

Work, of course, was a useful distraction. It was also educational, a mile of it in someone else’s shoes. Now she knew the responsibility of defending her nation against a daily onslaught of threats. She also knew now how great it felt to have such a higher purpose.

But now, work, especially with the change in boss, had left her feeling alone and directionless. Even more alone now that she was without Beth.

She was without Logan, too. But, it turned out, for only that moment. He appeared twenty minutes later with a paper bag of breakfast croissants. Ham and Swiss. And a smile that somehow took her back seven years.

He watched her take the first bite then said, “I got some news from Jackson.”

The news of news interrupted her chewing. Full-mouthed, she said, “What?”

“Actually, from Tansy.”

“Tansy?” Coffee to help her swallow and then: “What did he say?”

“He found something he doesn’t like. In the files they gave you. Bits of extra code. It looks harmless, but it shouldn’t be there. So, given the context, he thinks it’s a major red flag.”

“A possible Trojan Horse? Yeah, I’d say it’s a pretty major flag.”

“He didn’t say that, if it’s a Trojan or not.”

“But it’s something extra,” Holly said. “I don’t like that, either.”

“He said it’s engineered to only work on your system.”

“See?”

Logan said, “See what?”

“Well, I want to see it. If I can see, then I can break the code and then we’ll know what it is.”

Logan took a sip of coffee.

Holly continued. “No disrespect to Tansy, of course. But I should work on it. It’s sort of my case, after all. Right? Isn’t that how it works?”

“You did come to us for help.”

“Did I? I came to you.”

Logan was almost frowning. “Either way, it might be complicated, you wanting to jump in and look at Tansy’s—”

“I’m not jumping in,” she said, jumping in to cut him off.

“What I’m trying to say is that we might not have time. It’s timing that’s the issue.”

“Of course it is,” Holly said, trying to keep her voice level. “I know what the issue is.”

Logan nodded at her and then looked down at his to-go coffee cup. He played with the lid.

“I know what’s at stake here . . .” Suddenly without an appetite, Holly put down the croissant. She reached for the coffee, preparing her mind to go back to work. Her body, too. A different kind of work than the fun of last night. She would have to slap on a brave face and make a surprise visit to her office.

It would be a work weekend, after all.

“We should head in to the DARC office,” Logan said, “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” she said, sliding off the bed and beginning the search for her clothes, piecing back together the memories of the night before. It felt oddly comfortable being with him, half dressed. Almost as comfortable as she felt with him undressed. “Yeah,” she said again, “I’m so ready.”

Playtime was over. Perhaps forever.