Page 64 of Ground Zero
The fight seemed to drain out of both of them simultaneously. They stood there in the moonlight, both breathing hard, both realizing how quickly trust could shatter under pressure.
“You didn’t tell her about me,” Maverick said. It wasn’t a question.
“No. I told her the investigation was ongoing. That we were close to answers.” Sheridan wrapped her arms around herself. “I needed to hear her voice. To remember why we’re doing this. She’s like a big sister to me. Even though there are ten years between us, we’re close.”
“You always talk to her so late?”
“She hasn’t been able to sleep well since Danny was killed. I texted first to see if she was awake. She was.” Sheridan paused. “It might sound weird, but it’s really not that unusual for us.”
Silence stretched between them, filled only by the sound of waves from the open door.
“I’m sorry,” Maverick said finally. “When I heard you on the phone?—”
“You assumed the worst. Just like I did with your call.” Sheridan laughed, but there was no humor in it. “We’re quite a pair, aren’t we? Two people who’ve been betrayed so many timeswe can’t recognize someone we can trust when they’re right in front of us.”
Her own words reminded her of Liam, of the engagement that had ended three weeks before the wedding.
She’d trusted him with her whole heart, had built a future in her mind, only to have him destroy it all with a casual “I’m not ready for this.”
The memory still stung, still made her want to retreat behind professional walls where feelings couldn’t hurt her. She never wanted to be in that position again. Never, she vowed.
Maverick took a step toward her, something raw in his expression. “Sheridan?—”
“Don’t.” She stepped back, needing distance. “We’re both exhausted, both on edge. Tomorrow’s going to be dangerous enough without . . . this.”
She gestured between them.
“This?” He raised his brow.
The word hung in the air, loaded with everything they hadn’t said, everything they were both fighting not to feel. The attraction that had been building despite the circumstances. The connection forged through shared danger. The trust that kept rebuilding itself no matter how many times doubt crept in.
Trusting the wrong person with her heart was dangerous. She’d learned that lesson the hard way with Liam. She couldn’t afford to learn it again, not when lives were at stake.
“We should get some sleep.” She kept her voice carefully controlled. “Tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”
Maverick looked like he wanted to say more, to push past the wall she was rebuilding between them.
But he just nodded. “You’re right. We need to be sharp.”
As he turned to go back to the bedroom, Sheridan called out softly, “Maverick?”
He paused in the doorway.
“I do trust you. Despite everything, despite all the reasons I shouldn’t. I trust you.”
He was quiet for a long moment. “I’m sorry for the way I reacted. Despite how everything just played out, I trust you too, Sheridan. More than I’ve trusted anyone in a long time.”
Then he was gone, leaving her alone with the sound of the ocean and the weight of tomorrow pressing down on her shoulders.
In less than eight hours, she’d walk back into Blackout, surrounded by potential enemies. Maverick would meet with Jake, possibly walking into a trap.
And in Norfolk, a clock was ticking down to an attack that could kill thousands.
Sheridan returned to her position by the window, watching the dark street outside. But her mind kept drifting to the man in the other room, to the moment when he’d stepped toward her, to the what-ifs she couldn’t afford to entertain.
Tomorrow would bring answers. She just prayed she and Maverick would both survive to hear them.
CHAPTER 37
