Page 15 of Code Name: Tank
“Good night, Tank.”
When my door closed behind me, I leaned against it. The combination of alcohol, too much food, and too much honestyleft me dizzy. Tomorrow, we’d return to Canada Lake to brief Admiral and Alice on what we’d found.
But tonight, I found myself thinking less about the investigation and more about the moment outside my door—and what might have happened if neither of us had stepped back.
5
TANK
Istood with my back to the room’s door, cursing myself like I had been since Dragon and I arrived at the hotel earlier.
After telling her I planned to order room service and get some work done, I’d immediately wanted to take it back. The only thing that had stopped me from going next door and asking her to have dinner with me was that I’d look like a complete idiot.
Any attempt I made to work after that had been pointless. The cold shower I took did nothing to cool me off, so to speak, or improve my frame of mind. The phone call I made to Atticus ended up irritating me since he’d picked up on my mood right away.
“What’s really going on?” he’d asked when I told him I needed his help digging through the same files he had yesterday.
“Why not just talk about it?” he’d said. “Tell her you like her, and see where it goes.”
“Like her?” I’d responded. “As if we’re in high school?”
His laughter at my expense had only added to my irritability, but when the call ended, I’d wondered if he was right. Bringingit out in the open might make it easier to deal with. Or it might make it all worse.
When I heard Dragon’s door close, I figured she was on her way downstairs, so I waited ten minutes and followed.
I saw her sitting in the back corner alone, started walking toward her, stopped myself, then started again. When she raised her head and saw me, the decision was made for me. I couldn’t hightail it out of there like she probably would have. With every step I took in her direction, I convinced myself to simply face this thing between us head-on.
If she rejected me or even denied it, I was prepared to deal with it. My ego wasn’t so fragile that I couldn’t handle a woman telling me she didn’t feel the same way for me as I did her.
But she didn’t do that. She’d admitted I was “distracting.” One way to put it. Had I had the balls to say it, I would’ve told her I thought about her constantly. She even invaded my dreams. That wasn’t “distracting”—it was downright unsettling.
A few minutes ago, I’d come so close to leaning in like she had and kissing her, but if I had, I wouldn’t be in my own room right now; I’d be in hers. And there was no way either of us was ready for that.
I rolledout of bed the next morning at zero five hundred and got ready for our flight in two hours that would take us back to the East Coast.
The trip to JFK passed quietly. Both Dragon and I maintained the distance that felt safer than the closeness we had explored last night. When she did speak, it was about the financial-theft patterns—nothing personal, nothing that might lead back to that moment outside our hotel rooms when I’d wanted to kiss her.
By fourteen hundred, we were back at Canada Lake, where Admiral and Alice gave us instructions to take some downtime, saying the briefings could wait. “You’ve both been running at maximum capacity. Decompress before we brief the full team tomorrow,” Alice said, her words carrying an authority born of her own workaholic tendencies. Not to mention she was pregnant, I reminded myself. She looked frazzled this morning, with dark circles under her eyes that suggested the pregnancy was taking its toll.
My phone buzzed with a text from an unfamiliar number as I was walking to Granite Ridge.Heard you made it back safely. Any initial concerns I should be aware of before tomorrow’s briefing?
I paused on the path. Hartwell checking in with me directly seemed odd, but given I was the co-lead investigator, it made a certain amount of sense.Nothing urgent. Some concerning indicators, but we’ll have full analysis tomorrow, I responded.
Understood. Appreciate your diligence. Dragon doing well under the pressure?
That question felt more personal than I was comfortable with.Handling it like the pro she is, I replied.
When a response didn’t appear, I pocketed my phone.
At the briefingthe following morning, after Dragon and I gave separate reports about our visit to Fort Worth, Admiral suggested a trip to DC to interview other defense contractors to see if they’d experienced any of the things we found at Titan or Apex.
“We need to move fast. Tank. You should head to DC this afternoon.”
“Roger that. I’ll handle scheduling the interviews with as many as possible, arrange a flight, then report back.” The words were out before I thought them through.
Dragon raised a brow. “You’llhandle all of that and report back?”
My jaw tightened as I realized I’d likely misinterpreted Admiral’s meaning. Even if he had meant I should go alone, it was the wrong call, and I should’ve said so.
