It’d been a whole month since Maddie had joined BlackWater. It went quickly and for the most part with little incident. She kept her head down and her mouth shut most of the time but she still ended up facing off against Cole more times than she’d like.

The guards were no longer at her apartment although they’d insisted she have a panic button installed direct to their site which had not only amused but also infuriated Maddie because she felt it was questioning her ability to defend herself.

She sat in the Briefing Room with Becky sipping coffee and picking at a doughnut waiting for everyone else to arrive while Becky told her about some god-awful date she’d been on over the weekend.

“…So then he just sits there.”

“You’re joking?” Maddie replied.

“No, literally he just sits and stares at me. It’s so weird. Like it wasn’t obvious the whole profile was fake and that he didn’t have a six pack when his beer belly was right there.”

Maddie giggled then.

“And then he had the audacity to say I didn’t look like my picture. Like what the fuck?” Becky said.

“Bad weekend huh?” Jamie asked walking in and looking between them before sitting down in the chair by Maddie.

“You have no idea. Fucking men.” Becky stated and they both laughed.

“Sounds a bit sexist if you ask me.” Douglas said nabbing one of the doughnuts and pulling his chair round. “Hey Mads you checked out the doc I sent you?”

“Yeah I made a few notes but please don’t call me Mads.” She said.

“How come?” He asked.

“Long story, but let’s just say I’d rather not think about it.”

“Ex boyfriend eh?” Douglas said and Maddie smirked.

“Right listen up we’ve got some new intel.” Brandon said walking in and they all sat up then. He switched the screen on, dimmed the lights and a photo flashed up.

Maddie frowned trying to make out what it was.

“This is an industrial unit just south of Basildon. I’ve had an analyst tracking some intel and it’s led us here.”

“Anything in there?” Jamie asked.

“We’ve done a covert search but nothing on preliminaries but it looks like they’re prepping for something.” Brandon replied.

“Like what?” Maddie asked before she could stop herself.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Brandon said. From the corner of her eye she saw Cole walking in and sitting down. She felt her body tense slightly, like she was suddenly on edge though she didn’t know why. It wasn’t like he was a threat anymore. It wasn’t like he was that all aggressive arsehole pursuing her like a god damn murders suspect anymore but still, something about him still affected her and she just couldn’t figure out what it was.

“We got these CCTV photos, Douglas I want you to add them to the suspect list, as far as we’re concerned all these men are targets unless proven otherwise.”

He clicked the button and five faces appeared, slightly grainy and in black and white. Maddie looked at them, from one to the next and then her jaw dropped.

“You are fucking kidding me.” She muttered and then felt everyone staring at her.

“Care to share?” Cole said and she clenched and unclenched her fists under the table.

“Bottom left. His name’s Grant Phillips. He’s Intelligence Corp at least that was his story.” She said.

“How do you know him?” Brandon asked and she felt herself squirming ever so slightly. She wasn’t embarrassed about the nature of their relationship, the fact that it was just sex but it still made her cringe that she’d gone along with it so long, that she’d put up with it, the bad sex, the continual pestering for something more, and then the proposal to top it all off. The whole thing had been a farce, only now she was starting to see how much of a farce it really had been.

“He’s an ex.” She said figuring it was the easiest way to explain him, to explain whatever the fucking mess the two of them had been.

“As in, that ex?” Becky said and Maddie nodded her head slightly.

“Yeah the one and the same.” She said.

Cole raised an eyebrow looking at Becky and then back at Maddie and she tried to ignore it.

“Long story short, he took my keys, had his own set made, wouldn’t take no for an answer. Just all round waste of time.” Maddie explained before anyone forced her into it.

“Well that would explain how all that stuff got in your flat then.” Douglas said and she paused realising that he was probably right.

She looked back at the photo, back at Grant. “That fucking arsehole. He literally wouldn’t leave me alone for months. He kept just showing up like a bad smell.”

“How did you meet?” Brandon asked.

“He crashed into me on his bike when I was out jogging.” Maddie stated.

“Sounds romantic.” Cole said and she glared at him.

“It wasn’t even a thing, at least not on my part. It was just sex and not even good sex.”