Page 52 of Gunn's Mission

She hadn’t realized that her little device involved Mateo’s top secret work for the military until her cell phone had dinged, and a face-to-face meeting had been requested by her “handler” behind the garage the night before Mateo died. The groove at the edge of the ice that her teammates had discovered had been made by the small boat her handler had used to access the site to threaten her into compliance until she agreed to do what he wanted—stop Mateo’s transmissions for the next few days while their sub moved through the area.

She’d learned that her little plug-in device had given entry into the site’s network, and hackers had broken into Mateo’s computer to alter his transmissions going to Navarro. Navarro had noticed the incursion into his system and asked Mateo to bypass the router to send out his next data set.

Em had been horrified by the entire situation—not because she’d betrayed Mateo and her country, but because she’d realized that she, as an American citizen, could be implicated, even imprisoned, for helping a foreign actor obstruct Mateo’s effort to detect the Russian submarines. So, she’d acted, deciding the only way she could stop Mateo’s transmissions was to kill him.

After learning everything, the team turned away from Em. She was left in isolation, her meals arriving at her door, but no interaction was offered other than escorted trips to the latrine and shower.

No one had watched as the Mountie led her away.

Commander Navarro had retrieved Mateo’s computer and the box from Mateo’s platform. He hadn’t mentioned to Gunn or Maddie whether the data they’d continued sending him had been worth it. That information was “need to know,” or so Gunn said. Maddie really didn’t care. She was glad not to have that burden on her anymore.

Clive had arrived with checks cut by Polardyne. A severance that was beyond generous for compensation for all they had suffered. He also brought glowing letters of recommendation for them to use while searching for their next jobs. A ship would arrive the following spring with workers to break down the site to recover what they could before the ice melted.

Another helicopter would arrive the following day to take the remaining team members back to Cambridge Bay.

Maddie stood looking out the kitchen window at the gray twilight.

Behind her, footsteps echoed in the distance, drawing closer.

She turned to find Eric, Nate, Hanna, and Gunn arriving, carrying boxes that they set on the table.

Curious, she walked closer and peered inside. Her eyebrows shot up.

Nate shrugged. “It’s our last night. I figured we should have a feast to celebrate going home. I rustled up canned ground beef to make some hamburgers, summer sausage and a brick of cheese for an appetizer, plus some canned peaches I thought I might use to make a giant cobbler. What do you say?”

Maddie didn’t feel the least bit hungry, but she saw the need in Hanna and Nate’s expressions to share something happy after all the tension and tragedy. Blinking away some pesky tears, she grinned. “We need some music.”

Gunn raised his phone, “Hey, Siri, play some classic rock.”

Later,after they’d gorged until they’d nearly felt ill, everyone retired to their bedrooms, ignoring the dishes in the kitchen. Maddie would get up early in the morning to take care of them herself. Her last act as the team’s “babysitter.”

“That was fun,” Gunn said, a finger tracing the edge of her jaw.

They’d made love, and she felt a little sleepy to go along with her food coma.

“It was. I didn’t think I’d be able to eat.”

“They needed that. A night of normalcy.”

“I’ll miss them.”

“I know you will. They’re good people.”

She came up on her elbow to look down at him. “Were you serious?” she whispered.

“I’m always serious,” he said, a smile stretching his mouth.

She rolled her eyes. “About me coming to Yellowstone.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “Do you want to?”

She frowned, not liking that he hadn’t said more. Was she going to have to do everything? “Do you want me to?”

Gunn pulled her over his body and framed her face with his hands. “With all my heart, I do.”

She looked away, blinking at tears. “I never cry this much.”

“I’m not afraid of tears. I prefer your smiles, but you never have to hide tears, baby.”

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