Unseen Threads

Jessica sat at her desk, absently swirling the last dregs of whiskey in her glass. The day had stretched long, filled with questions that led nowhere. The locked-room murder had the distinct feel of something unnatural—or worse, something Vanguard had touched.

Leanna was still at her laptop, fingers tapping rhythmically on the keys. Olivia had stepped out for fresh air, leaving Jessica alone with the weight of their latest case.

"There's more to this," Leanna finally said, breaking the silence. "Camille wasn’t just some random woman in Peter Esparza’s life. I found a reference to her in a classified file from ten years ago."

Jessica straightened. "A Vanguard file?"

Leanna hesitated. "It’s… adjacent. A black budget project under a shell company that links back to them. Something called 'Project Albatross.'"

Jessica frowned. "Never heard of it."

"Neither had I." Leanna turned the screen to face her. "But the records I found suggest it was shut down after a 'containment failure.'"

Jessica exhaled, feeling the old itch of paranoia creeping in. "What kind of failure?"

Leanna shook her head. "The file doesn’t say. Just that after the incident, every subject was either terminated or—" she hesitated. "Or disappeared."

Jessica’s fingers tightened around her glass. "And now Camille’s dead."

"Exactly."

The door opened and Olivia stepped back in, brushing stray hair from her face. "I took a walk by Esparza’s office building. There’s a strange energy there—like we’re being watched."

Jessica leaned back, sighing. "We probably are."

Leanna closed her laptop. "The deeper we dig, the more it feels like a trap."

Jessica nodded. "Which means we’re on the right track."

A heavy silence settled in the room, broken only by the distant sound of the city outside. They had more pieces now—but the puzzle they were building led somewhere dangerous.

And Jessica wasn’t sure they were ready for what they’d find at the end of it.

---

Later that evening, Jessica met Sam Holden at a quiet bar near the docks. The dim lighting cast shadows over his face, but she could see the concern in his eyes.

"You look like you've had a hell of a day," he said, setting a whiskey in front of her.

Jessica smirked. "You could say that."

Holden leaned forward, lowering his voice. "This case… it’s not normal, is it?"

Jessica hesitated, then shook her head. "No. And I don’t think it’s going to get any easier."

He studied her for a long moment before reaching across the table and squeezing her hand. "Then maybe you need someone watching your back."

For the first time in a long time, Jessica let herself smile. "Maybe I do."

But deep down, she knew nothing in her life stayed simple for long.