Beneath the Surface

The ceiling fan spun lazily above her, stirring warm air and the scent of old paper and scotch. Jessica leaned back, letting the glass rest in her hand. The case loomed in the corners of her thoughts, but for once, its weight felt shared. Sam Holden hadn’t just shown up, he’d stayed. Steady, perceptive, and just reckless enough to remind her what trust could feel like.

Their relationship had started casually enough. Drinks after work, long conversations about cases that never seemed to have simple resolutions, and then, somewhere along the way, it became something more. She wasn’t sure what yet, but she found herself looking forward to seeing him more than she cared to admit.

Later that evening, Jessica sat across from Sam at a small restaurant by the beach. The candlelight flickered against the glass of wine he swirled in his hand. “You’re quiet tonight,” he observed, watching her with those sharp, knowing eyes.

Jessica smirked. “I was just thinking about how I got here.”

Sam leaned back. “Belize? The case? Or… us?”

Jessica exhaled a soft laugh. “All of it.”

He took a sip of his wine. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. But I get the feeling there’s a lot more to you than just a private investigator with a knack for solving impossible cases.”

Jessica hesitated. No one outside of Leanna and Olivia knew the full extent of her past. Vanguard, the experiments, the truth about Jason Carter. But here, in this moment, she wanted to share it with him. To trust someone outside of her small circle.

Later that night, wrapped in the warm glow of the room’s dim lighting, she lay beside him, tracing slow patterns on his chest. “I wasn’t always Jessica,” she murmured, the words feeling heavy even as she said them.

Sam looked down at her, his fingers gently brushing through her hair. “What do you mean?”

She swallowed hard. “I was part of something. Something bigger than I ever realized. A government project. An experiment.”

His expression shifted, not to disbelief but to quiet curiosity. He said nothing, letting her continue.

“I used to be someone else. Someone Vanguard turned into a proof of concept. They rewrote my DNA, my entire existence, to prove they could.”

Sam exhaled slowly. “And now?”

Jessica’s lips quirked in a bittersweet smile. “Now I’m a ghost trying to figure out if the life I lived before was ever real.”

He ran his fingers down her arm. “You’re real. That’s all that matters.”

For the first time in a long time, she smiled—genuinely smiled. “You might be right.”

---

The next morning, Jessica woke up before sunrise, tangled in sheets and Sam’s arms. She lay there for a while, listening to the steady rhythm of his breathing, allowing herself to feel something she hadn’t in years—peace.

They spent the day together, exploring the market, laughing over street food, and letting their guards down. Jessica didn’t know how much she missed this. She missed being human, feeling the warmth of friendship. She longed to enjoy the moment without Vanguard weighing on her mind.

“Okay, okay, I admit it,” Jessica laughed as Sam pulled her along the crowded streets. “This is fun.”

He grinned. “See? I told you there’s more to life than chasing shadows.”

For a moment, she believed him.

---

Back at the office, Olivia was already at her laptop, and Leanna was scanning case notes. “Rough night?” Olivia teased, eyeing the coffee Jessica clutched like a lifeline.

Jessica shot her a glare before collapsing into her chair. “Let’s just say, I had to explain a few things.”

Leanna raised a brow. “You told him?”

Jessica took a long sip of coffee before nodding. “Yeah. Not everything, but enough.”

Leanna exchanged a look with Olivia. “And?”

Jessica leaned back in her chair. “He took it better than I expected.”

A sharp knock at the door made them all turn. Jessica’s hand instinctively moved toward her gun, but when the door swung open, it was only Sam, his usual confident smirk replaced by something more serious.

“You’re not gonna like this,” he said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. “The murder weapon was wiped clean, but my guys managed to pull some partial prints from Esparza’s desk.”

Jessica stood, sensing the shift in his tone. “And?”

Sam exhaled, then tossed a small evidence bag onto her desk. Inside, a single smudged print glimmered under the plastic. “One of them matches a known Vanguard operative.”

Leanna’s voice cut in, sharp. “Which one?”

Sam hesitated. “Elias Raines.”

The room fell silent. The name landed like a hammer between them. Jessica didn’t move, but something in her eyes flickered—anger, memory, the echo of betrayal. Raines was one of Vanguard's toughest enforcers. He was cold and calculated, always three steps ahead. They had left him with Gabriel Voss in Patagonia after he decided to return to Vanguard. If he was involved, this wasn’t just about Esparza or Camille. It was about something much bigger.

Olivia’s voice was quieter, but sharper. “He made his choice. He went back to them.”

Leanna stepped closer to the desk, jaw clenched. “So either he never left… or they called him in for something personal.”

Jessica stared at the evidence bag. Her voice was low, steady. “If Elias is in Belize, this isn’t about cleanup. It’s about control.”

Sam nodded grimly. “Then whatever this is—it’s only just starting.”

Jessica glanced at Sam. “Does your department know?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. But if I report it, they’ll bury it. And if Vanguard knows we’re onto Raines, we might not get another chance to follow his trail.”

Jessica tightened her grip on the desk. “Then we move fast.”

Leanna nodded. “We need to find out why Camille was a target. And more importantly, what Esparza was hiding.”

Sam folded his arms. “Just tell me one thing, Jess—how deep are you willing to go?”

Jessica met his gaze, the fire in her eyes unmistakable. “As deep as it takes.”

---

That night, she waited for him at their usual spot on the pier. The air was thick with the scent of salt and distant rain, the waves lapping softly against the docks. Sam was supposed to meet her an hour ago.

She checked her phone again. No messages. No calls.

The feeling started as a small itch in the back of her mind—then, as the minutes stretched into an hour, it became something more. Dread.

Jessica exhaled in a sharp sigh. She tightened her hold on her phone. Something was wrong. And she had a terrible feeling she knew exactly what it was.