Burned Bridges

They found a small roadside motel right off the highway VA-267 on the way to Dulles International Airport. The room had a very nondescript decor. The same as any motel room that exists only to give someone a place to sleep for a few hours. The room smelled of stale coffee and exhaustion. Outside, Washington pulsed with its usual indifference, but inside, the weight of what they’d discovered pressed against the walls like an invisible force.

Jessica sat on the edge of the desk, rolling the burner phone between her fingers. It had been hours since the last call. No more warnings. No more threats.

That meant they were already moving.

Across the room, Olivia sat hunched over her laptop, eyes rimmed with fatigue but sharp as ever. Leanna stood by the window, watching the street below, her fingers resting near her sidearm. No one had spoken in minutes.

Then Olivia broke the silence. “I found something.”

Jessica looked up. “Tell me.”

Olivia turned the laptop so they could see. The screen displayed a diplomatic itinerary for the World Security Summit in Rome. High-ranking officials from across the globe would be there, and buried in the guest list was the name:

Ambassador Daniel Mercer.

Jessica exhaled. “Mercer.”

Olivia nodded. “Look at this.” She pulled up two separate personnel files. One from seven years ago, one from three. “Something’s off.”

Leanna leaned in. “What am I looking at?”

“The first record is real. The second…” Olivia hesitated, her expression tightening. “It’s rewritten.”

Jessica’s stomach clenched. “Like the President.”

Leanna’s voice was flat. “He’s been wiped.”

Olivia nodded. “Same time as the President. Three years ago.” She tapped the screen. “And he’s in Rome. Right now.”

A beat of silence. Then Jessica stood, tossing the burner phone onto the table. “That’s our next move.”

Leanna straightened. “Rome?”

Jessica nodded. “We need proof. Mercer has it.” She turned to Olivia. “Can you get us there?”

Olivia was already typing. “I can get us passports, but we need to move. We’re burned in D.C.”

Leanna looked toward the window. “And Langley?”

Jessica exhaled through her nose. “They already know we’re running. The question is how long before they catch up.”

A pause. Then Leanna nodded. “Then let’s make it worth the chase.”

* * * 

Three days passed in a blur of shifting locations. Abandoned farmhouses and anonymous motel rooms blended together,

We didn’t leave right away. We spent three days moving between safehouses in rural Virginia and the outskirts of Philadelphia, each one a temporary sanctuary marked by strained silence and restless watchfulness. Every creak in the hallway, every set of headlights passing too slowly, felt like Langley’s fingers tightening around them.

It wasn’t enough time to rest, but it was enough to plan. Olivia called in favors securing a private flight. Leanna bartered old intelligence for new passports. And when the window opened, we didn’t hesitate. Rome was waiting.

Jessica felt the pressure of time in her chest as they drove to the airstrip. Every car, every shadow could be Langley closing in.

They boarded the plane under assumed names. No conversation, just tension thick enough to choke on.

As the wheels lifted off the runway, Jessica looked out over the D.C. skyline, the city shrinking below them. She wasn’t sure if they’d ever come back.

* * *

Halfway through the flight, Leanna leaned toward Jessica, voice low. “Are we doing the right thing?”

Jessica turned to her, studying her expression. Leanna wasn’t afraid. But she was questioning. Jessica knew that feeling.

“We could walk away,” Leanna said. “Disappear for good.”

Jessica exhaled. “I tried that once.” She fingered the pawn pendant around her neck. “The problem is, the past keeps finding us.”

Leanna gave a small, humorless smile. “No. Guess not.”

They sat in silence for a moment, the hum of the engines filling the space. Then Leanna shook her head. “Rome’s gonna be a mess.”

Jessica let out a quiet breath. “It always is.”

* * *

The city stretched beneath them, bathed in gold from the setting sun. Ancient streets, towering cathedrals, monuments to a thousand years of war and empire.

Jessica rolled her shoulders. A new battlefield. A new war. And she had no intention of losing.