My mother forced me into a blind date with a Navy Commander, insisting I should be grateful a "decorated officer" even looked my way. But the second we sat down, his arrogance came out. He grabbed my arm and smirked, "You'll follow my rules, sweetheart." I didn't argue. I just reached into my bag and set my Admiral's medal on the table with a sharp clink. "Actually, Commander... you're way out of line." The blood instantly drained from his face.

"Put your hands in the air and step away from the window!" a voice boomed through a megaphone outside.

I backed away, my mind spinning furiously as I processed the trap.

Adrian had never intended for me to retrieve any files.

He had lured me here to take the fall for a murder his men had already committed.

With my security clearance revoked, I was no longer a protected federal agent.

I was just an angry woman caught at a fresh crime scene.

I heard heavy boots sprinting up the metal staircase outside.

I scanned the small office for any alternate exit.

There was a small ventilation hatch near the back wall, barely wide enough for a person.

I grabbed the heavy metal chair from the desk and smashed it through the office window to create a diversion.

The police outside yelled and took cover, expecting gunfire.

I used their hesitation to scramble up a filing cabinet and squeeze through the ventilation hatch.

I dropped onto the muddy ground behind the building just as the police kicked down the front door.

I ran into the maze of towering shipping containers, letting the heavy rain wash away my tracks.

I crouched behind a rusted crane, pulling out my burner phone.

I dialed the only number I knew entirely by memory.

It was Jax, a former Navy SEAL who owed me his life after a botched mission in Syria.

"I need an immediate extraction," I whispered into the phone.

"Location?" Jax asked, his voice rough and fully alert.

"South Baltimore docks, sector four," I replied.

"Give me ten minutes, keep your head down," he ordered before hanging up.

I leaned back against the cold metal container, trying to slow my racing heart.

I looked up through the rain and saw a massive digital billboard illuminating the nearby highway.

“Which daughter is yours?” should have been a harmless question

The first wineglass shattered at 8:07 p.m

The moment the mafia boss’s wife called me “an illiterate servant,”

My own face was flashing across the screen with a massive red banner underneath.

It declared me an armed and dangerous fugitive, wanted for the murder of the Harbor Master and federal treason.

Chapter 5 - The Perfect Frame