Stolen Signs

Elena adjusted her cap, pulling the brim low as she settled into the plastic seat at the ballpark. The seventh inning stretch had just begun, the crowd rising around her like a tide of bodies and beer. She wasn't here for the baseball.

Three rows down, Marcus stretched his arms overhead, his dress shirt already wilting in the July heat. He was lead engineer for Orbital Dynamics—the company that had been gutting her firm's contracts for six months. The word *spy* tasted bitter in her throat, even if competitive intelligence was her job description.

Their eyes met across the space of seconds and stadium noise. Marcus didn't look surprised. He'd known she was following him since the parking lot.

"You're not very good at this," he said later, when she found him near the concession stands. His palm was warm against hers when he shook her hand, his grip lingering. "Or maybe you wanted me to notice."

Elena felt something tighten in her chest—attraction warring with professionalism, moral certainty dissolving into ambiguity. "I needed the encryption key from your tablet. The board thinks you're selling proprietary tech."

Marcus laughed, a low sound that seemed to vibrate through her. "The *bull* shit that comes down from executive floors..." He leaned closer, his breath smelling of cheap stadium beer and mint. "I'm not selling anything, Elena. I'm leaving. And I was hoping you'd come with me."

The crowd roared as someone hit a home run. In that moment of noise and confusion, he pressed something into her hand—a USB drive, his fingers deliberately brushing her palm.

"They've been running the same encryption since 2019," he murmured against her ear. "Steal their trade secrets. Or steal me. Your call."

Elena stood alone as he walked away, the USB drive burning against her skin. The stadium lights flickered on overhead, illuminating a choice she hadn't expected to make. She slipped the drive into her pocket and followed him into the night, past the palm trees lining the parking lot, toward possibilities that had nothing to do with corporate loyalty and everything to do with the dangerous chemistry between them.

Some secrets aren't meant to be kept.