The Vitamin Deficiency

Emma sat in her car outside the generic office building, vitamin supplements rattling in her purse like loose change. Three months undercover, three months stealing proprietary research for a competitor that would probably bury it anyway. Her cat, Buster, waited at home — the only living thing that didn't know her real name.

The mark walked out: Marcus, the biotech VP with kind eyes and a terrible spinach salad habit. Last week, she'd watched him struggle with a piece stuck in his teeth during their flirtatious coffee break. She hadn't warned him. She'd taken the invitation to his office instead.

Now she was sleeping with the target. Her handler called it asset development. She called it something that kept her up at night, staring at the ceiling while Buster's purr vibrated through the mattress.

"You're different," Marcus had whispered last night, his thumb tracing her jawline. "You don't bullshit me."

Emma had almost laughed. That's what spies did — they lied beautifully. They made you feel seen while they harvested your secrets.

Her phone buzzed. One word: **BULL**. It meant the acquisition was moving forward. Tomorrow she'd deliver the final drive sample. Marcus would lose his research. Maybe his job. Definitely his trust.

She popped a vitamin D capsule. The expiration date had passed six months ago. Everything in her life was expired.

Marcus spotted her through the windshield and waved, that genuine smile that made her chest ache. He was holding takeout containers. Spinach again. He'd remembered she said she was trying to eat healthier, trying to be better.

The absurdity of it hit her hard. Here she was, playing corporate spy in a world where the worst thing that happened was people lost funding. She wasn't Jason Bourne. She was just another exhausted thirty-something with an empty savings account and a cat who'd forgive her anything.

Emma rolled down the window.

"Spinach again?" she called out.

"It's good for you," he grinned. "Vitamin something-or-other."

"Right," she said. "Everything we need is right there in the leaves."

The lie felt like a starting gun.