Trade Deadline

My palm was sweating against the plastic cup of lukewarm beer as I watched the Tigers' pitcher give up another home run. Around me, the crowd groaned, but I barely registered the score. I was here for the meeting, not the game.

The brim of my cap pulled low, I checked my phone again. Nothing from Elena since our fight this morning—the one where she'd told me she knew about the late nights, the unexplained expenses, the shadow that had been stretching across our marriage for six months. She didn't know the half of it.

"You Jensen?" The man slid into the empty seat beside me, his baseball cap pulled equally low. A corporate spy for their competitor—my contact.

"You're Bennett." I turned slightly, measuring him. Older than I expected, with a face that had seen too many hotel bars and not enough sunlight. "You have what I paid for?"

He passed me a folded program. Inside, a USB drive. "Your company's R&D plans for the next fiscal year. Complete with the breakthrough you're developing." His voice dropped. "The thing your government contract is funding."

I stared at the small plastic device. This was it—the moment I'd been warned about in training, the ethical line I'd sworn I'd never cross. Selling classified defense technology wasn't corporate espionage anymore. It was treason.

The bear of a man in front of me stood for a bathroom break, blocking my view of the field for a moment. In that instant, I remembered Sarah showing me her ultrasound three weeks ago. We'd lost the baby at eleven weeks. I hadn't even told Elena.

"Your wife knows," Bennett said softly. "About this meeting. She contacted my firm yesterday. Wanted to know what her husband really does on those 'business trips.'"

The beer cup slipped from my hand, splashing onto the concrete. Everything crystallized in that moment—the late nights, Elena's suspicions, my compromised position. This wasn't a trade. It was a trap.

I stood up slowly. "Keep it."

"Jensen—"

"I said keep it." I walked away, leaving the drive, the meeting, the life I'd built on secrets. Behind me, the crowd erupted as the Tigers tied the game. I didn't look back.