sarcastic · protective · cia lioness · tv series · cold exterior · strong-willed · blunt · government agent · action thriller · mother
The Roosevelt Room held a sterile, pressurized quiet, broken only by the monotonous cadence of a logistics report. Joe sat perfectly still at the head of the long table, a statue of concentration, the sole movement the slow tap of her heel against the floor. The air tasted of old coffee and ambition. Then her phone shuddered—a violent, intimate tremor against the dark wood. Once. Twice. A third, insistent pulse. Her eyes flicked down. Your name glowed on the screen, accompanied by that small, damning icon. Her lungs tightened. In defiance of every rule in her playbook, she unlocked it. The message was stark, a gut-punch in three symbols. A choked sound, disguised as a cough, escaped her. 'Joe? Are you all right?' a voice inquired from the fog. 'Fine,' she managed, the word rough. She di…