LIS.
The letters sit on Jude's screen, sharp against the dimming office.
They don't look different than they did five minutes ago. Same font. Same spacing. Same placement at the top of the document Matt forwarded.
But everything attached to them has shifted.
Landmark Informational Systems.
The call with Selah ended only moments ago. Jude hasn't moved since.
He scrolls.
The report is recent. Updated within the last few days. Matt's work—thorough, competent, exactly what Jude expects. Percentages. Departments. Notes meant to inform, not persuade. The kind of document Jude has reviewed a hundred times without needing to remember it.
Until now.
Employee Sentiment Overview
LIS Corporate Office
His eyes slow. Concerns. Patterns.
Names.
Vincent Tomlinson. Chief Executive Officer.
Andrew Whitberg. Executive Director of Systems and Operations.
And then—
Selah Fierce. Executive Director of Human Resources.
Jude stops scrolling.
Her name sits there plainly. Not buried. Not coded. Exactly where it belongs.
Jude leans back slightly, the chair giving just enough to catch him. His eyes close. Not in exhaustion, not even in frustration.
How did this not register sooner?
The thought lands without accusation. Just fact.
He reads the page again, slower. The annotations. The timeline. Nothing careless. Nothing hidden. No single line that would have demanded attention on its own.
Except her name.
Jude exhales through his nose and closes the file. He doesn't need to reread it to know it will still be there.
He reaches for his phone. Stops.
Instead, he taps the photos icon.
There it is.
A selfie from the park. Taken without ceremony. The two of them leaned in close, light caught between them, both mid-smile. Unposed, unguarded.
Jude looks at it. Sets the phone down. Picks it back up.
He rubs his eyes once, slow and tired. Then he swipes back.
Contacts. Selah Fierce.
This isn't about what he didn't know. It's about what he knows now.
Jude sits with that for another moment. Then his thumb hovers over the screen.
Jude stands.
The decision isn't dramatic. No visible resolve. No internal speech about what comes next.
He grabs his keys. His jacket. His phone. And heads for the door.
Jude turns into the lot just as the light begins to thin.
Selah's building rises a few stories above him. Sleek glass and steel, clean lines catching what's left of the day. It isn't imposing. It doesn't need to be. Everything about it suggests intention. Motion. A company that knows where it's going.
Out front, an abstract sculpture curves upward from a low concrete base. No plaque. No explanation. Just form and confidence, meant to be seen rather than understood.
Jude parks and cuts the engine.
For a moment, he stays where he is.
The call comes back to him in pieces, settling into place. Not all at once. Not in some dramatic reveal. Gradually. Like a picture coming into focus.
Matt's voice.
"Those two secretaries. Deborah does the talking, but Cindy's the one people are watching."
Selah's voice.
Are you still at work?
A pause.
Yeah.
Another pause. Longer this time.
I don't want to do this over the phone.
Silence on the line. Not resistance. Processing.
Okay, she'd said.
Jude steps out of the car.
The air is cooler here, the glass reflecting him back in pieces as he walks toward the entrance. He catches his own movement and becomes aware of how much this moment will matter, no matter how it goes.
Inside, lights glow softly behind the glass. People still working. Systems still moving. Selah still inside all of this.
Jude stops just short of the door. He doesn't check his phone. Doesn't rehearse. Doesn't reconsider.
The glass doors slide open soundlessly as he approaches.
The lobby is quiet in that after-hours way. Lights softened, footsteps distant, the day's urgency already moved somewhere else. The sculpture outside throws a faint shadow across the polished floor, abstract curves caught in the glass.
Jude takes two steps in before a voice stops him.
"Sir."
Security. Professional. Not unfriendly.
"Can I help you?"
Jude slows, turns just enough to acknowledge him. "I'm here to see Selah Fierce."
"Do you have an appointment?"
Jude opens his mouth, then closes it. "She knows I'm here."
A pause. Then a familiar voice.
"He's fine. Let him in."
Selah's voice carries across the lobby, steady and unmistakable.
Both men turn.
She stands near the elevators, posture composed but not distant. She doesn't look at the guard again. She doesn't need to.
The guard steps aside without another word.
Selah's eyes meet Jude's. For a moment, neither of them moves.
Then she steps forward. Then another. When she reaches him, she doesn't hesitate.
She wraps her arms around him and pulls him in. Firmly. Deliberately.
Jude stills for half a second, surprised by the weight of it. The way it lands. Immediate and unfiltered.
Then he returns it. Careful, but complete. His hands settle where they belong—and nowhere else.
He feels the quiet tension in her shoulders. The steadiness she's holding by choice.
They stay like that long enough for the world to thin around them.
When Selah finally steps back, she doesn't speak.
Neither does Jude.
But something has already shifted.
"Do you want to—" she starts.
Jude nods. "Your office?"
She turns toward the elevators. "This way."
They walk side by side through the lobby. The space opens as they move deeper inside. Light still glows from offices where people have chosen to stay late.
Everything feels intentional. Designed to move forward.
Jude takes it in without comment.
Near the elevators, a section of wall catches his attention. Three portraits. Cleanly framed. Titles beneath the names in understated type.
Vincent Tomlinson — Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Whitberg — Executive Director, Systems and Operations
Selah Fierce — Executive Director, Human Resources
Jude slows slightly. He looks.just long enough for the structure to settle into place.
Selah notices.
"For what it's worth," she says quietly, "I'm really glad you're here."
Jude nods. "Me too."
The elevator dings softly. Selah steps inside. Jude follows.
The doors slide closed, sealing the quiet in, along with the faint hum of the lift and the space between them.
The elevator doors open onto a quiet floor.
The walk to Selah's office is short and mostly silent. Selah moves with familiarity, keycard already in hand.
Jude follows a half step behind, careful not to crowd the space. Just before they reach her door, Jude slows.
An empty desk sits tucked along the wall. Neat. Intentional. No clutter. No personal effects.
Just a small nameplate at the corner.
Lucinda Harris — Executive Secretary
Jude reads it once. Then again, more slowly.
Selah doesn't comment.
She opens her office door and steps inside.
Jude follows.