Page 6
Seconds after Cameron excused himself from the table in the resort’s main dining room, Lori glared at her father.
“You know, you could at least try to like him and get to know him. He really wanted to make a good impression on you this week, and all you’ve done is drill him like he’s some dweeb who just walked off the bus at basic training. ”
Avery picked up her glass of wine and took a sip.
This was between father and daughter, and she needed to stay out of it, even if she agreed with Lori.
The first night at dinner, Brad had interrogated the poor guy, who’d somehow maintained his composure and politeness.
Last night hadn’t been much better, although Brad had been a little subtler, after Avery’s suggestion that he tone it down a little.
Brad rolled his eyes. “I am trying to get to know him.”
“No, you’re not. You’re waiting for him to do the slightest thing wrong, so you can tell me he’s not good enough.
Hell, it’s been over forty-eight hours since you’ve met him, and you’re still making him call you ‘sir.’ He’s waiting for you to say ‘hey, Cameron, we’re on vacation, and I’m not your colonel, so feel free to call me Brad.
’” She paused, her facial features softening as she clasped her hands together under her chin. “Dad, please. He means a lot to me.”
It was unclear who was more surprised at her use of “Dad” instead of his first name—Lori or Brad—but it seemed to do the trick.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, staring at his daughter as if really seeing her as a grown woman for the first time.
He reached back with one hand and palmed the nape of his neck, rubbing it.
“Why do I suddenly get the feeling there’s more to this week than just getting to know your new boyfriend? ”
As she licked her lips, Lori glanced at Avery, before her gaze found Brad again.
“Cameron’s starting MARSOC training in three weeks at Camp Lejeune.
When he’s done and finds out where he’s being assigned, I’ll be moving there with him.
” MARSOC—Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command—was the Marines’ equivalent of the Army’s Delta Force and the Navy’s SEALs.
They were the best of the best and just as badass as their counterparts.
There was a long pause as Lori’s words slowly registered in Brad’s mind. His eyes narrowed. “Moving there? As in moving in with him? Possibly across the country?” She nodded. “And your mother knows about this? Approves of it?”
“Yes, she likes Cam a lot. I’m twenty-four now—most of my friends have moved out of their parents’ house and a few have already gotten married.
Mom and Richie have their own lives to lead—they want to do a lot more traveling and stuff—and it’s time for me to move on and do what feels right.
I love Cam. We’ve already talked about marriage but want to wait until after he’s done with his training.
Once we know where he’s being assigned, I’ll check out the shops around there—with my experience, I’ll have no trouble finding a job.
Eventually, I want to open my own place, but I’ll have to build up a new clientele list and reputation there first.”
Silence fell over the table as Cameron returned, his confused gaze going from one mute person to the next, clearly trying to figure out what he’d missed but too polite to ask.
Crossing his arms, Brad cleared his throat.
It seemed as if he’d come to a decision—albeit reluctantly.
“Um, Cameron. The ... uh ... ladies mentioned earlier they wanted to do some shopping tomorrow. I don’t know about you, but that’s definitely not my thing. ”
His back ramrod straight, Cam shook his head once. “Definitely not mine either, sir. I avoid it whenever possible.”
“Good. Then why don’t you and I go check out those charter boats and see what kind of fish they’ve been bringing in, hmm? Maybe head out for a few hours and catch a few ourselves.”
A genuine smile spread across the younger man’s face. “That sounds great, sir.”
Brad cleared his throat again and glanced at Avery, who gave him an encouraging dip of her chin. He turned back to Cam. “I think you can knock off the ‘sir.’ Feel free to call me Brad.”
The Marine’s eyes widened a bit in surprise. “Thank you, sir ... I mean, Brad. I appreciate that.”
Rolling his lips inward, he nodded. “Okay. Good. Now that that’s settled, who’s up for dessert?”
The heavy intensity that had been hanging over the table lifted as shoulders relaxed and the conversation changed to lighter topics.
While splitting a piece of cheesecake with Lori, the hairs on Avery’s neck stood up.
Once again, she felt eyes on her. She’d had the same on and off vibes yesterday and today, but she still hadn’t located the source.
Whoever it was, he or she was good at blending into their surroundings.
Placing her napkin and fork on the table, Avery stood. Brad gave her a probing gaze. “Everything okay?”
She smiled down at him. “Everything’s fine.
I’m just going to use the ladies’ room.” When his brow furrowed slightly, she knew he’d heard the mild tension in her tone, but he didn’t otherwise acknowledge it.
The two of them had worked undercover for years and both were able to appear relaxed and unaffected during times of uncertainty and stress—to most people, that is.
Striding across the dining room, she relied on her acute peripheral vision to study everyone in the room.
As she passed the bar, instead of looking at the patrons’ backs, she eyed them in the reflection of the mirror that took up most of the wall behind the rows of liquor.
The gazes of several people met hers, but there were two men who nabbed her attention.
Both were of Asian descent, which, by itself, didn’t raise any alarms, but one man’s eyes hardened while the other man glanced away quickly, as if he’d been caught looking.
They may have just waved a red flag in her face, so maybe they weren’t as good as she’d originally thought.
Avery maintained a straight route to her destination—the ladies’ room—following two other women in.
Whoever the men who’d been watching her were, they were obviously on a surveillance detail, and Avery was positive she was their target.
The question was why. Once the door closed behind her, she hurried into a stall and pulled her cell phone out of her small crossbody purse.
She quickly typed out a text to Kenny Reardon—geek extraordinaire.
He was one of the hackers employed by Deimos with top-secret government clearance.
He was also a sweet kid in his midtwenties who she’d come to adore like an adopted son.
After Haven had landed in Texas, while recovering from being shot protecting Kenny, he’d asked for a transfer from California to be near her.
Since the geek could work behind a computer desk anywhere in the world, it hadn’t been a problem.
The property Deimos had purchased for Haven to live on, after she’d made the transition from field agent to communications and research tech, had a main house and one small guest cottage that Avery lived in.
They’d added on to the latter and made a one-bedroom apartment for Kenny, with a technology setup that would give any computer genius an orgasm just looking at it.
After rereading her text, Avery hit send.
A: Need favor. Hack resort’s security feeds. Zero in on bar next to dining room.
Less than five seconds ticked by before she got a response.
K: ?
K: u’r on va-ca
A: Just do it, pls
K: 1 sec
Leaning against the stall’s partition, she tapped her nails on the sides of the phone.
She knew it wouldn’t take long. Before she’d headed over to Brad’s house the night before their flight, she’d given Haven and Kenny all the information on her and Brad’s flight, car rental, and hotel.
Another one of those old habits that wouldn’t die.
K: I’m in. What am I looking for?
A: Two Asian men. Closer to lobby. Bttn-down SS shirt on one. Polo on other. Want everything you can find out. Run them thru face recog if u have to.
K: R U ok? Need help?
A: Ok for now. Just get me intel ASAP.
K: Consider it done. I’ll get back to u in a bit. Stay safe.
Avery smiled as she typed a final response.
A: k ttyl.
Putting her phone away, she took advantage of where she was, then flushed and left the stall.
After washing her hands, she headed back out to the dining room, intent on ignoring the two men, not wanting to give any indication she’d made them.
But as she passed where they’d been sitting, the two bar stools were now empty.
Glancing around, Avery started to wonder if she’d been wrong about them—was she so out of practice she was seeing danger where there was none?
Reaching the table, she found Brad had already taken care of the bill, and they’d just been waiting for her to return.
“Do you mind if we go meet Tommy and Kiera?” Lori asked, pointing outside the wall of windows overlooking the rest of the resort and the ocean. There was a DJ at the outdoor bar for the evening and many of the younger guests had already gathered.
After glancing at Avery, who gave him a nod, Brad smiled as if he didn’t suspect something was wrong. “Sure. You two go on. Avery and I will see you in the morning for breakfast. Have fun.”
“Thanks.”
After the younger couple waved goodbye, Brad studied Avery’s blank face. “Had that feeling again?”
“Yeah. Let’s take a walk on the beach.” She didn’t want to have this conversation in their room.
While they took measures to notice if anyone had been in their room, neither one of them had brought a communications jammer.
There was the potential for the room being bugged.
Once Avery was through filling Brad in on Yin and Yang at the bar, they’d request a different room from the reservations desk.
The night air was warm, but a gentle breeze coming off the water made it comfortable.
When they hit the sand, Avery slid her sandals off.
Brad took them from her and slung his other arm around her shoulder.
No one could ever accuse the sometimes-gruff colonel of not being the perfect gentleman.
Avery loved how he did little things like holding out her chair, opening doors, and carrying anything for her that wasn’t her purse—although, if it was necessary, she was sure he’d carry that for her too.
They strolled in silence down the beach as small, gentle waves rolled over their feet.
When they’d gone a good distance, and Avery was certain they hadn’t been followed, she stopped and faced the water.
Usually, she hated having her back to any open area, but she trusted Brad to watch her six as he stood in front of her.
He could see any threat coming their way, while she could talk low enough that any sound amplifier pointed in her direction would only hear mumbling.
Brad’s eyes darted in every direction as Avery explained about the two men at the bar and how she’d contacted Reardon.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she glanced up and down the beach, not seeing the two men from the bar nor anyone or anything out of the ordinary.
“I’ve been out of the scene for a long time.
Maybe I’m imagining things that aren’t there, but my Spidey-senses are screaming at me. ”
“Then we listen to them,” Brad answered in a matter of fact tone. “I’d rather it be a false alarm than something we ignore that turns out to be FUBAR.”
Avery agreed—more than once in her career things had been fucked up beyond all recognition—and it was never pretty when it happened.
Stepping closer, she wrapped her arms around Brad’s waist, reveling in how quickly he hugged her back.
While still alert, he smiled down at her.
Going up on her tiptoes, she gave him a peck on his lips then settled down again and laid her head against his hard chest. “Have I told you how much it means to me that you and I share the same thought process? Most men I’ve dated since leaving the field would probably have looked at me like I was crazy if I’d laid all this on them. ”
His chuckle rumbled against her ear. “It’s nice to be with a woman who understands my thought process too. Many times, I was told I was too overprotective and paranoid.”
“It’s only paranoia if it turns out you’re wrong.”
Brad squeezed her tightly. “Exactly.”