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“I wanted to go with you when I heard you were going to the scene,” Mandy said as their conversation was winding down and their dinners were almost gone.

“But I think I’m better off working the report angle since it’s been over a year and any visible evidence has long since been cleaned away.

You’re probably the only person I know who has a shot at finding out something new from the scene, and you can be sure I’ll want to know all about it when you get back. ”

“No problem, Mandy,” Zeke replied, feeling comfortable now that Mandy was officially on the case for their unit. He was pretty sure she’d be at the debrief after his site visit tomorrow. He’d be interested to hear what she could glean from the police reports, as well.

The conversation turned a bit more general after that, with Wil describing a training program his father was working up for the shifters on the island who wanted a bit more sharpshooter training.

Zeke was glad to hear how well Wil’s dad was acclimating to the new situation and being healthy again.

He’d been so close to death only a short while ago, but Wil had taken Rick out to see him at his mountaintop home in Montana and he’d been healed.

Unable to hide the miracle, William Owens, Senior, had agreed to come back to the base with his son and take up an advisory position.

Senior was a legend in Special Forces circles and though he might be merely human and an older fellow, he still had mad skills with a sniper rifle and everybody wanted to learn from him.

Zeke was happy things had worked out so well for the old man and for Wil, because he’d brought Mandy back with him on that same mission and they had fallen in love.

There was a lot of that going around. Five of his comrades had found their mates since they’d returned to the States and all of those women were now living on base with them.

New futures were being forged and those men were happier than Zeke had ever seen them.

They also gave the rest of the guys hope, which was great for morale considering their odd situation.

Zeke hoped he might have some kind of future with Celine, but he had to help her find justice for her parents first. He wanted her happy, even if she didn’t want to be with him.

At the very least, he wanted her friendship, and he’d do his best to help her in any way he could.

That thought firmly in mind, he went looking for her after rising from the table and parting from his friends.

As luck would have it, he didn’t have to search far for Celine as he brought his tray of empty dishes back to the cafeteria’s service area. She was sitting nearby with some of the other staff members and got up to intercept him when he drew near.

“I just wanted to thank you again,” she said, hesitantly, her smile a bit shy. “For what you did today,” she added.

Zeke found her enchanting in every way, though he was a bit uncomfortable with her gratitude.

He hadn’t really done anything yet. Nothing that he’d trained for, at least. The action—if you could call it that—so far, had been completely tame, and based on his newly acquired gift of psychometry.

That wasn’t something he’d trained for, or anything he’d ever expected to be doing with his life.

As far as he was concerned, it was a small, somewhat inconvenient bonus skill that hadn’t really proved itself as useful as the new abilities some of the other guys now had.

“I was happy to be of assistance,” he said quietly. “Are you busy right now? I’m off duty, and I’d like to talk privately, if you have a few minutes.”

He really wanted to talk to her. To be certain she really wanted to go back to her house. The scene of the crime. He knew that was going to be traumatic, and he wanted to assure her that he could do his thing without her presence.

Sure, he wanted to spend more time with her, but not if it meant her having to revisit the scene of her parents’ murders. That might be going a bit too far. He could do his magic thing and report back, and he wanted to be sure she knew she could trust him to leave no stone unturned.

“Yeah, I’m done for the night. Gramps gave me the night off clean-up duty.” She sent Zeke a small smile that lifted just the corner of her pretty lips.

He’d had dreams about those plump, pink lips and what they could do to his body, but he knew he was jumping the gun. She’d barely had a chance to get to know him at all yet. He had to find a way to rectify that situation as soon as possible.

“Do you want to take a walk along the beach?” he asked, hopeful that she wouldn’t be scared off by the setting he’d suggested.

He rushed to clarify. “I know your people have heightened senses and can hear a lot better than regular folk. I also know that surveillance around this building is pretty tight. If we want to talk privately, I figured the shore would be the best place.”

She nodded, seeming to understand, though he thought he saw a slight hint of disappointment on her lovely face.

Nah. Couldn’t be. He mentally shook away his fanciful thoughts.

She wasn’t that into him. Not yet, at any rate.

But he was working on it. Despite the awful situation with her parents and the grief she was still very obviously feeling, he wanted to get to know her better—and for her to get to know him.

Given half a chance, he was pretty sure he could talk her into a date or two. Or three. Or more. Hell, maybe forever.

Zeke was feeling reckless when it came to her and thoughts of the future. Not that he had any sort of clairvoyance like his buddy Jeeves and his lady, but any time he let himself think of the future, he had a hard time imagining it without Celine in his life. That had to mean something, right?

Maybe all it meant was that he was well and truly obsessed with a beautiful—probably unattainable—woman, and he should get his expectations under control before he broke his own heart.

Or not. Zeke was a guy who liked taking risks.

He never would have gone Special Forces if he wasn’t a daredevil at heart.

Why should he be any different when it came to romance?

He’d go for the gold and see what happened. Hopefully—and he really wished this with all his heart—he’d wind up with the lovely Celine at his side, in his bed, and his heart…forevermore. And he’d be damned if that thought didn’t scare him one little bit.

“I see your point,” she replied to his suggestion, not realizing the inner revelations he’d been experiencing. She nodded gently. “I’d love a walk along the beach. It’s one of my favorite places, you know. Where the water meets the land is sort of my happy place for both sides of my nature.”

“Good to know,” he replied, marveling at the easy way she spoke of her magic. The dual nature that loved both land and sea and was at home in both. “I’ve always loved the beach, myself. Shall we?”

He gestured toward the door and the setting sun that was visible outside.

They had an hour or so to enjoy the sunset and twilight before it got too dark to see where they were going.

Although, she was a shifter. She probably could see better in the dark than he could.

He’d have to find a way to learn more about her abilities without offending her, though he was still learning the rules when it came to interacting with shifters.