Page 61 of Secrets Beneath the Waves

“Dad, stop.” Ellie shook her head. “You’re not going to do a background check on him.”

“What do you know about the guy? How do you know he hasn’t targeted you?”

“I approached him. I practically asked him out.”

Dad groaned.

“Then there’s Luke. He works at the CIA office.”

“The CIA office?” Her dad’s voice was at a fever pitch. “And you’re dating him? That’s not a good idea. Stay away from guys who work for the CIA. They aren’t marriage material.”

“He’s right,” her mother said, mockingly. “Trust me, I know. I married a guy who works for the CIA.”

“It’s not like that,” Ellie insisted. “He asked me out, and I figured it’d be a good opportunity to . . . you know, check him out. Look around his apartment. See if he might be the mole I’m tracking.”

“You went to his apartment?” her dad practically shouted.

“Spy dating? Good thinking.” Mom was clearly amused and more than willing to pour fuel on the fire to provoke her dad.

“That’s not good thinking,” he said. “If you want to see his apartment, break into it when he’s not there. You don’t have to throw yourself at him.”

“I’m not throwing myself at him. We went on an innocent date.”

“And you went back to his apartment. You know what guys want when they ask you to come home with them. It might be innocent to you, but not to him.”

“It’s an efficient use of her time,” her mother argued.

“Nothing happened. Well, almost nothing,” Ellie said, almost teasingly.

“Whoa! What’s that supposed to mean?” Dad used enough emphasis to stop a stallion in its tracks.

Nothing happened other than a slight peck on the lips, but Ellie was enjoying getting a rile out of her father.

“Who’s the third guy, Ellie?” her mom asked.

“Right, the third guy is Matthew. He’s the contact you gave me, Mom. The one I called after I took down the man trying to kill Harrington. The man with the gun.”

“You took down a guy with a gun?” Dad said. “How come I’m just now hearing about it?”

“I told you about it,” Mom said calmly. “She wasn’t in any real danger.”

“You didn’t tell me about it.”

“Maybe I forgot. Anyway, Alex, you know Matthew. He works for us. Remember when we ran that operation in Amsterdam? You sent him there to do some surveillance work. I sent him to Cayman to help Ellie.”

“I remember. He’s not good enough for you, Ellie.”

“I’m not going to marry him. After the interrogation, we went back to his place and ordered dinner. So, it wasn’t really a date.”

“His place?”

“We couldn’t go out to a restaurant. We can’t be seen together in public. He’s undercover and so am I.”

“Are you planning on going to every single guy’s apartment in the Cayman Islands?”

“I might. If I have enough time.”

“What was the deal with the gunman? Tell me about the interrogation?” Mom asked, deftly changing the subject, which Ellie was thankful for.