Page 33 of Stone Coast

“You’d do the same for me.”

“Would I?”

His piercing eyes surveyed me for a moment. “There was a time.”

“Tell me about that time.”

He hesitated. “Maybe later.”

There was a long pause as I contemplated his offer. To be honest, I was more than a little unsettled by things. I know I’d sleep easier with him around. “I don’t know what happened between us in the past, but nothing is going to happen if you stay tonight. Just so we’re straight.”

He laughed. “That’s not why I offered.”

“You can stay in the guest berth, but just for tonight,” I said.

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning on moving in. I’ve got to get back to Coconut Key in the morning.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want you around all the time anyway,” I teased.

He laughed and called my bluff. “I can go now if you’re getting sick of me.”

“No. I think I can put up with you for an evening.” A grateful smile curled my lips. “Seriously, thank you for being here. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

He accepted my thanks with a subtle nod. “Let’s go back to your boat and sweep for bugs. Assume that your old phone and computer are compromised. Only use the burner I gave you, and never?—“

“Use it on the boat. I know.”

We both gave a look around the marina before boarding the boat. Tyson followed me into the cabin, and we proceeded to scour every inch, looking for cameras and listening devices. There were a million places to hide a bug on the boat. The easiest thing to do was put spyware on my phone and computer. A successful attack would turn my phone into a listening device on command, and it would be next to impossible to discover. It could be done remotely. It was the fast and efficient way to do things. Still, the old-school methods of planting high-tech bugs had their merits. Small button cameras on a cellular network could be hidden just about anywhere. And multiple devices would ensure redundancy.

Tyson didn’t waste any time getting down to business.

Neither did I.

Surprisingly, instinct took over. I knew what to look for and where to look for it.

17

There was a small button camera hidden on the head of a screw on a cabinet in the galley. This thing was tiny. It was a cellular device and sent footage over the network. There was another listening device under the table.

I didn’t know who was watching me, but it gave credence to Tyson’s story.

There could have been more, and my cellular devices were likely compromised.

We climbed out of the cabin and into the cockpit. But there was nowhere safe to talk on the boat.

The moon glowed the marina and a few clouds drifted in the night sky. A gentle breeze blew across the boat, and there was an eerie calmness about the night. It was an odd juxtaposition to the earlier chaos.

We stepped to the dock and strolled through the marina. Tyson’s watchful eyes were ever vigilant. But there was asubtleness about it. He took in his surroundings with relaxed, casual glances.

“Now they know you’re onto them,” he said.

“How long do you think those cameras have been there?”

Tyson shrugged. “Maybe a long time, but I think you would have found them before now. The girl I know would have done routine sweeps. You’d have found them.”

“Tell me more about this girl you knew.”

“Smart, capable, funny, difficult.”