a long time I wondered if there was something I could have done to change things, or if there was something I should be doing to fix things. What I could ‘fix,’ wasn't ever really clear even in my own mind. But it seemed like I should have been doing something to make things right.” His voice trailed off remembering the pain of doubt in those first few years after Carrie's death. He looked down at his feet as the sounds of the ocean nearby filtered through the trees.
“But,” he continued. “Carrie's parents helped me remember that she was an adult and she made an adult decision. Granted, we all wished like hell it hadn't happened, it was such a waste of life, but the truth is, Carrie could have made a different decision that night. She could have made a whole lot of different choices. She didn't and she paid the ultimate price. It wasn't my decision or her parents' or her friends' to make for her, but hers alone.”
Ty looked up at Dani again, standing there, in her jeans and black leather jacket. The end of her ponytail was lifting with the breeze and she looked nothing like the woman he'd seen all day. Gone was the trained agent, gone was the intense passion and focus. Standing there, with her hands hanging loose in her pockets, her head cocked to the side, she looked almost like a lost child, confused and scared.
Ty didn't take his eyes off of her. Whether she sensed his thoughts or not, she turned and made a pretense of looking up the road, toward where the house lay, unseen from where they stood.
“Want to go see the site?” he asked. His heart was pounding and, even though he had bared his soul, he felt an inexplicable urge to reach out and comfort her. To run his fingers down her cheek and pull her close. But whatever it was that was going through her mind, he sensed she needed to let it settle before she would let him near her personal side again. He was beginning to realize that Dani was not a woman comfortable with emotions. And he'd just laid a lot on her.
When she nodded, he grabbed a bag from his bike and motioned toward a small path in the woods. They walked in silence for about ten minutes and then, as they neared the edge of the woods, he held an arm out to stop her.
“The view is from the cliff. If we walk out there, we might as well have a flare and a homing beacon. We can either crawl on our bellies to the edge or climb the tree and get a little higher. Both work.”
Dani scanned the landscape then nodded toward the tree. Then she surprised him with a little smile. “I haven't climbed a tree since I was twelve.” And she was off.
Before he could offer to help, she'd swung up, hooked her legs, and pulled herself into a sitting position. Her butt planted on a lower branch while her arms hooked over a branch above her.
Ty chuckled and, not quite as gracefully, clamored up a branch on the other side. Once they were both seated, he pulled out two pairs of high powered glasses and handed one to her. She took them without a word. For a few minutes they absorbed the view.
Dani let out a low whistle. “It's gorgeous, Ty.” And they both knew she wasn't talking about the house. The view from the tree was a clutch recon position. From their perch they could see the entire south side of the house and all the south-facing windows. The windows were mirrored which made things a little more difficult, but they had a clear view of the pool, the terraced yard, and most of this side of the peninsula.
“With the equipment you guys brought, we should be able to get some prime photos. Confirm who's in the compound with him, and how many guards.”
“You do know how to make a girl's heart go aflutter,” Dani murmured from behind her glasses.
Ty chuckled, if she thought this was good, he couldn't wait to show her the next site. And then he laughed out loud. It was a sad day when he was wooing a woman by showing her surveillance locations.
“You can't see the boathouse from here,” Dani commented, ignoring his laughter.
“No, it's on the north side of the peninsula. But, we've got it covered,” he answered. Dani lowered