“It's the usual suspects. Wait—” Dani heard Ty say something to Marmie but it was too muffled to hear.
“There's a new guy in the group,” Ty came back on the line.
“Yeah, the tall blond guy.” Dani had noticed him earlier. She hadn't gotten a good face shot until a few minutes ago, which is the picture she assumed Ty and Marmie were looking at. “I haven't seen him before; he looks a bit older than the others,” Dani added. Style-wise, the man looked like the other kids—dressed in a wet suit with sun bleached hair, carrying a long board. She was too far away to see how much older he was than the others, but by the way he moved, she'd put him a few years older.
“He is,” Ty responded, having the benefit of being able to see the photo in zoom. “By at least eight or ten years, I'd say.”
Dani frowned and watched the man chatting with one of Savendra's friends, straddling his board about thirty feet from shore.
“You want me to follow him?” she asked. More muffled talk came through the phone and she picked up Drew's voice as well.
“No, Drew wants you to stick with Savendra. He'll call Buster and have him put someone on the blond.”
Dani sighed. “I was kind of hoping for a little excitement here, guys,” she half jested. “Is there anything else?”
“Nope, that should do it for now. Don't get too burned,” Ty added and she could hear the smile in his voice.
“No worries about that. Fawkes has already slathered two layers of sunscreen on me,” she tossed out, having a little fun at Ty's expense. Ty let out a not-so-silent curse. “Call you tonight?” she suggested.
She'd talked to him every day since she'd left Maine, but he had always called her and it had always been during the day, always when she was on duty. But what she'd just suggested was a private conversation, a personal one. When she recovered from this discovery, she found she more than liked the idea. She wanted to talk to Ty when she was alone, when he was alone, when they could talk about anything—the case, his friends, the weather—anything they wanted to, without having other people listening.
“You have my home number on your phone. Don't worry about waking me up,” he answered.
Dani smiled to herself. “Got it, lieutenant,” she answered. As soon as she hung up, Fawkes's voice interrupted her thoughts
“Ty and Dani sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love—ouch! You have a mean slap, woman.”
* * *
After another uneventful night and day, Buster, with Drew's permission, had pulled her from the surveillance team and given her a night off. Dani didn't really need it, but was enjoying it anyway.
“He's a good kid,” Fawkes said, referring to Savendra as he leaned against the railing of the pier and looked out on the Pacific Ocean.
“You mean aside from joining a paramilitary militia,” Dani pointed out, turning her back on the view and letting the fading sun hit her shoulders.
“He's misguided,” Fawkes countered. Dani thought someone had to be a little more than 'misguided’ to join a group like Eagle's Wing, but she couldn't summon the argument—she actually agreed with Fawkes.
“You'll be glad to get back tomorrow?”
Dani nodded. “It's a bitch of a flight, military transport and all,” she shrugged in acceptance. “But, yeah, I'll be glad to be back.”
“So, it's your last night here, sure you don't want to jump into bed with me?”
Dani shook her head and rolled her eyes at his shameless grin.
“Guess not.” He gave a dramatic sigh.
“I'm trying to protect you. Ty would surely kill you,” she bantered back.
“Yes, he would,” Fawkes admitted with a smile. “But even if he wouldn't, you wouldn't sleep with me anyway. You two have it bad. Or maybe good, depending on the way you look at it. I'm inclined to think it's good, since it's Fuller and all.”
Dani looked at Fawkes. “I have no idea what you just said to me.”
Fawkes shrugged, like he'd just turned shy. Dani continued to look at him. She knew from experience that most men caved under her scrutiny. This big bad SEAL was no different.
“It's the real deal for Fuller. He's a good man. The best. And from what I can tell, I think you guys are a good match.”
“What makes you think it's the ‘real deal,’ and what does that mean anyway?” Dani couldn't help but ask. She knew she shouldn't delve