I bet most have even trained underwater. But even so, they succeeded in getting past both machines only nine out of ten times.” And the thought of Dani being in the water that one time it didn't work was the single thought driving this conversation.
“It was their first time out. They're still out there,” Drew pointed out. Based on what Marmie had said, Ty figured Cotter and some of his team were still in the water, trying to rectify the numbers.
“And how are they doing?” Ty asked, knowing Drew would be receiving dive-by-dive reports—that he wouldn't wait for an end of the day recap. And, judging by the look on Drew's face, Ty guessed they weren't doing much better than this morning.
“Shit, Drew,” Ty shook his head, forgetting for a minute he was talking to the team director. “It's not good enough and you know it,” he looked the other man in the eye and held his gaze.
Drew's blue eyes studied him, unwavering for a long moment. His mind was sharp and intense, in stark contrast to his calm demeanor. Drew was taking his measure. Ty wasn't sure what Drew was looking for or if, when he looked away, he did so because he'd found it. But whatever was going on in Drew's mind didn't matter a bit to Ty—all he cared about was making sure the team director had the best people to do the job. He could never eliminate the risk to Dani, but he sure as hell would do whatever it took to reduce it.
Drew sighed and swung his eyes back to Ty. “What do you suggest?”
Ty looked at Drew, “I have a couple of friends from my SEAL days, bring them in. They can shut the machines down long enough to get the rest of the team through and they'll do it every time.”
“They're military,” Drew pointed out. Technically, US military wasn't supposed to use armed force on the US civilian population. Ty almost laughed—technically the CIA wasn't supposed to be operating against US citizens either. That Drew brought this up was amusing.
“They won't fire any weapons,” Ty offered, knowing no SEAL would willing go into an operation without weapons. They wouldn't be obvious, they might not even fire them, but they'd carry them. “But, if you're worried about protocol, one of our other teammates, Rani Khalid, formed a small securities company, Bright Line Security, when he retired. They could take a leave of absence and sign on with Rani. They'd be civilian.” The setup wasn't quite that clean, but it would be clean enough to get away with.
“Bright Line Security,” Drew cocked a brow. “Sounds like a day care center,” he added.
“It does, but it's not. Rani picked the name as a joke since bright lines were hard to come by in our line of work.”
“I know a little something about that myself,” Drew replied. Ty studied the man and, for the first time, noticed that Drew looked his age. He wasn't old at thirty-eight, but if he'd entered the CIA right out of college, he'd been doing it for over fifteen years, and Ty knew how much gray a person could see in fifteen years.
“I suspect you do,” Ty answered.
“And why would these friends want to do this?” Drew asked, bringing the conversation back on track.
“Because I'll ask them to,” Ty responded. Drew's eyes never wavered from his and so Ty opted to continue. “And because they took a liking to Dani when they met her in San Diego. They'd be upset if anything happened to her.”
“And you? Would you be upset?”
“Yes.”
“Yes? That's all you're going to say?” Drew looked at him with something akin to amusement.
“What is it you want to know, Drew? That I care about Dani?” Ty countered and then continued when Drew remained silent. “You already know I care about her. And since you keep sending me to her room and turning a blind eye, along with the rest of the team, to what is obviously not a by-the-book working relationship, I'd wager you approve. Even if you can't outwardly support it.” Ty studied Drew's expression. The director's jaw ticked and his eyes were carefully blank. He sensed that Drew had a lot to say on the matter, but the time and place wouldn't allow him to either confirm or deny Ty's assertion. So Ty took the opportunity to say what he wanted.
“So, yes, I do care about her. Very much. But the rest is between me and Dani. And