Jeff. AA focused on forgiveness and believing in a higher power. At the time, she could process that and see it all and think about what needed to be done with his life. She had been able to think about what she needed to do with hers. As Marshall had pointed out, she had been addicted to the drama.
Now, she was full of hope and anticipation for a new beginning.
She hung back and smiled at him. “I want to write books. I want to write silly books, maybe about romance, maybe about people’s families and faith and forgiveness and miracles and God. I don’t want to be an attorney anymore.”
“You do?”
“I do.” The decision was monumental enough that she had to laugh.
It was probably too loud, because suddenly they heard, “Who’s there?”
Tim pushed her behind him and shrugged off his coat, throwing it back on her. “Nobody’s here, Phil. Nobody is here; just me. How is your baby?” He walked away from her.
Kensi clamored to get closer to the cave wall. She couldn’t see much in the darkness, and Tim was counting on that.
She listened to Phil give a report about his new baby boy. He went on about how his wife was doing and how the baby wouldn’t sleep at night.
Her thoughts were restless. When would her brothers and her friends be done getting the wall cut? She didn’t have to wonder long, because she heard a bird noise. That was the signal. Her heart beat quickly. What was she supposed to do? Tim and Phil were right there. She was stuck.
“Hey, Phil, do you have any extra water in your car?” Tim asked.
“You know I have extra water. You always got to carry water.”
She grinned, unable to stop the smile from crossing her face. Nice work, Tim.
Suddenly, the coat moved. Tim pulled her up and gave her a push and a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you back at my place.”
Chapter 17
Tim waited. Shouldn’t his friends be back to his place by now? He’d gotten no texts. No phone calls. No one was there. What would happen if they were actually caught? Kensi would probably know. Could she defend them? Maybe they should’ve talked through that factor before proceeding with the plan.
There was a knock at the door, and Tim jumped to his feet. He rushed to the door, surprised that he hadn’t heard them pull up. When he opened the door, he found himself staring into Marshall’s sad, irritated, annoyed face. He couldn’t put a name on the emotion that all those added up to.
Marshall pushed his way in. “They were caught.”
“What? How?”
Marshall pushed him in the shoulder hard. “By that dang deputy of yours.”
“Phil? He was standing guard by the cave wall when I left.”
“No, it was by the woman.”
Understanding washed through him. “You mean Darla?”
“If that’s her name.” Marshall pushed a hand through his hair. “She was really persnickety about making sure we all hit the ground and were handcuffed. I’m not good at following orders, so I booked it. But the rest of them, they’re all in jail.”
No wonder he hadn’t received any texts from them. “Oh my gosh.”
“We’ve got to get them out of this.” Marshall gestured with his hand. “You don’t put SEALS and an FBI agent in jail.” He let out a sardonic laugh. “You know what the commanding officers are gonna do to them? This is not gonna be good.”
Tim’s mind raced. He didn’t need to be told what would happen to those guys if they got caught. He’d been a Marine. Granted, Marshall and the rest of the Stone brothers would tease him about not being as special as they were. Whatever. He needed to figure out how to get them out of jail. All of them.
“What are we gonna do?” Marshall got in his face. “What are we gonna do? Tim, this was your idea. We have to save this precious history.”
Tim pushed him hard in the chest. “Back off. You agreed to do it. Do I need to remind you what Mr. Banks did to your sister?”
Marshall backed down. “I know. You’re right. I’m taking ownership.”
“We have to figure out how to get everyone out of jail.” Tim hadn’t been much for praying for most of his life, as he’d told his uncle. Sure, he’d done the dance, and he knew that there was a god. But he’d spent a lot of his life being angry at God. With recent events and Kensi coming back into