interfering with any domestic criminal behavior. Recently, the Navy had made examples of SEALs trying to blur that line. He didn’t want to be one of the casualties, just because he was trying to help someone do something for the good of society.
Convincing Kiley would be another story, though. She’d already asked for his help, suggesting he be her bodyguard.
“You don’t get it. I’m supposed to be working up to our next mission overseas. I can’t just take off and play policeman.”
She’d agreed with him, but he could see she wasn’t happy about it. He needed some guidance. He considered talking to Andy, but since he was on his way to Team 4 and wasn’t in a leadership position either, he decided against it. Cory would be a loose cannon. Damon, if he stopped by, would probably be no better.
The other thing that bothered him was that perhaps he’d involved them all too much already. He was certain Kiley had no clue what she was getting into. She had a fantasy about making the world a safer place. That was his job, and it involved a hell of a lot more sacrifice than most people would even want to know about. He certainly wasn’t going to be the one to tell her. She already had some TV notion of what a SEAL was. And that wasn’t her fault. Everyone underestimated and misunderstood them all, but that was how the Teams wanted it to be. The less the general public knew about them the better. If they did their job well, everyone would be safe at home and they’d know nothing about what really lurked outside the borders of the U.S.
He also wasn’t suffering under the delusion of complete safety at home, either. He could defend himself and her. He just couldn’t go policing society and interfere with his brothers in blue. It was a delicate balance. He had to be careful what he said, and he had to make sure he didn’t get involved in anything he could lose his Trident over.
And, as much as he loved their physical relationship, he’d sort of put the cart before the horse. It wasn’t wise what he’d done. He had no right staking a claim on her when he didn’t really know anything about her.
But over half the guys on the team had violated that one dozens of times. It still was no excuse, though.
She kept looking over at her computer, and he knew she was itching to get back online and file her story.
“Listen, why don’t I leave you alone for a few hours?” he asked. “My friends down the beach haven’t heard from me since yesterday afternoon. I should check in, and then you can join us down there, or I can return later. How does that sound?”
“You’re right. I should get the article written.”
“How long do you think you’ll be?” he asked.
“Two, three hours. I’ll send it off, and then perhaps we can grab some dinner?”
“Sounds like a plan, Kiley.”
She began sorting through notes and turned on her laptop. “Once it’s out of my hair, then I will take your suggestion and turn over all my notes and assist the police, if they’ll let me.”
“Why wouldn’t they, Kiley?”
“I don’t know. Call it a reporter’s instinct. The one thing I’ve learned about all of this is that things are never what they seem.”
“And you don’t really know who you can trust.”
“Exactly. But my editor thought they’d stop once the stories got published.”
Jason knew that was complete folly. But until he had more information on where he stood, professionally, he wasn’t going to say anything to her.
He wrote down the address of Aimee and Andy’s house and handed it to her. “You can’t miss it. Think deep pink and red mixed. There isn’t anything remotely similar in color or intensity.”
She took the piece of paper and laid it next to her laptop.
“And you should text me when you head over there so I can watch for you,” he added.
She placed her fingers over his mouth. “I will follow your instructions to the letter,” she said, her arms wrapped around his neck. “Thank you for caring, Jason. I mean that.”
“I should be driving you down to the police station, not sitting here listening to your stories. That’s the right thing to do, so don’t thank me, Kiley.”
“It will work out. You’ll see. Now that you’re here, I’m safe.”
Jason bristled at that. “You need anything, anything at all, you let me know. That’s my