into such a personal topic, but the words were out before she could stop herself.
“See, if I was dating you, I'd make sure everyone on the planet knew you were mine,” he cast her one of his trademark grins. “In every way, of course,” he added. “But Ty doesn't say anything—other than to post big no trespassing signs.”
Dani laughed, feeling a little uncomfortable. “Maybe that's because Ty has more respect for women than you do.”
Fawkes straightened and gave her a wounded look as he placed his hand over his heart. “Trust me sweetheart, no one has more respect for women than I do.”
Dani arched a single brow at him.
“It's not that. You're right, Ty was never one to kiss and tell—although there was a time or two I really wished he would have,” Fawkes waggled his eyebrows at her. “But it's different with you. He knows I'm razzing him, but after he razzes me back he goes all silent on me. Not like an I'll-just-wait-Fawkes-out kind of silence. It's more like the silence that happens on horror movies right before the killer strikes. It's quiet and intense and deadly. Not that I think he'd ever actually kill me, or anyone else—unless they deserved it, of course,” Fawkes added. “But it's intense. Way intense,” he emphasized. “I wish I was going back with you. It would be really entertaining to watch the whole thing unfold. Ty wants it. You, well, you want it too, but something is holding you back. And Ty is not a man who accepts half-measures. You're doomed, just so you know.”
Not sure how to respond, Dani said “Did you just liken Ty, the man you claim is my boyfriend, to a horror movie slasher?”
“You're missing the point, woman,” Fawkes retorted.
Dani watched families on the beach packing up their belongings, couples taking walks, and others out just enjoying the evening. Fawkes's comments weren't a revelation to her. Though she'd never let herself think about it, now that Fawkes had vocalized it, she knew it was true. And it was a part of what scared her. From almost the first moment they met, there was something different about Ty, something different about the way they were together. It had niggled at her conscience that first morning and had scared the bejeezus out of her when she realized it wasn't going to go away. For a while she wasn't sure if it would be worse if Ty didn't feel the same way, or if he did. And then she realized it wasn't worth worrying about—she knew he felt the same way. They just had to figure out what to do about it. She had to figure out what to do about it. But trusting him, trusting whatever it was between them, meant giving up control.
Dani sighed and turned toward the ocean. “No, I got your point, Fawkes. Loud and clear.”
* * *
Ty lay back on his bed after hanging up the phone. He'd just finished a late-night conversation with Dani, for the second night in a row. He looked at the clock. Two in the morning. And his mind was racing. Talking to Dani did that, but the other reason had to do with the fact that he still couldn't figure out why in the hell Dani and her team were masquerading as DEA. It wasn't that the case didn't look like a DEA case—it did. And that was the problem. If it looked and smelled like a DEA case, it should be a DEA case. Why was the CIA interested?
Like good little DEA agents, their eyes were focused on the drug aspect of the case. They were keeping an eye on the weapons, for sure. And Getz was always on their radar; he would go down with the rest, that was a given. But their focus, as it should be, seemed to be on how the drugs were getting to the Eagle's Wing, who the contact was, what the channel was.
Ty's mind flipped through the people working on the case. He spent most of his time with Marmie and Cotter. He rarely saw Drew or anyone else on the team. Maybe he just assumed they were focused on Savendra and Sonny and the drugs. It was possible Drew had a whole team of people in the house researching the weapons.
But anything they were finding they were keeping close to the vest. Dani had talked a little about Getz during their conversation tonight. But her focus wasn't on the drugs