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“We are; I’m having a burger,” I said, laughing. “Plus, we danced.”
The smile left his face, and his eyes bored into mine. “Another time, another place,” he murmured.
“I know,” I whispered before opening the door.
“I promisemyself I’ll do a full hour of yoga in the morning,” I said, rubbing my overly full stomach.
“What time were you thinking?” Ares asked from behind the wheel. When he’d offered to drive, I was happy to take him up on it.
I shrugged. “Early, but I suppose I could do it later.”
“Eleven hundred hours it is.”
“Wait. What?”
“I’ll join you.”
I laughed. “We’ve far too much work to do for me to take a break midday. I probably shouldn’t have taken one tonight.”
“We needed it. Not just you and me. Everyone needed it. Tomorrow, everything changes.” He pulled up in front of the house and cut the engine. “Thanks for taking me to the Duck and for dancing with me.”
“Thanks for teaching me.”
“Maybe we’ll do it again sometime.”
His words, like earlier, resonated in a place deep inside me. If only we had met at another time, in another place, we could dance as often as we’d like.
“Nem?”
I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. I’d kiss him. “Good night, Ares.” I got out of the car and went inside.
The following morning,just like yesterday, he and I behaved as if last night had never happened. We were all business. We had to be.
“I need to get my team together before we meet as a full group,” Ares said, coming into the library, where I was lost in thought over Mitskovski.
“Has something else happened?” I asked.
“Doc wants to video in.”
“Should I join you?”
He nodded. “Would you?”
“Of course,” I said, standing.
“Cayman is setting it up now.”
“This seems serious, Ares.”
“It is. Someone associated with the K19 family—and that’s how Doc and Merrigan run it—is believed to be in a container leaving Yavaros.”
I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand. Every case was hard. Every case was painful, but it felt so much worse when it was personal.
“Who is this person?”
“She’s from Doc’s hometown.”
“Thanks for beaming me in,” said Doc when he appeared on one of the pull-down screens that were installed in the main sitting room. “Her name is Luisa Reeve,” he began, holding up a photo of a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. “She disappeared six days ago, believed to have been abducted by her boyfriend, Jorge. Jorge’s real name is Manual Varilla. He’s a Mexican national and on the FBI’s wanted list for outstanding warrants. Ares?”
