Marie sniffed. “I’m from Tennessee, thank you.”
Dante and Marie exchanged another look, their expressions swirling with a mix of amusement, intrigue, and a depth of knowing that simply didn’t match two people who had just met.
Dante reluctantly looked away, shifting his attention to Sabrina. “How long have you lived in Kittery, Sabrina?” He asked politely.
Sabrina smiled. “My whole life. Where are you from?”
“Philly, originally. Maybe you can tell me, why does everybody I meet here have some sort of involvement with Maine Marine Rescue?” Dante asked.
“It’s a small town, and we love our ocean.” She shrugged. “You should come in and check it out. We have a new seal pup and he’s wicked cute.” Sabrina grinned.
“Yeah, my brother keeps sending me photos.” Dante grumbled.
“I’m sorry, are you feeling neglected?” Marie faux pouted as she batted her eyelashes.
Dante gave a gruff laugh. “What would you do if I was?” He eyed her with a gleam in his eye.
Marie sighed. “I’m sure we could find some use for you.” A smile played at the edge of her lips.
Dante snorted in amusement. “And what is it that you do, exactly?”
“I’m the enforcer.” Marie answered, crossing her arms.
“You?” Dante asked, eyeing her petite stature and raised a brow.
“Me.” She nodded with a satisfied grin.
“How does that work, exactly?” He asked, his voice deep and tinged with amusement.
“They never see me coming.” Marie replied conspiratorially.
Dante chuckled, sounding strangely rueful as he side-eyed the southern firecracker. “Should I be worried?”
Marie relaxed in her seat. “As long as you behave, you have nothing to worry about.”
Dante’s gaze roved over her once more before returning to the road.
Chapter Eighteen
(Cesare)
Cesare had an itch that would not go away on its own. He’d received Sabrina’s text message and her facetious note. If it had been anyone else, he would have assumed she was bratting out on purpose. But she was so used to being on her own he could see how his attempt to help could have been misconstrued.
He returned to the rescue hoping to speak with Sabrina, only to find her gone and her phone sitting next to the note. This was unacceptable.
With no way to reach her and zero fucks left to give, he opened the background check his office ran on Sabrina, skimming for her home address. Like an absolute creep, he drove by her house, but she wasn’t home, and she wasn’t at Society. He checked there too.
Cesare was pacing on the dock of the rescue when Dante finally called him back for an update on Tom Crawford and any further information about social services. Tom seemed to have disappeared, though a neighbor had overheard mention of a temporary construction job out of town. Dante had called in a favor from a colleague to find any information about Tom’s last supervisor, and was waiting for them to call back with intel.
Cesare fed Freckles again, with the help of a repairman. This happened much to the seal pup’s consternation, who had been napping peacefully through the construction sounds. Cesarewould have thought he was deaf if he hadn’t begun chirping in unison to the sounds of the drilling after waking.
It occurred to Cesare as all of this unfolded that the noise and activity of the repairs was definitely a disruption to the animals' normal environment, and he could only hope that the temporary upset didn’t create any permanent problems. As it was, the damn birds wouldn’t stop screeching, so everyone had taken to wearing earplugs whether or not the power tools were in use.
Cesare was on the phone with a District Attorney’s office for another case when Sabrina walked through the door.
Their eyes locked as she stood hesitantly in the entryway, examining him with what looked like equal parts hope and trepidation. He had a sneaking hunch that he wore a similar expression.
He looked away, staring out the window just in front of him. “I hear what you’re saying, but frankly this is the only trial my client is ever going to have, so I’d appreciate it if you could do them the basic courtesy of doing your job.”
