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“Wine would be nice, thanks.”
She brought the wine in and sat next to him on the sofa.
“I’ve been given a new assignment, and I don’t know how long I’ll be away.”
Saylor had enough experience with her brother to know better than to ask Monk where he was going.
“I also wanted to apologize for being MIA.”
“What happened, Monk? I don’t even know.”
“I made you uncomfortable when I said I didn’t care about other women, only you.”
Saylor rested against the back of the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
Monk stroked his finger down her cheek, and she raised her head to look at him.
“Do you know if you’ll be coming back to Yachats?”
“I will.”
Saylor stood; sitting still was too difficult. “I don’t like this part.”
Monk stood too. “Which part?”
“It’s something my mom and I always say when Razor leaves. We know we can’t ask where he’s going, and we know we won’t hear from him while he’s gone. It’s the waiting and wondering part that is the hardest.”
“I’m going to the East Coast.”
Saylor smiled. “You’re not supposed to tell me that.”
“Give me credit for knowing what I can and can’t tell you.”
“When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
She nodded, squared her shoulders, and turned to smile at him. “Thank you for coming over to let me know.”
When Monk stalked toward her, she knew what he would do, and even though her girls were asleep in the other room, she couldn’t bring herself to stop him.
He pushed her back against the wall and grasped her neck. He brought his lips to hers and kissed her hard.
“Monk, please…” As much as she wanted to ask him to stay tonight, to share her bed one last time before he had to leave, she couldn’t do it. If one of the girls woke up in the night and needed their mama, either one of them would come crawl under the covers with her. Monk couldn’t be in her bed if that happened.
She brought her lips to his and kissed him again.
Monk let her go and walked over to the door. “I’ll see you soon, Saylor.”
She locked the door behind him, turned on the security system, and turned off all the lights. She stood near the sliding door that led out to the deck, and watched. Monk stood out on the trail between her house and Razor’s, watching the ocean, or maybe he was looking at the stars. All she knew for sure was that he was in as much pain as she was.
—:—
When Monk arrived at the ferry launch on Chesapeake Bay, Gunner was waiting for him.
“I’m going back to Azerbaijan,” he told him. “Petrov has someone else he’s holding prisoner there.” Monk had heard that Gunner had successfully extracted the former Russian assassin from Petrov’s compound but that the team didn’t have the opportunity to assassinate the man himself. “Your job is to stay on the island with Raketa and keep her safe.”
“Understood.” He hadn’t known that Gunner brought the Russian here, but that really wasn’t any of his business.
