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He rolled with laughter again. “Well, you’ve seemed a lot less . . . surly. All I’m gonna say.”
“Muff,” I said, “I didn’t—”
He held up his hand to stop me. “No need to explain. I understand keeping things to yourself.”
“How’d you find out? Catherine told you,” I answered my own question.
“Look, in her defense, she didn’t volunteer the information. I didn’t know a thing about you and Marisa until I overheard her conversation the other night.”
“With who?” Now my interest was piqued, wondering if she had been talking with Marisa about me. It would be a good sign if this were the case. Or so I hoped.
“She has a monthly video call with her friends so they can keep in touch.”
“That’s cool.” I knew the friends he was referring to had to be Ashton, Gretchen, Natalie, and Charlie. Ashton and Gretchen were Catherine’s life-long best friends and were married to Quinn and Ben, respectively. Natalie and Charlie were Liam and Mark’s wives, and naturally, they became friends with the three besties. It was impossible not to be friends when you were part of the SEAL network that encompassed Cole Security Forces. It was even more difficult since the guys had served together on various missions while active, and naturally, that merged into the group I was now a part of.
“Good for you, man.Welove Marisa. She’s a great friend. And woman.”
I sighed. “Yeah, she is.”
He didn’t dig any further into my feelings. But he was definitely fishing, hoping for a bite of intel. “You need a strong woman who will put up a fight and keep you on your toes. A lady who’s not a pushover . . . who will challenge you.”
I noticed the way he said, “we.” I wasn’t envious, but the way he said it—a secure and happy emphasis to the word—made me think about Marisa and where on Earth this thing with us might be going.
He lifted his eyebrows and laughed, yanking my attention back to him. “Come on. The guys should be in the conference room.”
Abraham Cruz and Patrick Rogers, two members I’d worked with on previous assignments, were hunched over, scrutinizing the papers scattered across the table. There were file folders, which I could only presume contained the details of the operation we were here to review.
I took my usual seat, moved in closer, and glanced at the photos and documents laid out in front of us.
“What’s this about?” Cruz asked, confused as much as me. I was anticipating a personal security job for a large family.
I lined up the printed photos of four different buildings with the same logo.
Jackson cleared his throat. “We have been asked to help out with a case.” Jackson pointed to the file folders on the table. We each grabbed one.
“Whose case?” Rogers asked.
“The SDPD.”
“San Diego Police?” I asked, my interest suddenly piqued.
Jackson sent me a pointed look. “Yeah.”
“What do the police need us for? We’re not cops.”
“It’s in tandem with the SDPD. We’re being hired for private security by West Coast Banking and Trust.”
“There’s been a string of armed robberies. West Coast’s branches haven’t been hit yet. But they want extra security in place if they do get stormed.”
“So why us? Why not just have extra guards stationed at each one?”
“Because it seems the robbers might have stepped up their game to murder. The SDPD’s Armed Robbery Division is working with Homicide right now to determine if a murder is linked to the robberies. And there’s a high probability that it is. The police can’t give them the extra security they want.”
Jackson waited a beat, offering us an opening for any questions.
“That’s where we come in,” he continued when we didn’t speak up. “A former client recommended our services. He’s friends with Michael Blake, the president of the bank.”
My stomach tensed, and my heart sped up in my chest. All I could think about was Marisa and if this had something to do with her. Her chocolate-brown eyes flashed in my mind, and my feelings were vacillating between eagerness and unease. Eagerness at the opportunity to work with her and see how she operated on the job. Unease because if murder was involved in this case, I didn’t want her in danger. Which I knew was complete horseshit and stupidity on my part. She dealt with murder every day. How was I ever going to keep her safe and secure when she chased around psychopaths and miscreants on the daily? It’s not like she was the kind of woman who I could keep at home barefoot and pregnant.
