“I wasn’t planning on getting that close and cuddly,” Brett said, grinning. “But here’s the thing. The offices aren’t that close to the lagoons. If one of us is guarding the dolphins, someone else will have to be on guard duty in the offices.”
Matt nodded. “Shifts down by the lagoon.”
Lara felt uneasy. “I wonder if we should have left at all. Rick and Adrianna are in for the night, so if something happened down by the water, they wouldn’t even know.”
Brett reached across the table, his fingers curling around hers. “Don’t panic. I can fix that with a phone call. You guys order—I’ll have the roast beef—and I’ll be right back.”
She looked at him curiously.
“World’s greatest partner,” he said, then stood and walked away to make his call. When he returned, just as their waiter was leaving, he told Lara, “Call Rick and Adrianna, tell them Diego will be there in ten minutes. They need to meet him at the parking gate and let him in.”
She called Rick’s cell. He seemed surprised by the change in plans, but pleased, as well.
“Never hurts to have some big guns around when the world goes crazy, huh?” he said.
“Never,” she agreed.
She hung up and smiled at Brett. “Thank you—and Diego, too.”
“We might be taking things a step too far, you know,” Matt said. “There’s a good possibility that it hasn’t even occurred to our killer that snuffing out a dolphin would help him in the least.”
Lara nodded, knowing he was trying to reassure her. “But maybe the killer is vindictive, too. He obviously knows I’m involved, so he probably also knows it’s through Cocoa.”
No one argued that. Just as their food arrived, Brett’s phone rang. He answered, listened briefly, then said, “Thanks” and hung up. “We’re good. Diego is on the job.”
They didn’t linger, but they did enjoy their dinner. As soon as they were done, they drove straight back to Sea Life.
Diego’s car was there in the lot.
Lara used her key to enter, then reset the alarm once they were inside.
Brett called Diego as she closed the gates. “I told him we’re here. He’s going to keep first watch by the water.”
“That’s the kind of partner you keep,” Matt said.
Brett nodded. “Seems as if you did okay, too.”
“He did extremely well—and so did I,” Meg said, smiling. “What watch? We can divide things up however you want.”
“I’ll take the second water shift,” Brett said. “That means you guys can get at least six hours sleep up in the office, so you can take care of that end. After that point, your choice whether you take guard duty alone or together. You’ll hold down the fort in the morning until the gates open to the public.”
Lara had moved ahead to unlock the doors to the office. Now she stepped aside and asked Brett, “Mind if I head down and thank Diego?”
“No. But I’ll watch you from here, and I’m not going in till you’re back.”
She hesitated. “Don’t you need as much sleep as you can get before your shift? And really, I know you’re all just humoring me on this.”
“The more I think about it, the more I think there could be a real threat to Cocoa as well as you,” he said, his tone serious.
She nodded and turned away, feeling suddenly awkward.
As she got closer to the water, she saw Diego. He was seated on the platform in the lagoon beyond the dock, looking out at the water. He stood and turned the minute she got within a hundred feet, his hand on his gun, though he didn’t pull it.
“Hey,” she said, going out to join him.
“Hey. How was dinner?”
“Really nice. And thank you so much for coming right out here. Without you, we would have had to settle for takeout. You and the others are putting in an awful lot of hours.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he assured her.
“I hope Brett’s call didn’t interrupt anything important.”
He grinned. “No, it was fine.”
She tilted her head and stared at him assessingly. “I meant a date.”
He laughed. “No, I was just starting to see someone, but it wasn’t going to work out, and I knew it. My fault. I was intrigued, just...”
“Just not intrigued enough?”
“Just not intrigued enough,” he echoed. “Besides, with this thing going on... I don’t think any of us is really going to rest until we get to the bottom of it.”
Lara hesitated, and then sat down on the platform. Diego followed suit. It was a beautiful night, crystal clear. The water stretched out before them, rippling in the moonlight. A pleasant breeze off the bay swept away the day’s heat. Palm trees bent gently, their fronds rustling in soft whispers.
“Thank you,” Lara said again.
He smiled at her. “No problem. It’s my job.”
“I don’t think anyone is supposed to be on call twenty-four hours a day.”
He shrugged. “This isn’t exactly your usual job. It’s kind of a passion, I guess.”