“She’s working with a dog and that dog is carrying a whole lot of trouble along with it.” The man spat on the sidewalk without ever taking his gaze off Cruz. “Anyone with a brain should stay far away from that shit.”
Charming. Message received.
“What’s it got to do with you?”
The man tilted his head. “Look, I’m just keeping an eye on things here, making sure no one gets too nosey. It’s what guys like us do, right? Guys like you and me, we keep an eye out for trouble to ourselves and our own. Nothing wrong with that.”
He paused.
“You understand, don’t you? You’d have a brother’s back, wouldn’t you?”
Cruz considered. There was a whole lot of meaning in those questions. Overseas, deployed out in the middle of nowhere, a serviceman had to rely on his fellows to keep him safe. No man could survive in the middle of that chaos alone for an extended period of time without someone to watch his back.
Normally, it went unspoken. If someone had to ask the question, it was a threat.
From then on, the soldier had to wonder if the people around him really had his back. Or if they’d let him take a bullet and become just another casualty of war.
“Look, I’m just watching.” The other man held up his hands. “I won’t bother you, you don’t get in my way. Agreed?”
“Look but don’t touch.” Cruz kept his tone pleasant. “Always happy to meet another serviceman.”
The guy smiled again. “I owe you a drink sometime. You have a nice day.”
Cruz turned on his heel and walked away.
Pulling out his phone, he texted Sophie.
Shopping trip is over. Need you two to head back to the kennels. STAT.
In less than a minute, Sophie responded.
???
Irritated, he typed faster.
There’s something wrong here. I need you to go home now. I need to know you are both safe.
Sophie was strong-willed but she also knew when to listen.
Headed to the car.
That taken care of, Cruz circled around yet again. He wanted to know if his newfound friend had a partner in town. It shouldn’t have been as easy as it was to sneak up on this guy. If he was a Navy SEAL, he wasn’t the best of the best. Cruz had worked with a few teams in his time deployed and guys like this one made it into the Special Forces teams but they didn’t last. If Cruz could figure out who this guy was—and he intended to—he was willing to bet the man had a dishonorable discharge. There were bad apples even in the most elite parts of the service. Sad reality. And obviously, the man had either thought Cruz wasn’t worth the effort of even trying to mislead or he’d been sent to give Cruz the threat in addition to keeping an eye on Lyn.
Finding a good vantage point, Cruz pulled out his phone.
“Yeah.”
“Beckhorn, you know if there are any parties particularly interested in Atlas’s case?” Cruz asked the question quietly. The line could be tapped but he doubted it. At least not yet. This would let Beckhorn know that there were indeed interested parties.
“Can’t imagine why,” Beckhorn responded in an uninterested drawl.
“He’s been in the papers and all.” Cruz watched Sophie and Lyn emerge from another store, chattering as normal as you please. They headed straight for the parking lot and got in Sophie’s car.
A small amount of tension unwound as they headed home toward safety.
“I get the occasional inquiry about him. Nothing outside the standard checkin.” Beckhorn snorted. “Come to think of it, you owe me a progress report.”
Perfect opening.
“I’ll get it to you this afternoon.” And Cruz would send along a couple of encrypted pictures of his new friend, too.
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“Yup.” Cruz ended the call.
Now all he had to do was be prepared for Sophie and Lyn when they caught up with him later. They’d be expecting answers once he got back.
Chapter Eight
I’m glad I ran into you today.
Every time she remembered those words—and the look in David’s steel blue eyes when he’d uttered them—Lyn’s cheeks burned and other parts of her did things she didn’t ever talk about to anyone.
Maybe she should feel uncomfortable. Or intimidated.
Nope. What she wanted to do was rewind back to the day she’d asked him for professional space and take back what she’d said. Or better yet, go back to the moment he’d almost kissed her and take things into her own hands.
Because every day she got to know David Cruz, she wanted him more.
If he’d been the least bit bitter or defensive or even indignant about her turning him down, she could dismiss her attraction to him and convince herself he was just another guy. Instead, he’d not only honored her request for professionalism but he’d gone on without any of the distance any normal person would create after the rejection. He’d made it easy for her to continue working with him. And she’d learned so much about him because of it.