Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
He was spot-on about how my dad was going to react, and the fact that he probably had a lot in common with my dad only made Arrow more appealing to me. As far as I was concerned, my parents were couple goals. They’d fallen in love practically at first sight, and my dad had talked my mom into marrying him only a week after they met, right before he’d shipped out for his first deployment. Although the odds had been stacked against them, their love had only grown throughout the years.
I’d never felt that spark my mom had described to me when I’d asked her how she’d known my dad was the one for her…until now. Recently, I had started to wonder if maybe the bar I’d set for guys was impossibly high because I was waiting for that moment when I would just…know. But with Arrow, I finally understood what my mom meant when she’d said, “When you know, you know.” Unless it was just the adrenaline talking, which I sincerely doubted.
“They’re the closest thing you can get to it without leaving the Earth’s atmosphere,” I teased. “He took her on an epic cruise around the world—two hundred and seventy-four nights and more than sixty countries all across the globe. And they just left a month ago.”
“Damn,” he sighed, raking his fingers through his hair.
“You see the problem. If I call them now, my dad will figure out a way off that ship. Then my mom’s dream trip will be ruined.”
His eyes burned with determination as he nodded. “Sounds as though I don’t need to do a lot of convincing to make you understand that bringing you here was the right call.”
“Probably not,” I conceded. “But I’d at least like to know what the plan is.”
“We haven’t nailed down all of the details yet, but the overall gist of it is that you’ll stay here where that bastard can’t get to you while my guys and I figure out who the hell he is and make sure he forgets you exist.”
“The guys downstairs are under your command?”
He nodded again. “All but one of them. But Huntley vouches for Merrick, and that’s enough for me to trust him, regardless of his unconventional reputation. And he has resources, like this safe house, which are a tremendous help in this situation.”
“You don’t think we should just call the cops and let them handle this?”
“We may need to pull them in at some point,” he acknowledged. “But not until we know how much pull this guy has with the police. It isn’t unheard of for drug dealers to have someone on their payroll keeping an ear out for any trouble headed their way.”
My shoulders slumped. “I feel as though I’m starring in an episode of a crime drama.”
“At least you’re not alone. You have me as your co-star.” He got up and moved toward me, taking my hands in his as he perched on the arm of my chair. “And I’m not just any Command Master Chief, I’m the Chief Enlisted Officer for Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.”
He stressed the name of the naval base, and it took me a moment to understand the point he was trying to make even though the installation was famous for their special operations training and personnel. “Oh, wow. Yeah, I guess you would be uniquely positioned to help me if you’re in charge of SEAL teams.”
“Good.” Getting to his feet again, he tugged on my hand. “Now that the convincing portion of the agenda is done, I’d like you to tell Merrick anything you know about your roommate’s brother. The sooner we can find him, the easier it’ll be to make sure you stay safe.”
“Phoebe, too,” I murmured. “She should be safe at her parents’ house for now. They live in a gated community in San Clemente in the hills with a guard, so it would be hard to get in. Plus, her mom is remarried and has a different last name.”
“If we don’t see some decent progress in the next few days, we can send Phoebe and her parents somewhere else to make sure that they’re out of the line of fire, too,” Arrow promised, easing my concern about my roommate as he led me out of the bedroom and down the hallway.
The three men who’d been here when we arrived were still sitting at the same table, and Arrow quickly introduced me to them before getting me settled in a chair. Merrick had a darker edge to him that made me wonder about the unconventional reputation Arrow had mentioned, but I certainly wasn’t going to ask about it now…or ever.
When Arrow dragged a chair as close to me as he could get and flung his arm around my shoulders, Merrick’s lips curved into a grin that softened his features and made him seem more approachable. Which was a good thing since he turned his attention to me and asked, “Do you know Paul’s cell phone number?”