“It’s going to be difficult,” his wife said worriedly. “I mean, they’re both special agents, but they’re based in two different places. Long-distance relationships...”
“I have a feeling that they’ll figure it out,” Sam said.
“Look, there they go!”
He smiled as he looked toward the water. Hunter and Amy were positioned on the side of the dock. As he watched, Amy swam out and, in seconds, a dolphin swam by. She grabbed onto a fin, and the dolphin took her for a sweeping ride around the lagoon.
Hunter was next.
After “dancing” with the dolphins and taking part in other behaviors, the session came to an end with the group stroking the dolphin, getting “kisses” and saying goodbye.
Hunter was out of the water, coming toward them, hand in hand with Amy.
“I can’t believe you didn’t want to do that,” Hunter told his father.
He smiled at his son, feeling a swell of pride again. He’d grown up tall and strong and handsome and, at the moment, looked like any other young man out with the girl he loved. Beautiful Amy, strong and sweet and more: good. Really good. She was someone who hadn’t become jaded to the world, but was ready to fight the wrongs within it.
“We just wanted to watch you,” Sam said.
“Okay, then, lunch in twenty,” Hunter told him.
They met up with Amy’s folks and her brother, and the five of them made their way slowly to the charming little thatch-roofed outdoor restaurant where they’d grab lunch before heading to the airport.
Sam was glad that he liked Amy’s family so much. Of course, that would have little to do with his son making choices, but still, it was nice.
Soon they were seated and the kids—well, Hunter and Amy—joined them. They laughed and talked, and at times grew serious. Amy said, “Oh!” suddenly, and was happy to tell everyone that Billie—whose name was Wilhelmina Ferrer—was being helped and that she had an advocate and would likely be able to remain in the United States.
“She will be an amazing citizen!” Amy said.
They all agreed.
Lunch went on, and it was so good to be all together as a family.
And again, Sam was grateful.
* * *
“They’re off!” Hunter said to Amy, joining her on a sun lounger under a big parasol.
The resort they had chosen, making use of online coupons, was spectacular.
The first days after the takedown in the woods had been nonstop busy with depositions and debriefs. But while they did paperwork with their separate agencies, the main work was done. They were able to have a long dinner with those who had worked so closely with them—Roger and Detectives Ellison and Mulberry—and express their appreciation.
Amy and he had both gotten to spend time with John Schultz and Sheila via satellite and express their appreciation there, as well.
Then they found out they had two weeks’ leave. Each agency had given them two weeks!
All they had to do was plan it.
The future could be difficult to fathom. Hunter had suggested that he could transfer down to an office in Florida; that was one option. She could leave the FDLE and most certainly pass all requirements to join the FBI. They had to consider their decisions carefully.
They just knew that they had something, and they didn’t want to lose it.
She wasn’t sure how they’d come about thinking that their families should meet—maybe because they’d grown tired of trying to describe each other to their families.
Amy’s parents had just arrived home from one trip and gamely packed up for another. Hunter’s had been happy to come.
Her brother had wheeled and dealed for the vacation time.
And it had been great.
And now they were gone, and that was great, too.
“What shall we do first, all on our own?” Hunter asked.
She whispered an answer in his ear.
“I like that idea!” he told her. He grabbed hold of her hand and led her back to their beach cabana.
Draperies covered the window, but the sea air swept in as they made love. It was a place of happiness that Amy had barely dared ever imagine.
“I love you, you know,” he said, holding her.
“I know,” she said, causing him to grin.
“Yeah?” he asked her.
“I love you, too.” She laughed, crawling over him. “What are we going to do?”
“We’ll figure it out. Right now, though, let’s just...enjoy. Play with dolphins. Go windsurfing, diving...let’s just live.”
“I like that idea.”
There was a discreet tap on the door.
Hunter frowned. “Who is that?”
She grinned. “Room service. Chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne. Humor me!”
He grinned. She stood and grabbed her robe and hurried to the door. She paused for a minute; they could look out and watch the waves lapping gently at the beach. The sun was just falling.
The air was unbelievably sweet.
The room service man had left the tray bearing her indulgencies on the patio table. She picked it up, smiling—they were wonderfully careful regarding guests’ privacy here.
As she picked up the tray, something fell to the wooden patio floor beneath.
She set the tray down, frowning as she stooped to pick it up.
It was a tiny object, but it caused her heart to skip a beat.
It was a child’s tiny horse, a plastic toy that belonged to a ranch set.
A red horse.
She looked up and around, but there was no one there. The wind off the ocean suddenly felt cold, and she shivered.
Straightening, she went back into the room. She needed to show Hunter.
She didn’t think that they were going to have to decide on the future.
The future was being decided for them, in the form of that tiny red horse.
* * *
ISBN-13: 9781488077135
Danger in Numbers
Copyright © 2021 by Heather Graham Pozzessere
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.