Torie waited until the server took their orders before she started to probe. “And you look like you just got off work, Joe. You’re a little windburned. Or sunburned. I can’t tell which.”
“Yep. Out on the boat all day so it’s a little of both.”
“So what exactly do you do for the Navy?” Everything was too new, and she didn’t know who to trust. For all she knew, this handsome guy could have been involved in Lisbeth’s death. He’d been quick to dismiss her doubt about how she’d died.
But he didn’t answer her question and reached for a chip to scoop up guacamole. The sea wind lifted his light-brown hair and turned up the collar on his shirt. “That breeze feels good. It’s a hot one.”
And humid. Torie tucked a loose strand of hair back into her coronet. She could feel his gaze on her as she adjusted the wind damage to her braid, and it wasn’t exactly an unpleasant sensation. If only she was sure she could find an ally in him.
Why didn’t he want to talk about his job? She knew it had to do with training sea mammals, but that was it. Had Lisbeth ever met him?
“I’m glad you saw me,” she said after an awkward pause. “I hate eating alone, and I don’t really know anyone yet.”
“How’d your first day at work go?”
“Good. I figured out where all the cameras are and found out my duties. I’m just on a dinner break and have to go back. You know Kyle Ballard?” She forced a casual tone she didn’t feel. Her boss had unnerved her most of the day.
“Everyone knows him. He hired on about the same time we moved here.”
Torie tipped her head to the side. “You don’t like him.”
He glanced her way. “You do?”
She shook her head. “He never looks me in the face.”
Realization of what she meant dawned in his green eyes. “I’ve heard other women complain about that too.”
“Lisbeth, the woman who drowned?”
His nod was reluctant. “Among others, but it’s impossible to complain to HR when he doesn’t say anything out of line.”
She wondered if anyone had filed a complaint. With small ears listening, she had to be careful what she said about Kyle. And about Lisbeth’s death.
She decided to try to probe again. “You said you were on the boat all day.”
“Out at the artificial reef. I was working with Simon, my newest sea lion.”
He tossed the information out like it was no big deal, but Torie straightened. “Hailey mentioned the sea lions, and I wondered if you were part of the Navy’s Marine Mammal Project.”
“You’ve heard of it.”
“I saw a documentary not too long ago. It looked fascinating. I thought it was based in San Diego.”
“It is. I was there for years, but when Julie—” He broke off and glanced at Hailey, who was playing a game on his phone. “I decided a change was in order so we came here. I leased a building and went freelance with the training. The Navy still wanted the sea lions I trained. Some activists worried the sea lions wouldn’t adapt to the Georgia coast, but the winter water temps are nearly the same as San Diego. When training is done, they relax in their enclosures.”
“What do you have the sea lions watch for?”
“Hostile divers mostly. They’re trained to snap a cuff on the diver’s leg so we can haul them up and interrogate them.”
“How does that work?”
“The sea lion comes to the boat and signals there’s a diver by clapping his flippers. I give him a cuff in his mouth, and it’s made to snap as soon as the animal bumps the diver’s leg. The metal reinforced tether is attached to the boat, and when the sea lion returns without the cuff, we haul in the diver.”
“Have you ever apprehended one?”
He shrugged. “A couple, just harmless divers trying to see how close they could get to the naval base without being detected. The locals know about our work, and you know how brainless teenagers and twentysomethings can be. We give them a stiff warning and turn them loose.”
Hailey took a sip of her sweet tea. “Are you going to game night? It starts at seven.”
Torie shook her head. “I’ll be at the hotel working behind the scenes.”
“We always go,” Hailey said. “I like charades, but Daddy hates it. I wish you could play with us.”
“It sounds like fun. What kinds of games do you play? Anything besides charades?”
“My favorite is the scavenger hunt. I’m really good at finding things. Daddy is the best at it though.”
Torie leaned forward and laced her fingers together before her on the tabletop. “I love scavenger hunts. Maybe I can join in sometime.”
Talking about the games made Torie pause for a moment. The person who had broken into her cottage had put on the song “Games People Play.” Did it mean anything? Was it some kind of clue about what was going to happen tonight?
It seemed too far-fetched to think they could be connected, but she had to consider it. Her gaze met Joe’s, and a frown extended from his eyes to his forehead.
“Be careful tonight,” he said. “That intruder . . .”
“I was just remembering the song,” she said.
“I won’t be far away if you need me.”
Torie nodded. “I’ll remember that.”
And the realization she had backup was a comfort. She hadn’t thought she’d be in danger by coming here, but she was beginning to think nothing was as it seemed. Her dad was here, too, but she couldn’t be seen with him without blowing her cover. This secrecy was already wearing on her, and she’d only been here a few days.
Maybe this was more than she could handle.
* * *
Guests filled the lobby, and a cacophony of excited chatter rose around Torie as she managed to get through the throng and down the hall to her office. Thankfully, it was empty. Kyle had said he might work tonight, but she’d hoped he didn’t see the need. She’d had enough of his gaze crawling all over her.
She just might have to say something if he didn’t stop.
She jiggled her mouse and her monitor sprang to life. The sight of her dad brought a lump to her throat. Dressed in his usual gray Armani suit, he mingled with the guests as he made his way around the perimeter of the lobby. His way of putting people at ease was one of the many reasons his resorts were so successful. He’d required that quality in thousands of employees across the globe.
It didn’t come so easily for her.
She worked hard at presenting the proper image of a hotel executive with her power suits and heels. Her perfectly coiffed hair and expert makeup. But inside she always felt she was supposed to be doing something else. What that something else could possibly be never came to her. At least not yet.
Her mother’s death had taught her to be wary of assuming the best. It caused her to be on the lookout for the dark side of events, and she never completely let her guard down.
Few people tried to get past that reserve, and that was the way she wanted it.
Or so she told herself.
She let her gaze wander until she found Joe’s broad shoulders and thick thatch of light-brown hair. He was smiling down at Hailey in a way that brought a lump to Torie’s throat. He was a good dad, but even that didn’t make him trustworthy in everything.