Chen showed no emotion. “Where is she today?”
“With a friend, but I need to pick her up soon.”
Chen exhaled, then shook his head. “I sympathize with your situation, but this is a matter of national security. It supersedes all other concerns.”
Joe dug his fingers into his palms. “I have other trainers in my employ, Commander. Tyrone could do it, I’m sure.”
“But you’re our best. I’m sorry. You must do this.”
Joe squared his shoulders. “My answer is still no.” He whirled and stormed for the door. He barely kept himself from slamming it behind him.
What had he just done? Training the sea lions wasn’t exactly something he could take anywhere but the Navy. He had insurance money from Julie’s death stashed in the bank, but he hadn’t wanted to touch that since it would pay for Hailey’s college someday. Much as he loved America, his daughter’s safety was more important to him than anything, even his country. His life would be over if something happened to Hailey.
In the bright sunlight he jogged to his boat. Tyrone and Danielle were waiting for him, and he fired up the motor. If he hurried, he could take the girls to lunch.
After several long moments, the guard at the dock approached his boat. “Um, Commander Chen wants you detained. MPs are coming to get you.”
“Detained? He can’t do that.”
But Chen could do whatever he liked on the base. He could call Joe a terrorist and throw him in the brig until he agreed to his demands. Joe couldn’t let that happen. Hailey needed him—now.
He pushed on the throttle and the boat slewed away. Chen had much less power on the open seas than on the base.
He told Danielle and Tyrone what had happened. “Keep an eye out for pursuit.”
But there was none. There might be repercussions later, but for now, he was getting Hailey and laying low. Joe didn’t see how Chen could force him to work when he’d just quit a contractor job. He wasn’t owned by the Navy.
Joe regretted not getting to say good-bye to Simon and his team, but even as he tried to figure out what the future held, he wasn’t sorry. And he was a little bit excited to think he might forge his way into something new.
Only God knew what that new adventure might be. Joe had no clue.
* * *
Someone had been in the apartment with them.
Why hadn’t Torie forced herself to check out that closet? She might have been face-to-face with whoever was tormenting her.
She and Hailey sat in her aunt’s office waiting for security to arrive. When they exited the elevator, she’d gone directly to security and told them there’d been an intruder in the owner’s apartment. They rushed off to check it out, and she sat here castigating herself ever since.
As well as listening to her aunt harangue her.
Her aunt’s voice broke into her thoughts again. “You should not have been in that apartment, Torie.”
Torie stiffened, tired of hearing the same thing. “I’ve been trying to hold my tongue, Aunt Genevieve, but you forget who you’re talking to. My family owns this hotel, not you. You manage it for Dad, but my name is on the paperwork, not yours. I have the right to go anywhere on this property I desire. I don’t want to hear another word about what rights you think I have. I have any rights I want to take.”
Red ran up her aunt’s face, and her mouth dropped open. She struggled for words, but nothing emerged but a garbled noise. The color vanished as quickly as it came, leaving her angry eyes shooting daggers at Torie.
She pointed her finger at Torie. “Your father will hear about this. Such impudence! Do children have no respect for their elders any longer?”
Torie sighed. “I’m twenty-eight years old, hardly a child. You’ve never treated me with respect, and I’ve tried to overlook it, but it needs to end. I’m perfectly competent.”
Her aunt rolled her eyes. “Look at you. Your mother would be so disappointed in you. No style. No attempt to even hide those huge, ugly feet of yours.” She smiled coldly. “You think those Latin quotes make you appear intelligent, but they only make you seem more pathetic.”
“Non fortuna homines aestimabo, sed moribus,” Torie said softly. “Seneca said, ‘I do not estimate the men for their fortune, but for their habits.’ Your behavior speaks volumes, Aunt Genevieve.”
“And don’t even get me started on your father. He’s hardly a role model for anyone.”
Torie stared at her. “I know you dislike him. Dad met and dated you first, didn’t he? I don’t understand how you can carry a grudge all these years over something like that.”
Her aunt’s eyes hardened. “Ask your father why Lily killed herself. He was having an affair, and it broke her heart.”
“That’s a lie! Dad loved Mom with all his heart.”
“You just don’t want to believe it. I saw him with his floozy with my own eyes. He said he was checking on a hotel in Atlanta, and I was there for a conference. I saw him kissing the other woman. It’s true, Torie.”
“You told Mom, didn’t you?” When her aunt looked away, Torie knew she was right.
What about the note she’d found that Lisbeth had hidden in the safe? Was it truly from her mother? It was computer generated, not handwritten.
“You’ve always said she killed herself. Why are you so sure?” Torie asked.
“She was wild with grief about it. Lily was always volatile. I always thought she’d walk into the ocean one day and not come back.”
“I never saw her act in a crazy way.”
“You were a child. Of course she wouldn’t show that side to you.”
Torie was done with this conversation. She rose and took Hailey’s hand. “Come with me, honey.” Torie managed to keep the tears at bay until they stood outside her aunt’s closed door.
She drew in a shaky breath. “Sorry you had to hear that.”
“I’m sorry she was mean to you.”
Torie squeezed the little girl’s hand. “Thank you.”
A security guard headed her direction, and she turned to face him. “Anything?” she asked when he drew near. He reeked of her mom’s perfume.
The older man shrugged. “We found the broken perfume bottle, so someone must have been in there while you were. The apartment was empty though.”
“Any clues to who he was or where he was hiding?”
“I found a couple of caved-in boxes in the closet, so he might have been sitting on them listening to you in the bedroom. No way to know for sure though. You didn’t open any closet doors. There’s one for coats in the living room too. Could have been in either of those places or even the pantry.”
True enough. “Thanks for checking.”
“Of course, Ms. Bergstrom. Glad to be of service.” He looked past her shoulder. “I’d better tell Ms. Hallston what we discovered.”
When he stepped into her aunt’s office and closed the door behind him, Torie took Hailey’s hand. “It’s nearly noon. How about some lunch?”
Hailey nodded and pointed. “And there’s Daddy. He can come with us. Maybe he’ll buy us ice cream.”
Torie turned to see Joe’s long-limbed figure loping toward them down the nearly empty hall, past the seating area with its fireplace. Her pulse stuttered at the grim expression on his face. That couldn’t be good.