“It’s okay. I just…it’s probably best I stick close to home for a while. Until we figure out what comes next. The last thing I want is to put you or the others in danger simply by being around me.”
“Screw that,” Caite said fiercely. “I’d like to see that asshole try something when we’re at Aces. We’d stomp him into the floor.”
Avery chuckled, and Rex was glad to see her smile. “We are pretty amazing, aren’t we?” she asked.
“Damn straight. I saved the lives of three badass Navy SEALs, don’t you know,” Caite said with a smirk. “And Sidney faced down dognappers, Piper kept herself and her three kids safe for three days from rebels, and Zoey proved herself to be an expert at wilderness survival, saving Bubba’s life when he decided to take a swim in Alaskan waters. And you…I don’t need to tell you what badassery you’ve accomplished. Between the five of us, we’re unstoppable.”
Rex rolled his eyes at the same time Phantom said, “Wonder Women, you all aren’t.”
“Whatever,” Caite told him, then turned and winked at Avery. “Seriously, if Aces won’t work in the short term, we’ll come to your place. We can have our wine there just as easily as we can at Aces. Although we’ll miss the eye candy.”
“We could have our guys come and serve us without their shirts on,” Avery suggested.
Rex nearly choked as Caite burst out laughing. “Yes! Perfect!”
“I’m out,” Phantom said with a huff, leaning back in his chair.
Both women giggled.
When they’d gotten themselves under control, Rex asked, “How’s the leg, Phantom?”
“Good,” the other man said, but didn’t elaborate.
“What he means is that he’s got his range of motion back, but he’s still a bit stiff. The physical therapist thinks it’ll be another week or two before he’s completely cleared to go back in action. He’s grumpy as hell about it, but knows it’s for the best,” Avery said.
“Thanks, Mom,” Phantom muttered.
“Glad to hear it,” Rex told his teammate.
Eventually the crew on the beach wandered back over to the porch and soon it was full of laughter and chatter.
Rex leaned over and spoke into Avery’s ear. “You good?”
She nodded and turned her head to look back at him. “Yeah. This was good. Thanks for inviting me. I like your friends’ women. They’re all really nice.”
“Did you expect them not to be?” Rex asked, genuinely curious as to her answer.
“Not really, but it’s hard being the newcomer. They’ve all known each other for a while and I’m the new girl. That doesn’t always work out.”
“They aren’t like that.”
“I know that now, but I wasn’t sure,” she said.
“I’m sorry you weren’t able to ID the traitor today,” he said softly.
He felt her tense up again, but she immediately forced herself to relax against him. “Yeah, me too. And it’s really bothering me. I was so sure I’d recognize him when I saw him, but…maybe all that stuff I said to the general over in Afghanistan was crap. I’m sure he thinks I’m a complete idiot, after going on and on about how observant I am and how I couldn’t describe the traitor, but I’d know him when I saw him.”
“He doesn’t think you’re an idiot,” Rex said, hating how discouraged she sounded.
“I guess it doesn’t matter one way or another what he thinks, but I hate doubting myself. I’ve examined each picture and I’m no closer to identifying the man who wanted me dead than I was when I’d started.”
Rex sighed in frustration. He wished he could help her, but she was the one who had to ID the American she’d seen. He couldn’t do it for her.
They both knew it meant that her life could seriously be in danger if the traitor was in the unit that was returning the following week. But without her identification, there wasn’t much more they could do. Rex hated that for her. For them.
“You about ready to go?” he asked.
She nodded. “And for the record, I’d be okay staying later. The dark doesn’t seem to bother me when you’re at my side…as you well know.”
“I know, but I’d feel better with us both back at your apartment when the sun sets. I’d like to see about getting an alarm for your place too…if you’re agreeable.”
He felt her sigh. “I know I should probably get all upset and tell you that I don’t need it and you’re being overprotective, but honestly? I’d feel much safer with one. I should’ve gotten one before now, but I was so confident I’d be able to ID this guy and things would go back to normal. I know having an alarm isn’t foolproof, and the traitor could still get to me, but at least it would make him have to try harder, right?”
Rex wanted to kill that motherfucker. Tear him from limb to limb for doing this to Avery. But he forced himself to stay calm. “We’ll make sure if it gets triggered, it not only notifies the local PD, but also myself and the rest of the team. Okay?”
“I don’t want to be a bother.”
“You aren’t a bother,” Rex told her firmly. “I already talked to the guys and it was their idea, not mine.”
She looked back at him. “Really?”
“Really.”
“You’re lucky to have such good friends,” she told him.
“No, we’re lucky,” he countered. “They’re your friends too. Come on, let’s get going. It’s going to take half an hour to say goodbye to everyone anyway.”
He loved the quiet chuckle that left her lips. He stood and helped her to her feet.
As he guessed, it took quite a while for them to say their goodbyes. Rani, who was now talking up a storm, had to tell Avery all about the four hundred and thirty-three shells she’d found on the beach that night, and Sinta wanted to invite her to her house to play sometime. The other women echoed Caite’s invitation to have a girls’ night in soon, and each of the guys had to hug her and order her to call them anytime if she felt uneasy.
Bubba held her extra-long and whispered something into her ear. Rex would’ve gotten pissed, but he knew whatever his friend was saying wasn’t anything he’d object to. His friends had his back, even when it came to his love life.
When they were on their way back to her apartment, he casually asked, “So…what’d Bubba say?”
When Avery blushed bright red, he knew he wasn’t going to let it drop. He had to know now.
“Nothing really.”
“Avery, tell me.”
“Why? Don’t you trust him?” she teased.
“Of course I do. But with you blushing like that, I need to know if I have to kick his ass for embarrassing my girlfriend.”
“It’s not…it wasn’t anything like that.”
“Then what’d he say?”
“He just told me that I could trust you. That you were a good guy.”
Rex studied her as he drove, dividing his attention between her and the road. “Okay, I believe that, but I bet there was something else.”