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Fish stares at me in shock. “That woman? The lady who just tore out of here like a spooked filly? What did you do to her?”
“She wasn’t spooked. She forgot her phone and ran out to get it.”
Devil shakes his head. “That woman isn’t coming back.”
“Yes, she is. She’s meeting Bastien Laurent and Birdie Crenshaw here at eight and came early for dinner.”
Now, they’re all shaking their heads and grinning. Wrench, the most obnoxiously. “You poor man.” Turning to the other two, he laughs. “He’s so out of practice he can’t read woman signals anymore.”
Wrench gets my best stink eye. “Would you shut the hell up?”
“Speaking of woman signals.” Fish teases. “How is Captain? I assumed with you being gone a month, you’d be spending the next three days making it up to her.”
“She’s at a Tides game with Caleb. It’s pup night at the park, and he wanted Captain to help him pick up girls. He’s supposed to bring her back in the morning.”
Wrench taps me with his beer. “How’s he doing? Junior year at Old Dominion has to be a big deal.”
“He’s doing great. His grades are fantastic. I can’t believe he graduates next year.”
“I can’t believe he picked a school close to his old man and that you guys go drinking together.”
Elbowing Wrench in the side, I say, “Hey, my kid happens to like his old man.”
Fish fights to hold in a laugh and fails. “I know someone who doesn’t.”
I swivel to glare at him and realize he’s staring at the door. Damn. Devil was right. Chelsea didn’t come back.
Slamming money on the table, I shove out of my seat.
Fish calls out, “Hey, I didn’t mean it. Where’re you going?”
“She’s alone at a bar. It’s dark outside. I’m going to make sure she’s alright.”
I’m only a few steps away from the table when Wrench snickers. “I don’t think I want to be here when he gets back.”
There’s not a soul in the parking lot of the Virginia Beach bar. I jog around to check the parking area on the right side of the building, but I don’t see Chelsea there either. A car door shutting out front has me running back toward the entrance, but it’s only Wrench leaving. I don’t get it. What the hell did I do?
Gravel crunches behind me, but I know who it is before he speaks.
“You alright, man?” Fish asks.
I shake my head but answer, “Yeah. I just don’t_yeah, I’m fine.” A dark chuckle rumbles through my chest. “I don’t even know what I’m doing out here.”
Devil claps me on the back. “Yes, you do, and I hope you find it.”
The two men walk on and leave to go to their families. I don’t even have my dog to go home to.
A glance at my watch shows it to be seven thirty-seven. If Chelsea is to be believed, she’s meeting Bash and Birdie here at eight. I’ve got nothing better to do, so I think I’ll hang around to see what I can learn about the skittish woman.
I jog to my truck and drive it to the farthest part of the side lot. I don’t want Bash to see it and look for me. Next, I strip off my shirt, replacing it with another from my go bag. The last thing I do is grab a ball cap from the back seat. I’m going back in, and I’m doing it incognito.
Back inside the bar, I pick a high-top along the side wall, which allows me to see most of the tables. With a fresh beer in hand, I settle in to wait and watch.
My old SEAL buddy and his girlfriend breeze through the doors about ten minutes later and take an empty table near the bar. A short time after that, Chelsea walks in, carefully scanning the room.
I duck so she won’t ID me, count to five, and lift my head again. Chelsea’s shoulders relax at whatever she’s not seeing_me, apparently_and traipses to join her colleagues. She’s not exactly all smiles, but she’s not the least bit timid, either.
With Birdie and Bash, she’s confident and authoritative. The three appear to be having a serious discussion about something.
