Page 19 of Beachcomber Danger

He needed to get some intel from a couple of very secretive guys.

When Dane got out of the Jeep and approached the back door to his beach shack, he heard someone talking in his backyard. Shit.

He waved Shana to stay back—uselessly—and went to the corner of the house, hugging the wall, to take a look.

The two Secret Service men—wearing Bermuda shorts, pineapple shirts, and flip-flops—were set up on lounge chairs. The only nod to their federal agent status was the sunglasses and the laptop computers. Andrews turned and lifted his shades. He didn’t smile, instead telegraphed a warning that a donkey could read. It screamed dire consequences if there was any jocular commentary on their attire.

To Dane, such a warning look translated into a challenge, the kind he never backed away from. After careful consideration that took less than a blink, he decided this time was no different as he walked toward the two agents.

“The set of Magnum, P.I. is about five thousand miles west of here, but I think they discontinued the show a couple decades ago. You two need to update your wardrobe if you want to fit in on Martha’s Vineyard.”

“Shut the f—” Goodley didn’t finish his sentiment before his senior partner cut him off.

“Blaise, I don’t know what the hell you think you’re doing or who the hell Sassy is—”

“She’s our house guest. She rented out her apartment to make money and had nowhere else to go. Everything on the island is booked.” He stepped closer to the two men, to where Andrews stood and matched the man’s irate scowl. “She is staying with us.”

Shana came up beside him and said, “And she’s staying in the guest room.”

“How is that going to work?” Andrews didn’t sound like he’d taken Shana seriously.

“You two can stay on cots in the living room. It’s the accommodations you deserve, after barging in uninvited. This isn’t like in your civil war when soldiers could conscript a person’s home and do—”

Shana would have gone on, but Andrews had apparently heard enough, because he said, “Enough.”

Dane put up a hand. “Bottom line, it’s a condition of our cooperation. Sassy stays or you two go.” He didn’t bring up the fact that Ronnie Ryan would be staying too. This wasn’t the time for that detail.

“We’ll see about that,” Goodley said. “We’ll bump it up to our superiors and see what they have to say about it.”

“In the meantime,” Andrews said, “we’re not going to be relegated to doing top secret government work outside because you have a houseguest. We don’t trust you, let alone your guest.”

Andrews seemed to be ending the argument in a truce of sorts for the moment. But Dane was slightly worried that their superiors might have Sassy thrown out, and then either he or Shana would need to stay with them at the shack at all times. Ronnie hadn’t arrived yet and when he did, it might incite another round of discontent from the agents.

The hell with it.

By the time the agents ran it up the chain of command and received instructions on what to do about the house guest, he figured they would have at least twenty-four, maybe thirty-six hours to work on finding out what they weren’t being told.

“So you admit it,” Dane said.

“We need to be able to work without worrying that some so-called houseguest is spying on us.”

Dane shrugged. “You can find out exactly who Sassy is if you don’t already know. You can work on the dining room table. She won’t bother you. I’ll even let you put up a curtain to close yourself in if you need privacy.”

“Very funny.”

“I’m not being funny, Andrews, because the truth is, we don’t trust you either. And I’m not having you and Goodley left alone in my home unattended.” Dane figured the truth was as good as anything to tell him. It wasn’t as if Andrews wasn’t going to figure it out on his own.

“What do you have to hide?” Goodley asked the sophomoric question.

“The family jewels. Government secrets. The atomic bomb hidden in my basement. What the hell does it matter? I don’t owe you carte blanche to my life and home. As it is, you’re asking us to go into an assignment half blind.”

“You know exactly what you need to know.” Andrews had calmed down, but he stared back unflinching at Dane. He felt Shana move closer and step slightly forward, as if ready to pounce on anyone if they made a move. Or that could have been Dane’s imagination.

“Sure. Glad we got that settled. Sassy stays and Shana and I do your dirty work.”

He turned and Shana walked with him back toward the house, but he stopped after a couple of steps and turned back to the two Magnum, P.I. impostors.

“You really won’t fit in around here dressed like that. People will stare, possibly laugh at you.”