“And our rainy-day fund?”
“Frankly, we’ve got enough money to get away for a while and have plenty left over. I vote for someplace warm and sandy where they line the drinks up for you all loaded with limes and salt. You can see me in my swimsuit and you can wear a bikini.”
“Why? To better show off my scars?” she said harshly.
Sean’s face fell. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
Her features softened. “I know,” she said quietly.
“Besides, I’ve got some of my own,” he said. “And you’ve seen them all,” he added, smiling.
“One of them is actually sort of cute.”
“So will you at least think about us getting away for a little R and R?”
“That actually might be nice.”
“And Tyler Wingo?”
“I guess I was trying to insert myself where I don’t belong. Maybe we can just mail him back the gun.”
“Now you’re talking. I can check into travel arrangements and we can nail this whole thing down in a couple of days. You ever been to New Zealand?”
“No.”
“I went there on a trip when I was guarding the VP. Let me tell you, the word paradise does not cut it. And it’s their summer season now.”
Her phone buzzed. She looked at the screen.
“Just hold that thought. Hello? Yes, this is Michelle Maxwell.”
She listened and then said, “Okay, I understand.” She was silent for about a minute as she listened some more, then said, “We can make that. Give me the address.”
She saw Sean giving her the high sign not to commit but ignored it. She clicked off and slipped the phone back into her waterproof fanny pack.
“Who was that?” asked Sean.
“Tyler Wingo.”
“Does he want his gun that bad?”
“No. He didn’t mention the gun.”
“What then?”
“He wants to hire us.”
Sean gaped at her. “Hire us? For what?”
“To find out what happened to his dad.”
“We know what happened to his dad. He was killed in action while serving in the Army in Afghanistan. And we are not going to Afghanistan to confirm his death, if that’s what he’s asking us to do. The military can do that perfectly fine without our help. And you just said yourself that you were inserting yourself where you didn’t belong. We were going to jump on a plane to New Zealand.”
“But that was before he called. Tyler wants to meet.”
Sean let out a long sigh. “Meet where, at his house?”
“No, he wants to keep this between him and us for now. He didn’t mention anyone specifically but it was easy to tell that he doesn’t want his stepmother to know.”