Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
The sun rose slowly over the inlet with the shade of pink that never lasted but managed to make its mark on the morning and on every postcard that came out of Calusa Cove.
Sunrises like these were why Sterling loved living on the water.
It allowed him to make peace with his past and it calmed his overactive brain.
He stood at the slider with his coffee and watched the color of the sky slowly bleed to blue. It was one of the most beautiful sights he'd ever seen—next to Juniper sprawled out beside him when he woke. Now, that was something he could get used to.
She moved behind him in the kitchen, her bare feet scuffing against the wood floor.
The sound of a cabinet hinge opening and closing.
Her mug settling on the counter. They weren't new noises, but they weren't ones he was used to hearing when he was standing at the door listening to the water lap against the shore.
He'd spent enough nights in enough empty houses to know the difference between a place that was vacant and a place that was quiet. This was the latter and he liked it.
It was the kind of stillness that a man could get used to after years of being alone.
"You're doing it again." She came to stand beside him, shoulder to his arm, her own mug at her lips.
"Doing what?"
" Staring at the water with an expression like you've asked it a question and you're honestly expecting an answer."
"You mean my serious face you're always teasing me about."
"This one's different."
He raised his brow, and she took a sip of her coffee, hiding the grin curving her lips.
"Trust me, I’ve been surveilling you for months. This is the one where you're solving something while pretending to enjoy the view."
"I feel so violated." He glanced down at her and all he felt was happiness. Contentment stood next to him, dressed in one of his button-downs that hit her mid-thigh with a messy bun piled on top of her head.
"You absolutely do not." She raised her mug. "Besides, I was studying you because it's my literal job."
"Lucky you to have something so sexy to look at all these months." He put his free arm around her shoulders, and she leaned in.
"There are a lot of good-looking men in this town."
"Watch it." He kissed her temple. "I'm a jealous man. And for the record, I was enjoying the view." He lifted his coffee mug and waved it toward the sky. "The first morning I woke up to this, you know what I thought about?"
"How this is shark territory and not gatorland?"
"That's cute, but no." He turned, set down his mug, then took hers and did the same. "I thought about how I wanted to share it with you."
"You’re full of all the sweet lines lately."
"I didn't mean for it to come across as a line. I—"
"I know what you meant, and I appreciate it.
" She leaned into him and he lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger, taking her lips in a tender kiss.
He'd never known moments like these in the past because he'd never wanted to spend the night with the women he'd been involved with.
That probably made him an asshole. And while he'd had a few longish relationships, he'd never lived with anyone.
He'd never gotten attached to anyone, and if anyone started needing him on an emotional level, he’d called it quits. His job had always been more important.
But now, he wanted what Trent called front porch sitting.
The side door opened, and a shadow emerged.
"Don't mind me," Buddy said.
"You could've gotten shot." Sterling broke off the kiss and glared.
Juniper groaned and dropped her head to Sterling's chest.
"You saw me out of the corner of your eye." Buddy reached for a mug and poured himself some coffee. "Oh. A bagel. You shouldn't have."
Sterling glared. "I believe that's Juniper's bagel."
"Oh, sorry. Well, it looks like there's more. Shall I pop another in the toaster?"
"I'll do it." Juniper pushed from Sterling's embrace, patted his chest and shrugged.
Buddy pulled out a stool at the island and sat. "No welcome back? I'm gone three days, and first thing I do is drive over to check on you, and not so much as a hug." He shook his head. "I'm hurt."
Juniper shoved a new bagel in the toaster. "I'd hug you." She tugged the hem of the shirt down an inch. "If I were dressed for it."
"Glad your sense of humor is intact." Buddy grinned.
"You have the same problem as my wife. Steals all my clothes and thinks they’re nightwear.
" He pointed between them with the bagel.
"Looks good on you. Better than it does on him.
" He leaned back on the stool. "And it’s about damn time, by the way.
Except now I owe both Cullen and Trent some money. Figures."
"Are you finished?" Sterling asked.
"After the ripping I got for Fallon? I might never be finished.
" Buddy set the half-eaten bagel on the counter.
"But all jokes aside. I didn't drive over at first light to eat your breakfast, even though I'm going to finish that bagel.
But I do need to talk to you about a couple things.
One of them is the robbery at the Crab Shack. "
"Alright. I'm listening."
"I'm sorry, Juniper. Do you mind?"
"Whatever you've got, you can say in front of her." Sterling reached over and found her hand on the counter. "She was there, and she was very helpful in keeping everyone calm."
"I did hear that." Buddy reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, setting it on the counter. "I met with Dawson before I came here, and he had something interesting to show me. He was going to call you, but I mentioned I was on my way here."
"Just spit it out, man."
"The robbery suspect, Anthony, met with State's sketch artist yesterday." Buddy tapped his cell.
"That's news. And?" Sterling asked.
Juniper leaned her hip against the counter and picked at her freshly buttered new bagel.
"The artist came up with a pretty detailed image." Buddy flipped his phone around.
Sterling leaned in, and Juniper looked over his shoulder.
The man in the drawing wore a hoodie with the hood up and a baseball cap underneath it, brim low enough to cut the eyes half into shadow. He had more than a five o'clock shadow, but not a full-grown beard.
Sterling picked up the phone to let Juniper get a better look.
He'd processed hundreds of sketches over the years. Witness, criminals, random people crossing the street that might be someone of importance or might be no one at all. His mind was full of images of people he might never be able to get rid of.
Each one he’d filed away in his brain, that hadn't been cataloged to a live person, made him an itch. They reminded him of a mission. Or a place.
This one gave him a feeling. A sense that he knew the man behind the drawing.
He set the phone on the island, and Juniper picked it up without a word.
"That's a pretty defined jaw," she said. "Wouldn't you say?"
"People say that about me." Buddy rubbed his chin. "Then I go and shave, and everyone says it changes everything about my face."
She slid the phone across the counter. "Too bad the artist didn't draw the man's eyes."
"Because they might say Doyle Malone?" Sterling asked.
"They might." She nodded.
"Dawson gave me the broad strokes regarding that guy." Buddy swiped his phone. "This is the only image I found on him." He turned the screen around.
Sterling looked at the Meridian company photo. Flat grey backdrop, fluorescent light that wasn't doing anyone any favors. "That barely looks like him."
"It's all that's out there."
"But even with a better picture, there's another issue with Doyle and his appearance." Sterling polished off his coffee.
"What's that?" Buddy asked.
"Doyle's code name on missions was Chameleon.
He knows how to read a situation better than most. Depending on what the situation calls for, he can walk into a bar full of operators and look like he's the most decorated man there or the bottom of the barrel.
He could even stroll into a boardroom, and everyone would think he's the boss.
Or maybe the janitor. He's so good, it's scary.
" Sterling crossed his arms. "Has Dawson had a chance to look into where Doyle was when Anthony was approached by this man and asked to rob the Crab Shack? "
"It was the day before he checked into Harvey's Cabins," Buddy said. "But like you said, it doesn't really look like him. Dawson's just going on a hunch, and he wanted to get your take on it."
"Why would Doyle spend ten thousand dollars to stage a robbery?"
"I don't know." Buddy waved a finger. "But I think your boyfriend has a thought."
Sterling had a million ideas floating around in his brain and none of them were good. "Have you read any notes regarding new clients or any Aegis Network business since you got back last night?"
Buddy laughed. "Are you kidding me? I was on my honeymoon."
"That doesn't answer the question," Sterling said.
"Of course I read them." Buddy leaned forward.
"I looked at the updates every morning with Fallon's blessing, so I'm well aware that this guy Doyle and his company Meridian Tactical wants to hire us—you—for a job.
One that has to do with Ashbourne Holdings.
" Buddy cocked his head. "So, tell me what's going on in that insanely complicated brain of yours. "
"It's pretty simple. But it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, yet," Sterling said. "But what if Doyle staged the robbery so that I'd get the rush of working with him again."
"That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Juniper said.
"I'm with her." Buddy pointed a finger. "Except maybe that might have to do with the fact that her ring camera was forced into a loop and doesn't even show the two of you standing on that railing while an alligator was chomping at your feet.
" Buddy ran a hand over his face. "I kind of would have loved to see that especially because I heard Sterling here had no shirt on. "