Chapter 8 #2
“To successful adventures.” She sipped her wine and was surprised to discover she’d finished it.
It was definitely time to go to bed when she didn’t remember drinking a glass of wine.
She stood. “I think it’s time to call it a night unless you have something else you’d rather I do?
” Am I actually trying to flirt with my boss? What is the matter with me?
He shook his head. “Not that I can think of. Have a good night. See you in the morning.”
She took her glass to the kitchen and placed it in the dishwasher, even though she didn’t have to.
Regan could have left it on the coffee table, but that bothered her.
She’d never had someone clean up after her before, and she didn’t want to get used to it.
Not all of her assignments would be this easy, although she had to admit, this one was more exciting than any other she’d had.
And her client was better looking this time than anyone before him.
But she couldn’t let Cole’s good looks affect how she did her job.
She walked back through the living room toward the bedrooms. “Good night, and don’t answer the door unless it’s Mason.”
Cole pretended to pout. “Yes, Mother.” Then he grinned. “I’ll follow orders. Tonight was enough to show me I’m not safe, even in my home.”
“That’s right. Until we can get to the bottom of this, you need to be careful.” She continued on to her room. Once there, she changed into some soft sleep shorts and a tank top, so she was ready for anything.
Regan slept hard. Nothing awakened her. She was relaxed and felt wonderful. The bed in her room was great. Hard where she needed it and soft everywhere else.
She padded into the kitchen to get coffee and found a pot already made.
Cole hadn’t been in the living room, but he’d obviously been here.
She was grateful for the coffee, however, and didn’t really care if it was Cole or magical elves who had made it.
Regan chuckled at her whimsy. She wasn’t usually a whimsical person, but she guessed today was one of those days.
“I see you found the coffee. If you’re like me, I can’t start the day without the caffeine.” His familiar baritone sounded from behind her.
She turned toward him. “You’re right, I need it to wake me up.” She noticed his hair was wet, and he was dressed. “It looks like you’re way ahead of me. I guess I better jump in the shower. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
Cole snickered. “Fifteen minutes? I don’t think so.
I have a sister, and she spent fifteen minutes in the bathroom before she even got into the shower.
Then another fifteen minutes in the shower, and another twenty minutes after she got out doing her hair and getting dressed. I’ll see you in about an hour.”
“You forget I was in the Rangers. A shower was a luxury that we didn’t get that often. If I wanted any hot water, I learned to be fast. I’m still fast. You’ll see.” She turned and headed back to the attached bathroom in her bedroom.
Once in her bathroom she stepped into the multi-jet shower.
She really wanted to linger and let the water beat her tired muscles, but she knew she was on the clock.
When she stepped out of the shower, she grabbed a towel.
It was thick, fluffy and of a thread count she’d never felt before.
She didn’t know that towels that felt that nice existed.
She hurried through the rest of her routine.
Fifteen minutes later, she rejoined Cole. She’d showered, dressed and braided her hair by the time she returned.
Cole looked her up and down. “Wow. I have to say you are the fastest woman I’ve ever known. And I mean that as a compliment.”
“Then I’ll take it as one. So, are you taking me to breakfast? I don’t really feel like my leftover steak this morning, which is too bad because now it will have to be tossed.” She poured herself a cup of coffee and took a sip. “You don’t have any food here, do you? I’m a decent cook, if you do.”
“I don’t. I usually eat out. A little hole-in-the-wall diner, two blocks west, has the best breakfast in town. You game to try it? It’s close enough to walk there.”
“I’m game. Let’s go before I change my mind.”
Cole stepped toward the door and grabbed his keys from the bowl on the table just outside the foyer. “Okay, I’m ready. Are you armed, on the off chance we get attacked?”
“Of course, but I don’t need a gun…in case you’ve forgotten.”
“I haven’t forgotten. You were magnificent.”
Her cheeks heated under his praise. “Thank you.”
He suddenly looked down for a moment before gazing back at her. “Shall we go?”
“Yes, I’m starving. You wouldn’t think so after dinner last night, but I am.”
He chuckled. “You did decimate almost an entire cow.”
“I did not! You take that back!” She paused, put her hands on her hips, and then started laughing. “You have quite the sense of humor. Must be from being raised with all those siblings. Your sister is probably the reason you needed a sense of humor.”
“Actually…” He grinned and opened the door.
“It was having a twin, a fraternal twin, that made us both have to take everything with a grain of salt and a smile. In our house, if you took anything too seriously, you usually ended up talking to Mom and Dad. No one wanted that to happen, so we discovered laughter and developed a tough hide.”
Regan scooted around him and pressed the button for the elevator. She was prepared when the doors opened, just in case another intruder was present, but it was empty.
Cole entered after her.
“Which floor? Since we’re walking, I know it’s not the basement-slash-garage.”
“First floor.”
She pressed the button for the first floor. “So, tell me more about this place.”
“It’s a little diner. Only the locals know about it. The tourists haven’t found it…yet. And I hope they never do. We’d never find a table. It’s hard enough as it is.”
The elevator doors opened onto a wide expanse of gleaming black granite tile. The floor sparkled so much she was sure it had just been buffed.
Regan walked beside Cole across the atrium that was the first floor. A FedEx and a beauty salon were the only businesses she saw before they walked through the revolving door to the sidewalk outside.
People scurried to their jobs or out to breakfast, like they were.
Cole turned right out of the door and walked up to the corner. They waited for the light to change before turning left and crossing the street along with twenty or thirty other people going the same direction.
She grabbed Cole’s hand, so they didn’t get separated in the shuffle of humanity crossing the street.
She was aware of everyone around them, how close they got to Cole, where their hands were, and what they carried in those hands.
She was hyper vigilant, checking each person near Cole for a weapon.
Regan hoped they were all going to work and the crowd would thin out as they came to the next crosswalk and took a right, away from the office buildings.
Cole kept walking.
Not until they reached the diner did she realize she was still holding his hand. She let go, her cheeks burning, and looked at him.
He chuckled. “I wondered how long before you realized you were holding my hand. You took longer than I expected.”
“I wasn’t paying attention to anything except all the people. I’m still not used to seeing so many people all at once. Rangers tend to shy away from heavily populated areas.”
He sobered. “Yeah, the jobs they sent you on weren’t usually in urban areas, were they? Same with the Seals.”
“Yeah, not hardly.”
He turned and crossed a parking lot so small, it could only hold five cars. The building was the size of a two-car garage.
As she entered, she saw only five tables present. The rest of the building was the kitchen and a single bathroom.
“Let’s grab a table. This is a seat-yourself place. The waitress will come by with coffee.
Their server wore a white polyester uniform and a black apron with two huge pockets. She had bright-red hair and lipstick to match. But from the bags and dark circles under her eyes, Regan guessed she was in her fifties and not getting enough sleep.
“Hi, Cole. Your usual?” The waitress set a cup in front of him and filled it from the pot in her hand.
“Yeah, Shirl, the usual. This is my friend, Regan.” He looked at Regan. “This is Shirley Baxter. She’s been working here for as long as I’ve been coming and that’s a good ten years.”
Shirley set a coffee mug in front of Regan. “Nice ta meet ya, hon. We’re a pretty down-to-earth kind of place. We make good food and a lot of it for a good price. Do you know what you want?”
“I’ll have the chicken fried steak and eggs, over medium, and don’t skimp on the gravy. Oh, and hash browns not country potatoes.”
Shirley grinned and jutted her chin at Cole. “I like her. Maybe you should keep her around.” Then she frowned. “Better than that snotty-nosed witch you were here with last time.”
Cole’s cheeks blazed red.
Regan had to swallow a laugh, and it was hard to do.
He huffed out a breath. “Yes, she was a mistake all around. I should have known better than to become involved with someone who hated horses.” He looked over at Regan. “What about you? Where do you stand on horses?”
She didn’t want to end up like the nameless witch, but she needn’t have worried, because if all she had to do was like horses, she had it made in the shade.
“I love horses. We had one for a summer when I was a teenager. His name was Joker, and he was all white. Uncle Keet called him a white palomino. I don’t know, if that was correct or not. ”
Shirley filled Regan’s cup. “Sorry, I can’t spare more time, but duty calls.” She swung away and refilled cups all the way to the kitchen.
“She’s amazing.” Regan still looked after the whirlwind of a woman. “Absolutely amazing. I wonder where she gets all her energy. I couldn’t do her job for any amount of money.”
“Shirley makes good tips. When I come to eat, she makes even better.”
Regan shook her head. “Even so, I couldn’t do it. She does it like she loves it.”
“She does. She owns the place but still works the breakfast shift every day. And she fills in for anyone who calls in sick.”
“I hope I have that much energy when I’m her age.”
Cole unrolled his silverware and placed the paper napkin on his lap. “So do, I. She’s doing it all by herself. She’ll burn out that way if she doesn’t look out.”
She followed Cole’s example and placed her napkin on her lap. Occasionally, she forgot her manners. A leftover habit of eating out in the field, sometimes with nothing but fingers.
Shirley came back shortly with their meals. Everything was as good as Cole said it would be.
“So tell me about this oil platform.”
“Sure. I’m very proud of it. The platform is one of the biggest in the Gulf, with room for 192 employees and currently, we’re at full employment. According to human resources, we have a waiting list of people who want to work for me.”
“Why do you suppose that is?”
“Because I have nice accommodations, I pay well, and have good benefits.”
“I can see that.” She looked at their empty plates. “Are you ready to go?”
He drained his coffee mug. “Yes, I’m ready.”
“Let’s go. I don’t like the idea of you being in such a large crowd as we were when we came here.”
“I don’t believe I’m in danger when in a crowd. Too many witnesses.”
“And too many different stories will be told. Each one will have a different perspective of what happened and in the long run will be of no help to police.”
“All right. I hadn’t thought of that.” He left a generous tip, and they walked back to the apartment.
Regan kept alert for any danger, but the walk was instead quite pleasant.
Once back in the apartment, Cole called for Sean, who they met in the basement parking garage.
They first went to the police station and gave their statements.
The trip to the airport where his helo was sheltered was about twenty minutes.
They had spent longer with the police than she had anticipated.
Noon had come and gone before they were able to leave.
She wondered what their day held for them.
What would happen when they reached the platform?
Would she be able to protect Cole? If the rig had been sabotaged, how safe would he really be?