Chapter 14
“Blake’s granddad was a ship captain.” At dinner with both her parents and Blake’s mom and dad, Brooke listened intently to Bob Seibert as he talked about his seafaring career.
“I still to this day do not understand why my father never became a master mariner. He was talented enough, for sure. But he was content and loved what he did, so who was I to question his choices?”
“Do you mind explaining what the difference is, Bob?” asked Alonso Marino, interested.
“Not at all. A person who possesses the qualification of a master mariner can be the captain of any ship of any size in any part of the globe. Ship captains, on the other hand, are restricted by vessel size and therefore can be captains in only limited and specified areas. When Dad got out of the Navy, he knew right away he wanted to learn how to captain those luxury cruise liners, so that’s what he ended up doing. ”
Dolly Seibert burst out laughing. “When my father-in-law retired, he and my mother-in-law decided they were going to take a cruise where they could be regular old passengers for once, instead of Dad having to work. By day two, though, Mom had threatened him with death if he didn’t stop critiquing every little darn thing.
She said she would wait for the dead of night and throw him overboard if he didn’t stop getting testy and start behaving. ”
Amidst the laughter, Brooke whispered drolly to Blake, “I see where you get it,” then laughed even harder as Blake’s eyebrows flew up into her hairline.
“Don’t let my daughter pick on you, Blake,” advised Pia Marino, her eyes twinkling. “She and my father-in-law were like two peas in a pod. Brooke and Giancarlo Marino were usually up to their earlobes in mischief, trust me.”
Brooke’s mouth fell open. “Mom! That’s not true!” She elbowed Blake in the ribs as Blake chuckled along with everyone else.
“You know it is so true, tesorino,” said Alonso, using the Italian diminutive for sweetheart.
His eyes grew soft. “This is not a time for sadness, but when Papa passed away in Brooke’s senior year of high school, it brought all of us to our knees.
My daughter was the pride of his heart until the day he died. ”
Dolly’s eyes were just as soft as Brooke fought her tears back. “Then, perhaps when it is a more appropriate time, you can tell us all about him. I have a distinct feeling there are more than a few shenanigans to share that we’d love to hear.”
It had been Blake’s idea to get together with their parents and go out to dinner.
Wisely choosing to keep everything informal, she had suggested a popular local seafood restaurant that kept its own fleet of fishing boats, a place Brooke had previously told Blake her family adored.
“They have this lightly-charred grilled octopus with a Greek herb vinaigrette my granddad got me hooked on years ago,” Blake had informed her.
“I absolutely love it. Not only is it incredibly delicious, it’s healthy, so I can eat it anytime.
“The first time I brought the APS management team there when we were still in high school, I thought their heads were going to explode when they tasted it. Those fuckers are going to whine like a bunch of pussies when I tell them we met our parents here for dinner. Remind me to take a video and send it to them while we’re eating.
The bitching will be audible as far south as Naples.
” Brooke had burst out laughing, shaking her head at the shit-eating grin on her butch’s face.
Now, Brooke groaned as she tasted a bite of Blake’s octopus. “As much as I love all types of seafood for the most part, octopus has never been one of my favorites. I think this dish just might change my mind, though. Holy crap, Blake. This is so yummy!”
“Right? I’ll have to tell Granddad we have another convert.”
Chatting and laughing, the six of them enjoyed their delectable meals, Pia teasing her daughter as she told Blake that Brooke was a disaster in the kitchen.
“Don’t ever let her cook for you, honey.
Brooke has many fantastic talents, but culinary is not one of them.
” She blew a kiss to her mock-glowering child.
“She, however, is an amazing artist, which I know you’ve seen. Giancarlo bragged on her constantly.”
“I can use a microwave,” said Brooke loftily, causing another explosion of laughter.
“It was far more fun when I was growing up to hang out in the kitchen and draw while I watched Nonno make his world-famous sauce. I’ll have you know, Blake is almost as bad as me…
she can barely manage the very basics. Our superpowers lie in other directions. ”
The evening wore on, both the Seiberts and the Marinos enjoying the opportunity to get to know each other better.
As they were settling the check at the end of the evening—Blake adamant that she and Brooke were paying for dinner—Pia and Alonso insisted on having everyone over to their house for dinner soon, with Dolly and Bob promising to bring the wine and dessert.
After everyone left, with hugs and cheek kisses all around, Brooke sighed contentedly as she walked hand-in-hand with Blake to their vehicle, moonlight sparkling off the Intracoastal Waterway.
“I assume all those text messages going off were the APS management team threatening to kill you for sending them pictures of that out-of-this-world grilled octopus, right?” she asked wryly as they reached Blake’s truck. “You are so mean, dude.”
Blake laughed as she unlocked the doors, then pushed Brooke lightly against the vehicle, looping her arms around her femme’s neck as she pinned her gently.
“Even Casey was having a shit fit. And Drew said the next time we’re in Utopia, she’s going to make me pay for being an utter dick. ” Brooke giggled.
After they had kissed for a long moment, Brooke slid her hand up to where she felt the outline of the concealed carry shoulder holster under Blake’s arm. “You’re always armed,” she sighed, her voice a breath on the wind.
“Always,” agreed Blake, her demeanor turning serious as she tightened her arms a slight bit.
“I’m armed no matter where we go. All of us stay armed in public.
My vehicle is consistently parked in such a way that I have clear sight lines in every direction so no one can sneak up on me.
” Brooke’s eyes widened. “APS comms are on 24/7 when we are not at home.” She lightly touched the shell of her ear.
“My core team—in addition to the management team—can find me at all times.
“We’re in a dangerous business, baby. Although we’ve never talked about it, you and I, what we do in the realm of protection and security at APS goes far deeper than run-of-the-mill companies.
But I don’t ever want you to worry about your safety when you’re with me, okay?
I will burn the world down before I ever let it hurt you. ”
“I know.” Brooke kissed Blake briefly before she said, “I guess this means taking a walk along the beach is out of the question, then, huh?”
“Absolutely not. We can do that. I would, however, prefer to go back to Whimsy Beach, if it’s all the same to you.
Not that we don’t get our share of drunk assholes staggering out of Seashells, but Whimsy folks are a lot less tolerant of dickish behavior.
Plus, APS backup is everywhere if shit starts to go sideways for any reason. ”
“Sold.” Kissing her butch one more time, Brooke jumped into the truck after Blake had opened her door. “Come on, my knight in shining armor. Let’s get this chariot rolling.”
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“Piper has a contact who sometimes hangs out at The Hideout, the dive bar where Reflex has parked their ass,” said Bryn, reading the notes on her phone.
“He isn’t affiliated with her or APS in any way, but she has used him on several occasions in the past for other PI investigations.
Apparently, our Reflex friends are spending their time in a tight little huddle, not talking to anyone else that much, but rumor has it they are looking for bodies to handle a big haul of stolen goods of some kind.
Piper says her guy told her it doesn’t sound like the job is happening this week, but whatever it is will be going down soon. ”
At the daily management meeting the morning after Brooke and Blake had gone to dinner with their parents, the team discussed the intel starting to trickle back in from the tails APS had set on them.
Although it had become more than clear that Reflex—led by Rob Kilgore—was in the process of coordinating a hit on the four microbreweries in their sights, Drew was feeling itchy.
“Little moonchild hasn’t approached me again.
She’s also backed off Kilgore since he hasn’t been down in Purgatory as much, Dara told me.
If they’re using The Hideout as their base of operations now to coordinate their theft and money laundering—keeping shit offline—that would make sense.
However, Dara has said Kilgore still makes a fairly regular circuit around Purgatory… alone.
“He’s holding private conversations that involve only him and one, maybe two other people. There’s no sign of the other three Reflex partners when he has these chats either, which means he’s fucking up to something he doesn’t want them to know about.”
“That leads me to wonder if Kilgore isn’t working his own deals outside of the Reflex embezzlement and money laundering scams, without his other partners in the loop,” mused Trill.
“The question, however, becomes: is he running a separate embezzlement or laundering scheme—or schemes—that he’s cutting them out of, or does he have his grubby paws in something entirely different? ”