Chapter 17
Jack knocked on Andrea’s door promptly at six-thirty. He felt guilty leaving Andrea to clean up her house mess by herself, but he wasn’t going to push himself on her. If anything, he should have suggested dinner at his place, so she didn’t have to clean and cook.
The door opened a moment later with a flush-looking Andrea greeting him. She wore a floral top and jean shorts. She hadn’t put any shoes on, revealing her cute pink toenails. “Hi,” his gaze raked over her body, “You look incredible.”
He wasn’t sure what to wear, but he figured casual was best. He opted for a plain blue shirt and cargo shorts with flip flops.
Andrea looked down at herself as if she didn’t remember what she was wearing. “Thanks, come on in; dinner is just about ready.” She stepped aside to let him enter.
“It smells great,” he complimented, closing the door behind him.
“Thanks, it’s lettuce wraps. Nothing fancy, but they are good,” she said, stirring the saucepan of meat and vegetable mixture.
“I can’t wait.” Jack followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the end of the island. “How did the rest of cleanup go?”
“It took longer than I thought it would, but it’s done.”
“I hope it didn’t put you out having to cook after cleaning up by yourself,” he mentioned, a furrow forming between his eyebrows. Now he felt like an ass leaving her to clean up the mess alone.
“No, it’s fine. I promise.”
“I feel bad you had to clean up on your own. I would have stayed and helped.”
“I appreciate it, but it’s fine. It was my mess to clean up. It wasn’t even the water that was the worst but making sure nothing got ruined.”
“Did it?”
“No, thankfully. I don’t keep anything important on the floor, and the bathroom got the worst of the water.”
“That’s good. Is that The Rat Pack playing?” He’d heard the soft melody of music in the background but hadn’t been paying much attention to it.
“It is. I’m a sucker for oldie music.” She paused in her stirring. “I can change it if you like.” She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and started scrolling through it.
“No, it’s great. I like The Rat Pack.”
“Okay.” Andrea smiled and set her phone down on the counter.
Jack pulled out his own phone from his back pocket. “Is yours on Pandora or something because I have a whole playlist of theirs on Spotify if you want to play mine.”
“This is fine for now. Maybe we can listen to yours later.”
“Okay.” Jack set his phone down next to hers almost touching. “Is there a spare bathroom to use, or does this house only have one?”
“Oh, you can use the guest. It’s down the same hall across from my office.”
“Thank you.” Jack slipped from the stool and headed down the hallway. He found the bathroom, but instead of turning left into it, he went right into her office.
He told himself not to feel guilty snooping on her like this. That it was a matter of national security. It didn’t make him feel any better.
It was a simple office with a four-shelf bookcase and desk. There was a painting on the wall across from the bookcase, but other than that, there was no other furniture. He glanced over the bookshelf. No photos, only a few knickknacks and books.
Jack thumbed through a few books to see if anything was tucked into them, but it was just book pages. He moved his focus to her desk. Everything was neat and in order on it. He made a mental note of where everything went so he didn’t get found out later.
Jack opened the laptop, not shocked that it asked for a password. No help there unless he could call Greg, which he couldn’t do with his phone in the kitchen pulling data from Andrea’s. He would call him later if he couldn’t get anything from the phone and have him bypass it.
Jack moved onto the drawers and paused when he came across a sticky note that looked like abbreviated words. It could be some kind of code or nothing. Jack found the stack of sticky notes and copied it down before stuffing it into his pocket.
The next drawer was full of files. It appeared to be forms for the charity Andrea worked for.
Again, nothing that could help him with his case.
Pulling a few indiscreet cameras from his cargo pockets, Jack placed them around the room to give him every view of the space, including right over her shoulder when she opened her computer.
He looked around the room, wondering where else to check before moving on. His gaze once again fell on the painting. He lifted it from the wall and peeked under to see if there was a hidden safe or something tucked in behind it. Nothing. Jack took a step back in frustration.
He wondered if he had time to check out her bedroom. The office might be too obvious of a place to check. Maybe even her purse might be a good place to check.
“Here you are. I thought you got lost.”
Rule number one when getting caught: don’t look like you just got caught. “Sorry, I saw the picture, and I was curious. I didn’t mean to pry.”
Andrea looked at the photo in question, it was a Van Gogh Starry Night painting, then at him, her gaze unreadable. “Dinner’s ready,” she finally said.
Jack walked ahead of her back into the kitchen. Andrea stayed silent as she served up their plates and set them at the dining room table. “Would you like anything to drink?” she asked.
“Water would be great, but I can get it myself.”
“I’ll get it. Sit down,” she responded with a small smile.
Shit, now had her on the defense again. He’d been caught snooping. Or at least she suspected he’d been snooping. She hadn’t caught him in the act. “Have you been to the art museum in town?”
Andrea looked caught off guard by his question as she set down his water and another for herself across from him. “There’s a lot of art on your walls, so I didn’t know if you were a lover or just filling up wall space.”
“I appreciate art, but I don’t go to art museums or anything. A lot of the pictures I found at thrift stores and garage sales.”
“You prefer art to pictures of yourself or family on your walls?” The guarded look was back.
Shit, he was really screwing up tonight.
“Sorry, I forgot you don’t like talking about your family.
” Even her case file had no information.
The woman was a practical ghost. Even more reason why he shouldn’t allow himself to get emotionally close to her.
“I don’t like my picture being taken,” she explained after finishing her bite of food.
“I get that. I don’t either.” It defeated the whole secret thing, but then again, he didn’t need constant reminders of his scars.
He knew what he looked like. Jack remembered the hot searing pain when the IED went off.
The blast of heat and feeling his skin tear apart. He had gotten off better than most.
Many of his friends had lost limbs or sight. None of them liked their photos taken either. He honestly couldn’t remember if he’d seen photos on their walls.
“So what brought you to Florida, Andrea?”
“I just wanted a change of scenery.”
“As opposed to—” He left it hanging, hoping she would fill in the blanks.
“Where I was before.” Damn, this woman was harder to crack than a walnut. “And where were you before here, Michael?”
“Nevada.”
“What part?”
“Vegas.” No sense in lying about that little detail.
“Ah, Sin City, I can see why you liked it there.”
“What, because of all the sin?”
“I can just see you fitting in there more than here in a retirement community.”
“Well, I didn’t choose the community. My job placed me here, and I got a place close to work.”
“Still, you stick out.”
“As do you.”
Andrea froze with her glass of water halfway to her lips. “What do you mean?” she asked, trying to appear casual, but he could see the faint tremor in her hands. Had he pushed her enough that she was going to try and bolt?
“You don’t fit in a retirement community any more than I do.”
“Like you, I just bought a house close to the city center that I could afford. Town is expensive. Is Vegas where your family still is?”
Ah, and now we were changing topics again. “No, they live in North Carolina.”
“Now you’re close enough you can almost drive to visit them.”
Yeah, he was good not doing that. He only visited his family for the holidays if he didn’t have missions and sent cards for birthdays.
“I could. I don’t get to visit them as often as I would like.
Family is very important.” He hated he couldn’t ask her directly about her family, that it made her tense up.
“You learn to get along without it.”
“I’ve noticed that to be true. When I was in the Navy and at sea for months on end, I learned to form my own family amongst the crew. We all did.”
“Has it always been so easy for you to make friends?” She almost sounded envious that he could adapt to his surroundings so well.
“I’ve never thought about it, but yes. Most people find me a likeable guy.”
“I’m sure.” That teasing grin was back.
“Were you not Miss Homecoming?”
Andrea covered her mouth so she didn’t spit out her water. “Definitely not. I was the shadow no one ever noticed. I’ve always been an introvert. I never cared for the attention unlike…others.”
Unlike who, he wanted to ask. She had been about to say a name. Damn it, he’d been so close.
“I’m sure you were Prom King or something like that.”
“I never was.”
“Really?” Andrea asked, looking doubtful.
“I wasn’t. I didn’t care about that kind of stuff. I had more important things on my mind.”
“Like what?” she questioned sardonically.
“My education.”
“Sex education?” she inquired with an arched eyebrow.
“Ha-ha, No, I already had that covered.” In fact, the education teacher had given him some private lessons.
“I don’t want to know.” She held a hand up to stop. “Spare me the details.”
“I never kiss and tell.” He chuckled before sobering. “No, I’d wanted to do something different with my life than sports and such, so I focused on skills I would need in the Navy. I learned all about terrain and survival skills.”
“Helpful.”
“It saved my life more than once.” It still did.