Nick agreed. “Someone is setting her up real good, Flipper. They are definitely making her the fall guy.”
Flipper wondered who in naval intelligence had targeted Swan and why. “I have another piece of the puzzle I need you to check out.”
“What?”
“The guy who was with Rafe Duggers two nights ago. The one I told you he was arguing with. I saw him today.”
“You did?”
“Yes. He came into the shop when Swan was closing up. His name is Horacio Jacinto and he’s Jamila Fairchild’s boyfriend.”
“That’s interesting. I’ll find out what I can about him,” Nick said. “I wonder if Ms. Fairchild knows what’s going on or if she’s being used as a pawn.”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to make sure I keep an eye on all of them.”
“Be careful, Flipper.”
“I will.”
A few hours later, after taking a shower, Flipper was sitting at the desk in his hotel room suite when his cell phone went off. Recognizing the ringtone, he clicked on and said, “What’s going on, Coop?”
“You tell us.”
Us meant Bane, Viper and Mac were also on the phone. “I guess Nick called you guys.”
“Yes, he called us earlier today,” Bane said. “What’s going on with Swan Jamison sounds pretty damn serious. Don’t you think it’s time to call the CO?”
Flipper ran a hand down his face. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was close to three in the morning. “If Nick told you everything, then you know it’s an inside job at the base. There’s a traitor somewhere and until I know who I can trust, then—”
“You know as well as we do that you can trust our CO, Flipper,” Viper said. “Once you tell Shields what you’ve found out, if he suspects Martin or Levart of any wrongdoing, he will know what to do.”
“Yes, however, the three of them share a close friendship. What if the CO is blinded due to loyalty?”
“We’re talking about our commanding officer, Flipper. Shields would turn his own mother in if he thought she was betraying our country. You know that.”
Yes, he knew it. But still... “I don’t know if Martin or Levart is really involved. Like Shields, they are Swan’s godfathers and I would hate to think they are shady. I just know it’s an inside job and right now I’m suspicious of just about everybody.”
“We figured you would be, so open the damn door,” Mac said.
Flipper frowned. “What?”
“We said open the door,” Coop said, knocking.
Flipper heard the knock, clicked off his phone, quickly went to the door and snatched it open. There stood his four best friends.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“What does it look like?” Mac asked as the four moved passed Flipper to enter the hotel room.
“We figured ten pairs of eyes were better than two,” Bane said, glancing around. “Besides, we need to keep you objective.”
“But what about your families? Viper, your wife is having a baby!”
Viper chuckled. “And I plan to be there when she does. According to Layla’s doctor, we still have a couple of months, so I’m good.”
“And our families are good, too,” Coop said. “They know we look out for each other and they agreed we should be here for you.”
“Teri is glad I’m gone,” Mac said, grumbling. “Maybe when I go back, she’ll have a new attitude.”
“Or maybe you’ll have one,” Bane said, frowning at Mac.
“Whatever,” Mac said, picking up the hotel’s restaurant menu book. “Is it too late for room service?”
Flipper closed the door and drew in a deep breath as he watched the men gather around the table, already rolling up their sleeves, ready to help him figure things out. They worked together as a team and he would admit that whenever they did so, good things happened.
“There’s something all of you should know,” he said, getting their attention.
They glanced over at him. “What? No room service at this hour?” Mac asked in a serious tone.
“That, too.”
“What’s the other thing we should know, Flipper?” Viper asked, sitting back in the chair he’d claimed as soon as he came in.
Flipper leaned against the closed door. “Investigating Swan Jamison is no longer just an assignment for me. It’s become personal.”
The men nodded. “And you think we don’t know that, Flipper?” Coop asked in a steely tone. “That’s why we’re here. Someone is trying to frame your woman and we’re going to help you find out who and why. But first things first. You know what you have to do, right?”
Flipper stared at the four men. Yes, he knew. Instead of answering Coop, he picked up his cell phone from the table and placed a call to his CO.
As far as Swan was concerned, Friday hadn’t arrived fast enough. With every passing hour, she would glance at her shop’s door expecting to see David walk in. One would think his surprise visit Wednesday would have sufficed. Unfortunately, it hadn’t.
She’d had two days to think about how irrational her thoughts about David were becoming. He didn’t come across as a forever sort of guy and she wasn’t looking for a forever kind of relationship, so what was up with this urgency to see him?
The only reason she could give herself was that she’d been alone and without a man’s attention for so long that now that she had it, she was in greedy mode, lapping it up like a desperate woman. And she had never done the desperate thing before.
The door chimed and she looked up to see that it was Rafe who walked in. Lately she’d noticed him using the front door a lot more, instead of the back door to his parlor. They had decided at the beginning of his lease that the entrance to her shop was off-limits so his customers wouldn’t trounce back and forth through her shop on the days Rafe worked late.
“Did your box of ink finally arrive?”
He stopped and looked over at her. “Why would you be asking about my ink?”
Now that, she thought, was a silly question. Did the man have a short memory? “Because you came by Wednesday looking for the shipment and left in a tiff when it hadn’t arrived.”
“I wasn’t in a tiff
