Page 16 of Building Courage

He flinched at the memory of the month-long fling gone wrong with a bored, married woman who’d claimed to be divorced.

Bailing out a window half naked when her Marine husband came home had not been one of his finest moments. The experience had made him more cautious and more cynical.

It was hard to balance a private life with deployments and training rotations. Women wanted a man who could be there for them, who could give them time and attention. And he was willing to do that…as much as he could.

But Brynn was a busy lady who seemed as devoted to her photography as he was to being a SEAL. That wasn’t exactly conducive to either of them getting time to date.

Teaching her to scuba would offer him an opportunity to get to know her, though. Maybe more. The physical chemistry had been there for him from the first time he’d watched her walk across the park toward him.

She’d been so closed up it had been impossible for him to read her reaction to him. Maybe he’d get a clue or two today.

In the meantime, he could check out her podcast more thoroughly and see what was so interesting about it other than her desire to try new things.

Once he arrived home, he fixed coffee and settled at the computer desk in the corner of his bedroom. He clicked on the podcast bookmark and opened it to see if Brynn had made a new post.

He paused the screen to study her. He’d rarely seen a woman with such perfectly symmetrical features. Her skin looked flawless, and her cheeks had a touch of color as though she’d been out in the sun. Her thick, sun-streaked hair contrasted with her sherry-color eyes that looked almost mahogany on the screen. Their slight tilt at the outside corners followed the wing-like slant of her brows. There was something exotic about her that he found striking. Her lips, as perfectly balanced as the rest of her, had a slight pout.

He un-paused the video to listen to her speak. “Thanks for tuning in to my podcast. I’m starting a course in scuba diving in preparation for an ocean dive,” she announced. Her voice had a kind of rasp to it that was sexy as hell. “My first class will be on Sunday. My instructor is a highly trained, certified master diver. I’m confident he’ll prepare me for my underwater adventure. I’ll post an update with some video on how things go in the next few days. In the meantime, I’ve been doing some research on my own, something I always do when taking on a new sport.

“I won’t just be diving. I’ll be taking photos underwater, too. So, I have a steep learning curve to address with new equipment, lighting, and adjusting composition and timing. Fish and other sea life aren’t going to pause and smile for me when I’m taking their picture, as humans will some of the time. In the meantime, I’ll share with you some of the photos I’ve taken recently in locations around San Diego.” A slide show of photos from the park and other locales started to run.

She was as talented as LT’s wife, Moira. The two of them would probably become best friends if he ever had an opportunity to introduce them to one another.

She didn’t mention the trip to Australia. She’d build up to that when she decided whether or not she was going.

He wondered what had happened in her life that had turned her toward using new experiences as a reaffirmation of life. Something in the way she talked about working past her fears gave him the impression that something major had happened that had affected her. Maybe he’d get some clues once they started working together.

His phone rang. He glanced at the screen at a number he didn’t recognize. “Petty Officer Giles speaking,” he answered.

“Petty Officer Giles. This is Agent Connor Byres with NCIS.”

Shit! He’d known it was coming, but he hadn’t expected it to be this soon.

Byers continued. “I know your commanding officer briefed you on our investigation into Seaman Ashe’s parachute accident. I need you to report to me at zero-seven-hundred tomorrow morning at the southwest field office here in San Diego. Do you know where it is?”

“I’m sure I can find it, sir.”

“Good. Bring any notes you’ve made about Seaman Giles’ accident, and we’ll talk then.”

“Yes, sir.”

Even though he knew he had no involvement with Book’s accident or the packing of his chute, the idea of being interrogated about the incident concerned him.

They’d be looking to clear their investigation quickly and would be looking for reasons to home in on a suspect, and he had just put out an idea about how the perpetrator may have planned and executed the whole thing. Jesus! He should have kept his mouth shut.

Chapter 6

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“Turn left in three hundred feet.”

The GPS’s calm, robotic female voice gave her confidence. Though she’d lived in San Diego for a year, Brynn still used the device nearly everywhere she drove. If she was this directionally challenged on land, what was to keep her from getting lost underwater? The thought triggered a twinge of anxiety.

The backup crew Natalie had hired would keep an eye on her. They wouldn’t let her wander off and get lost. But still…

She drove past house after house. If she ever lived in a neighborhood like this one, she’d never be able to find her own home without the GPS. The owners needed huge numbers painted on the sidewalk in front or signs waving in their yards.

“You have reached your destination on the right,” the voice said.

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