Chapter 46

Sharp was up before sunrise and at the base early. He'd thought about waking Danika, but he'd let her sleep. They'd had the best time together since getting home from his last mission. He was ready to ask her to marry him. He just had to finalize one more detail. The ring.

By the time the rest of the guys showed up, he had convinced himself that the odd feelings sliding through him had more to do with stuff going on in the world instead of anything in his life.

Everything was perfect, as far as he was concerned. Thario had been in contact recently, and he saw nothing out of the ordinary with anyone from England. Danika was thriving at work. She'd indicated that, eventually, she wanted to go back to school and get some sort of degree or certificate. She was still thinking about what she wanted to do. Waiting tables wasn't terrible, but she either needed to upgrade to a more expensive restaurant or work nights, which would mean they would be spending less time together. She said she didn't like that, and he agreed. Less time with her wasn't what he wanted. If he had to support her while she attended classes, he would just do it so she could have a job that would leave her nights open.

His team sat in on briefings, getting information for areas he hoped they never had to travel to. Unrest seemed to beget unrest. Too many zones were reporting potential trouble, and they would eventually be called in to clean up the mess if it got too out of hand. For now, they were just being informed.

After lunch, he had an odd feeling, like he was missing something. They were cleaning equipment, and his thoughts kept turning to Danika. If he were on a mission, he would be worried he might miss something.

Griz walked past, then stopped and turned back to him. "Yo, Sharp, you look distracted."

"I am distracted. I don't know why. I feel like I missed something. It's an itch in the back of my mind. Maybe I should push it back deeper into my thoughts and ignore it."

Griz gripped his beard, his lips turned down in a frown. "Or you should bring it out for all of us to weigh in."

Apple stuck his head around the corner. "Yeah, we want to know."

"Trouble in paradise?" Shine asked.

Jay set down the equipment he'd been cleaning and stood, stepping into the hall so he was standing near Griz. "You've been off all day. What is it?"

He shook his head. "Probably nothing."

Squat came over and crossed his arms over his chest, making him look imposing. "Let us decide."

Sharp blew out a breath. They wouldn't let him get away with saying it was nothing. They were nosy and loved digging into everyone's personal business. He rolled his eyes and started talking .

"So Danika's ex was stalking her. Followed her to Savannah, and she came here. I haven't seen anything outright, but two days ago, when we got off early, I headed over to the place where she works. I sat at the bar waiting for her to get off work when someone called. The bartender answered and was rude, telling the guy they don't give out names of employees. Danika came out right then, and we left. I forgot about the call until today. For some reason, it's on my mind."

Griz hit him with a hard stare. "Do you think it was her ex? Like how would he have found her?"

Sharp shrugged. "That's the thing. I'm reaching. My suspicious nature is pushing too hard for that to mean something, but it doesn't. There's no way that was her ex calling and asking about her."

Apple shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably thinking too much about it. You need to have some fun and get out of your head."

Squat shook his head. "No, that's off. I don't believe in coincidences. There's no way that call was random."

Griz pulled out his phone. "Is there anyone we know who can check if that jerk left England?"

Sharp shrugged. "I can call Thario."

"Wait, what could Thario do?" Jay asked.

"He is doing some computer stuff." He didn't want to explain everything Thario was doing. They hadn't been on the team with the guy and didn't know how good of a man Thario was.

Shine raised one finger. "Thario. The cockiest guy in the SEALs?"

Sharp nodded. "Yeah. That's him. He changed some."

"I'll say," Jay said.

"He really is a good guy." Now Sharp felt like he was defending Thario, and he shouldn't have to. Thario was a good, solid man who may have flirted a bit too hard before, but he wasn't dumb.

"Listen," Griz stepped forward and put his hand on Sharp's shoulder. "I believe in trusting your gut in situations like this. Why don't you leave early and pick Danika up from work?"

Sharp shook his head. "I can't?—"

"Yeah, you can. I can say you're running an errand. No one will question you leaving if I give a good enough excuse. Call to tell us what is going on."

He held Griz's gaze for a moment, then nodded. "I need to know if Thario has seen any movement from Ezra."

Griz squeezed his shoulder. "Let me call."

Sharp nodded. "Sure." He shared the contact information with Griz and took off. The guys said they would clean up his area, and Griz said he would cover for him. Now, he just had to get to Danika before something went wrong.