“What were you saying?” he asked, and she opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by another beep.
Taking his phone with both hands, Tage sat back in his chair, fully engrossed in whatever message was flashing across his screen. He didn’t even notice when Hailey got up with her arms crossed and strolled along the railing as the boat pushed away from the dock.
Watching the river as it gushed against the hull of the ship, ducking instinctively when a bridge flew overhead, Hailey was having a great time without Tage. In the background, a local band played a lively tune, and, to Hailey’s delight, when they finished their version of a popular rock song, they switched to all Irish music.
Still holding onto the rail, Hailey turned to see them and caught a quick spark of violet, rather like a camera flash, coming from the shadows underneath the canopy.
She glanced at Tage, who was still busy with his phone and not missing her at all.I’ll just take a quick stroll across the bow and check it out, she decided. She made it halfway across the deck, before a booming voice stopped her dead in her tracks.
“Hailey!” Tage shouted it as if he were calling a play on the field. Several couples turned and stared. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry—that was my recruiter blowing up my phone.”
“Your recruiter?” Hailey said grudgingly. She was curious but not wanting to excuse his rudeness whatsoever.
“Yeah,” he said cheerfully. “Just found out I’m going to West Point. I’ll be studying physics—and playing football,” he added with a wink as he led her back to the table. “Look,” he said, and he ceremoniously turned his phone off and tucked it away, just as the appetizers appeared. “I got a scholarship from DOPPLER to—”
“What did you say?” She cut him off more harshly than she’d meant but recovered quickly. “I…I mean... What was that about DOPPLER?” In all her grief, she’d completely forgotten the confidential folder.
“DOPPLER? It’s a research group. They’re sponsoring my scholarship, so I’ll go work for them as an Army officer after I graduate.”
“What do they research?” she asked, trying not to sound as interested as she actually was.
“Weapons, mostly. Some psychological warfare, I think.” His face twisted in confusion as he picked up a piece of bread. “Actually, I’m not really sure. My dad said they do a lot of sleep studies. They didn’t give me a lot of information, and what they did say was pretty cryptic. They work with the military, so it’s all secret-squirrel, hush-hush.”
He took a massive bite, and Hailey nodded politely while he chewed.
“I saw that acronym recently,” she said, studying his reaction.
“Where at?” he asked through a mouthful of sourdough.
“It was on one of the police files…one of Holly’s files.”
“That’s weird,” he said after he swallowed, looking away with a curt chuckle.
“Do you know what it standsfor?”
“No. You really saw that on Holly’s file?” he asked, pulling his chin back, and then he shook his head. “I’ll ask my dad. He’s been working for them forever. I think that’s why I got the scholarship. Where are you going to school?” he asked.
For a moment, she wondered if he was changing the subject to throw her off, but he seemed genuinely interested.
“Alaska,” she said.
Tage nodded, still chewing, so she continued.
“I’m still not sure if I want to study nuclear or veterinary science, and they have both…uh…physics and biology.” Kind of. “It’s a small school, called Bear Towne.”
“Ah,” he said. “I heard you might be going there.”
“How?”
Hailey hadn’t told anybody aside from her uncles, and she doubted any of them were spreading the word around the high school.
Tage shifted in his seat.
Hailey watched him suspiciously.
“Honestly, Hailey, I don’t remember where I heard that.”
“But you’ve heard of Bear Towne?”
