“I love you, too,” she said when he released her.
“Good,” he said with a smile. “You can tell me how much next time I see you.”
He could tell she wanted to ask, but bit her lip to stop herself. That she understood how it worked—that he wouldn’t be able to tell her about what he did—was going to make things a hell of a lot easier.
He answered the unspoken question as much as he could. “Soon, sweetheart. As soon as I can.”
“How will you find me?”
He grinned. “Trade secrets.”
He reached for his backpack, glad that it was waterproof. The short swim to shore was going to be mostly underwater. The dive boat and police would be able to see them soon.
“You can’t get back in that water. Just take the boat. I can handle the cold with this wet suit.”
He shook his head. “There will be police all over the area soon. I would never be able to get away in the boat. But there are a bunch of sea caves along the shore. I’ll find one and stay there until they stop looking. Tell them I died—and be convincing. It will slow them down.”
She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Be careful. You must be close to hypothermia already.”
He was, but she didn’t need to know that. A fire would be too risky, even in one of those caves, but getting out of these wet clothes would help.
“I have to go,” he said.
“I know.”
He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss before diving in the water. He wanted to surface and tell her he loved her again, but he’d already stayed too long. He couldn’t risk the police seeing him.
But he intended to tell her again very soon. He wasn’t going to take any chances that she might reconsider waiting for him. For however long that might be.
God knew it wasn’t great timing—and he was going to do everything he could to help the LC figure out what the hell had happened so they could come out of hiding—but he’d met the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. For the first time since the missile had exploded in front of him, Dean felt hope for the future.
Thirty-six
It had been a long day of travel. Annie was exhausted as she walked down the stairs of the small regional plane—she didn’t think she would ever get used to flying in a bathtub—and crossed the tarmac to the terminal. She was surprised by how good it felt to be back in Scotland.
It didn’t feel like Oz anymore. Actually she’d begun to think that it might feel like home. For a while anyway.
She tried not to worry about Dean, and wonder where he was and whether he was all right. He would find her when he could.
She had to get on with her own life, and she was beginning to think that might be here.
Her mother hadn’t been happy when Annie told her that she was returning to Scotland, but her stepfather’s reminder that she could take the plane anytime she wanted had calmed her down a bit.
“No more boarding ships out at sea,” Alice had made her promise.
After everything that had happened, that would be an easy promise to keep. But Annie’s goal had not changed, and she’d taken up Martin’s offer to return to Lewis after her visit home to continue the pressure on the oil company not to proceed with drilling in the fields so close to the Isles.
After everything that had gone down with Sofie/Greta at theStassawreck, Annie knew that Martin felt bad—he’d been just as taken in by her as the rest of them—but she knew it wasn’t just guilt that motivated him. The TV interviews Annie had done had helped raise public consciousness enough for the Islanders to start asking questions. Lots of questions. Martin thought they had a real chance of getting the oil company to delay drilling. It would be a huge victory—even if just a temporary one.
So for the next few weeks she’d agreed to participate in the discussions. And after that?
She’d been in touch with a local university here in the Isles that had some interesting marine research projects going on in Orkney and Shetland, including one with mussels that seemed right up her alley. It wasn’t flashy, but it would enable her to continue her work and ensure that oil companies operated safely and responsibly. She would be doing something important and making a difference, just as she’d wanted to. The fact that the islands were remote and secluded—where people wouldn’t be looking for a missing SEAL—made them all the more appealing.
Annie stood at the luggage turnstile, waiting for her bag to come off. The first glimpse of that horrible bright pink made her heart squeeze.
She missed him.
Soon,he’d promised. She had to be patient. But it wasn’t easy. They had so much to talk about.
