It was a good thing none of them knew what he did now.His mother’s hair would turn white for sure.
“You think I’m a bad person,” Mac commented, looking worried.He must have been quiet for too long, and she’d misinterpreted his silence.
“No, I was just thinking I’ve had similar experience.”
“Your family doesn’t support you doing…this sort of thing.”She waved her hand in front her, being respectful not to say special ops.
“They don’t know.”
“Oh.”Her lips formed a perfect ‘O’ before her eyebrows puckered in confusion.“How do you have a similar experience then?”
“When I joined the service.Not everyone liked me going into dangerous areas to protect people I didn’t know against a tyrant I’ve never met.They didn’t feel it was my fight.”
“Stopping a bully is everyone’s fight.”
Barry agreed.He could never stand idle while someone was being beaten down just because it wasn’t his fight.“Well, when I lost my arm, there were a few ‘I told you so’ looks.”
“That’s horrible,” Mac responded, looking affronted on his behalf.“Even when I got bit by a shark, my family never blamed me for it said that’s what you get for swimming with them.”
Barry chuckled at how fierce Mac was becoming on his behalf.His team was the same way, but not many women of his acquaintance ever got defensive for him.Most of his teammates had girlfriends, and none had ever asked about his arm before.They just accepted what it was, but none had ever asked how any of them got their injuries.
He didn’t think it wasn’t because they didn’t care; it was just accepted it for what it was and moved on from.Even the dates he’d went on, women avoided bringing up his arm as if it were taboo or would bring up painful memories.
Some soldiers were sensitive about their scars, but he had long ago accepted them.Emma’s ingenuity vastly helped, virtually giving him his arm back.
“And yet you avoid them.”
“Because they don’t understand my passion for my career.They think I should be in the States working some boring desk job.That sharks should just be a passion and not a career.”
“Aren’t there a lot of shark researchers?”Barry didn’t have a clue about that, but he knew Mac wasn’t the only one.
“Not a lot, but quite a few.Not all biologists specialize in sharks.”
“You mean they prefer to swim with things not trying to eat them?Kidding,” Barry added with a chuckle when Mac scowled at him before she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
Her gaze drifted toward to the street, and she started tugging on his arm insistently.“There he is.”Mac pointed across the street.
Barry grabbed her hand and pulled it down to her side.“First rule in following: don’t point at them.It makes you obvious.Two: keep your voice down, and don’t yell out ‘there he is.’”
“Sorry,” Mac replied softly.
Barry turned his head in the direction she had pointed.Miles was getting out of his car as a black car parked behind him along the side of the road.The two bodyguards Barry had seen at the hotel got out and started following Miles a few feet behind him.
“Let’s go.”Barry pulled Mac along with him on their side of the street.He didn’t want to cross until he had to.When most people suspected they were being followed, they looked behind them, not to the sides.
Mac kept an easy pace with him, but she was being obvious in her watch of Miles.
“Stare ahead and try to use your peripheral vison to track him,” Barry instructed.“Stay close to doorways and alleys to make a quick exit and use other people as a block.”
“Got it.This is kind of fun.”She chuckled.
“It’s also very dangerous if caught.”She may think it was fun and games now, but it was a serious matter.If Miles knew they were following him, they could end up dead.Or at the very least, he could attempt to kill them.
Barry had no doubt of his skills and his ability to take on these men.They were hired thugs who looked tough but probably didn’t have much skill.They used their looks and guns as intimidation.
“Sorry,” Mac said, sounding chastened.
It wasn’t her fault she was excited about her first stake-out.He welcomed her enthusiasm; he just wanted her to realize the gravity of what they were doing.“You have nothing to be sorry for.We just need to stay focused.”
