She adjusted her footing. “He worsens.”
Silence in the room made the rain outside ticking against the windows sound louder. Cal stepped forward and uncapped a marker as he put a double box around Will’s name.
Wyatt crossed his arms. “He’ll get nervous soon.”
“Why?” Letty asked.
“Because you’re still standing.”
CHAPTER NINE
LETTY
Back at the safe house, the storm rolled in just after sunset, not a hurricane, not even close. A fast-moving coastal squall that swept across Tidehaven with low thunder and sheets of warm rain that rattled against the safe house windows. Letty stood near the dining table, the glow of her laptop lighting her face while the wind pressed against the shutters.
The power flickered once, twice. She didn’t look up. Behind her, something sizzled.
Wyatt swore under his breath in the kitchen.
“Language,” she called absently.
“You’re not my commanding officer,” he replied.
“No, but I’m still correct.”
He grunted something unintelligible as the lights flickered again.
Letty zoomed in on one of the marina photos again. The smaller boat alongside the Palmetto Royale. She stared at the shadowed figure near the lower deck railing Her fingers moved instinctively across the keyboard, adjusting brightness, contrast, and angle in a quiet attempt to force the pixels to reveal something they had missed.
“You’ve looked at that twenty times,” Wyatt said from behind her.
“Twenty-three,” she corrected.
“You’re not going to find a confession in the pixels.”
“I might find a mistake.”
He stepped closer, setting a plate down beside her laptop. The smell hit her first: garlic, butter, something roasted. She blinked and finally looked up. “You cooked?”
“I can cook,” he said defensively.
“I didn’t say you couldn’t.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I absolutely was not.”
He crossed his arms. “You were.”
She smiled at him as he tried not to smile back.
The storm cracked overhead, thunder rolling across the marsh. The lights flickered again as Letty closed her laptop this time. “Fine, temporary pause.”
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said all day.”
She moved her computer to the side. She looked over the meal and saw something green she suspected he didn’t actually like but had included for her. She took a bite. “You do realize this is extremely domestic.”
His fork paused in midair. “Don’t start.”
