Page 73 of Building Courage

“Great!” Martin exclaimed. “Are you going to take your camera?”

“Of course. It has to be a part of my routine for the shoot in Australia.”

“You’re going to do great.” He pointed his finger at Tucker. “Keep her safe.”

“I will, but she’s developing her skills really well.”

His confidence in her gave her a boost.

“I have to go. I’m still packing a few things, then we’ll be on our way.” He did his model walk to the door. “It’s nice to have met you, Tucker.”

“Same to you.”

As soon as the door shut behind Martin, Tucker turned to her. “He’s quite a character.”

“He is. His heart’s in the right place, and he’s been there for me ever since I arrived in San Diego.”

“I’m glad you had him as a support system. Come home with me. We’ll leave early in the morning for our dive and spend the day together.”

She knew what he was saying. They had to spend as much time together when he was here in case he got called up again. “I’ll need to pack some things, and I’ll have to take my computer and some camera equipment. I have some work I have to finish tomorrow for Thursday.”

“I’ll act as your assistant and load your equipment. Bring your strobe and all that, and you can practice with it.”

“Okay.”

It was while Tucker was taking her photography equipment down to her car that she remembered taking pictures of the cruiser just before their first dive. The boat had been behind them a short distance away, but she might be able to do something with the images. She had software she could use to increase the pixels. She’d work on that tomorrow while she did a few other projects.

A niggling worry stayed in the back of her mind for Ahmad, but neither of them could do anything for him until they had proof a crime had been committed.

She paused in packing her overnight bag to call Jessica.

She answered on the first ring. “Hey, how did the date go?”

“It was really nice. I met one of Tucker’s team members and his girlfriend. It was fun. Do you remember the young man we met on the cruise ship, Ahmad?”

“Yes.”

She didn’t want to say Ahmad had been at the apartment. It seemed too much like stalking. “We ran into Ahmad, the steward on the cruise ship, after our date. Long story short, he warned me if that Tim guy showed up around the apartment building or anything, I should give him a wide berth. He said he thinks he’s into something shady. He wanted me to warn you, too.”

“Wow. Something major must have happened for him to be on red alert about the guy.”

“Yes. Anyway. I won’t be home tonight. I’m going to be at Tucker’s.”

“Double wow…in a good way.”

“Yeah.” She could feel her face flushing. This sharing with a friend was new to her.

“I’d say stay safe, but you have a Navy SEAL in your bed to protect you.”

“I didn’t tell you that.”

“I knew the moment I saw him standing outside the apartment building about to push your button. He looked like he’d walked through hell and survived. And he smelled like a forest. That’s why I brought him up with me.”

Jess was a quick study. “I appreciate you doing that. He’d just gotten back from a short deployment and learned one of his friends had been killed.”

Jess fell silent a moment. “The petty officer in the news?”

“Yeah.”