Page 24 of Cooper
He laughs. “I’ll bet. Heading home or gonna let those ribs heal soaking up some Hawaiian sun?”
I hesitate. “I was thinking of going to Limaj for a few weeks since I can’t get back on active duty anyway.”
He arches a brow. “Limaj? What’s in Limaj? This about a woman?”
“It might be.”
We grin at each other.
“She know you’re a toothless wonder now?”
“She does. And it appears she still likes me.”
“You might want to keep that one.”
“She’s in the Limaji military and probably even more married to her job than I am.”
He pauses. “She one of those Royal Protectors I keep hearing about?”
Though the Royal Protectors aren’t a secret, per se, they try to keep information about themselves minimal. “I’m not supposed to talk about that, but since you know who they are, I assume you can keep anything we talk about to yourself.”
“They’re like the SEALs and Army Rangers all rolled into one, so I’m pretty curious about this woman.”
“You ever meet Lennox Briggs?”
“Oh, yeah. One of the most badass women I ever had the honor of crossing paths with.” He pauses. “Issheone of them?”
“Yup.”
“Damn. I thought she’d just married into that family. Didn’t realize she was a Royal Protector too.”
“That’s how they want it, you know? Which brings us full circle. How do you give up a job like that to come to Hawaii and be a military wife for a guy who’s undoubtedly going to be deployed again.”
Grim nods slowly, his face thoughtful. “You probably don’t. Unless…”
“Unless?” I prompted.
“Unless you move over to NSA and find some European post that’s close to her.”
I knit my brows together suspiciously. “You been talking to Louie?”
“Maybe.” He leans against the wall, his large frame taking up a good part of the small room. “Look, I thought I would be in the military for life, but things change, so there are times when it’s okay to move on. The government’s offerings of alphabet soup are plentiful. CIA, NSA, FBI, it’s endless. And if one of those allows you to get the girl too, it’s got to be win-win.”
“I don’t know if we’re there yet.”
“Then this is the perfect time to find out.”
“Yeah, well, the doctors aren’t releasing me, and I keep getting the runaround about what’s next.”
“Let me talk to a few people. Maybe I can find something out through back channels.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Any time.” He grins and heads out.
* * *
I thinkabout my conversation with Grim the rest of the day and as I toss and turn most of the night. I want to sleep, and I doze on and off, but it’s hard to relax with the hustle and bustle of the hospital. Even in the middle of the night. I slept the night Natalia was with me, but I’ve been out of sorts without her, and it isn’t like me. Normally, I can sleep anywhere, for any reason. But since she left, I’ve been off-kilter. Something is wrong and I can’t put my finger on it.