"You know, if you ever want to leave me and get a job in Boston closer to Cathy and the kids, it will be okay with me." She was lying. It wouldn't be okay. They'd been together too long. As children they'd had the usual sibling rivalries, but that had passed, and they'd grown closer and closer over the years. From the time she had brought him on board on her first independent job, he had been her anchor and her friend as well as her brother. She'd be miserably lonely without him.

He grinned mischievously. "I'd consider it, but I'd hate to wreck your career. We both know I'm the only one who'd put up with you. One of my biggest career assets is my ability to smooth down all the assholes you refuse to tolerate. What I lack in brains I make up for in social skills. That's why we're such a good team."

She opened her mouth to defend herself, then closed it again. "Come on, we're supposed to meet Bradworth at the bed-and-breakfast in an hour." She turned away and started back up the pier. "But you're right, I certainly don't know what I'd do without you."

"My, my, sensitivity again? I was expecting you to give me a verbal knockout punch. What's gotten into you?"

She smiled at him over her shoulder. "Maybe you're rubbing off on me. Next, I'll be comparing that damn sub to a sunset or a tropical flower." She glanced at the submarine lying still and dark in the water like a sleek shark waiting to attack its prey. Another chill went through her, and she quickly looked away. "But somehow I don't think so."

Bradworth rocked slowly back and forth in the rocking chair on the porch of Richardson's Bed-and-Breakfast, his gaze on the glimpse of sea he could see in the distance. It was nice here, he thought wistfully. Quiet, pleasant, ocean views that made him remember the house near Myrtle Beach where he'd grown up.

Jesus, he must be getting old if he was already starting to think of the good old days.