“No, and never have been. No children either. I own my house, have a very nice four-wheel drive and a penchant for camping.”
“Family?” There was laughter in her tone.
“Three sisters, all living over east, but who I call each week. Parents are over there too, and I speak to both every Sunday.” He flicked to the camera, took a selfie and sent it to her. “Photo on its way.”
“Any police record?”
“All misunderstandings with the law are sealed behind a juvenile record, or I talked my way out of them.”
Her phone dinged as the photo arrived. “Nice photo. I think I like you,” Ceiveon said.
“I know I like you,” Sam replied. “If you hadn’t dared Penelope to come up here, I never would have met her.”
“She told you that?”
“Yeah.”
“Did she tell you the reason?” Her tone sobered.
“Not immediately, but we went diving today.”
A gasp. “Was she all right?”
“She is now, but I took care of her. She told me about Emelia.”
“I need to speak to her.”
Sam respected the worry in her voice. He handed the phone back to Penelope. She scowled at him. “Tell tale.” Then she put the phone to her ear. “I’m fine, Five.”
He went into the kitchen and put the kettle on while Penelope spoke with her best friend, her voice lowered, but he still caught some words. “I’m fine, but I couldn’t get past the buddy checks. I didn’t get far under water before I couldn’t get further. Sam understood. He took me back to the boat, and he dived with a friend.
“I will. I’ll go out again when there’s no rush,” she said. “Yes, I’ll take someone with me.”
“I’ll go with you,” Sam said.
She smiled her thanks. “Sam said he’ll go with me.” She sighed. “Yes, hang on.” She held out the phone to him. “She wants to speak with you.”
He took the phone and said, “I won’t push her, but I’ll take excellent care of her.”
“You’d better, otherwise I’ll have to come up there. I don’t care if you’re military trained, I’ll get the drop on you.”
He loved that Penelope had someone so protective of her. “I hope you’ll come and visit anyway. Penelope would love to have you.”
“Travelling with a newborn who has decided she doesn’t need to sleep is not my idea of fun, but I’m trying to get there.” In the background a baby started crying. Ceiveon sighed. “Just so you know, my husband is in the police force and I’m going to get him to do a background check on you.” A male voice said something Sam couldn’t quite catch. “Tell Penelope I’ll call her later.” She hung up.
Sam gave the phone to Penelope. “Is her husband really a police officer?”
Penelope groaned. “Yes, but he doesn’t do background checks on her order.”
He laughed. “It’s her go-to threat, isn’t it?”
She nodded.
“I like her style.”
“Her third degree didn’t bother you?”
“No, it was sweet. I’m glad you’ve got someone looking out for you.”
