Finding Carly (SEAL Team Hawaii #5)(37)

Carly didn’t want to let Jeremiah off the hook. But she couldn’t help but feel a little better that he’d actually owned up to the colossal mistake he’d made in not taking Shawn seriously. “He certainly did,” she said lamely.

“Yeah,” Jeremiah said a little guiltily.

“Yo! Let’s go, Jer!” one of the men he’d eaten with yelled from nearby.

Jeremiah waved at the man then turned back to Carly. “Maybe you can tell your watchdog to back off, now that I’ve apologized.”

“My watchdog?” Carly asked, one brow lifting.

“Yeah. I need my job, and if he stays on my case, my boss’ll fire me. If there’s anything he hates, it’s scandal. The country club has to be completely on the up and up.”

Carly had no idea who or what Jeremiah was talking about, but she pretended she did. “If you cooperate with him, then I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she bluffed.

Jeremiah stared at her for a long moment, and Carly did her best to stand her ground despite the look in his eyes. He wasn’t happy with her…and it showed.

“Whatever,” he finally spat. Then he spun and stalked away.

Carly watched him go, slowly letting out the breath she’d been holding.

“You all right?”

The feminine voice startled Carly so badly, she jumped. She turned and saw Vera standing at her side with a concerned look on her face.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay,” Carly said.

“Did he threaten you? Do I need to call the cops?” Vera asked. “Officer Brown is around here somewhere, doing the rounds, checking to make sure all is well. I can get him back here if you need him.”

“I’m good,” Carly reassured her friend. The encounter with Jeremiah was unsettling, but at the same time, she was proud of how she’d handled it…at least after she’d stopped hiding in the kitchen. Honolulu was the most populated city in Hawaii, but it was actually small in a lot of ways. It was inevitable that she’d run into more friends of Shawn’s. Gideon, Beau, Wes, Eddie…her ex knew a lot of people, and they were all well aware of what had happened.

It was likely most or all of them had heard Shawn ranting about her, about what a bitch she was. People heard stuff like that all the time, and no one ever thought it meant anything. Hadn’t she complained to Kenna a time or two about how annoying someone was? She didn’t think she’d ever wished someone else dead, or made a bogus threat about wiping them off the face of the earth, but she could see Shawn saying that sort of thing. And not caring who he said it to. So the fact that Jeremiah hadn’t believed her ex would actually try to kidnap her wasn’t exactly a surprise.

“Where is he?” Kenna asked as she came running out to the front of the restaurant. “Shit, I missed him, didn’t I? What’d he say? Are you all right?”

Carly was amazed to find herself smiling slightly. “He’s gone. And I’m fine.”

Kenna put her hands on Carly’s shoulders, narrowing her eyes as she studied her friend. “You are okay, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

Kenna smiled. “It feels good to stand up to bullies, doesn’t it?”

“It does. Although he wasn’t bullying me. He actually apologized.”

Kenna wrinkled her nose. “As if that lets him off the hook.”

“And he told me to call off my watchdog. Said he could get fired.”

“Who? Jag?”

Carly shook her head. “I don’t think so. I mean, it’s possible, but when he’s not at work, Jag’s with me.”

“Baker,” Kenna said with a grin.

“That’s who I thought too.”

“Good. Hope his ass does get fired. And with Baker on the case, he’ll figure this shit out eventually.”

“I hope so.”

“Come on, table thirteen’s food is ready. And we’ve only got thirty minutes left before our guys’ll be here to get us.”

Carly hooked her arm with Kenna’s and let herself be led back into the restaurant. If someone had told her she’d see Jeremiah at work today, Carly would’ve stayed home, too freaked out to confront any of Shawn’s friends. But now that she had, she felt stronger. She didn’t dread seeing other people he knew quite so much now. It wouldn’t be comfortable, but she suspected she could handle it.

A spark of the old Carly lit up within her, and she smiled. She was still nervous, still cautious, but making it through the first face-to-face contact with someone from Shawn’s life made her feel so much better. It didn’t hurt that she didn’t have to walk out to her car by herself and drive home. Knowing Jag was on his way to pick her up gave her the confidence to put the uncomfortable confrontation behind her. She’d get to see Jag…soon.





“How was work?” Jag asked once they were settled inside his Jetta and on their way to his apartment.

Carly had purposely not said anything about seeing Jeremiah until now. She didn’t want Jag to lose his mind and storm back into the restaurant. There was nothing he could do now, and going all SEAL on her friends and coworkers wouldn’t help anything.

“I saw Jeremiah,” Carly blurted.