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Danny sighed. “It’s been years. I don’t expect any of them will remember something that didn’t impact them significantly. To them, it was a happy night, celebrating their victory and being tabbed a Ranger.” It had started that way for her, too, but had ended terribly differently.
“I spoke to Pruitt at the marina,” Jacques said.
His words brought her back to the present. She blinked and focused on the man across the table, not the tragic end to her Army career. “And?”
“When I gave him the names of your classmates, he didn’t recall any but one, Thacker. He only remembered because Thacker raised such a ruckus that night. He was so drunk, he was singing at the top of his lungs as his teammates carried him in.”
Danny’s lips twisted. “Sounds like something Thacker would’ve done. I remember he was always loud and often obnoxious.”
“Someone in the barracks filed a noise complaint,” Jacques continued. “Pruitt left his post to deal with it. He said he documented the incident and that it was on record. I passed that information to Swede to dig in and find that note for the date and timestamp.”
“Thanks for pursuing this,” Danny said. “I’ll help however I can.”
They finished the food on the trays and the last of the wine, then worked together in the tiny kitchenette to clean and put away their dishes.
“I’m not going to convince you to take the bed, am I?” he asked.
She shook her head.
Jacques disappeared into the bedroom and came out again with a pillow and the blanket she’d suspected had been on his bed.
When he held them out to her, she put her hands behind her back and refused to take them.
She raised her eyebrows and held his gaze. “Those were on your bed, weren’t they?”
“Yes, but I have sheets. I don’t need a blanket and rarely use the pillow.”
“Liar.” Her gaze held.
His lips curled upward. “Only when it matters. Since you insist on sleeping out here, the least I can do is make it more comfortable for you.” He set the blanket and the pillow on the sofa. “I won’t take them back. If you don’t use them, toss them on the floor.” He straightened. “Now, I’m going for a shower. You can have the bathroom again when I’m out.”
He disappeared into his bedroom, leaving the bedroom door open but closing the bathroom door mostly, but not all the way.
Danny heard the shower spray and tried not to think about Jacques standing naked beneath it, water coursing over his muscular body.
Her pulse fluttered and an ache of longing built deep inside.
She missed easy intimacy. Missed being held and not being afraid. She lifted the blanket from the sofa and held it to her chest, inhaling the scent of Jacques’s aftershave. It only made the ache more potent.
Danny spread the blanket out on the sofa and laid the pillow at one end. Then she sat and stared at the wall, wondering if she’d ever feel normal again.
At least with Jacques, she felt a little safer. Like he and Remy had said, someone had her back.
The shower stopped, and the suite grew quiet.
Still, Danny stared at the wall, not knowing what would happen next and what she could do to be ready.
“Hey,” Jacques’s voice sounded beside her.
She jumped.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No.” She pressed a hand to her chest to calm her wildly beating heart. “It’s okay. I didn’t hear you come into the room.”
“Are you going to be all right out here?” he asked. “I’m leaving my door open so that I can listen for sounds. If you need me, all you have to do is call out.”
She nodded and pulled the blanket around her.
