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"You don’t need to pronounce it," Ty said "Apparently the Stantons own the entire fucking island"

Zane shook his head "Private jet, private island, private security force I’runted, and a sense of unease fluttered through hiain "I wish I’d been able to talk to hi to be pissed that I don’t knowon"

Zane huan to chuckle "Maybe this date he’s bringing will make him behave"

"Or at least keep hiht sight of Nick owith Nick

"Doc!" he cried, and wrapped Kelly up in a hug when they got closer "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You said to bring a date and a gun," Nick said with a crooked shed and stepped in to give Nick a hug as well Zane shook both their hands "Hoas your flight?"

"Flight was good Security was rough," Kelly said

Ty frowned If Nick and Kelly hadn’t been able to bring their weapons along, their trip had been for naught "They give you shit about your gear?"

Nick shook his head

"No, no, no," Kelly said before Nick could answer "The guns and knives and fucking night vision goggles or whatever he has in there, those perh"

Zane began to laugh despite obviously trying not to "Why not?"

"The way the new ht?" Nick said, raising his arhsharp inme to ean to laugh "They ot whistled at"

"By you!" Nick shouted

Kelly laughed harder Nick rolled his eyes as Ty and Zane snickered

"Anyway," Nick said "How long a drive do we have to this place?"

Ty slung his arm around Nick’s shoulders "Couple hours You feel like driving it?"

"I’d rather me do it than you"

Ty snickered, and Kelly jabbed his elbow into Zane’s ribs "Never let hi"

"Okay?" Zane said with a raised eyebrow at Ty

Ty shrugged and winked at hie conveyors to retrieve their suitcases, and Ty slid closer to Zane "They’re right, never let rin was a warht Doc instead of a real date"

"The thought of a week at a wedding with a real date probably flat gave hiave Zane a spontaneous squeeze around the waist

They gathered their luggage, and Nick and Kelly joined theo to the counter and handle the rental because he knew Nick’s luck TheHe’d been Sidewinder’s "acquisitions specialist," and he’d been daood at it But even beyond skill came luck, and Nick had that in spades

They’d booked a corade" to a brand new Audi A4 and the counter girl’s phone number He handed the number to Kelly and the receipt to Ty, then waved the keys as he headed for the door to the parking lot

"How the hell does he do that?" Zane asked Kelly e

Ty and Kelly both fell asleep in the back of the sedan as Nick made the three-hour drive to the little tohere they were to catch a very private boat to the Stantons’ very private island Ty henever they took an especially sharp curve or slowed for a trekking biker, and each ti cohter roused hih their deployht hours Ty knew he’d been sent to Maryland to deliver a ence because Ty had specifically chosen him for the mission When he’d returned, Nick had told hiht a letter back with him, the only co those sixin Scotland, Zane and Nick had coht even call them friends The level of relief he felt at that was astronoiven their rocky start

The next ti his lap as a pillow, and they were h a tiny, crowded coastal town Ty stretched and patted Kelly’s chest as he peered out theThe quaint shops seemed to lean toward the side of the road calad Nick was driving because the roads in the UK made hireat expanse of deep blue water beyond In the far distance, the tops of gently rolling mountains were visible

The Stantons’ private island was somewhere out there in the wilds of the Inner Hebrides, two hours away It didn’t have a name on thespot and turned the car off They all cli Nick rolled his neck and Kelly took hold of his shoulders,the deployed without Sanchez, without Kelly Seeing Kelly and Nick together was like a balathered their luggage and begantheir way to the private dock tucked into the picturesque seaside near the larger ferry landing Kelly and Nick pulled ahead of them, heads bowed as they talked

Zane took Ty’s ar on with them?"

"What do you hed "Nick and Kelly have always been like that Either one of them would cuddle you if they had the chance"

Ty picked up the pace again to catch up with their companions Zane trailed behind for a few steps

"Huh," Zane finally said

When Zane cli desperately to shine through the afternoon cloud cover The dock see dirt pathway that supposedly led up to the mansion that inhabited the small island There were patches of snow in the shade, and the as frigid The crew began to unload es from the boat, and two men piled them into a small electric vehicle