"Face, watch! Face! Watch me!"
Face glanced up, away from his conversation with Jessica and toward her eleven-year-old son who was splashing in the water. "Watch!"
"I'm watching," he called out from the beach.
James took a breath, audible from fifteen feet away, and dove beneath the surface of the water. A moment later, his feet were flailing in the air. Then they fell again. Face waited for the boy to resurface before offering his congratulations. "Very nice, James."
"I can do it better! Watch!" Then he was gone again. This time, his sister grabbed his feet as soon as they came up. Flailing and splashing ensued, and Face smirked.
"They really like it when you come around," Jessica said softly. "It's all they've talked about for the past three days."
Sitting on the hard, wet sand, just at the point where the waves always reached, Face dug his toes into the cool ground. "Sorry it's been so long. Life's been really hectic lately."
"How so?"
He hesitated. Actually, if he was honest, life wasn't much more hectic now than it was any other time. Hannibal kept them running, one job to the next. They'd been to Mexico, Maine, Oregon, South Carolina, and South America in the last month – and that wasn't counting the three local jobs they'd taken. The only reason they weren't on another case right now – the north side, Nebraska, or Nicaragua, it didn't make much difference – was because BA had broken his hand on the jaw of a sex trade worker in Columbia who was prostituting eight-year-old girls. Hannibal had figured it was time to give them all a chance to cool off and ease down a bit. And he was right. They all needed a break. Badly.
"Hannibal's been on the jazz," Face answered simply and with a perfectly practiced smile. "No one rests until he's got it out of his system."
"Seems like that happens quite a lot."
Face sighed and took a drink from his can of Coke. She had no idea… "Yeah. It does."
She was quiet for a long moment, watching the children to make sure they didn't drown each other. They were certainly giving it their best effort. For several minutes, the silence was broken only by their playing, the occasional warning from Jessica, and the swishing of the waves.
Finally, she took in a deep, slow breath. "Cruiser called me today."
Face stopped mid-drink and turned to look at her. There was no indication that she was joking. "What did he want?"
"Doesn't matter," she said softly, finally cutting her eyes away. She was quiet for a few seconds, but Face didn't speak, letting her continue. If it didn't matter, why did she bring it up? "But he was asking about you."
That did matter, and she knew it. Maybe she didn't know why, but she wasn't stupid. "What did you tell him?"
She shrugged, stretching her legs out in the sand. It bunched around her feet. "Actually, I was kind of surprised that he knew."
"Knew what?"
"About you coming around."
She leaned back as she reached into her pocket and grabbed her cigarettes. Without thought, he reached for his lighter. The flame was ready for her by the time she set the cigarette between her lips. "Thank you."
He clinked the lighter closed again, and waited. She had more to say, he was sure of it. But for now, it was just a waiting game.
"Heather! Come back in! You're getting too far out!"
Face looked out into the ocean, and watched as Heather waded closer to the shore.
"I don't exactly talk about you to everybody," Jessica finally continued. She paused, then corrected. "To anybody."
"Probably wise."
She turned to him suddenly, and met the stare that she'd been avoiding. "Can I ask you a question?"
He hesitated. He had a feeling he knew what this question was going to be, and he wasn't the least bit interested in having this conversation. "Sure."
"Why do I feel like I'm protecting you from him?"
Face paused, and frowned. "You don't have to protect me," he finally said. "If Cruiser has something to say to me, he's free to say it."
"What happened between you two, Face?" she asked pointedly. "And what the hell does it have to do with Murdock?"
Face's eyes narrowed. "How did Murdock come into this conversation?"
"He was asking about him, too."
Face stared at her for along moment, then finally looked away. "It doesn't matter," he said quietly. He kept his gaze away from her, and the children, as he took another drink and shifted uncomfortably. "It was a long, long time ago."
