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say to a daughter who had nearly been raped, with whom he had rarely held a conversation in two years…whose eyes looked just like Maria’s and whose nose was his own. The truth, Atticus decided.
    He opened his mouth to speak, but it was Giona’s voice that broke the silence. “I know about Ann Arbor. I know we’re moving.”
    Atticus stared are her, mouth still hanging open. She answered the next obvious question.
    “I’m Generation Y, Daddy. You’re generation…old. I grew up with a computer, and you don’t cover your tracks well. Ever heard of deleting your history? Clearing the recently viewed documents list? I thought you Navy SEALs were supposed to be stealthy.”
    “There’s a big difference between an M-16 and Windows XP.” Atticus put the SUV in drive and pulled out onto the road. He was impressed that Giona had discovered their moving plans, but she was right. He was getting old, slow, and sloppy…not physically…but he feared the mind was dulling. He sometimes missed his exploits with the SEALs, risking his life, serving his country…firing a gun. Maria had changed all that in him, gave him something deeper to believe in—a wife, a daughter.
    He’d been pacified and domesticated. He didn’t resent the change, not for a moment, but he did miss the rush of an underwater insertion, how alive he felt when bullets were seeking him out but not finding their mark. It had been his life for ten years.
    “Uncle is excited we’re moving. He—”
    “You talked to my brother about it, but not to me?”
    Giona’s faced flush with guilt. “Well, you obviously didn’t want to talk to me about it either. You could have asked my opinion. We could have planned it together.”
    “We hardly do anything together.” Atticus’s voice was rising. He took a breath and spoke more softly. “Look. I’m doing this for us. I have a job at the Detroit Zoo, caring for the seals. I won’t be gone for months out of the year. We can spend more time together—fix what’s been broken between us. Okay?”
    Giona nodded quick, little agreeing nods. “Okay…When are we moving?”
    “You mean you don’t know?”
    Giona smiled. “I can read a hard drive, but not your mind.”
    “Three days.”
    “Wow …”
    “Yup.”
    “Nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh?”
    “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
    A pause filled Atticus with a surge of anxiety. Had he just undone the bond newly forged between them? Giona’s next words erased his fears.
    “You’re going to miss the ocean.”
    Atticus nodded, relieved and surprised that her reaction to the news was concern for him. “Yup.”
    Giona looked out the windshield, paying attention for the first time. They’d just pulled into Rye harbor.
    “We’re going to say good-bye,” Atticus said. “Look in the back.”
    As he parked the car in the dirt parking lot and gave Pete the attendant a friendly “hello” and a five dollar bill, Giona looked in the back of the Explorer. Two sets of dive gear were there. Wet suits, oxygen tanks, everything. “We’re going diving?”
    “We’re going on the dive.”
    Giona’s eyes flashed with excitement. It had been Giona’s dream to dive with whales. She’d said it would be the closest thing to a supernatural encounter a human could experience. That was a few years ago, before Maria died, but he was sure she still felt the same. The look on her face confirmed it.
    “There’s been a lot of humpback activity in the area. They’re migrating north right now.”
    Giona kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, Daddy.”
    “Suddenly we’re best friends,” Atticus said with a smirk. He loved making his daughter happy. He hoped he could continue to do so in Ann Arbor. They’d be with family, and he’d be around a lot more. He would certainly miss the ocean, but he could already feel his life changing for the better.
    “Listen, I know you’re a good diver,” he said, “but you’ve never dived with whales.