Back on Solid Ground (21 page)

“It looks
good, doesn’t it?” she said, looking from one end to the other.

“It looks
immaculate,” Eli clarified.

“Do you think
Niki and Jason will get back tonight?” Stacy asked.

“I don’t
know,” he said.  “I doubt it.  They can’t land in the dark.”

 Stacy forced
a smile.  “I’m beat, and I smell awful,” she said.  “I need a shower.” 

“Yeah.  Let’s
call it a day,” Eli said.

They were
walking back up to the house and Eli could tell Stacy was bummed.  He put his
arm around her shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll be home tomorrow,” Eli said
encouragingly.

Stacy smiled
and put her arm around his waist and squeezed his side.  She leaned her head
against him but brought it back up immediately.  “Ugh.  You smell worse than I
do!” she said, pushing Eli away. 

“Hey, I
resemble that comment!”

 They walked
together through the kitchen and to the bottom of the stairs.  “I’ll see you
back down here,” Eli said, heading up the stairs.  He turned around and added,
“Unless you want to come up here and shower with me.”

“Goodbye
Eli,” Stacy said, without looking back.

He watched
her walk down the hall, then climbed the stairs and went to his room. 
Stacy
Trent, you are something else.

The plane
landed just before dusk. 

“It always
feels good to get back here, no matter how long we’ve been gone,” Jason said. 
He got behind the wheel of the Land Rover and they headed to the villa. 

Niki’s mind
was on Stacy.  He couldn’t believe how much he had missed her and he couldn’t
wait to see her. 

They got to
the villa and Eli and Carlos met them at the door.  Carlos clasped his arms
around Niki and slapped him on the back, then he did the same to Jason.  “It’s
good to have you back,” he said.

Eli shook
Jason’s hand.  “You look like shit,” Eli said.

“No worse
than I feel,” said Jason.

Eli turned to
Niki and punched him hard in the arm.  “Hey asshole,” Eli said, smiling. 

Niki put an
arm around Eli’s neck and ground his knuckles into his head.  “It’s good to see
your ugly face,” he said.  Niki looked around, “Where is she?”

“In the
shower,” Eli said.  “She’s been cleaning the beach.  You look like you could
use a drink.”

Carlos showed
the pilot to a guestroom and met the others in the living room.  Niki had
poured himself a Crown on the rocks and was filling them in on the trip. 

“Evidently,
our client wasn’t behind the killing,” Niki said.  “Someone torched his house
before we could catch up with him.”

“Do you think
he was in it?” Carlos asked.

“No way to
tell – there was nothing left of it.  But I’d bet on it,” Niki added.  

“So what do
we do now?” Eli asked.

“I don’t
know.  We need to discuss our options,” Niki said.  He saw Stacy walk past in
the corridor heading towards the kitchen. 

“Stacy,” he
called.  She swung around and looked in through the doorway.

“Niki,” she
said quietly, “you’re back,” and she smiled with relief.

She walked
over to the bar and stopped several feet away from him, self-conscious and
unsure, and not knowing what to expect.  Niki’s eyes were locked on hers and
she got butterflies in her stomach. 

“Hey, Stacy,”
Jason said.

“Jason,” she
said, without taking her eyes off of Niki.  “How did it go?”

Niki set his
drink down and reached out for her. “Come over here,” he told her.  He pulled
her close and wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, and he could
feel the tension leaving his body.  Stacy wound her arms around his neck. 

“Excuse us,”
he told the others, and he picked her up and carried her out into the hall.  He
put her down and took her face in his hands and just looked at her.  “God, I
missed you,” he said.  He gave her a long, urgent kiss on the lips, then hugged
her again, burying his face in her neck and he just held her.  “You smell
good,” he said, then he moved back to her lips and kissed her again.

Stacy looked
up at Niki with tears in her eyes but a huge smile on her face. She touched him
softly on the cheek, then ran her hand through his hair. “I’m really glad to
see you.”   

“You look
beautiful,” Niki said, checking out her face. “You got even prettier while I
was gone.”

Stacy leaned
against Niki and put her arms around his waist.  Any question as to her
feelings for him had been answered loud and clear.  “I’m falling in love with
you.”

“Oh, Stacy,”
he said wearily, “I’m so far beyond that, I don’t even know what to call it.” 
He tilted her head up and kissed her lips, then he picked her up and carried
her back to his bedroom. 

Niki sat down
on his bed with Stacy on his lap, then he lay back, pulling her with him so
that she was lying on top of him.   He ran his fingers through her hair and
pulled her face down to his and kissed her, then he rolled her over onto the
bed and leaned over and kissed her again. 

Stacy
unbuttoned Niki’s shirt and ran her hands over the muscles on his chest.  She
was so emotionally overwhelmed that she didn’t realize she was crying. 

Niki wiped a
tear from the corner of her eye.  “Don’t cry, Stacy,” he said softly,  brushing
her hair back from her face.   

She smiled at
him and pulled him down to her and hugged him.  “Make love to me, Niki,” she
told him. When it was over, they lay tangled together in each other’s arms. 

Niki looked
at Stacy and smiled.  He traced her lips with his finger.  “I want to have kids
with you,” he said.

She smiled
and kissed him.  “Be careful what you wish for.”

They lay in
bed while Niki filled Stacy in on the trip, and what they had discovered, including
the fact that whoever beheaded the man from the bank was still unknown.  “We
need to sit down and discuss the best way to handle your situation,” Niki said.

“Later,”
Stacy said.  “I don’t want to deal with it tonight.”

“Neither do
I,” Niki said.  His eyelids were heavy and he closed his eyes.

“Have you
slept at all since you left?” Stacy asked.

“About an
hour on the plane,” he said, without opening his eyes. 

“I know
you’re starving.  Let me get you something to eat,” Stacy said, moving to get
up.

“No, don’t
leave,” he said, holding on to her. He kissed her neck. “I’ll go with you,” he
said, opening his eyes.  He dragged himself out of bed.  “Let me take a quick shower
first.”

Consuela had
prepared a huge meal in anticipation of the men’s return, and Carlos and Eli
were already in the kitchen waiting for the others when Stacy and Niki got
there.

“Where’s
Jason?” Niki asked.

“Showering,”
Eli said.  “You smell better,” he told Niki, then he leaned over to Stacy. “You
always smell good,” he said, sniffing her neck.  Stacy laughed and shoved him
away.

Niki went to
the intercom and called Jason, “Get your ass down here.  We’re all starving.” 

“I’m on my
way,” he said, then he came back on, “Someone get my plate ready.”

Stacy picked
up a plate and started loading food onto it, but Niki took it out of her hand. 
“Go sit down,” Niki said, “I’ll do that.”

She started
to protest, but Niki physically moved her away from the stove so she went to
the refrigerator instead.  “Does everyone want a beer?” she asked. Everyone
did, so she passed them around while the men got their plates ready, and Jason
came in just as everyone was sitting down.

“Hi, Stacy,”
Jason said, and Stacy got up and hugged him.

“Did you miss
me?” he asked.

“You know I
did.  What do you want to drink?”

“A beer, but
I’ll get it,” he said.  “I’m so hungry I could eat glass.”

When they
were all seated, Stacy raised her beer bottle and said, “I’d like to make a toast.
To the safe return of Niki and Jason.  And next time, take Eli with you,” she
added.

They all
laughed and drank to the toast.

Stacy caught
Carlos looking at her and she smiled at him, then she tapped her head and shook
her finger at him.  “I can tell now,” she said.  “I blocked you out, didn’t I?”

“Excellent!”
Carlos said.  He turned to Niki and Jason, “She can tell when I’m reading her
mind,” he said proudly.

“No kidding?”
Jason said.  He looked over at Stacy, “How?”

“I feel it,”
she said.

Carlos added,
“And now she’s learned to block me out.”

She smiled at
Carlos, “I can’t have you running around in my head learning all my secrets.” 
She looked over at Niki and he smiled.

“I think you
should become my apprentice,” Carlos suggested.

“And what
might that entail?” she asked.

“Oh, I don’t
know,” he said, “spending a great deal of time with me.” He winked at Stacy and
waited for Niki’s response.

“That’s not
gonna work,” Niki said, without looking up, and Carlos and Stacy laughed.

Stacy looked
over at Niki.  “Eli said you have diving equipment.  Can we go tomorrow?”

“You dive?”
Niki asked, surprised.

“It’s been a
couple of years, but I used to a lot,” she said.

“Do you have
a dog?” he asked, and Jason laughed out loud.

“No,” she
said, confused. “What does one have to do with the other?”

“Nothing,”
Niki said.  “I just wanted to know.”

Stacy looked
over at Jason and he shrugged his shoulders then she went back to Niki.  “So you
want to go diving tomorrow?”

“I would love
to go diving with you,” Niki said.  “We need to get you a wet suit though. 
Consuela might know where one is.”

“Don’t send
me to ask her,” said Eli.  “She doesn’t like me any more.”

“What are you
talking about, you’re Consuela’s favorite,” Niki said. “She loves you.”

“Not any
more. Stacy turned her against me,” Eli said, and Niki laughed. 

“I didn’t say
anything!” Stacy said, defending herself.  “Come on Carlos, take up for me.”

“Eli made
Stacy cry this afternoon and Consuela lit into him,” Carlos explained.

“
Our
Consuela?” Niki said.

“Yes.  Apparently,
our
Consuela is not as unassuming as she used to be, no doubt due to
someone’s
influence,” Carlos said, motioning his head toward Stacy. 

“Why’d you
make my girlfriend cry?” Niki asked.  “I ought to kick your ass.”

“Oh, is it
official then?” Eli said.  “She’s your girlfriend now?”

“Yeah, for
now,” Niki said.  “But I’m gonna get her pregnant so she’ll have to marry me.”

Stacy choked
on a swallow of beer and went into a coughing attack.  She got up and went to
the sink and Niki followed her.

“You okay?” Niki
asked, patting her on the back. 

“I swallowed
wrong,” she said.  When she finally stopped coughing she thumped him in the
chest.  “Don’t tell them shit like that!”

He moved in
close to her and leveled his eyes on hers.  “It’s true,” he said.  

Stacy wanted
to march him right back to the bedroom and prove him right, but instead she
turned him around and directed him back to the table.

“Where were
we?” Stacy asked.

“You getting
pregnant,” Eli said.

“Before
that,” she said, irritated.  “Oh, I know . . . a wetsuit.”

“We might
have one in the junk room,” Niki said.

The group sat
at the table for an hour after they finished eating, talking and catching up on
what had gone on during Niki and Jason’s absence. 

Finally, Niki
leaned over on Stacy’s shoulder, “Let’s go to bed,” he said. 

She ran her
hand through his hair.  “I’ll help clean up in here and I’ll meet you back
there.”

Niki stood up
and pulled Stacy’s chair out from the table.  “No way.  You’re coming with me,”
he said, and they walked hand in hand back to his bedroom. 

They lay down
together and Niki pulled Stacy close to him and he was out within minutes. 
Stacy had her head on Niki’s chest and she could hear his heart beating and
feel his steady breathing.  She was thinking that a week ago, she didn’t even
know this man; and here she was, if not in love, in ridiculously serious like. 
And the last thing that went through her mind before she fell asleep was that
nothing ever felt so right.

Stacy and
Niki woke up early and had coffee in the round room then they went in search of
a wetsuit.  Stacy led Niki upstairs and she went straight to the junk room. 

“I won’t even
ask how you knew where to find this room,” Niki said, rolling his eyes.  “You
probably know the house better than I do.”

There were
several wetsuits hanging in the closet and Niki pulled out the smallest.  

“This should
fit you,” he said, holding it up next to Stacy.

They went
back upstairs and got their gear on and headed toward the beach. 

“We’ll take
the fishing boat over to the cliff side of the island,” Niki said.  “It’s a
great place to dive.” He checked out Stacy in her wetsuit.  “You look really hot,”
he said, and he pulled her to him and kissed her. 

They circled
around the south crescent of the island and anchored the little boat on the
western side of the island along the cliffs. 

“We don’t
have to go too deep over here to see some incredible marine life,” Niki said. 
“Once you feel comfortable with it, we’ll go down and explore the caves, but
that’s 90 feet starting out,” he said.

“No, I’m not
ready for that yet,” Stacy said.

“If you need
anything while we’re down there, motion to me,” Niki instructed.

“Okay,” she
said.  “Give me a kiss.”  Niki kissed her before she put her mask on.  They got
their tanks on and she waved to him then fell backward off the boat into the
water. 

They dove for
thirty minutes and Niki motioned for them to go up.  “What do you think?” he
asked.