Fatal Tide (10 page)

“Come back here. I need to get away for a while.”

“You sound uptight. Things not going well?”

“Why shouldn’t they? It’s such a bright, beautiful world filled with kind, caring people. It’s enough to make a man weep with joy.”

Nicholas gave a low whistle. “I’ll be back in an hour. Is that soon enough?”

“It will have to be.” Kelby hung up, left the house, and strode down to the pier. Nicholas couldn’t get here soon enough for him. He was filled with pity, anger, and frustration and was ready to explode. He needed to get out on the water, tear through the waves, and have the wind blow some of this damn emotion away.

If he couldn’t control it, he had to get away from it.

Swim toward the arches. . . .

No, that wouldn’t work. He mustn’t identify Melis with Marinth. She was the key, not the objective.

So sit down on the pier and wait for Nicholas.

And try not to think of a little golden-haired girl in an organdy dress.

“I know you don’t understand,” Melis whispered as she looked down at Pete and Susie in the pens. They were definitely unhappy. The dolphins hated the enclosures that Cal had helped build near the lanai a few days ago. “I wish I could explain it to you.”

“Can’t you?” Kelby said from behind her.

She looked up to see him coming toward her. He’d been gone all day, but he’d evidently just showered, because his hair was wet. He was barefoot, without a shirt, and he looked slightly rakish. “What do you mean?”

“I was beginning to think you could talk to them. There’s definitely a bond.”

She shook her head. “Though sometimes I feel as if they can read my mind. Maybe they can. Dolphins are strange creatures. The more I learn about them, the more I find I don’t know.” She glanced at him. “Did you get the ice-making machine?”

“They’re installing it in the jet now.” He grimaced. “The pilot was a little confused about the necessity of it. I had to convince him we weren’t planning a giant margarita party.”

“We have to keep the guys cool in the tank. It’s absolutely necessary. Cool and wet and supported.”

“Support. That’s why you’re going to keep the dolphins in those foam-lined slings?”

She nodded. “Dolphins’ bodies are built for the buoyancy of water. When you take them out of the water, their own body weight presses down on vital organs and injures them. There’s not going to be enough water in those transport tanks to do the job.”

“Stop fretting. I’ve done everything you’ve told me about making it safe for them. After we board those dolphins on the plane tomorrow, they’re going to be more comfortable than we are. They’re going to be okay, Melis. I promise you.”

“It’s just . . . they’re helpless. They trust me.”

“And they should. You’re a woman to trust.”

She looked at him in surprise.

“If you’re a dolphin,” he amended with a faint smile.

“I didn’t think you’d commit to a statement like that without qualification.”

“Hell, no.” He sat down beside her and dangled his feet in the water. “Then you’d think I’d gone soft.”

“No way.” In these last days she’d found that he was dynamic and forceful but not inflexible if he could be shown he was wrong. “You’re too stubborn to change.”

“The pot calling the kettle . . .” He took a fish out of the bucket on the lanai and threw it to Susie. “She hasn’t lost her appetite.” He threw another fish to Pete. The male tossed his tail and ignored it. “We may have problems with him.”

“He can’t be bribed.” Her gaze was on his hands, now lying on his knees. Beautiful, tanned, strong hands with long, capable fingers. She had always been fascinated by hands. Kelby’s were exceptional. She could imagine them either at hard labor or playing a piano. He was very tactile. She had noticed the tips of his fingers brushing over the lip of a glass, fingering the rattan on the arm of the lounge chair. He obviously liked to touch, caress, explore. . . .

“Well, is he?”

She jerked her gaze back up to his face. What had he asked? Something about Pete. “He’s a male, and they’re usually more aggressive. But Pete has always been gentler than the norm. It’s probably because he hasn’t had the opportunity to travel with a male group as most dolphins do.”

“They don’t stay with the band?”

“No, the females generally stay with a female pod and the males go off and join a male pod. Males usually bond with another male as a buddy, and the relationship sometimes lasts for life. That’s why the relationship between Pete and Susie is so unique. As I said, Pete’s unusual.”

“And you’ve made a pet of him.”

“I’ve
not
made a pet of him. I’ve made sure they could both survive on their own. But I hope I’ve made them my friends.”

“Shades of Flipper?”

“No, it’s a mistake to think of dolphins as being like us. They’re not like us. They live in an alien world where we couldn’t survive. Their senses are different. Their brain is different. We should accept them as they are.”

“But can they be friends with humans?”

“For thousands of years there have been stories of dolphins and humans interacting. Dolphins saving human lives. Dolphins helping fishermen with their catch. Yes, I believe there can be friendship. We just have to accept them the way they are and not try to see them in our image.”

“Interesting.” Kelby threw Susie another fish. “Are they brother and sister? Or can we expect little dolphins to appear on the horizon?”

“They’re not brother and sister. I had DNA taken when I first got them to the island. And they’re not sexually mature yet.”

“And they’re over eight?”

“Dolphins live long lives. Forty, fifty years. They sometimes don’t mature sexually until they’re twelve or even thirteen, but eight or nine isn’t that uncommon. So it shouldn’t be long for Pete and Susie.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Now they seem caught in a sort of jubilant childhood. Things will change.”

“And you think I’d mind?” Her lips tightened. “I’m not a cripple. I’ve dealt with dolphins and their sexual urges for years. Dolphins are a very highly sexed species. By the way Pete plays with his toys, I’d judge he’s going to be particularly sexual. There’s nothing obscene about sex in nature. I’d be glad to see the dolphins’ lives sexually fulfilled.”

“I don’t think of you as crippled,” he said quietly. “You’re stronger than any woman I know. You survived something that would have broken most people. Hell, you even keep your scars hidden most of the time.”

“Because no one wants to think about anything bad happening to children. It makes them uncomfortable.” She shifted her gaze to his face. “Didn’t it upset you?”

“It didn’t make me uncomfortable.” He grimaced. “It made me mad. For you and at you. I was all set to have a hell of a good roll in the hay, and you stopped me in my tracks.”

She moistened her lips. “I didn’t mean to tease you. I was upset and it was pure instinct. A throwback to
Kafas
. I knew it was something a man would value.”

“You can say that again. Pete isn’t the only one who’s highly sexed.” He got to his feet. “But I just wanted to tell you that you don’t have to worry. I can’t promise not to have my moments, but I’m usually in control.”

“Are you? And is that what this chat is all about?”

“We’re going to be together a lot. I don’t want you tense.”

“I’m not tense.” As he looked at her skeptically, she amended, “I’m not nervous or afraid of you. You just disturb me sometimes.”

“Disturb you?” His gaze narrowed on her face. “How?”

“I don’t know.” It wasn’t true. She knew all too well. She was too aware of him. He dominated any room he entered. She jumped to her feet. “I have to go check the thickness of the padding in the slings. I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Right.” He rose to his feet. “It’s Nicholas’s turn to cook, so don’t expect much. He says it’s not included in the shaman job description.”

“I may be too busy to—” Her phone rang, and she went rigid. Not now. She had too much to do and her nerves were always in shreds after a phone call from Archer.

“Don’t answer it, dammit.” Kelby’s demeanor was as taut as her own. “You told me he’d hurt the dolphins if you didn’t talk to him, but they’re safe in the pens.”

“They won’t always be in the pens. Besides, he has to think I’m afraid and weakening.” She vaguely heard him mutter an oath as she pushed the button. “You’re early, Archer.”

“That’s because I’m taking a jet in a few hours and I couldn’t bear not to talk to you. I so enjoy our conversations.”

“Where are you going?”

“Where you’re going. Las Palmas. I understand the
Trina
arrived there last night.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Do you think I haven’t been keeping close watch on you? Kelby may have gotten to Cobb and Dansk, but it was easy for me to hire more men. And he really hasn’t tried to keep the leasing of that Delta cargo jet a secret. Taking those dolphins must pose all kinds of problems for him. Kelby must be completely besotted with you to put up with it. What did you have to do to persuade him?”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me.”

“Screw you.” She paused. “Cobb and Dansk?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know he took out two of my employees who were watching the island? Of course, they were very amateurish or he wouldn’t have been able to—”

“He probably didn’t consider it important enough to tell me.”

“Or maybe he knows how weak you are. Only good for one thing.”

“He
doesn’t
think of me that way.”

“Your voice is shaking. I could tell you were crying last night before I hung up. Why don’t you give me the plans and let me go my way?”

She was silent a moment. Let him think she was trying to recover her composure. “I wasn’t crying. You were imagining it. I don’t cry.”

“Close enough. You’ve been near the breaking point several times in the last few days. It’s not going to end, you know. I’ll be waiting for you in Las Palmas.”

“Good.” She didn’t try to keep the trembling from her voice. He would think it was caused by fear instead of anger. “I’ll tell the police you’re on your way. Maybe they’ll arrest you and put you away for the rest of your life.”

“I have too many contacts to let that happen. You’re not talking to an amateur. And there’s a very influential leader in the Middle East who can pull strings to get me whatever I need. He loves the idea of a sonic gun.”

“He’s not going to get it.”

“He will. You’re coming along quite nicely. Now I’m going to put on tape two and you’re going to listen. It may be my favorite of all of them. When it’s finished, there’s going to be a quiz, so don’t try to block it out.”

Then she could hear her own voice on the tape.

She could see Kelby’s gaze on her face and feel the fury that electrified every muscle of his body. She turned her back on him and walked to the edge of the lanai.

“Son of a bitch!” She heard the slamming of the glass door behind him as he left the lanai.

She was barely conscious of him leaving. She could see why this tape was Archer’s favorite. It was full of pain, torment, and graphic detail, destined to bring back hideous memories.

Hold on. She wasn’t that girl any longer. Don’t let him win.

Kelby was in the kitchen furiously chopping up carrots on the butcher block when she came in from the lanai. He didn’t look up. “Finished?”

“Yes, he knows we’re going to Las Palmas. He’s been having the
Trina
watched. He’s been having you watched too. He knows we’re taking the dolphins.”

“I never tried to hide it.” His butcher knife bit deep into the wood. “I was hoping he’d step up to the plate so I could take him out.”

“You’re not supposed to use a butcher knife for chopping carrots. You’ll cut off a finger.”

“No, I won’t. Archer isn’t the only one who knows how to use a knife.”

“I thought Nicholas was supposed to cook tonight.”

“He needed help and I need the therapy. I wanted to feel a weapon in my hand.” He still wasn’t looking at her. “Nice call?”

“Not too bad.”

“Don’t lie to me. I saw your face.”

“Okay, it wasn’t my best moment. Why didn’t you tell me about Cobb and Dansk?”

“Why worry you? I didn’t get Archer.”

“Because I don’t want to be kept in the dark. Because Archer used it against me.”

“Okay, next time I’ll tell you when I take out one of those bastards. What else did you talk about?”

“He played one of Carolyn’s tapes.”

“She should have burned them.”

“How could she know?”

“We know now. I’ll burn them. And after I catch Archer, maybe I’ll burn him too. Over a slow-roasting fire like the pig he is. At the moment I’m thinking a knife is too clean for him.”

She tried to smile. “May I stick the apple in his mouth?”

He glanced up, and she took a step back at the ferocity in his expression. “I’m not being funny, Melis. You may be able to put up with Archer’s sadistic bullshit, but I can’t take much more of this crap. I can’t stand seeing
you
take it.”

“It’s my choice.”

“Until I get a line on Archer. Then all bets are off. You wanted help taking him down. You’ll get it.”

“You listen to me, Kelby. I want help, not protection. You’re not closing me out. I’m the one who— Oh, shit.” Blood was pouring out of Kelby’s thumb. “I told you to get another knife.” She ripped off some paper towels, wrapped them around his thumb, applied pressure, and raised his hand over his heart to stop the bleeding. “Oh, sure, you know about knives. I’m surprised you didn’t cut it to the bone.”

“It wasn’t the knife.” His tone was surly. “I was distracted.”

“And making threats. It serves you right.” After the bleeding stopped, she rinsed and dried off his hand, squirted some Neosporin on the cut, and then applied a Band-Aid to his thumb. “Now tell Nicholas to finish making dinner. He’s got to do a better job than you.”

“Whatever you say.”

She glanced up at the curious note in his voice. He was looking down at her and a ripple of shock went through her. She was suddenly aware of their closeness, the heat of his body, the hardness of the hand she still held. She took a step back and released his hand.