The Sea Hawk (2 page)

Miraculously, her air hose attached and she locked it in place, greedily drawing in air. Suspended in the water she breathed slowly and steadily to regain her sense of time and space. Swinging her flippers in a slow arc, she clung to the air tank as she rose from the depths and watched the
Peach
disappear once again.
I won't be joining you today
. Reaching the surface, she removed her mouthpiece and breathed in fresh salty air. Side-stroking, she made her way to the site buoy and grabbed it. When the Coast Guard came to look for her they would know her intended location from the harbor master and could hone in on the signal from the buoy's beacon. It wasn't ideal, but would have to do until help arrived.

"HEY OSCAR," FRANKIE Alford said as she walked into the harbor master's office Sunday afternoon.

"Well, hey, yourself, Frankie. Good trip?" Oscar asked, leaning back in his swivel desk chair.

"What trip?" Frankie asked. Frankie Alford was one of two marine archaeology graduate assistants working with Julia to excavate the new site.

"Didn't you just get back from the
Peach
with Doc Blanchard?"

"I haven't been anywhere. I came in to ask where the
Discovery
is. I wanted to check the tanks and make sure she's been refueled in case we need her tomorrow."

"Well, I got a call from the Doc early yesterday morning. Said she was going to the site and had you with her."

"Have you tried to raise her on ship-to-shore?"

"Nope. Said she'd be back this afternoon. When I see her she'll be in a heap of trouble. She knows she shouldn't go out there alone."

Glancing at her wristwatch, Frankie said, "Try to raise her. It's already after five."

As soon as Oscar disappeared into the radio room, Frankie pulled her cell from its case on her belt and pushed two buttons. Resting her back against the counter, she waited as Julia's home phone rang three times before a woman's voice answered.

"This is Frankie Alford. Is Dr. Blanchard at home?"

"No," a woman answered bluntly. "And I don't give a shit if she ever comes back."

Frankie stared at her cell as the line went dead. "Damn," she muttered. She saw Oscar return and looked at him hopefully. "Anything?"

"Nothin'," he answered.

Frankie punched in more numbers on her cell and got a recording telling her the number she called was outside its service area. "Well, shit!" she said. "Call the Coast Guard, Oscar. Give them the last known location for the
Discovery
and let them know she's MIA. I'll call Damian and we'll take another boat out and head that direction," Frankie said as she brought her cell phone to her ear once again and walked toward the door.

"Can't let you go out, Frankie," Oscar said.

"Why the hell not?"

"There's a storm comin' this way. It's just enterin' the long range radar, but looks like it's movin' pretty fast. You'd never make it out there and back before it overtook you. Coast Guard chopper is our best bet."

Frankie paced around the small office while Oscar reported the situation and relayed the coordinates for the
Georgia Peach
site to the Coast Guard.

"Be sure to tell them the Institute's buoy has a beacon," Frankie said. "And there's a GPS locator on the
Discovery
."

Oscar waved a hand at Frankie and relayed the information. A moment later he hung up. "They can't send the chopper up. It's down for maintenance. They're dispatching a cutter. Should be able to handle any rough seas."

"Well, this is certainly turning into a cluster-fuck. What the hell was she thinking going out alone?" Frankie fumed as she walked to the office window and watched high dark clouds rolling toward the coast.

JULIA WATCHED THE sky, and didn't like the look of it. If help was going to come for her, she hoped it would be soon. The seas were becoming choppier and the increasing wind was beginning to form large whitecaps. As quickly as she could, she strapped on the air tank, but didn't use it. If the weather deteriorated further she would go under the water and hang onto the buoy line until the storm passed over. Good plan except that as long as she was under water a rescue chopper or ship wouldn't see her. If the storm lasted more than forty-five minutes she would run out of air and be forced to hang onto the buoy topside while the storm raged around her. Either way, she would be thoroughly screwed without enjoying it one bit. The sky was already darkening prematurely and she watched the water for large waves. Night would fall soon and she wouldn't be able to see a wall of water coming at her until it struck. She didn't think it would help much, but wrapped one arm through a metal strut on the buoy and entwined her fingers for a tighter grip. I hope you've called the Coast Guard, Oscar, she thought as she pulled her mask down to protect her eyes. She was already overdue. Her argument with Amy two days before nagged at the edges of her mind as she tried to remain calm and focus on physical survival. The cutting words between them were indelibly imprinted in her memory and refused to let go...

Julia was running late, as usual. Amy wasn't home when she arrived. After receiving no answer from Amy's cell she speed-dialed the antique shop where her partner worked.

"Hello?" a man's soft voice drawled.

"Les. Is Amy still at the shop?"

"Uh...no. She left a little early saying she was going out to celebrate her birthday with a few friends," Les answered. Amy had been working with Lester Fields at his antique store since she and Julia moved to Tybee Island four years earlier.

"Thanks, Les," Julia said. "See you soon." She closed her cell and showered and changed in record time. She was almost out the door when she remembered the birthday present she bought for Amy a few weeks earlier. She ran back into their bedroom and pulled it from its hiding place on the top shelf of their closet.

Fortunately, there were only so many places in the Savannah area Amy might go with friends for a night on the town. After checking a couple of their favorite restaurants, she entered Xanadu, the local women's club. Looking around over the heads of a lively Friday night crowd, Julia searched for the familiar redhead with green eyes that glittered like emeralds. She spotted a couple of Amy's friends seated at a table near the DJ stand, but Amy wasn't with them. Shifting her eyes to the dance floor, she caught a glimpse of red and smiled. She didn't recognize the attractive brunette her partner was dancing with. Amy loved to dance almost as much as Julia loved holding the petite woman in her arms. It would be the perfect time to surprise Amy by breaking into the dance to apologize for being late for her birthday celebration. The diamond tennis bracelet in her pocket was guaranteed to cushion the hurt of her late arrival.

As the music began to fade away and couples drifted off the dance floor, Julia stopped in her tracks. Amy was still clinging to her slender brunette dance partner as they talked intently to one another. Sweeping an arm around Amy's waist, the woman led her from the floor. Amy was wearing Julia's favorite dress, a sapphire blue silk dress that clung seductively in all the right places. As Julia watched, Amy held the woman's hand and strolled with her toward the back of the club. She followed the two women, easily remaining out of sight in the crowd. When they reached a far corner of the club, the stranger turned Amy around and pressed her against the wall, kissing her in a smoldering, passionate kiss that seemed to last an eternity. Although stunned, Julia felt as if her feet had grown roots, keeping her bound to the floor where she stood. What was she thinking? Amy needed to be rescued from the woman's clutches. When she finally took a step forward, she stopped again as Amy reached around the woman and ran her hands over her ass, pulling her closer and into an even deeper kiss. Clearly the other woman's advances were not unwanted and Amy had no desire to be rescued.

Unable to watch her lover and the brunette grope one another any longer, Julia spun around and pushed her way through the pulsing throng and left the club. She jerked her truck door open and jumped in, fighting back the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly and she rested her forehead on her white knuckles. She didn't know what to do. She had been dumped before, but as far as she knew she had never been cheated on. Surely it was a mistake and Amy would have a logical explanation. Maybe she was drunk. Maybe the woman slipped something into her drink. Maybe she was just fucking around behind Julia's back! Slamming her hand against the steering wheel, anger quickly replaced disbelief. Julia turned the key in the ignition and slowly drove home.

She sat in the dark in her favorite chair mentally reliving the last six years with Amy and their life together. The memory of Amy's touch against her skin, the melting softness in Amy's eyes as she succumbed to her passion and desire. All of it brought burning, bitter tears to Julia's eyes. Her vision seemed to be the same as it was beneath the water while she was diving. Only now she was drowning on dry land, the air forced from her lungs by the pressure of betrayal and loss. She sat, unmoving, staring blankly at the walls around her. Sitting in the dark gave her time to think without being distracted by the objects around her. She knew they were there, of course, but didn't have to analyze the patterns in the furniture fabric or the uneven nap of the carpeting. In the dark, her senses were heightened. She heard the fronds of the palm trees in the front yard of her home rustling against one another in the soft Georgia breeze. She smelled the heat of her anger rising from her body, mingling with the familiar scent of...home. She felt her pulse change as her thoughts wandered aimlessly from one memory to another. She felt incredible loneliness welling up inside her and wanted it to go away. Leaning her head back against the soft back of her chair she finally dozed off.

The clicking sound of a key turning in the lock of the front door jolted Julia from her dreamless sleep. Shifting her eyes quickly around the room she watched the door quietly open and saw Amy's body outlined in the door frame by a feeble streetlight.

"Did you have a good time tonight?" Julia asked, the sound of her voice steady and low as it cut through the darkness.

"Jesus Christ!" Amy said, spinning around. "You scared the shit out of me, Julia. Why are you sitting there in the dark?" Amy flipped on the light in the entry and slipped out of her shoes, bending down to pick them up. Julia blinked against the sudden eruption of light.

"Waiting for you, of course," she said calmly, pushing her body up from the chair.

"When you didn't come home, I decided to go to dinner and the club with a couple of friends," Amy shrugged. "Was your dive successful?"

"Yeah." Julia shifted her weight from one foot to another and watched Amy walk toward her. She loved the seductive way Amy's hips moved when she walked. A glance at the antique clock hanging in the entryway told her it was nearly three in the morning. Amy looked as though nothing unusual had happened, as if she hadn't been screaming a new lover's name in ecstasy an hour or two earlier. She stopped in front of Julia and trailed a hand down her arm. Continuing the charade, she stepped into Julia to grace her with a kiss.

"Who is she?" Julia asked coldly, pushing her away.

"Who?"

"I saw you together, Amy. At the club. Who the fuck is she?" she seethed.

"No one. Just someone I met." Amy shrugged as she turned away.

"Was she good?"

"Good enough," Amy answered, looking at Julia over her shoulder. "And she was there, which is more than I could say for you."

"I was working!" Julia stormed.

"You're always working, Julia. Did you expect me to be waiting for you to come home from your little sea adventure, wearing an apron and stirring a pot of soup to warm you like a good little mariner's wife?"

"That's ridiculous, Amy. You know how important my work is to me." Julia fought to remain civil, waiting for Amy's logical explanation. "I called, but you didn't pick up."

"You completely forgot today is my birthday, didn't you?"

Julia didn't answer and just stared at Amy.

"Didn't you!" Amy demanded.

"And that made it all right for you to go out and fuck someone else?"

When Amy finally spoke, her voice was cold, her eyes dark. "It's not like it's the first time, Julia. It's just the first time I've been caught."

Julia opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Amy's matter-of-fact admission sucked the air from her lungs. She watched silently as Amy walked toward the bedroom--their bedroom-- undressing as she went. By the time Julia numbly followed her, she found a sight that should have enflamed her passions, but now repelled her.

"Why did you do it, Amy? You knew I'd be there for your birthday even if I was late. Did you want me to catch you?"

"And what if I did? It's the only way I can get you to notice me or what I'm doing!"

"You've always known the demands of my job. The excavation of the
Peach
will make my career into what we've always dreamed it would be."

"And of course that's so much more important to you than I am!" Amy's voice began to rise, challenging Julia to deny the accusation.

"At least I'm not fucking it behind your back!" Julia shouted. "How many others have there been?"

"This is bullshit!" Amy yelled back. "There are plenty of other women who would be more than glad to come home to me every night."

"Then go find one of them," Julia said. "Take what the hell you want, but I want you gone by the time I get back Sunday afternoon." She couldn't believe she found the strength to utter those words and turned away resolutely.

"Don't be ridiculous, Julia. This is my home, too," Amy snorted as she followed Julia down the hallway.

"The mortgage is in my name, babe. Don't make me call the sheriff to remove you," Julia snapped as she turned once again to leave. Pulling her truck keys from her pocket, she remembered the bracelet. Jerking it from her pocket she said, "Oh. By the way, Happy fuckin' Birthday." She tossed the gift-wrapped box to Amy, opened the front door, and stepped into the damp pre-dawn fog moving inland from the ocean not far away.