Into the Deep

by Virginia Smith

  Startled, her fist tightened around the silent phone as she shrank against the couch cushion. Her gaze flew toward the front door. The uneasy feeling from the patio returned, magnified a hundredfold and swelling even further with every insistent beat on the sturdy wood. Who in the world could it be? She didn’t know a soul in Key West. No one except…

  “Nikki, are you all right?”

  That voice, so achingly familiar, echoed inside her like the pounding echoed through the entry hall. Ben. She hugged the phone to her chest.

  Oh, Joshua, your daddy is here. I so badly want to tell him about you. But I can’t. I won’t.

  She’d struggled with that decision two-and-a-half years ago, and she’d made the right choice. Ben made no secret of the fact that he never wanted to settle down, never wanted to have a family. If he’d discovered that she was pregnant, he would have “done the right thing.” He would have insisted on marrying her and settling down to help her raise their child. She couldn’t bear to force him to give up the lifestyle he loved and watch the resentment grow deeper in his eyes as each year passed.

  “Nikki, it’s Ben. Open the door.”

  Indecision kept her pinned to the sofa. She should have known he would follow her here. If only she hadn’t run into him on the pier. No good could come of a reunion between them.

  And yet, he was part of her past, an important part. Far more important than he would ever know. She couldn’t deny that seeing him again had awakened memories—and feelings—she’d tried to bury years ago.

  She stood and crossed the room to stand in front of the door.

  “What do you want, Ben?” She pitched her voice loud to carry through the thick wood.

  The incessant pounding ceased.

  “Thank goodness.” The relief in his voice was obvious. Though why he would sound so relieved to find her at home, she couldn’t imagine. “Let me in, Nikki.”

  “I—” She placed a hand on the door and closed her eyes while conflicting impulses did battle inside her. Finally, she swallowed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Ben. It’s late. Go home.”

  “It’s not what you think.” The door handle rattled. “You’ve got to let me in. Please.”

  Something in his voice weakened her resolve, something she didn’t remember ever hearing in the months they spent together in Cozumel. Was it…fear?

  After one more moment’s hesitation, she twisted the dead bolt. The lock slid open with a loud click. The door swung inward silently.

  Her heart launched into a traitorous thundering as she took in the details she’d been afraid to notice this afternoon. The same Ben, yet different. Or was it just that she was accustomed to seeing those lips in miniature, on Joshua’s face? The eyes that swept over her now were the identical green-brown color of her son’s, only with a depth and intensity unknown to a two-year-old. The sturdy jaw. The tiny crease just below the place where his lower lip blended into his chin. Nikki clutched the door handle and hoped he didn’t notice that her grip was the only thing that kept her from wavering on unsteady knees.

  Ben’s gaze swept the room behind her. “Are you okay?”

  What an odd question. She glanced over her shoulder to follow his gaze but saw nothing out of place. “Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  He ignored her question. “May I come in?” He must have seen the hesitation on her face, because he added an insistent, “Please, Nikki. It’s important.”

  Though alarm Klaxons sounded in her brain, Nikki took a backward step and allowed him to enter. When she closed the door behind him, he leaned past her to twist the dead bolt. She shot him a startled look. “Humor me.”

  He offered no explanation. She followed him into the living room and watched as he stood in the center of the room to examine it from all angles. He crossed to the patio door and slid a metal locking rod into place at the top of the frame. Nikki hadn’t noticed the locking device when she came inside before.

  Ben pulled the drawstring to close the curtains, then turned and nodded toward the hallway. “Mind if I take a look in the bedrooms?”

  Indignant, she opened her mouth to protest, but at the look on his face, closed it again. His lips formed a rigid line, with deep creases at the corners of his mouth. It was fear she’d heard in his voice at the door. She glanced toward the closed patio curtains, and the uneasy feeling she’d experienced earlier returned.

  She gave permission with a jerk of her head, but remained in the living room. After he’d investigated both bedrooms, he returned. His expression was calmer, a touch more relaxed. The muscles in Nikki’s stomach loosened a fraction.

  “You want to tell me what this is all about?”

  He crossed into the kitchen and checked the lock on the window before answering. “I wanted to make sure you were okay, that’s all. You know, a single woman, traveling alone. You can’t be too careful.”

  The explanation fell lamely into the empty space between them. Nikki folded her arms across her chest and gave him a stern look. The same look she gave Joshua when he was being naughty.

  Ben’s head fell forward. “Okay, that’s a lie. I—” He swallowed and nodded toward the living area. “Maybe we’d better sit down.”

  The impulse to refuse died before she could put it into words. In all the months they spent living together in Cozumel, she couldn’t remember ever seeing him wear such a serious expression. Without a word, she retreated across the room and seated herself in the over-stuffed chair on the far side of the sofa. Ben followed and dropped onto the cushion near her.

  “I looked up where you were staying.” He stared at his hands while he spoke. “When I was outside, trying to decide whether or not to knock on the door, I saw a shadow. Looked like someone sneaking around the corner of this building. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” So, someone had been there, watching her from the darkness beyond the orange tree. Nikki shuddered and rubbed her arms with her hands. “But why were you here at all?”

  He hesitated, then straightened his long legs to pull a folded piece of paper out of the back pocket of his shorts. A struggle appeared on his face as he unfolded the paper. His eyes moved as he studied it. Then, with a slow movement, he extended it toward her.

  She took the note. Wrinkles spidered across the paper, as though it had been crushed in a fist. The words, scrawled in blue ink, were in Spanish.

  Regresa el artículo y lo seguirá siendo seguro.

  Though she’d lived in Mexico with Ben for six months, she’d never become fluent in Spanish. And she hadn’t spoken the language at all in the two-and-a-half years since she moved back home. She translated the words slowly.

  “Return…the article…and…” She glanced up at him. “What does lo seguirá siendo seguro mean?”

  Ben didn’t meet her gaze. “It says, Return the article and she will stay safe.”

  “She?” A wave of fear raised goose bumps along her arms. “Who is she?”

  “There is only one she they could mean.” His hands clenched in a tight knot. “You.”

  Prickles of alarm inched up her spine. “That’s ridiculous.” He glanced up at the sharp tone in her voice. “We haven’t seen each other in over two years, Ben.” Nikki forced herself to speak calmly. “Until this afternoon, we’ve had no contact at all. And that was a coincidence. I don’t know what this is about, but they must mean someone else. Your girlfriend, maybe.”

  “I haven’t had a girlfriend since you left Cozumel.”

  A wave of pleasure warmed her insides at that news, but Nikki ignored it. “Then a friend, or someone you work with.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think our running into each other was a coincidence at all. I think someone arranged it. Are you sure you didn’t know I was in Key West?”

  “I thought you were still in Mexico.” She held his gaze and spoke truthfully. “If I had known you were here, I wouldn’t have come.”

  Guilt stabbed at her when he winced. She looked away. Brutally cruel words
, perhaps, but she had no choice. Their relationship had been severed some time ago, and it must remain that way.

  “What is this article they’re talking about, anyway?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Obviously it’s not nothing if they want it back badly enough to threaten someone over it.” She narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t steal anything, did you?”

  “Of course not.” His hands sliced through the air in an impatient gesture. “That isn’t important. What is important is that someone arranged for you to be here, in Key West, and we need to figure out who did it.”

  “I told you earlier. I’m here on vacation. A friend from work is letting me use her father’s time-share.”

  He twisted his lips, clearly not buying the explanation. “Why didn’t your friend come with you?”

  “Because she hasn’t been with the company long enough to take a vacation, and her father couldn’t find anyone to rent the place this year. She’s letting me use it to celebrate my birthday. And that certificate was a birthday gift. It was a coincidence that the shop she called happened to be the one where you work.”

  “You came on a vacation for your birthday alone?” The words were heavy with skepticism. “The Nikki I used to know would have gotten a group of friends together to help her celebrate. She would have had people sleeping on the couch and in sleeping bags and even on lawn chairs.”

  I’m not the Nikki you used to know! She wanted to snap the words, but bit them off. The Nikki he knew had been twenty-seven, fun-loving, without a care in the world. Now she was a thirty-year-old single mother struggling to raise an active two-year-old alone, with no one—except her mother—to help ease the burden of responsibility. She’d lost touch with all her former friends, and she was too busy and too tired to make new ones. Joshua took all her spare time. And he was worth every minute.

  Nikki rose from the chair and rubbed a chill out of her arms as she crossed to the kitchen. She opened cabinets until she found the one with glasses in it and took down two short ones. The pineapple juice she’d bought at the grocery store earlier was thoroughly chilled now. She wasn’t really thirsty, but she needed to do something with her hands.

  Ben followed her and perched on a tall chair at the high counter that separated the living area from the kitchen. “Listen, do me a favor, would you? Call your friend. Ask her why she chose Key West Water Adventures for the gift certificate.”

  Though she wanted to refuse outright, it was a reasonable request. The numbers on the stove clock showed 11:10 p.m. That meant it was only 9:10 p.m. in Portland. Allison would still be up. “Fine. I will.”

  She plopped a glass of juice on the counter in front of Ben before going for her cell phone. When she returned, he sat staring at the yellow liquid with a contemplative expression. Heat threatened to rise into her face. It was Ben who had gotten her hooked on pineapple juice in Cozumel. Joshua loved it.

  With jerky gestures, she flipped open her phone and located Allison’s number.

  The call went to voice mail.

  “She’s not answering,” Nikki told Ben as she hung up without leaving a message.

  A frown creased Ben’s brow. “Isn’t that weird? Why wouldn’t a friend take your call?”

  “It’s Friday night. She’s probably out on a date or something.” She set the phone on the counter and sipped from her juice glass. “I’ll try her again later, but I’m telling you, it’s a useless effort. You may not believe in coincidences, but I do.”

  He placed an arm on the counter and leaned toward her. “All I know is you showed up at my work after more than two years without a word, and the same day someone shoved a threatening letter under my door. Coincidence or not, I’m staying here tonight.”

  Now heat did flood her face. “That is so not happening.”

  When the realization of what he’d just suggested set in, matching red blotches appeared on his tanned cheeks. His gaze dropped, and it took Nikki a moment to realize he was staring at her necklace. She plucked at the chain and held the cross between her fingers.

  He cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean it like that. This condo has two bedrooms and a couch. I’ll sleep on one of them.”

  A heavy silence fell between them. The thought of Ben sleeping in the same town would probably have kept her awake all night anyway. To have him in the same condo, on the other side of a door?

  No.

  Her fingers tightened on the cross. “What’s going on, Ben? Why are you so worried?”

  Nikki watched a struggle play across his face. Finally, he spoke in a low voice. “I don’t want to involve you any more than you already are. It’s safer if you don’t know.”

  The memory of being watched crept over her like a wave washing up on the beach. She glanced toward the closed patio curtains again. Was someone out there now? What had Ben done? Who had he run afoul of?

  With a jerk, Nikki straightened her spine. It didn’t matter. Ben Dearinger was no longer a part of her life. Whatever trouble he’d gotten into, he could get himself out of. She wanted no part of it. She would leave Key West tomorrow, first thing in the morning, birthday or not. Forget the vacation. Forget the beach. She just wanted to go home, to safety and to Joshua.

  She picked up his untouched glass and slung the juice in the sink. “You need to leave now.”

  “Nikki, I—”

  His protest died in the face of the glare she turned on him. With a resigned sigh that sounded more like a huff, he reached near the telephone for the pen and notepad with the resort’s logo. He jotted a number on the top sheet and shoved it across the counter in her direction.

  “My cell phone. Call me if you hear anything weird. Even if it’s just the wind blowing.”

  Though she would never admit it, having his number made her feel a tiny bit better. She followed him to the door. When he’d crossed the threshold, he turned. His mouth opened, then he hesitated as though he changed his mind about whatever he’d been about to say.

  “Goodbye, Nikki. Lock the door behind me.”

  Any words she might have said were impossible. Her throat was too tight. She searched his face, memorizing the features she had never forgotten, and then gave a single nod before closing the door.

  Not only did she lock the dead bolt, she shoved a chair from the dinette set beneath the handle. Then she rummaged in the kitchen drawers for the largest knife she could find. No doubt she wouldn’t get a minute’s sleep tonight. That was okay. She’d sleep on the plane tomorrow, on the way home to Oregon.

  In the breezeway outside Nikki’s door, Ben waited until he heard the lock click into place. A slivered moon cast white light across the resort grounds, but deep shadows darkened the areas beneath the many trees. He made his way to his bicycle, tense knots in his gut.

  Nikki hated him. And he had no idea why.

  No, hate was too strong a word. He hadn’t sensed any strong emotion from her at all, other than an intense desire to get rid of him as soon as possible. Which wasn’t fair. What did he ever do to her? Nothing, except be honest with her. Hadn’t he told her right up front, before she moved into his Cozumel apartment, that he wasn’t interested in a permanent relationship? That if she was looking for a husband, she should return to the States with her friends and leave him to his carefree life in Mexico?

  He walked the bike over the winding path toward the resort entrance, his mind filled with memories of the pretty blonde tourist who came into the dive shop with her friends. They’d wanted to go snorkeling in Cozumel’s crystal clear waters. The attraction had been instant and mutual. Ben and Nikki spent every minute together for the next week, and when her friends left to go home, she stayed. Quit her job over the phone, had her roommate send her belongings to her mother’s house for storage and slipped easily into the life of a beach bum. His life.

  Then she started going to that church and all the problems started.

  Ben reached the main road. He waited for the traffic to pass, then swung his leg over the bar of h
is bicycle and planted a sandaled foot on the pedal. The bike picked up speed as he pedaled, generating a warm, salt-scented breeze to ruffle his hair.

  Apparently she hadn’t gotten over her religious phase in the years since she left. She’d clutched that cross like a talisman. Like he was a vampire and she needed protection against him. Which was ridiculous. They might not have parted on the best of terms, but surely she knew he would never hurt her.

  But apparently, there was someone who would.

  Sweat broke out on his forehead. The Reynosa drug cartel wouldn’t hesitate to kill if it accomplished their purposes.

  Even an innocent. Even Nikki.

  And he would be responsible.

  He reached a decision. With a quick glance over his shoulder to check for traffic, he executed a U-turn. Even if it meant spending the night beneath one of those moss-covered trees, somebody had to watch out for her, no matter what she said. Because she had no idea who she was dealing with.

  But he did.

  FOUR

  Ben arrived at the dock for work early the next morning. He wedged the front tire of his bicycle through the steel rack at the end of the pier and threaded the bike chain around the frame. A wide yawn took possession of him for a moment, and he was too exhausted to fight it. He’d finally fallen asleep, against his will, sometime after four. An angry resort groundskeeper had mistaken him for a transient and kicked him awake at seven. Though he’d been chased off the resort property, a quick inspection of Nikki’s building showed nothing out of place. At least, the door hadn’t been broken down or anything.

  He unstrapped his backpack from the bike and shouldered it as he stepped onto the wooden pier, heading for the dive shop. Actually, he felt a little stupid for spending the night there. His fears in the darkness last night seemed unreasonable today with bright sunlight sparkling on the constantly moving waters of the bay. Nikki was probably right. Her being here was a coincidence. More than a million tourists visited Key West each year. Plus, he worked for the biggest water sports shop on the island, and they maintained a top-notch Web site. Anyone wanting to find out about booking an excursion long distance would naturally contact them.