SeaChange

by Cindy Spencer Pape

  * * * * *

  Things were just getting interesting again the next morning when they were interrupted by a loud knock at the cabin door.

  “It’s time to get ready for your meeting.” Marinucci’s voice came through the heavy teak door.

  “Shit,” Jake muttered. He rolled off Heidi and out of the bed. “Ten minutes,” he yelled. “Go eat your doughnuts.”

  There was a loud bark of laughter and the sound of retreating footsteps.

  “How did he get here?” Heidi sat up and pushed her hair out of her eyes. It was still weird to see the dark-brown strands in front of her face, but she didn’t think it looked too bad with her tanned skin—as long as she wore sunglasses.

  “Don’t ask,” Jake muttered, heading for the shower. He was back out less than five minutes later, while Heidi was still getting clothes out of the drawer he’d emptied for her meager wardrobe. “But Wen’s probably with him.”

  He dressed rapidly while she watched. His powerful muscles flexed and contracted with each movement. His shiny black hair, hanging in irregular layers to his shoulders in back and his nose in front, was adorably mussed. She wanted to run her hands through it, straighten it for him, but instead she just watched as he tugged his own fingers through it once, leaving it even more tousled than before.

  “Great. Someday you’re going to have to explain those two.” She broke off watching him to head into the bathroom herself.

  Behind her back, she thought she heard, “As if I could.”

  A few minutes later, freshly dressed in jeans and a tank top and cradling a mug of coffee in both hands, she joined the three men on the sun deck. “So what’s the plan?”

  “Like the new look,” Steve said, raising his cup in a toast. “Muffins are over there.” He pointed to a crisp white bakery bag perched on one of the benches.

  “Gracias.” She helped herself to a banana nut muffin and sat cross-legged on a bench, glaring down each of the three men in turn. In the sunlight, she could finally see Wen clearly. Wearing black slacks and a green dress shirt, he was just about Heidi’s height and whipcord slender, with smooth olive skin, short black hair and almond-shaped eyes that looked…ancient. Heidi looked away first, then turned back to Jake, who sat next to her, while the other two men were on the opposite bench. “So. The plan?”

  Jake shrugged. “Pretty simple. I go in and set up a deal, hopefully scoping things out as I do. Wen’s going to wire me for sound—he’s got some toys that are too tiny for them to find, we hope. Then when the deal goes down, Steve and his team will go in and take them out. With luck, one of them will be willing to cut a deal and roll over on the bosses.”

  “Okay. So what are we supposed to do when you go in to broker the deal?” She nibbled on her breakfast, trying to stay calm, as if she did this sort of thing everyday. “I’m guessing we don’t have a repair van to park across the street.”

  “You’re staying right here on the boat,” Jake argued. “Wen and Steve will be nearby, listening in to make sure nothing goes south.”

  “Try again, big guy.” Heidi crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down. Neither Wen nor Marinucci said a word. “At the very least, we collect my car and I’ll be the getaway driver.”

  “I can switch the plate for a local one,” Wen offered. “One no one will check into too closely if they run it. She can park at the market a block away from the cantina where you’re meeting el jefé.”

  Jake glared at the other man, who simply shook his head.

  “She’s right and you know it, my friend. With her as a driver, then Steve and I can get in closer. Besides, something tells me the lady can take care of herself.”

  Heidi smiled her thanks at Wen. “I’ll need a gun, so that Jake can take his.”

  “I’ve got an ankle holster Jake can use,” Steve interjected. “You can carry his nine mil in your purse.”

  Jake snorted and Heidi grinned ruefully. “Purse, huh? I’ll have to stop in the market and pick one up first. It can stay in the glove box until then.” She was more of a backpack or briefcase kind of girl.

  “Fine.” Wen stood. “So let’s go below and get our electronics in place, shall we?”

  * * * * *

  A few hours later, Heidi parked her car, which was covered in dust and sporting a Mexican license plate, on a side street near a busy market. She’d stopped at a store right near the marina and bought a big straw purse. In it were a few small bills, a disposable cell phone, a paperback book and Jake’s Beretta. As per the plan, she put the keys in her pocket and got out of the car, then slowly began to peruse the nearby market stalls.

  She’d dressed like many local women, in a colorful cotton skirt and rope sandals—an outfit she’d picked up on a whim shortly after she and Brad had set up camp down here. Her hair was down, covering the small communicator in her left ear, while a bright pink silk rose pinned to her white peasant blouse held a microphone. Wen had brought a supply of the tiny devices, though Jake, for safety reasons, only wore a transmitter. The others could hear Jake, but he wouldn’t have any input from them.

  The market was across the street and two doors down from the cantina where Jake’s meeting was set up. Steve had been in the cantina drinking for the last hour, getting him into place well before the meet, while Wen was skulking somewhere right outside. Heidi hated feeling so far away from the action, but at least it put her and the car close by in case Jake needed them. She hugged her purse close between her elbow and her rib cage as she pretended to examine a selection of turquoise and silver jewelry.

  No one had yet explained to her how Wen and Steve had gotten to the boat that morning. As soon as they’d docked, Wen had disappeared, returning a short while later with Heidi’s little compact car. At that point, both he and Steve had vanished—she never did see how. She and Jake had been too tense to talk much after the other men left. There’d been one fierce kiss goodbye, then he’d sent her on her way while he called a cab to take him to the cantina.

  “He’s in front of the cantina,” Wen said. “Steve, is el jefé inside?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” There was the sound of a newspaper page turning. “Gotta love that defensive line. Go Steelers.”

  Wen chuckled into his mike. “Meaning the place is full of oversized thugs. Jake is inside.”

  “Since it’s nowhere near football season, I kinda got that,” Heidi murmured, ducking her head down and letting her hair screen her face as she perused a rack of scarves.

  “Only five dollars, senorita,” The vendor, a Mexican woman in her forties or fifties, sidled over to Heidi. “Three for ten dollars American.”

  Did she stand out that much as an American, even with her hair colored? It had to be her height. She simply shook her head and moved on to a display of colorful blankets.

  “Señor. My name is César Hernandez. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Jake’s voice over the communicator had picked up a distinctly local accent. Shuffling sounds followed, and she heard Jake agree to be patted down. Apparently, they didn’t check inside his cowboy boots.

  “Fifteen dollars each for the large ones, pretty lady.” The vendor’s husband came over to take his shot at making the sale. “Very warm, very soft.”

  Heidi shook her head and left that stall. She couldn’t focus on the conversation over the radio when people were trying to talk to her.

  There was a cart selling ice cream just a few yards away. Perfect. She bought a small cone and sat on a nearby bench, taking her book out of her purse. Nibbling on the ice cream, she pretended to read while her eyes remained fixed on the cantina door.

  Jake explained the story he and Wen had concocted, about a groundskeeper at a small college wanting to supply “product” to the students. Monetary amounts were discussed in rapid-fire Spanish Heidi could barely follow. Finally, the man seemed satisfied. There was a thud, then a pair of clicks as Jake opened a case and handed over the down payment. She didn’t think she wanted to know where Steve and Wen had gotten that kind
of cash so quickly.

  “Bueno.” The dealer replied in a smoke-roughened voice. There was a shuffling of chairs. “We will deliver the first shipment to your boat tomorrow night. After that, we will contact you monthly with instructions.”

  “A pleasure doing business with you,” Jake replied. He whistled tunelessly as his booted footsteps clattered on the tiled cantina floor. Finally Heidi heard a door creak open then slam shut. “I’m out,” Jake whispered.

  “A four letter word for follow,” Steve muttered. “T-A—aha. Tail.” A loud thunk. “Another cervesa, por favor, Luisa, while I finish my crossword.”

  “Taxi!” Jake gave directions to the marina, and a car door slammed.

  “They are not following the cab,” Wen noted. “Two men wait by the cantina door. There is every possibility that your driver is an accomplice. As soon as you finish your ice cream, Heidi, you should get up and leave. Drive around for a bit, though. Do not go straight to the marina.”

  “Gotcha.” She popped the last of the cone in her mouth and ambled back across the street to her car.

  Fifteen minutes later, with Wen’s permission, she parked at the marina and made her way back to the boat. Jake and Wen were both waiting for her in the cabin. Jake immediately wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her down to sit next to him. She smiled at the contact, though she flushed a little when he kissed the top of her head. He was acting like he’d been the one with cause to worry.

  “How did you get back here so quickly?” Heidi asked Wen. She didn’t really expect an answer. Knowing now that Jake was more than human, she strongly suspected there was more than met the eye about the other two men as well.

  Wen just shrugged. “You can take off your transmitters now.”

  She set down her purse after carefully removing the handgun, then unpinned the silk flower and pulled the receiver from her ear. “So the transaction is tomorrow night? Where?”

  “About a mile offshore,” Jake replied. “They’ll pull up alongside in the cigarette boat and make the drop.”

  “Will you be able to do anything?” Heidi asked Wen. “We won’t be in U.S. waters.”

  “Fortunately, I work for one of those agencies authorized to act outside of United States limits,” Wen replied. “We’ll have some divers down, waiting to board their craft when they arrive.”

  Heidi shuddered.

  “So you can get in your car and drive back to San Diego,” Jake added. “Steve will have a safe house set up that you can go to.”

  Heidi shook her head. “Same old song and dance, Jake. I told you I’m in this to the end. You need another diver? I’m fully certified.”

  Wen smiled. “I do not think you have the hand-to-hand combat skills to board a hostile vessel. You can be part of the crew on the boat—we’ll want a couple of sharpshooters hidden on the deck before the transaction. You and Steve will work perfectly for that.”

  Heidi nodded. “I won marksmanship awards all through high school,” she agreed. “Pistol and rifle. Brad and I practice at a gun club a couple times a month, just to keep in shape.”

  “Damn it, Freya. Is there anything you can’t do?” Jake’s voice was strained, as if he was annoyed. “Besides staying the hell out of trouble?”

  “That would be the biggest one,” she agreed. “Plus, I never did master my mom’s pie crust recipe.”

  Chapter Eight

  They all ate dinner on the boat, then shortly afterward the two agents said good night, leaving Jake and Heidi alone at last. They moved the Siren out to deeper waters and anchored, then sat together on the sundeck, staring up at the stars.

  “So do you have to…go swimming tonight?” Heidi leaned her head back against Jake’s chest, as she sat between his splayed legs. He wanted her—he always did, it seemed, but for right now, he was content to just sit here, leaning back against the cabin wall, and hold her in his arms.

  He leaned his chin on the top of her head, inhaling the soft, citrus scent of her shampoo. “Yes. Tonight is only the fifth night of my change cycle. That’s why I made sure to set the drop-off tomorrow for just after sundown.”

  “Do Wen and Steve know about your—condition?”

  “Wen does. Steve knows bits and pieces, but not the whole story.” Just as he didn’t know all about Marinucci’s abilities. He was amazed at how well she’d taken the shock of finding out his true nature. Her willingness to continue their relationship afterward had humbled him.

  “How did you hook up with those two?”

  He told her the story of Wen’s select little group of “unusual operatives” who had worked around the Pacific during the Second World War. “Only Wen knows exactly what each of us was capable of. There are a handful of us still living—and only two, as far as I know, besides Wen and Steve and I who haven’t aged significantly.”

  “And Steve? Do you know what he can do? What kind of being is he?”

  “Besides teleport? I think he’s a wizard. I seem to recall he has some minor weather-controlling abilities.”

  “Wow.” She heaved a sigh and laid both her hands over his. “I feel like I fell through the looking-glass, you know. But then, on the other hand, there hasn’t been time to think too hard about any of this, which somehow makes it easier to accept. Hard to believe that just days ago I lived in such a sane, normal world.”

  “Did you? With your grandmother’s Sight and your habit of talking to dolphins? Or did some part of you always know there was something more out there, and you were just waiting to discover it?” She was such an exceptional woman, he honestly believed she was born to straddle the worlds of the normal and the extraordinary. If only they didn’t have such widely disparate life spans, Jake could almost believe they had a future together.

  “Maybe.” She was quiet as they sat there listening to the sounds of the waves. Then she checked her diver’s watch. “It’s almost midnight.”

  “I know. I can feel the tingle running down my spine. It starts about five minutes before the actual change, so I have time to make it to the water.”

  “You don’t mind if I come swimming too, do you? I don’t want to slow you down or anything.”

  He tilted her head up to kiss her lips, deeply if somewhat quickly. “I’m not going anywhere—I was just planning to circle the boat. It will be nice to have some company in the water. But be careful not to stray. My eyes are better than yours, and I’ll be able to see anything coming toward us long before you will.”

  “Okay. Then let’s go, before you turn into a pumpkin.” She scrambled to her feet, watching while Jake shucked the board shorts he’d been wearing. Heidi had on a simple turquoise one-piece, but the way the fabric outlined her curves made it every bit as enticing as the tiniest bikini. They moved down to the swim deck, where Heidi slipped on flippers and they dove side by side into the inky black water.

  “God, it’s so warm,” Heidi said with a sigh as they surfaced. “I never get enough of this.”

  “Me either,” he replied with a chuckle. “Though even now, I still enjoy being able to sit in chairs, read without getting the book wet, and watch television.” He felt the changes coming over his body as his bones shifted and realigned and his legs fused into a tail. Heidi couldn’t have seen much, but she watched him intently anyway, treading water just a few feet away.

  “Does it hurt?”

  “Not really. We learn to do this as kids, so after the first few times, we don’t really notice it.”

  She reached out her hands and he moved closer, let her wrap her arms around his waist, feeling the sleek skin where his hips used to be. She stroked his dorsal fin and Jake shuddered at the sensuality of the touch. He couldn’t resist dipping his head down and kissing her.

  His tail swishing back and forth was easily enough to keep them both afloat and vertical in the water. Heidi held onto his waist and returned his kiss, her tongue stroking lightly along his while his hands cupped her butt, kneading gently.

  A few moments later, Heidi giggled. �
��Gives a whole new meaning to the word boner, doesn’t it?”

  Jake cringed. His lower half was pure dolphin, meaning he literally did have a bone in his penis—which was currently fully erect and pressing against Heidi’s thigh. Reluctantly he set her away from him, waiting to let go until she was treading water again. “Not a good idea, goddess. The parts just aren’t compatible at the moment.”

  “Yeah, I get that,” she said, tossing her wet braid back over her shoulder. The dark hair didn’t show up in the moonlight, and once again he felt a twinge at the loss of her silvery-blonde locks. “We can get back to that in an hour, right?”

  “Absolutely,” he promised. “Heidi, I wish—” He wasn’t entirely sure what he’d intended to say, but a high-pitched squeal interrupted the thought before he could finish it. Then a feminine voice shrieked, “Che!”

  “Leta?” He spun around in the water. “Gods, Leta, is it really you?” It had been years, but his sister’s sweet soprano hadn’t changed at all.

  “Of course, silly, who else would it be?” She answered him in Greek, though he’d automatically spoken in English.

  “Jake?” He felt Heidi’s soft hand on his shoulder. “What’s going on?”

  “Jesus, I barely know.” He watched as Leta swam closer, her long dark hair flowing in the waves behind her. She wore a sparkly bikini top—an affectation some of the younger mermaids had adopted only in the last hundred years—that glittered in the moonlight. When she launched herself into his arms, he caught her instinctively, hugging her with all his might. His voice was thick when he said, “Heidi, this is my baby sister Leta. Leta, this is my…uh…my girlfriend, Heidi Eriksen.”

  Leta slowly extricated herself from his arms and looked over her shoulder at Heidi. “Girlfriend? But Che, she’s human.”

  Heidi held out one hand to his sister. “Pleased to meet you, Leta.”