“I am familiar with the concept, old friend.” Myrrine chuckled. Then she turned to the others. “I doubt all of Phaeton’s faction of merfolk are living there. There are a few families among them, and I don’t think even they would expose their children to such men.”
“Also, there weren’t enough buildings occupied to account for that number,” Niko agreed. “I wouldn’t think there are more than twenty living in the village.”
Wen picked up the map drawing of the temple compound, which was a walled area roughly the shape of a fat plus sign. If you stood on the beach and looked up at the compound, the vertical bar was divided into two sections, a big open entry courtyard for gatherings and the garden surrounding the temple itself. At the top of the vertical bar, the temple sported a tile roof supported by heavy stone columns. Since it had no actual walls, odds were no one was living in that. The side areas held the living quarters for the priests and priestesses, along with other functional buildings. On one side was the kitchen and laundry building, a refectory—mess hall, Jake had called it—and a guest house. On the other side was a house for the high priest and priestess, a bigger one for the other clerics, and a dormitory for novitiates.
“I’d guess about fifteen living in the compound, perhaps twenty,” Wen said. He pointed at the high priest’s house on the map. “This is definitely the best structure remaining. This is where we’ll find the leadership. It’s a two-story house, maybe twenty by thirty, so not too big. I think it has three bedrooms upstairs and an open great room below. It looks to be occupied by three men and one woman. Lots of doors and windows, though, so we won’t be able to block exits.”
Then he pointed at the dormitory. “This one is virtually destroyed, as is the kitchen. The refectory is a pavilion, not a true building. No one is living there. The guest house and the priest quarters both seem to be occupied, though about half of the priest quarters is missing its roof. I’d guess maybe two or three rooms remain usable, plus a gathering area. There are six upstairs bedrooms and one below in the guest house, but it looks as if only three are occupied. One of them by a mage. I suspect this is where your rogue merman has made his headquarters.”
“The map doesn’t have a great sense of scale,” Heidi noted. “How far from the temple to the town?”
“A mile perhaps,” Marcos answered. “Far enough that, without vehicles, it will take some time for them to get from one to the other if an alarm is raised.”
“They have some three-wheeled recreational vehicles,” Niko interjected. “I counted six of those at the village.”
“And three at the temple,” Wen added. “We should disable those before we go in to the buildings.”
“My men can do that,” Miguel offered. “The Zodiacs can land first, then while we’re taking out the ATVs, the merfolk can come ashore, put on pants, and arm themselves.” The Mexican agents had brought two inflatable boats with them, which solved the problem of the mermen carrying their firearms while they swam. He pointed to a spot on the map. “We’ll land here, where the vegetation comes right down to the beach, then hide the boats in the grasses.”
Jake added another comment. “Dionysus believes, and I think he’s correct, that if we capture the leadership of the operation, most of the underlings will scatter, removing the threat. So we should be able to hit just the temple compound, and if we’re careful, the village won’t even be alerted until it’s too late.”
“I should be able to put up a sound barrier around the temple grounds,” Steve offered.
Heidi eagerly jumped into the planning, still regretting that she wasn’t going to be in on the actual operation. But somebody had to stay behind and coordinate—she understood that. She just hated that Jake was heading off into danger without her.
By midafternoon the planning was done. Most of the men were resting, or watching TV in the salon. Steve had gone into his cabin to construct his silence spell, while Wen and Miguel went over the weapons one last time, loading them into the inflatable boats. Jake was in their cabin, checking over his rebreather and diving equipment. He’d go in with the boats, but just in case something came up, he wanted the equipment available to get himself off the island. Miguel and his men had brought their own gear, which was stowed in the boats as well.
Heidi perched on the bed, anxiously watching his every move. It was a little nerve-racking, but he understood her concern. He’d be every bit as freaked out if it had been her heading out tonight.
Finally, he finished packing his gear bag, zipped it shut and set it beside the door.
“Yes.”
Jake leaned back against the door, crossed his arms and looked at her, lifting one eyebrow. As usual, he was bowled over by the simple fact that this magnificent creature actually cared about him. Somewhere in the last day or so, they’d both gradually figured out how to shield their thoughts from one another. While he could feel that she was troubled, he couldn’t exactly tell what she was talking about. “Yes, what?”
She bit her lip, then took a deep breath, fisted her left hand and held up her knuckles. “You said if I ever decided I wanted it to be, this could be my engagement ring. I made up my mind. The answer is yes. You come back to me in one piece tonight, I’ll marry you.”
Jake’s heart skipped a beat, then started racing. “You don’t have to do that. You know it won’t make any difference. Just knowing you’re here, knowing you love me, gives me plenty to live for. I promise to be careful, Heidi.”
Her gaze softened and she smiled. “It’s not that. At least, I don’t think so. I’ve just been thinking about the future, and how piss-poor it looked without you in it. I know we’ve got plenty of problems to deal with, but I don’t care anymore. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, even if it means I grow old and you don’t.” She dropped her shielding, and he was suddenly swamped with her emotions—mainly sincerity, and a love that was deeper than the Marianas Trench.
Fuck, how had he ever gotten so lucky? Jake crossed the room in two quick strides and dropped to his knees beside the bed. “You’re sure?”
Heidi nodded, leaned over and kissed him briefly. “I’m sure. Will you marry me, Che?”
“With all my heart,” he vowed, looking into the depths of her eyes. “And I’m not going to let you grow old alone. There’s a simple solution to that. Next month, I just stay out of the water at the full moon. Poof, I’m a human, and we live out our human lives together.”
“You can’t do that,” she protested. “Your people need you.”
He shrugged. “I can still help them adapt. I figure I’ve got another good fifty years or so in me. That’s plenty of time to get them started down the right path. By then, Leta will be more than ready to lead.”
Heidi nodded cautiously. “Okay. I’m still not convinced that’s a good idea, but we can talk about this later. After tonight, everything could change.”
For the better or for the worse—she didn’t have to tell him that. He cupped her face in both hands and kissed her gently, sealing the bargain.
“You know, I’m not going to let you back out of this tomorrow,” he teased. “Before we leave tonight, every damn person on the boat is going to be invited to the wedding.”
Her grin was adorable. “Oh hell, they all thought we were engaged anyway. I don’t think any of them believed us when we said it wasn’t an engagement ring. Not even Brad. And don’t get me started on your mother.”
“My mother is delighted at the prospect of having you for a daughter-in-law,” he said. “And Leta will be absolutely over the moon.”
“She’ll get a kick out of being a bridesmaid, I imagine,” Heidi said. “Wonder if Brad will look good in a dress?”
Jake laughed. Who else would she want beside her but her closest friend? “I don’t think he’d forgive us for that. But if you want him as your attendant, I don’t mind. Our wedding can be as traditional or as untraditional as you like. As long as it’s soon.”
“Soon is good.” She leaned
over and kissed him again, harder this time. “For now, though, the wedding planning can wait.” Her hands slid up under his T-shirt and splayed across his back.
Yes, Jake thought as he kissed her back and reached behind her to unclasp her bra. Planning could wait. Right now there were more important things to do.
* * * * *
By the time the inflatable boats and the dolphin flukes disappeared into the darkness, Heidi had nearly bitten a hole through her lip, trying not to cry. She and Brad sat in the bridge of the Folly, which they’d moved in closer to the island, but just out of view of the cove. Their computers and communicators were on, while Myrrine and Darius waited below.
“Looks as if I might have a date to your wedding,” Brad said with one hand over the mouthpiece of his headset. “Carlos and I are definitely going out after this is over.” Much to Brad’s delight a few of the mermen had, in fact, turned out to be gay. But none of them was single. One of the Mexican agents, on the other hand, had been returning Brad’s interest, it seemed.
“Sssh,” Heidi whispered, covering her own microphone. She was glad for her friend, but this wasn’t the time. “I want to hear what’s going on.”
“They’re just swimming ashore,” Brad reminded her. “There’s nothing happening yet.”
Niko’s voice over the headsets disabused him of that notion. “One of the yachts and two of the cigarette boats are missing,” he whispered. “It looks as if they’re out on a raid tonight.”
“Well, that reduces the number of men in the village by half,” Miguel said. “And hopefully, the leaders don’t go out on the raids.”
Since the Folly had been waiting to the north of the island, they would have easily missed the boats if they’d headed out in a southerly direction. Still, Heidi shivered. She and Brad were armed, just in case, but she really didn’t want to take on a dozen armed pirates all by herself.
“I’ll go get Myrrine and Darius up on deck,” Brad said. He clattered down the staircase to the main deck. A few minutes later, he returned with a carafe of coffee and two mugs, followed closely by Darius who climbed out on the bow with a pair of night-vision binoculars.
“If you spot them, send an SOS to the Mexican Navy vessel that’s waiting on the other side of the island,” said Miguel. “Use my name.”
“Did we ever find out exactly what Miguel and his guys are?” Heidi whispered to Brad.
“Psychics of various sorts,” Brad replied. “Carlos is a telekinetic, Pablo is pyrokinetic. Boss man is telepathic. Not sure about Juan.”
Heidi whistled silently. “No wonder the government lets them run in and handle things without too much explanation. Who’d want to know what was in their reports?”
They fell silent, listening to the men on the island report in as Steve set up his sound barrier spell and Carlos and Pablo disabled the ATVs. Finally, Heidi had to force herself to breathe as they all moved into the temple grounds.
Jake crouched low as he moved across the temple compound, hugging the wall until he made his final approach. They had decided on a two-pronged attack. Steve, two of Miguel’s men and half the mermen would take the guest house, while the others would surround and enter the high priest’s residence. Hopefully, this would give them the pirate leaders and Jake’s uncle at the same time. With them as hostages, getting the others to surrender or flee would be easy.
On Wen’s signal, Jake moved into place on the front porch of the main building. Lights burned through the first floor windows, courtesy of a gasoline generator belching away behind the house. Upstairs, only one room—the largest—was lit.
Wen, who shimmered, indicating he was probably invisible to those he didn’t want to see him, looked in the windows. “Two men playing cards at the dining table,” he whispered. “Both wearing shoulder holsters.”
“Bodyguards, maybe?” Niko offered.
Wen disappeared from view and then returned. “One man and one woman in the master bedroom. They appear to be…occupied.”
They wouldn’t get a better time than this. He listened over the communicators to the other team, discovered they were about to take on half a dozen armed men in the guest house. He hoped like hell they’d all survive, but right now, he had to focus on his own battle.
The table where the two men sat was at one end of the large open room, which was divided into spaces by sturdy stone pillars that supported the upper floor. A makeshift kitchen—microwave and mini fridge had been set up by the open hearth, and the generator cable ran out an open window. There were windows all around, and doors on both of the short sides of the rectangular building. Wordlessly, Miguel and Carlos took up positions at windows near the table, then Jake and Wen approached the door closest to the men with Niko, while Chiron led the other mermen to the far door. Their job was to go in and immediately move to secure the stairs. Thanks to Wen’s photos, they’d had plenty of time to plan this out in advance. He sent up a prayer to Dionysus along with every other god he could think of, then tensed in readiness as Wen kicked in the door.
The two men at the table were caught completely off guard. Subduing them was a matter of moments, with no shots fired. Their shouts, however, did draw the attention of their boss and his woman. The woman came down the stairs slowly, her hands in the air, and Niko quickly had her cuffed and lined up against the wall with the two bodyguards. The leader, however did something that no one had anticipated. He went out the window.
Wen went after him, with Jake close behind. The landing must have hurt, or maybe he just wasn’t very fast, because Wen caught him in a flying tackle just as they rounded the corner of the building.
Jake pulled out a pair of cuffs and helped wrestle the man’s hands behind his back while Wen knelt on his thighs to hold him down. The pirate leader was spitting and swearing in Spanish, so Jake responded in his own language, telling him to shut the fuck up if he wanted to live. Once the cuffs were secured, he pulled out his pistol and held it on the man as Wen hauled him to his feet.
“Behind you,” Wen shouted.
Jake turned just in time to see three people round the corner of the priests’ residence.
“Stop, or your leader dies,” he yelled.
“Good,” one of the pirates answered with a laugh. Then he shot Jake while the other two fired—one at the leader, the other at Wen.
Jake felt the bullet slam into his chest, and he heard Heidi’s scream over the headset and over their link, but he couldn’t respond, couldn’t tell her not to worry. His knees buckling, he vaguely saw Niko and Miguel’s men come up and open fire on the pirates. He didn’t see them fall, though, couldn’t tell what had happened. The world went black as he fell to lush grass at his feet.
Chapter Eighteen
“No!” Heidi screamed into the headset. She saw Brad wince, knew she’d probably hurt his ears, but she didn’t care. Her link with Jake had gone dark.
He couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t! “We were going to get married,” she whispered to Brad as tears filled her eyes.
“The pirates are fighting back,” Wen said. “They shot their own leader. We can’t assume any of them will surrender at this point.”
Brad reached over and clicked the off button on Heidi’s headset, and his own. “We don’t know anything yet, Heidi. Darius is ready to go, as soon as they finish. If anyone can save Jake, you know he can.”
“You’re right,” she said through her tears. “We still—” She choked back a sob. “We still have work to do, right?”
“Right,” he said. He clicked on his headset, then reported to Heidi, “Steve says the guest house is clear. Phaeton was not in it, but one of his lieutenants was.”
Heidi gulped in a few deep breaths. She could do this. She would do this. For Jake. She switched her headset back on and listened as the second team came up to support Wen in the firefight with the pirates from the priests’ quarters.
Darius came running from the bow of the boat, jumped around into the bridge. “We have trouble. Two small boat
s, approaching fast.”
“Shit! We have pirates,” she said over her com. “Two cigarette boats incoming.” She closed down her computer, switched off her com and checked her rifle. “Darius, you and Myrrine get below and lock yourself in a stateroom. Brad, get on the radio and call the navy boat like Miguel said.”
“On it.” Brad turned off his com and turned on the radio, preset to the frequency Miguel had specified. “What are you doing?”
“Getting more ammo.” Keeping her rifle close, Heidi ducked below and filled a duffle bag with ammo and a spare handgun for each of them, then lugged it back up to the bridge, turning off every possible light as she went. No need to make it easier to board them.
“We’ll have a good vantage point from here,” she said. Putting on a pair of night-vision goggles, she scanned the horizon. “I see them. They’re coming up fast.”
They both watched grimly as the two boats approached. As they drew closer, she could see that each boat held five or six men, all heavily armed.
“We just try to shoot them one at a time as they climb on board?” Brad asked.
“You got a better idea?”
There was movement below them on deck, and Heidi swore. “I thought I told them to stay below!”
Sure enough, Myrrine and Darius were creeping toward the railings on either side of the deck—right above the lower deck, where the pirate vessels were drawing up to the Folly.
Without taking time to think, Heidi set down the rifle, picked up Jake’s Beretta, and ran down to where her fiancé’s mother stood peeking over the rail between the upper and lower decks with something the size of a football in her hand.
“What are you doing?” Heidi whispered. “You’re supposed to be hiding.”
“I’m helping keep us safe,” Myrrine whispered back. Just as a head poked up above the side of the lower deck, she added, “Cover me,” and leaned over.
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