Fatal Tide

by Iris Johansen

  “Against you,” Kelby said. “This might be a good time for you to stay in your cabin and let us take care of business.”

  “He’ll be just as angry with you. Are we all going to hide under the bed?” She shook her head. “We have to put an end to it.” She turned to Nicholas. “I’ll take care of Pete and Susie. You spend your time keeping an eye on Archer’s ship. We need to know what’s happening.”

  “I agree.” Nicholas turned to Kelby. “When I wasn’t keeping an eye on the dolphins this morning, I did a little firepower assembly. Just in case.” He moved down the deck. “I’m going to catch a bite to eat before I take off. It might be a long night.”

  “Why didn’t you wake me up?” Melis asked Kelby.

  “You needed the sleep. Besides that wound, Lontana gave you a knockout punch. And there wasn’t anything you could do. From now on it’s going to be a waiting game.”

  She was afraid he was right, and she was going to hate that waiting. “I hoped it might end last night.”

  “It should have. The plan was sound enough. It just went wrong.”

  “Thanks to Phil.” She gazed in the direction of Cadora. Phil was out there in his cottage, probably still congratulating himself on his great success. “He was so proud of himself.”

  “Stop thinking about him.”

  “I will. It’s still new. I thought he was my friend.”

  “It sounded like he still believed it. He’s a little wacko.”

  “No. It’s only that we’re all just shadows to him. Marinth is the reality. I never realized that.” She forced herself to look away. “Are you going down today?”

  “For one dive. And, no, you’re not going with me. I’ll take Charlie.”

  “I wasn’t going. I can’t risk not getting this wound healed right away.”

  “The doctor said nothing strenuous for a week.”

  “I heal fast.” She smiled faintly. “I’m like Pete. I’ll know when I’m ready.”

  He paused. “I don’t know if you’re going to be ready for this. We found a gift-wrapped package in the tender you took to Cadora.”

  She stiffened. She’d completely forgotten the package Pennig had put in the tender. “Did you open it?”

  “No, I wanted to chuck it, but I don’t have the right. It’s in your cabin.” He added roughly, “You chuck it. Don’t even open it.”

  She nodded and moved slowly toward her cabin.

  What do you have for me now, Archer? What cruel little whimsy?

  The box was sitting on her bed. A note was taped to the top. She opened the envelope.

  Melis,

  I hope I don’t have to dispose of you tonight and that we’re opening this together. I desperately want to see your face.

  She hesitated and then tore off the gold wrappings.

  She lifted one corner of the box.

  White. Delicate as a moonbeam.

  She slammed the lid of the box down.

  Damn him. Damn him.

  She picked up the box and headed for the door. Destroy it. Throw it overboard.

  She stopped and drew a deep breath. She wasn’t thinking. Everything had changed. They had no weapons against Archer right now. They might have to turn his weapons against him.

  Not this one. Oh, God, not this one.

  She forced herself to stride to the closet, tossed the box out of sight, and slammed the door.

  She didn’t even know if she could live in the same room with it. It would be like knowing a cobra was coiled in that closet.

  But she didn’t have to live in this room. She had Kelby, and she’d be safe wherever he was. She was welcome in his cabin, welcome in his bed. It didn’t matter that it was only for now. What a good thing to know he was there for her.

  Nicholas came back after nine o’clock that night. “It took me an hour or two to locate the ship. Archer up-anchored and sailed ten miles to the east. I was afraid we’d lost him.”

  “Is he still on board?”

  “I didn’t find the ship until almost sunset. I didn’t stay long and I had to keep far back so that I wouldn’t be seen. I don’t think he was on deck.”

  “He’s on the ship,” Melis said. “He’s hovering. Like a bad dream.”

  “I’d bet he’s doing more than forming a black cloud over your head,” Kelby said. “He’s getting reinforcements. We took out four of his men. It might take a little time to call up more help and weapons.”

  “Makes sense,” Nicholas said. “I’ll be able to get a better look at any comings and goings tomorrow. There’s a chain of deserted islands about four miles away from where Archer’s anchored. I can set up surveillance from one of them.”

  “What kind of weapons?” Melis asked.

  “He has access to some nasty firepower,” Kelby said grimly. “Maybe rocket launchers. No maybe if he decides to come after the Trina.”

  “You think he will?”

  “I imagine he’s mad enough to do almost anything. There’s a possibility.”

  “Then maybe we shouldn’t wait until he gets reinforcements,” Nicholas said.

  “If he’s as angry as I think he is, we might be able to use it,” Melis said.

  Kelby gave her a wary look. “How?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “You don’t mean use his anger, you mean use you.” Kelby added flatly, “No.”

  “How do you know he hasn’t already got those weapons on board his ship? Maybe he’s just waiting for more men,” Melis said. “Do you want to chance him blowing the Trina out of the water?”

  “No, and I don’t want him to blow you out of the water either.”

  “We need to know what he’s thinking. Let’s give him another day.”

  “And you think we’ll know then?”

  “Yes. He’ll call me. He won’t be able to resist. He’s only waiting until he thinks he has the upper hand. He’s probably seething to do it now, but he can’t feel like a failure when he talks to me.” She smiled crookedly. “It has to be slave and master.”

  Kelby gazed at her for a moment. “Okay, one day. That’s all.” His eyes narrowed on her face. “What are you thinking about? You can’t pull the same trick on him again.”

  “I know. He’ll want me now as much as he does the papers. Before I was just a little something extra.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m thinking. There has to be a way. . . .”

  They didn’t have to wait a day for Archer to call. Her phone rang two hours later.

  “Are you feeling smug?” Archer asked. “Nothing’s changed, Melis. I’m alive and you’re alive and you still have to give me the papers.”

  “Some things have changed. Pennig’s dead.”

  “He’s replaceable.” He paused. “But you’re right, there has been one change. I took a little trip to Cadora. You’re my only source for those reference papers now. You took them from Lontana, didn’t you?”

  “What did you expect?”

  “You’ve made it very inconvenient for me. I’m afraid there will be a price to pay. Shall I tell you how?”

  “Do you expect me to quiver and weep? That was an act, Archer. I made a fool of you.” She paused before adding mockingly, “Mr. Peepers.”

  “Bitch.” He drew a deep breath. “You’ll pay for that. I’d almost rather have my hands on you than the papers.”

  “It won’t happen. I’m safe here. Kelby will protect me. He doesn’t give a damn about me, but that doesn’t matter. I give him what he wants and he keeps all the nasty impotent perverts like you away from me.”

  She could almost feel the heat of his rage through the phone. “He’ll get tired of you.”

  “I’m too good, and there’s only one thing Kelby likes better than sex. He thinks his damn boat was made in heaven. He yells when one of the crew gets a scratch on it. But I manage to quiet him down. I learned a lot at Kafas. No, you’ll never get another chance at me, Archer.” She hung up.

  “You gave it to him with both barrels.” Kel
by raised himself on one elbow on the bed. “He certainly won’t think you’re a wimp anymore. And a man doesn’t like to have his virility questioned.”

  “I wanted to make him angry.” She paused. “So he wouldn’t realize I’d deliberately dropped a weapon in his hands.”

  “What weapon?”

  “You.”

  “Oh, big sex-hungry me, who doesn’t give a damn about you? I can’t say I liked that description.”

  “I bet you like it better than impotent pervert.”

  “That’s true.”

  “I had to switch his focus. He’s getting impatient. Somehow he found out that Phil doesn’t have the papers. He tried to kill the dolphins and it didn’t work. And he’s not getting any satisfaction out of talking to me anymore. He senses I’m not a victim any longer. He can’t hurt me.”

  Kelby went still. “He can’t?”

  She shook her head. “I’m the only one who can hurt me. Maybe I should thank him. He punished me so much that I’ve developed scar tissue that would withstand almost anything.”

  He reached out and touched her cheek. “When did you find this out?”

  “It’s been growing on me.” She shook her head impatiently. “We don’t have time to talk about me. Archer may be calling back.”

  “Why?”

  “Because when he gets over the first rage at me, he’s going to think about what I said.”

  “And he’ll call you back.”

  “No, he’ll call you back and try to make a deal with you. He’ll threaten to blow up the Trina if you don’t hand me over to him.”

  He nodded slowly. “Because what’s a good piece of ass in comparison to a ship like the Trina?”

  “You have Marinth. You don’t need the tablets or the research. You’ve gotten everything material you wanted from me. All I am is a sex object. Archer understands that concept.”

  “I don’t.”

  She smiled. “Yeah, but you would have voted the right way at that council of noblemen.”

  “What’s the purpose? Why am I serving you up to him?”

  “I need to get on the ship.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Her smile faded. “You’ll have to be convincing. It’s probably best you tell him you have to think it over.”

  “It’s not going to happen,” he said flatly. “Not again.”

  She studied his expression. There was no moving him. “Then buy time. When he calls, pretend you’re considering it.”

  “I’ll consider cutting his balls off.”

  “Kelby. Please. You know we need the time. Stall.”

  He was silent a moment. “Okay, I’ll stall. As long as he keeps his damn mouth shut about you.”

  It was as much of a concession as she was going to get. She could only hope Archer was brief and to the point.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Melis’s hopes were answered. When Archer called Kelby at eight the next morning, he was on the phone for only a few minutes. Kelby was just as brief, except for one very convincing outburst of obscenities. “You can’t get away with that. I’ll call in the coast guard.” Then he was silent again, listening. Finally, he said, “I’ll think about it.” And hung up. He stared at her. “You were right. He threatened to blow me out of the water if I didn’t turn you and Lontana’s research over. When I mentioned the coast guard, he said I could call all I pleased and they wouldn’t come. He has them in his pocket.”

  “Like Nicholas suspected.”

  He nodded. “And I didn’t say any of the things I wanted to say. Satisfied?”

  “It was as good as could be expected. Did he give you a time limit?”

  “I didn’t give him the chance.” Kelby got out of bed and started getting dressed. “If I’d talked for another minute with that greasy asshole, it wouldn’t have been pretty.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I can’t stay here. I’m about to explode. I’m going on deck to wait for Nicholas to come back from his watch.”

  She watched the door slam behind him.

  He didn’t want her with him. He was angry and protective and trying to shut her away from Archer. She’d never seen him more determined. She couldn’t allow it. She had to be there when Nicholas got back.

  She got out of bed and started getting dressed.

  “As far as I can tell, Archer has four men on board,” Nicholas said when he came back at noon. “And they’re good. They’re moving around, watching for boats, watching for swimmers. They have searchlights constantly focused on the water around the ship. Chancy to plant an explosive on the hull. And it will be damn hard to board her without a distraction.”

  “What kind of distraction?” Melis asked.

  He shrugged. “We’ll work it out.” He looked at Kelby. “I saw Archer. And he received a shipment last night. Four six-by-seven crates.”

  “No additional manpower? The four men he has would only give him defense.”

  Nicholas shook his head. “But they could come anytime.”

  “Then we need to move fast. If we can’t plant the explosives on the hull, we probably need a small rocket launcher.”

  Melis stiffened in shock. “What?”

  Kelby ignored her. “How long will it take to get it?”

  “Twenty-four hours. Maybe a little longer. My nearest supplier is in Zurich. Do we have that long?”

  “Maybe.” Kelby glanced at Melis. “We bought some time. He’ll probably wait to go after us until he’s certain I won’t give him what he wants.”

  “I don’t like it,” Nicholas said. “We’ll tip our hand the minute we use it. They could blow us out of the water if they brought on some of the really big stuff.”

  “Then we’ll have to find a way to not tip our hand. Get it.”

  He nodded. “I’ll get on the phone and start making purchases.” Nicholas started up the deck. “But we should keep an eye on the Jolie Fille to make sure the status doesn’t change.”

  “I’ll take the tender out and stand watch. You get some sleep and relieve me at dawn.”

  “Right.”

  Melis waited until Nicholas had gone belowdeck before she turned to Kelby. “Rocket launchers? It sounds like we’re going to war.”

  “Just getting prepared for all eventualities,” Kelby said. “I don’t want to use that kind of firepower if I don’t have to. Very messy.”

  “And they’ll fire back. Nicholas is right, it’s more dangerous.”

  “Maybe I’ll decide Nicholas is wrong about attaching the explosives to the hull. We’ll see.”

  “He said you could board it if you had a distraction.”

  Kelby’s lips tightened. “No, Melis, you’re out of it.”

  “The hell I am.”

  “Listen to me. I understood what you were going through. So I let you talk me into setting Archer up and you nearly got killed. I never want to go through that again.” His voice was hard. “You can argue until you’re blue in the face. No way.”

  He turned and strode away from her.

  He meant it. There was no doubt about his determination to keep her out of any action against Archer.

  And there was no doubt that she couldn’t permit him to do it.

  Melis watched Kelby’s tender disappear beyond the horizon before she went to hunt Nicholas.

  He was just hanging up the phone. “Looks like the launcher is a go. But we can’t get it before—”

  “I need your help,” Melis said.

  Nicholas gazed at her warily. “I don’t think I’m going to like this.”

  “Neither of you wants to use that launcher. You and Kelby need a distraction. I can give you one. Only Kelby won’t have it.”

  “Why do you think I will?”

  “Because it’s logical and there’s no time to find another one. I don’t want any rockets lobbed onto the Trina. Kelby loves this ship.”

  “I’m not fond of the idea myself.” Then he shook his head. “It’s too risky. Archer hates your guts.�
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  “He won’t hurt me right away.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I know him. I can see into every dirty cranny of his mind. I’m no martyr. I can do this, Nicholas. I just need a little help to divert Archer’s attention at the critical moment. What kind of distraction did you have in mind?”

  “An explosion to draw the guards away from the rail.”

  “You can get me a grenade?”

  He nodded. “I have something much more sophisticated. Small and easily hidden.”

  “Then just tell me where and when you want the explosion.”

  He hesitated. “Kelby will kill me.”

  “You’re going to do it?”

  “What would you do if I turned you down?”

  “Find another way to do it without you or that explosive.”

  “I think you would.” He was silent a moment more. “Let me think about it.” He turned and walked away from her.

  “There’s not much time,” she called after him.

  He glanced over his shoulder, and his expression surprised her with its hardness. “Don’t push me, Melis. I’m not playing the clown right now. You can’t coerce me into doing anything I don’t want to do. If I go along with you, it will be because I think it’s the smartest thing to do for all of us. It won’t be because you’re in a fever to get to Archer. I wouldn’t do that to Jed. And I damn well wouldn’t do it to myself.”

  She stared after him in surprise and uneasiness as he crossed the deck and gazed out at the sea. She had seen only a few glimpses of this darker, more dangerous Nicholas that he hid so well behind that light facade. She wanted to go after him and try to convince him, but she knew it would be useless. His expression had been remote and totally intimidating. She would have to wait until he came to her.

  She sat down in a deck chair, her gaze on Nicholas’s ugly/arresting profile. Shaman. The title he used as a joke didn’t seem to be so funny right now. He was exuding a quiet force and power that made her wonder if she knew him at all. The man who had painted the eyes on the dodo bird was not this man.