His heart jumped again. He'd never been so affected by anyone in his life. "Have a good time, Rikki."
She turned toward the side of the boat and then hesitated. "You'll be all right?"
He stepped up to her and took her face in his hands, kissing her long and deep. "Don't worry about me. I have plenty to do."
She frowned at him, kissed him again and slipped from his arms, making her way to the edge of the boat. She went into the water and caught the anchor chain, using it to make her way down to the depth she wanted to go. Otherwise, the flow of the current would have taken her away.
Lev watched her disappear, his heart in his throat. He shoved his hand through his thick hair and peered down into the water where she'd disappeared. He was going to be one of those obnoxious men who refused to leave his wife's side. He wanted to be down there with her, with spears and knives and maybe a torpedo or two, just in case. Who knew he would be like this?
He studied the terrain around them. It was beautiful, the air crisp, the sight unbelievable. The cliffs were high, and the long expanse of rock, pointing like a finger from the land, seemed to run straight back to the highway. He found himself settling. This was what he wanted. This place. This woman. Diving with her in the environment she was most comfortable in.
He had money, enough that neither of them would have to work again, but she would never accept that, and he loved that about her. He was already committed, his mind, his heart, definitely his body. She was his life now.
So how was he going to stop the inevitable questions? Levi Hammond had a past. He had created an entire life for himself, adding an extensive diving hobby. Hammond's parents were no longer alive, but they'd left him money, plenty of it, and that had been the most difficult part of building a fake life. Money could be traced. He'd had to come up with plausible ways his parents could have left him an inheritance that if looked into, would appear solid.
Once he'd covered his financial tracks, he considered he was relatively safe--but for Ralph. Ralph was a problem and today, when they brought the urchins to the dock where the processing plant would pick them up, Lev would have to make the final decision on how he was going to start his new life. Risk everything and let the man live, or find a way for an accident to happen. He didn't like either alternative, and he didn't want to go to Rikki with blood on his hands, not the blood of an innocent man.
15
RIKKI felt the cool relief of the water enfolding her body. It had been too long. Every cell seemed to soak up the moisture, she was so thirsty she seemed to drink with every part of her body. She felt the familiar stillness, the calming in her mind, as if, down here in this world of water, everything was synced and perfect. There was no noise to fill her head and pound and stab. She didn't have to watch everything she said and did, as if at any moment she would somehow be stepping on someone's "normal." She could just be.
Massive schools of codfish, mottled blue and black, swam in a flashing wave. Starfish in bright, fiery oranges and deep purples clung to the rocks, rock and spider crabs dappled the walls, living decorations. And the urchin were plentiful. She looked up and the water shimmered in layers of pearlescent color, vivid blue, gray and near the surface an emerald glow. A few jellyfish floated free, tentacles searching. She continued down, just enjoying the view along the way. Orange sea cucumbers and red abalone adorned several of the rocks. Visibility was good and she made out more starfish, anemones and sponges in a variety of shapes and colors. On the bottom there was a brilliant purple pincushion guarding several lemon nudis.
The contour of the underground range was just like aboveground, peaks and valleys and ravines. She was very familiar with the area, it was one of her favorites places to dive. Her life had changed dramatically in the last few weeks, but the ocean was the same, always constant, always beautiful and always very treacherous if one didn't pay close attention to her.
She had to be careful to focus on work rather than on the beauty of the sea life around her. The colorful anemones and starfish always captured her attention. One could easily get lost in the vivid world and forget the passage of time, always crucial underwater when one needed air to breathe.
She began raking sea urchins into her net, losing herself in the rhythm of her work. Curious fish drifted around her, but nothing disturbed her and she was able to get her net filled quickly. The current seemed stronger than usual, but the series of storms had prevented her from diving for a couple of weeks and the rivers had filled and were dumping into the sea.
By the time she'd filled her first net and hooked it and was working on the second, she was getting tired. Out of shape. Or maybe she was exhausted from making love so often. Lev and she had been holed up in their house for days. Each evening one of her sisters brought dinner by, but that was the only time they saw anyone else. They spent each day together doing the silliest things and then making love. Talking and making love. Exploring the house and making love. They'd had sex in every single room a dozen times.
Lev was insidious. He just sort of snaked his way into her world and had already become a part of it. And somehow, he'd managed to wheedle his way onto her boat. She'd lived with that reminder for almost a week. Now he was up there, probably touching her equipment. She raked faster, her arms aching.
She sent the first bag to the surface and hooked the second one, allowing it to float up as well. She followed at a more leisurely pace. Lev had been paying attention when she'd given him instructions because he was slowly pulling in the hose, and her with it. After working alone for so long, it was an odd sensation to have someone else helping. She wasn't positive she liked it. Relying on herself was easier and safer. If she depended on someone else, eventually, in a crisis she might hesitate, and seconds counted under water.
When she'd worked with Daniel, he'd owned the boat. They'd dived together, and they'd done cleanup together. They'd been diving buddies, but Daniel, because the boat was his, had been the captain. He shared the work with her and they never had so much as a squabble. But when she was diving, even with him, she'd totally relied on herself. The few times she'd tried working with a tender, her need for an exact routine had always made it impossible.
Nearing the surface, she caught a glimpse of something exploding out of the rock as if shot from a gun, rocketing toward her through the water. A huge lingcod with a mouthful of wickedly sharp teeth had emerged from a dark crevasse in the rock and charged straight at her. It came right between her legs and she rolled over in an effort to get away. The mottled fish had to be a good fifty inches in length and weigh in at sixty pounds. With eighteen large teeth coming at her, she whipped around to keep a wary eye on it.
The cod continued on past her, evidently intent on a good-sized cabazon swimming back down to the floor where it preferred to hang. The cod grabbed the cabazon, shook him three or four times as if the twenty-pounder was nothing, split him in half and spit him out. For a moment the cod watched with evident satisfaction as the two halves of the cabazon floated away. The cod ignored her and swam back to his rock.
She stuck her head above water, hanging on to the anchor chain so the current couldn't take her away from the boat and watching as Lev carefully pulled up the urchin nets. He followed her orders exactly, placing them in the hold and covering them. She signaled for another net. She had close to a thousand pounds and thought she might be able to pull in another three to five hundred for a good day's work if she was lucky.
The wind had picked up a bit and mist had begun to drift in from out at sea. She didn't want to take any chances with Lev aboard.
"You tired?" he called.
She shrugged. "I'll come in after this next haul."
He nodded and gave her the net. "Be careful, Rikki."
"I always am," she said.
A gull screamed and Lev turned his attention skyward. Rikki shoved her regulator into her mouth and started back down, trailing the net. She turned her head at the first sign of movement and found the cod back, this time, cha
rging straight at her. It was ugly, the huge mouth wide-open, showing teeth. Its bulging eyes fixed on her. Instinctively she thrust the net in front of her to protect herself. The cod rocketed so fast through the water that he burst into the net, nearly striking her anyway. She just managed to shove the net to one side, avoiding the contact, but he was so strong and swimming so fast he nearly jerked her arm out of the socket. Adrenaline rushed through her veins and without thinking she lifted the net out of the water and tossed, throwing the fish out.
She watched it fly through the air in a high arc and begin its descent. Her stomach dropped. No sound came out of her mouth, although she really did try to call out a warning. The sixty pound cod landed almost on top of Lev, furious, fighting, flopping and jumping, snapping with his teeth. Lev whipped out a gun and aimed it at the ferocious fish.
"No! My boat," Rikki shouted.
He did a little dance, trying to get away from the thrashing creature, catching at the gunwale, prepared to leap over the side as the fish snapped at him.
Laughter bubbled up. Lev, the ruthless assassin, was about to abandon the boat because of a fish. He shot her a long look of reprimand and drew a lethal-looking--big--knife. Rikki nearly drowned herself laughing as he stabbed down and caught the fish with the blade and heaved it back into the water.
"That was dinner," she called. "I thought you'd be happy."
"You're not going to be laughing so hard when you get back in this boat," he predicted ominously.
Lev watched Rikki prudently disappear beneath the water. The last he saw of her were her laughing eyes. He found himself grinning. So she was throwing fish at him. He shook his head and poured himself a cup of coffee from the thermos he'd brought. He wanted to be down there with her, but he'd be content with getting a foot in the door, so to speak.
He studied the rocky shores. There was a wild beauty to the coast, a primal feeling of untouched wilderness, even though houses and small villages dotted the bluffs. Just beyond the shoreline, dark forests stood tall, great redwoods and groves of eucalyptus and cypress. The clear sky had slowly disappeared under a layer of mist, which was thickening to a pale shade of gray. He watched it come in, fingers of fog drifting lazily, pointing toward the shore.
The seagull cried out again, drawing his attention. The fisherman was on the move. Lev sighed. He'd known his government would send someone to make certain he was dead. He had hoped they wouldn't move quite so fast, but he was a liability to them if he was out from under their control and they had to make certain.
Everything in him settled. Emotion was gone and his survival instincts took over. He'd been waiting, had planned, and he was ready. Now that the cleaner was finally here, he could breathe again. This was his world and he was very familiar with it. Life or death. Cat and mouse. He rolled his shoulders and felt the calm that came to him with every assignment. He had a purpose, a mission to carry out, and this time, it was to secure a new life for himself.
There was only one real threat to him and that was Ralph. He knew he would do whatever he had to do to protect Rikki. He had every intention of meeting with Ralph and "pushing" his memory to the back of his head before the fisherman found him--and he would find him. He wouldn't leave a stone unturned before he went home and reported back to his masters.
Lev reached for the bird and this time it was easier connecting. The bird circled above the blue sea and made his way back toward the harbor. Moving high in the fog was a surreal experience, the bird's sight mainly on the sea and the activity below it, looking for an easy meal. The dizzy, disorienting feeling caused by his blurred vision always threw him for a moment as he adjusted to the difference in his sight.
The seagull took him along the shore, past craggy rocks and windswept trees, and then around the bluff to the other side of Albion Harbor. Lev directed the bird to spiral down for a better look. The fisherman had returned his rented boat to the harbor and was making his way along the bluffs, stopping occasionally to talk to a few people. In spite of the clothes and cap, Lev could not miss that fluid, rolling walk.
Petr Ivanov. Lev recognized the way he moved. He'd run across Petr more than once, a robot of a man. They'd been in training together when they were in their teens. Even then, Petr had displayed an inability to connect with anyone. His trainers had capitalized on that, keeping him emotionally disconnected from everyone. He was used to clean up messes. It didn't matter who the mark was, man, woman or child. No matter the age or circumstances. He never questioned, he just did the job.
Of course they would send Petr. Who else? He wouldn't fear finding Lev. He was a machine. He wouldn't kill unnecessarily or with passion. He would hunt until he was satisfied that Lev Prakenskii was dead, and until then, he'd keep digging until he found answers. There was satisfaction in knowing he had been right. He'd expected Ivanov to be the one they sent after him. Knowing his enemy was half the battle.
He turned the seagull toward the harbor, needing to see if the processing company had already sent their truck for picking up the day's catch. The bird flew over the dock and no one was yet on the platform, which meant Petr Ivanov hadn't yet met up with Ralph. Ivanov was in the beginning stages of his investigation, assuming different characters. He'd go to the authorities with an official inquiry, but he would visit local bars and hangouts, looking for anyone who worked along the docks and in fishing boats that might provide clues to any survivors.
Lev disengaged from the bird and sank down in the boat, shaken. Taking possession of another creature's sight was disorienting and weakened him. The use of any psychic gift always took a toll, but that particular one seemed to use up the most energy for him. It seemed to be different for those who were elements like Rikki. She never displayed weakness after using her gift. She seemed to manipulate the energy effortlessly.
He drank coffee and waited, lighter somehow, now that Ivanov was actually here and the waiting was over. This was a world he could get used to, the peace of it, the wildness. He was a man who would always live outside of society, but here, in this unique place, maybe there was room for him--with Rikki.
He sighed again. Rikki. The miracle of Rikki. Did he have the right to stay and expose her to danger just because he wanted a life with her? How selfish was that? He wanted to protect her, but the danger from a man like Ivanov was far worse than her stalker. Ivanov was a cold-blooded killer, capable of wiping out her entire family to get to him. So what did a man do? He loved her. He'd never thought to experience love, and maybe that in itself had been all the gift he was supposed to keep. He blinked up at the sky, as if looking for an answer, but the fog had rolled in and covered the bright blue with a gray, smoky mist.
The net surfaced and Lev pulled it in slowly, helping to assist Rikki to the top. He was a little surprised how relieved he actually was when he saw her head above the waterline. He trusted in her skills, he'd seen her in action, yet now he worried about her. He found himself smiling--worrying was such a domesticated thing to do.
He had to admire the way she used the anchor chain to pull herself over to the boat, so the strong current didn't have a chance to push her away. She'd obviously done it often and came aboard with ease. He hauled in the net and covered the sea urchins with the silver tarp, careful to keep from touching the spines. His hands performed all the right tasks, but he was watching her, observing every movement.
She was exhausted. He could see that instantly. She flashed him one quick smile, but it was a greeting, no more. She stripped, right there on the boat, rinsing off, smearing a lotion over her skin before she shimmied back into her jeans. He could tell sex and flirtation hadn't even entered her mind, but it was an erotic sight, maybe because of her complete lack of awareness, almost as if he were a voyeur, catching a glimpse of a sensual woman through a window.
He handed her the water bottle and watched her drink it down. He felt her peace, her serenity. She found something to sustain her, there in the water, in that other world. He could feel those dark eyes on him, watching
him as intently as he was studying her.
"What is it?" She wiped her mouth with the back of her arm. "Something's different. What happened while I was down there?"
He reached out slowly and touched her face. He needed the contact with her. Dread filled him, a weight in his heart, in his mind.
Her eyes darkened even more and she frowned at him as she shook her head. "No, Lev. I don't want you to go. I want you to stay with me. What's out there for you? Tell me that. Do you really want to live in the cold and dark, in the shadows, without a name or family?"
"No. But I want you safe, Rikki."
She burst out laughing. "Are you insane? Look around you, Lev. I don't live safe. I don't need or want safe. I want to live life. If you don't want me, that's fine, but if you think you're being all noble and protecting me, then just think again. You're somebody here. You're concrete, real, not insubstantial like a ghost."
His hand curled in her wet hair, fisted there, drawing her slowly toward him until she was standing so close he could smell the ocean on her. "What am I going to do with you?" His hands framed her face. "I feel like you did the first time we made love. I don't know the rules, Rikki. I'm in new territory."
She smiled at him, and he stroked caresses over her soft, curved lips with the pad of his thumb. The knots in his belly unraveled just a little.
"Then we make up our own rules, Lev. Who you are, that's safe with me. Stay, don't slip back into the shadows. Just stay."
"It's that easy?"
Her dark eyes probed his until he swore she could see inside of him. "Yes." She nodded, very solemn, making him shatter inside--and give her everything he was or would ever be.
He didn't want to leave her. He didn't want to go back to being alone, not knowing right from wrong, having to make life and death decisions, watching torture and horror for a greater goal. He was tired. And he needed Rikki.