by Mary Burton
He strapped a knife to his leg and a dive computer to his wrist. Effortlessly, he lifted his tank and, slipped it on.
Kelsey reached for her tank, ready to heft it onto her shoulders. But Mitch brushed her fingers aside and lifted her gear for her. For an instant, she was undecided. She didn't like receiving help, especially from this man. Still, to refuse would only delay this happy reunion longer. She quickly slipped her arms into the buoyancy compensator vest, which held air regulator hoses, air tank and dive computer in place.
"Thanks."
Mitch hovered behind her and his thigh brushed her leg. He supported the weight of her tank as she fastened her straps. For an instant, her Fingers fumbled with the straps she'd hooked a thousand times.
"Any time."
Stu handed Kelsey her yellow fins and pink mask. "All set?" he asked.
She rechecked her handheld dive computer. "Good to go," she said tightly.
On land the equipment was cumbersome, but once they entered the water, the thirty-pound tank would be weightless.
Stu followed them down the hill to the water. "Now remember, the large crevice is near the northwest corner of the quarry. That's where I saw the car."
"We'll find your car," Mitch said. His face held no hint of emotion.
Mitch walked into the water, and when it was waist deep, he rolled easily on his back and yanked on his fins. He secured his mask and double-checked the airflow in his regulator.
Even this late in May, the water was ice-cold. Kelsey sucked in a breath, determined not to say a word in front of Mitch. She slipped on her fins and pulled her hot pink mask in place. Placing her regulator in her mouth, she drew in a deep breath to test it.
Kelsey moved deeper into the water.
Mitch shot a glance her way. Her hot pink dive mask had him shaking his head. "Christ, Stu, my first day off in three weeks and you stick me with Scuba Barbie. You owe me, pal. You owe me big-time."
Chapter 2
Mitch prayed for patience as he shoved the regulator into his mouth. Kelsey Warren hadn't lost her talent for getting under his skin.
The last time he'd seen Kelsey was eight years ago, when he'd had more hormones than sense. Back then, he hadn't seen past her wisecracks to the pain she hid so carefully. He had badly misjudged what he'd thought was an easygoing relationship.
They'd made love in the back room of Stu's Dive Shop. For him, it had been incredible until she'd told him that she was a virgin and that she'd loved him.
He'd been stunned.
He'd been honest and told her he didn't love her.
Like a fool, he'd added that he'd never have made love to her if he'd known. She'd looked horrified, and the sloppy apologies that had tumbled out of him one after another had made a painful situation even worse.
Kelsey had fled that back room in tears. He'd tried to follow, but she'd hopped in her car and taken off. He'd gone immediately to her aunt's house to see her. But she'd packed up her few belongings and had left. Her aunt didn't know where she'd gone and didn't seem to care. He never saw her again.
Until now.
Mitch exhaled slowly into the regulator. He was wiser now. This time, he would keep matters strictly business between them.
He pushed the regulator into his mouth, slid below the water's edge, and started to kick his fins. The cool waters felt good against his body. The tension bunching his muscles relaxed a fraction.
The water was cold, and flecks of silt kicked up from the bottom by their movement floated in the water around them. Still, the water had cleared significantly since Stu had put in the new filtration system. He could see almost a hundred feet ahead. Hard to believe six months ago, the visibility in the quarry had been less than two inches.
Mitch removed his flashlight from his waistband and switched it on. He swam ten feet above Kelsey, giving him a perfect view of her. She still had a tight compact body and full, rounded breasts that filled out her skintight wet suit exactly right.
Her hair was blonder, the color of platinum, but if he didn't miss his guess, it was natural, the product of hours in the sun. Her blue eyes had spit fire the instant she'd looked at him, but he imagined if she smiled they'd still have the power to make his knees weak. The bracelets that jangled from her wrist looked like quality, as did the gold chain that hung around her neck.
Over the last couple of years, Stu had kept him upon Kelsey's whereabouts. Mitch had heard enough to know she was doing well. And judging by Stu's collection of postcards from Kelsey, she didn't stay in any one place long.
Yesterday, when they'd left the funeral home after Ruth Warren's service, Stu had defended Kelsey to the folks who'd wondered why she'd not returned for the occasion. Later at the diner over coffee, Stu had talked more about Kelsey. Donna's abandonment, he'd said, had left its mark on her.
Mitch knew Kelsey's upbringing had not been ideal but he'd never known how bad things had been. That summer when they'd worked together, she'd never said a word about her family life.
He had never met Kelsey's mother, but in the years since he'd moved back home, he'd heard enough tales. Anyone in town older than thirty-five had a Donna Warren tale. The woman had lived hard and fast and abandoned her only child ten years ago. Mitch had been away at school, but from what he'd heard, it had been big news at the time.
He watched Kelsey aim her camera at a couple of fish. It flashed. As she turned and pointed her camera to the right, his flashlight cast a glow on her pink face mask. Blond hair floated behind her.
Small schools offish hovered close to her head. One nibbled her ear. Turning, she held out her gloved hand and waited as the fish swam closer to her fingertips.
His mind drifted back to a time when their bodies had fit so well together. He wondered if the sex would still be as explosive. Lust pumped through his veins. At the rate he was going, he would burn through his air tanks in a half hour.
Sleep was what he needed, not Kelsey.
He'd spent the last two weeks on active reserve duty in Norfolk. Most of the time was spent under the water, inspecting the hulls of the ships for explosives. He'd returned home on Friday, hoping for a couple of quiet days before he had to get back to work and plunge into planning his reelection campaign. No such luck.
Kelsey snapped a couple of more pictures, turned and started swimming again.
A hundred feet ahead, he spotted a silhouetted object.
The car.
Mitch shifted his mind to business. Without looking back at him, Kelsey swam toward the car. She shot a couple of pictures of it.
No doubt, she'd photographed her share of exotic underwater creatures. He'd seen her pictures in several travel magazines. He'd even subscribed to a couple magazines last year so he could keep tabs on her work.
He'd bet next month's paycheck that she'd never shot an abandoned heap. He could almost hear her mind grousing about her adventures in Hicksville as she counted off the minutes until she could leave Grant's Forge.
The old car sat perched on the edge of a deep crevice that dipped another two hundred feet. Another two or three feet and the car would have plunged to the bottom of the ravine and never have been found. Stu was right to be worried about it.
He moved alongside Kelsey.
Kelsey took another picture. They swam closer.
When they were just twenty feet away, Kelsey lowered the camera from her face mask. Abruptly, she started to swim fast toward the wreck.
Her keen interest in the old car surprised him. Water had corroded the paint off the vehicle and the windows were covered with slime. Water had seeped inside and flooded the interior. A Dodge, twenty years old if he had to guess.
She reached for the door handle and tried to open it. What the hell was she going to do? Swim in the car?
Mitch tapped her on the shoulder and she looked up at him. Her eyes were wide, bright. He shook his head and pointed to the ravine, a reminder she could be sucked over the edge if her equipment got hooked in the car and it tumbled ov
er. Nodding, she released it.
She placed her hand against the opaque glass. She stared at the car a long moment before she swam toward the rusted back bumper. She unhooked a small light from her weight belt and shone it on the license plate.
He nudged her aside and rubbed the plate partially clean. Pennsylvania. ZCE A. The rest was unreadable, corroded away by the water, but it might be enough to get an ID.
Likely, the car had belonged to someone who didn't want to pay property taxes and had dumped the car here. But he'd run the plates anyway. So many crimes were solved by seemingly unimportant details.
Kelsey shouldered past him and started to clean the remaining numbers. When she realized the numbers couldn't be salvaged, she swam quickly back to the front driver's side of the car. This time, she started wiping furiously at the window until she'd cleaned off a small patch. She fumbled for her light and in the process dropped her camera. Unmindful that it sunk to the silty bottom, she shone her light into the car.
Her body jerked. She pushed back from the car.
She turned toward him, her eyes wider. She was breathing harder, faster. Bubbles swirled around her head.
Something was wrong.
He stared at her. What is it?
She pointed to the Dodge.
Mitch shrugged. What?
She jabbed her finger at the window. Look!
He shone his flashlight into the car's interior. Through the thick, murky waters, he saw the skeleton draped across the front seat of the car, staring lifelessly through empty sockets at him.
Kelsey closed her eyes to block out the sight of the car that Donna had driven off in ten years ago. Pennsylvania plates. ZCE A. She didn't need the last three numbers to know that this had been her mother's car. Or that the skeleton was her mother.
She knew.
Tight bands of stress wrapped around her chest, squeezing the air from her lungs. A million thoughts ricocheted in her head. She started breathing faster.
Opening her eyes, she looked up toward the surface. The sun shone into the dark waters. She had to get out of the quarry as quickly as she could. She needed to stand on dry land. To think. Every instinct in her body screamed for her to claw her way to the surface. Instead, she closed her eyes and drew in deep, slow breaths.
Take your time, Warren. Don't panic.
Her breathing slowed. She swallowed, her mouth dry. Mitch took a hold of her wrist. She was surprised by the gentleness in his touch. He was watching her intently now.
Finally, through watery eyes, she met his steely gaze and nodded. I'm all right.
His eyes narrowed. Yeah, right.
He didn't let loose of her arm as they floated up fifteen feet and then paused for their bodies to adjust to the new depth.
After a three-minute safety interval, Mitch ascended with Kelsey another fifteen feet and stopped. Though she'd stayed in control, his hand and gaze remained locked on her. When they'd waited another minute, he took them up another fifteen feet, and then up to the surface.
He jerked his head toward land. Silently he swam next to her until they reached shallow water.
Donna was dead. Her mother was dead.
The rash of adrenaline drained her body and by the time she reached the shore, she could barely stand. Stu started to make his way down the hill toward her. She gritted her teeth and stood in the shallow water, fighting the weight of the tank. Pebbles from the shore dug into her feet.
Very aware that Mitch watched her every move, she yanked off her fins. She staggered the ten feet through ankle-deep water to the shore. She dropped her tanks on the shore and closed her eyes, gathering her strength. Anyone could be in that car. In her heart, she knew it was Donna.
Stu's blue eyes had darkened with curiosity, "That was quick."
"Let me lift your tank off your shoulder," Mitch said gruffly.
She stood taller. "I'll take care of it."
Annoyed, he started to lift the tank from her body. "You look like you're about to collapse."
She drew in a deep steadying breath. "I'm fine."
Stu frowned. "What happened? Did you find the car?"
Mitch shrugged off his tanks. "Yeah. We found the car."
Stu's gaze skipped between Mitch's face etched with anger and Kelsey's pale features. "What went wrong?"
"There was a body in the car. A skeleton," Kelsey said.
"A what?" Stu asked.
She couldn't seem to catch her breath. "It was Donna's car."
"Jeez, Kelsey," Stu said. "Her blue Dodge?"
"Yeah."
Mitch eyed her. "Kelsey, it was dark down there, and the car was covered in slime. We don't know whose car it was or who was in it."
"I know what I saw! Donna's plates. 'You've Got A Friend In Pennsylvania!' Didn't you see it?"
Mitch shoved his fingers through his wet hair. "I saw the plates."
Her hands started to tremble. "The body is Donna's."
The wheels in Mitch's mind seemed to turn faster as if he were switching to full cop mode. "Kelsey, don't borrow trouble until I go down and check it out again."
"Mitch is right, Kelsey," Stu said. "It could be anyone."
All the fears and emotions often years ago roared to life, tearing at her heart. She felt fifteen, alone and abandoned again.
Kelsey closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her eyelids, stinging with fresh tears. God, she was going to cry. With great effort, she curled her fists- and tamped down the panic welling inside her. "I practically lived in that car growing up."
Stu laid a hand on her shoulder. "You're tired and jet-lagged as hell. Your emotions are raw. Let Mitch figure out who's down there before you do anything."
Kelsey's head started to pound. She'd spent ten years trying to forget those last days with her mother. There were times when her workload had been so heavy that she'd manage to forget for a month or two. But as soon as she slowed down, the memories returned. How many times had she second-guessed her-self? Had she said or done something to drive Donna away? "I know this all sounds crazy."
"It doesn't sound crazy," Mitch said. "But we need more facts."
"I know I am right." Kelsey shook her head. "It never once occurred to me that Donna was dead. She always said she was like a cockroach. Couldn't be killed."
Mitch reached for her shoulder to comfort her and then, as if thinking better of it, planted his hands on his narrow hips. "Don't borrow trouble."
Kelsey started toward the water. The ripples from their dive had vanished. "I need to go back down there. There has to be something that'll tell me what happened."
Mitch grabbed her arm. "You're not going back down there. You're too shaky."
"Look, I bailed Donna out of trouble too many times. I can't just leave her there." Old habits died hard. "I have to go."
Skepticism darkened his eyes. "I'll call a few friends in Roanoke County. When they get here, we'll dive again after my surface interval."
God, he didn't understand. She didn't want to go. She had to. "I'm going."
Steel glinted in his eyes. "I'll hog-tie you first."
"You wouldn't do that."
"Watch me."
"I didn't panic underwater," Kelsey said as evenly as she could. "I held it together."
Mitch unfastened his weight belt. "You were rattled. You're still rattled. Diving when you are upset is stupid. You know that."
He was right, but she could hold it together. "I'm an experienced diver. I can handle it."
Stu shifted his weight off his injured leg. "Kelsey, you can't go back down. Not now. Hell, even Mitch has got to take an hour-long surface interval before he dives again."
She threw up her hands. "Okay, I wait an hour."
"No," Mitch said.
Mitch's wet black hair was slicked back. His face was all hard planes and rawboned angles. Moving a mountain would be easier than changing his mind right now.
An unshakable weariness settled into her bones. "I'm not leaving until Donna is out of
that car. I can't leave her there. I just can't."
Mitch studied her face. For an instant, she imagined the hard lines around his mouth softened. "Like I said, I'll call over to the next county. They've got an underwater search and recovery team. They'll check it out, bring up the car if necessary."
Kelsey's hand trembled as she pushed the wet hair away from her face. "How long will it take?"
"I don't know. But you might as ell go back to town with Stu. Get something to eat, rest. I promise I will call you when I know something."
"That's a great idea, Kelsey," Stu said. "I'll bet you haven't had a decent meal in days."
A week was more like it. "Okay, I get the not-diving part. I might be a liability underwater now. But I'm staying right here in this spot until that car is inspected."
Mitch glared at her, his hands on his hips. "You will be sitting here most of the day. There's nothing you can do to help the investigation."
She could be just as stubborn as he was. "I'll wait."
He looked at her as if she were a nut job. "You've waited ten years for news of your mother. What are a few more days?" Mitch said. "Go back to town. Be reasonable."
Hysterical laughter rose in her throat. "I haven't been reasonable since the day Donna walked out on me. Why should I start now?"
Chapter 3
Six hours later, the hot sun had burned off the morning haze, leaving a crystal clear sky. Kelsey had shrugged off her dive suit and pulled on jeans and a shirt over her bikini.
Time and distance had settled the panic inside her. But a dull, lingering ache had burrowed into her bones. Her throat remained tight with unshed tears.
On Mitch's orders, she stood away from the quarry's edge, far from the search and recovery crew that had assembled there two hours ago. The six-man team had arrived shortly after eleven in a blue van marked Recovery Team. Attached to the back of their truck was a trailer and skiff.
The team immediately set up their equipment and inspected their dive gear. The quiet quarry buzzed with activity as Mitch briefed the men. Each man clearly liked and respected Mitch.