by Lark Brennan
“Man, he must’ve been a smuggler or something. Grenades, knives, assault rifles, even a bazooka. Nobody else sails armed like that.” He lowered his voice. “And the electronics. Never seen so much high-tech equipment on a boat before, not even the Ariel.”
“Is it salvageable?”
“Nope. Just a twisted mass of fried metal. Must have been one hell of an explosion.” He glanced behind him at his buddies then returned his attention to Lex. “Weird thing, nothing around the boat was damaged except a little scorching on the dock. No fire, no flying debris, no shrapnel, nothing.”
“So no one was injured?”
Damon winced and for the first time lost his bravado. “We pulled a body out. It was pinned under a ceiling beam and pretty messed up.”
A pressure in her chest eased. One of the intruders. A body might cover for Bodie’s disappearance, not with whoever broke onto the Talos, but with the authorities. “The owner was killed?” she asked.
“Hard to tell. The coroner just got here to examine the body.” He ran his hands down the sides of his wetsuit as though unconsciously groping for pockets. “Witnesses claim the guy who sailed the boat in was real big with a buzz cut. The dead guy had thick dark hair and can’t be more than five-ten.”
So Bodie wasn’t off the hook. The sooner they got back to Jost Van Dyke, the better.
A murmur of voices and the rattle of wheels on the pier alerted her to the approaching stretcher. The coroner, a lean man in his late thirties, nodded to her as he neared. They’d met twice before when her team recovered the bodies of drowned tourists who had fallen off chartered sailboats after too much partying. Today his usual crisp white shirt showed patches of sweat under the arms and moisture shimmered on his ebony skin.
He paused in front of her and the procession with the body halted behind him. “Miss Durand,” he said. “You didn’t leave on the Ariel yesterday?”
The question surprised her. Why would the coroner track the comings and goings of the research vessel? “I flew to Jost Van Dyke yesterday morning, stayed the night and just returned a half hour ago. Is there anything I can help out with here?”
The wind shifted and the familiar stench of Dissembler majik nearly gagged her. Her gaze shot over the nearby faces. Bodie’s enemy could be among them, she smelled the majik in the air—and yet the malice that usually accompanied it was missing. Still, even if a Dissembler was shielding his mind, he couldn’t hide the echo of evil he carried. Not from a trained Protector.
Quickly she surveyed the crowd on the dock. Surely no one would dare attack her in front of all these ordinaires. Deep breaths regulated her apprehension. As the body in its black plastic bag passed, her head filled again with the stink—not of decomposition or decay. Even in death, her adversary still reeked of his depraved past.
Head reeling, she staggered backward into Damon.
“Whoa,” he said, catching her before she went to ground. “You okay?”
“Sorry.” She steadied herself and smiled at him. “That’s what I get for skipping breakfast.”
“Let’s get you out of the sun,” he grasped her arm.
“Thanks, but I’ve got to run.” She wove through the mass of gawkers. Open space and fresh sea breezes did little to alleviate the lead in her stomach or the weight of guilt in her chest. The dead guy was a Dissembler. That meant Dissemblers had broken into the Talos, and not to steal a TV or the silverware.
All Protectors assumed they were under surveillance most of the time, and the Sentier’s first cousins—the First Order Durand like Lex—were the highest profile of them all. Up until now, no one had ever messed with the Marine Mammal Research Foundation, its facilities or personnel, as far as she knew. There’d been no reason to suspect Bodie would blip the enemy’s radar. If there had been, Mark never would have recommended she enlist his help. Hell, she never would have even known about Bodie if not for Mark.
She really needed to talk to her brother.
She turned right on Waterfront Drive and glanced behind her to see if anyone was following. A young woman with a baby in a stroller waited to cross the street at the corner in front of the market, otherwise the pedestrian traffic flowed in the opposite direction. Lex picked up her pace and dug in her bag for her ComDev.
Mark’s voicemail picked up on the second ring and she swore before leaving a message. “Call me immediately. BIG trouble.”
Fifteen minutes later, feeling sweaty, dusty, and irritable, she climbed into the cool cockpit of Silverbelle. “The police are looking for you. We need to get out of here.”
Chapter Seventeen
David didn’t look happy when they appeared at Foxy’s an hour later. The restaurant was half full of customers—pretty much the same crowd as the day before—including the three ex-pats playing cards. David and two crew members sat at a table on the patio drinking cokes and bottled water. He scowled at her. “You said you were taking him to Road Town.”
She pulled out a chair and sat down across from him. “Change of plans.”
Bodie dropped into the seat next to her. “We need to borrow a couple laptops from the Ariel,” he said.
David cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Classified,” Lex interjected. “Bodie has an assignment for Durand Tech. You know how my brother is.”
David paled under his tan at the invocation of Mark Durand and Durand Tech. “Fine. Sam can take you out when you’re ready.”
“Thanks. So what’s going on in Little Harbor?” she asked. “Any luck examining Elvis and Moondog?”
David’s mouth tightened and a furrow appeared between his two blond brows. “One of them rammed our Zodiac when we entered the bay and came at us again a little farther in. He tried to flip the boat.”
“Was anyone hurt?” she asked.
All three of the team shook their heads in unison.
“We’re fine,” Mac said, “but they could have been hurt had we been in a hard hull instead of an inflatable. There didn’t seem to be any choice but to tranquilize them at that point.”
David straightened in his chair and squared his shoulders. “I ordered them slinged and towed into shallow water on the eastern beach of the bay away from the bar crowd. It’ll be easier to monitor them and perform some tests without an inebriated audience.”
Lex nodded. “I’d like to see the test results then examine them myself.”
Colin came up to her from behind and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Did you find everything you needed at the house?”
She turned and smiled. “Yes. Thanks. Do you mind if we stay on another day or two?”
“You’re welcome to use it as long as you want.”
“Thanks. It’ll give us a place to work close to Little Harbor.”
David’s disapproving glare darted from her to Bodie. Not that she blamed him. Bodie had a way of filling a space. Without even speaking, his presence dominated the table.
“I only packed for overnight,” Bodie said. “Is there somewhere I can buy some shorts and a shirt?”
Colin gave him the once-over and grinned. “Foxy sells t-shirts and the dive shop probably has some baggies that would fit you. Great Harbour doesn’t have much in Big and Tall.”
“Mark left a few shirts and shorts on the Ariel last time he was here. They might do,” Lex offered. Her brother wasn’t quite as big as Bodie but his loose-fitting tropical wear was their best bet. “We’ll pick them up while we’re aboard.”
She rose and Bodie followed her lead. “Ready, Sam?”
The young marine biologist scrambled to his feet. David shoved back his chair at the same time.
“Can we talk for a minute?” David asked her. “In private?”
She nodded for the others to wait and followed David to the deserted back of the patio.
“What’s going on?” he demanded. “And don’t give me a crock of shit because I know his boat sunk.”
Her pulse spiked and she found herself unable to meet his eyes. “How do you kn
ow that?”
“The radio. A sailboat blowing up in Road Town makes the news.”
“Did they say it was the Talos?”
“No. It wasn’t hard to guess when he showed back up here.” The lines in his face deepened as he frowned at her. “What are you doing with that man?”
“Someone broke into his boat and tried to breach his security—Durand Tech security. Whoever it was knew he was working for Mark and wanted the information onboard.”
“Go on.”
“The system self-destructed and the Talos sank. Nobody was hurt except the intruder.”
David’s eyes narrowed. “And the intruder?”
“Killed.”
“Shit. How did you find all this out?”
“I went ashore while Bodie stayed with the plane. Nobody saw him in Tortola and plenty of people know he was here last night—all night.” She took a deep breath. “He has an alibi for the explosion and the man’s death.”
“But?”
David knew her too well not to know she was leaving info out. Telling him, however, was worse than pissing him off. “That’s it.”
“So why is he hiding out instead of going to the police?”
“It’s complicated.”
“It always is.”
Not this complicated. David was a good man and she wouldn’t force him to choose between his conscience and Bodie’s welfare. “I need to talk to my brother before I explain further. I’m trusting you to give me the chance to assess the situation before you do anything.”
“Twenty-four hours, Lex. I’ll give you one day from right now then I’m calling the authorities.”
“I can’t let you do that. We need more time.”
“You don’t want to cross me on this,” he warned. “Flynn’s in big trouble and I won’t let him drag the Foundation down with him.”
“It isn’t your Foundation.”
His eyes hardened. “Twenty-four hours.”
Chapter Eighteen
Lex stared at the screen of her ComDev, willing a message from Mark to appear. Two of their twenty-four hours were up and she knew David was unlikely to budge from his deadline. Earl snored at her feet, sleeping contently after gobbling down a bowl of dry dog food, while Bodie worked on his scanner and the laptops he’d borrowed from the Ariel. She sighed and set the ComDev down on Colin’s dining table.
“Mark’s still MIA.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s only nine o’clock in Paris. We need to call Adrien.”
“So he can do what?” His fingers didn’t even pause as they flew across the keys of his laptop.
Good question. She couldn’t explain the implications of a dead Dissembler on the Talos to Bodie without revealing a hell of a lot about the Durand Protectors and the covert war. And if the authorities arrested Bodie, they might never find whatever was causing the red orphic. As commander-in-chief of the Protectors, Adrien needed to be briefed on their present situation before it got any worse. “He can keep you from going to prison for the rest of your life if the authorities catch up with you.”
He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. “That could take deep pockets.”
“Guess you’re in luck. Adrien’s pockets are very deep.”
“Call away, princess.” He went back to his work.
She picked up her ComDev and headed for the privacy of her bedroom. At best the head of the Durand family would be ticked off at what she was about to tell him. At worst? She wasn’t even going there.
• • •
“You did what?” Adrien boomed on the other end of the phone.
Lex cringed. “You heard me.” She dropped onto the bed. “After losing it with the creep who tortured Earl, I had no choice. If I hadn’t explained about my animal telepathy Bodie would have bolted.”
“You should have let him. By telling him about your abilities, you exposed us all. I told Mark this was a bad idea.”
Interesting that Mark had discussed sending her to Bodie with Adrien. They were closer as cousins than most brothers were. Still, in addition to commanding the Protectors, Adrien was trying to get a handle on the multi-billion euro international empire he’d recently inherited and Mark had Durand Tech. They both must have more pressing crises than her missing whales. “It wasn’t a bad idea. He was already in deep. You know about his sensors, right?”
“I monitor them through DT”
“Somebody must have told him about the Sources.”
“Maybe you better tell me what’s going on there.”
She gave him the abridged version of their visit to Road Town and finding the Talos had sunk.
“What possessed you to land?” he demanded. “If someone saw you with Bodie, you could end up in custody yourself.”
“He stayed in the plane. I walked to the dock and hung out in the crowd until one of the divers gave me the scoop. Nobody connected me with Bodie or his boat.”
“You can’t be sure.”
“I’m not going to hang him out for the authorities. I don’t know what Mark’s game is, but he outfitted that boat, not Bodie. We owe him protection. That’s who we are, or it was last time I heard.”
“Lex, I’m not saying we won’t get him out of there. My point is you screwed up telling him about your abilities. We keep our talents secret for a reason—to keep us alive. Have you forgotten Gala and Bertrand?”
She lay back against the pillows and closed her eyes. “I asked Mark if I could trust Bodie and he told me I should decide. So I did.”
“Why didn’t you call me first?”
Because it was easier to apologize than get permission. “I made an executive decision based on my brother’s message. I’ve been trying to reach him but he hasn’t bothered to call back or answer my texts. It didn’t occur to me I needed your permission.”
Adrien’s response was one of his favorite profanities in some obscure language. The sentiment was clear even if she didn’t understand the exact translation. “Mark’s on a rescue mission, not avoiding you.”
She knew better than to ask about the mission. “What about Bodie’s access to DT’s data system?”
“The security breach is legit,” he replied.
“Someone hacked into the system?”
An ominous silence hung on the line for a little too long. “No. There’s an internal problem. Someone inside Durand Tech is leaking highly confidential information. Bodie’s data is too critical to risk it getting into the wrong hands.”
“Merde.” Given that most of the company’s employees were Protectors, or at least of Durand blood, the implications of a traitor within DT were staggering. “How long have you known?”
“Mark’s suspected for a while.” Adrien’s voice sounded weary. “But let’s get back to your situation. What does Bodie think happened to his boat?”
“Someone boarded it and tried to breach the security. It self-destructed on them, sunk itself, and took the guy out. Bodie has an alibi for the explosion, but it’s the explosives and guns Mark provided that will nail his ass with the local gendarmes.”
“I’ll get the lawyers on this as soon as we hang up,” he said. “What worries me is that a Dissembler was on his boat so quickly.”
A chill shot through her veins as a light went on in her head. Of course. The enemy kept track of her whereabouts, always had. “They found him through me, didn’t they?”
Only dead air at his end.
“Adrien?”
“Lex, be careful and keep Bodie out of the hands of the authorities.”
The gravity of his tone worried her. Her cousin had sent Protectors on countless dangerous missions and had been a fearless field agent himself until he became Sentier. “What aren’t you telling me?” she asked.
“It’s time we include Bodie in this conversation.”
Although she agreed, Bodie was still an unpredictable ally. She rose and headed for the dining room. “He’s setting up a continuous scan of the Caribbean and uploading his data to one of his secure storag
e sites in the clouds. He’ll explain.”
Bodie still sat where she’d left him. “Adrien wants you in on our discussion.” She set the ComDev in speaker mode on the table between them.
Bodie frowned at the device. “Sure. Why not?”
“Good evening, Bodie. Sounds like you’ve had some action down there,” Adrien said.
Bodie mouthed, What did you tell him?
“I already briefed him on the Talos sinking,” she said, and smiled when he visibly relaxed.
“Have any ideas about the connection between the orphic and the whales?” Adrien asked.
Bodie leaned back in his chair and rested his elbows on the table. “And the dolphins. It’s a wild-ass connection and, if valid, opens up a much bigger problem.”
“Okay, you two. Start at the beginning and give me the details. And don’t censor anything to cover your ass, Lex.”
She shot Bodie a sheepish grin. “The night before last, two pods of dolphins vanished and reappeared sixty-six minutes later, forty-three miles away,” she began. “Bodie’s sensor picked up a red orphic spot where they disappeared so we went to investigate.” She explained her and Bodie’s physical and emotional reactions to the evil energy and the result of the water flow test.
“So you believe the orphic caused the dolphins to jump time and space?” Adrien asked. “How?”
“We’ll get to that.” Bodie nodded for her to continue.
She brought Adrien up to speed on arriving to find the males out of control and what she’d learned telepathically from Chuy when he beached himself in Little Harbor. Mercifully the Sentier didn’t chide her further for revealing her animal telepathy. He seemed to accept that the information she’d gleaned and shared with Bodie was mission critical.
Bodie took over and explained his delphic laser theory and the possibility that a parallel plane of existence had been breached.
“You think the dolphins dipped into an alternative reality and back?” Adrien asked, then added almost to himself, “Who would have the knowledge and resources to build that kind of laser?”
Lex exchanged a grim glance with Bodie, then said to Adrien, “I thought you might have some ideas.”