Unwelcome Protector

by Alexa Wallace

  'You're not to be trusted, Marlowe. I've warned Ada about you but she refuses to listen.'

  Alex pointed to the police launch. 'They have their eyes on you. If they see that gun they won't take any chances. If they think you'll harm us they'll have no choice. One of their officers will shoot.'

  'Then you'd better hope you're not in the way, Marlowe. Step back. I'm going to reverse to the wharf behind us and you and Ada will get off. And you can untie that little boat from the handrail. Then I'll be in my way. The police and their puny launch can't match my speed.'

  'Police cars will be waiting for you at Rushcutters Bay,' said Ada. 'You can't avoid them. Please Zina, I don't want to see you hurt.'

  Zina reached up and touched Ada lightly on the cheek.

  'Come with me, little Ada, and we can be together again the way we used to be.'

  All Ada could do was shake her head and try to stop the tears rising in her eyes. She reached out to Alex and took his hand.

  Zina smiled and turned away. She placed her gun on the console to free her hands for the wheel and the throttle.

  Ada looked at Alex. What she saw in his eyes was almost a look of apology that he was about to take advantage of a deranged woman. But she was still a dangerous woman.

  He sprang forward and threw his arms around Zina to imprison her. She came alive like an electric cable and whipped her body around in his grasp, causing him to lose his momentum for a second. He swayed backward and tried to regain his grip, but Zina flung herself against him and they both crashed onto the open deck behind.

  Ada seized the opportunity and snatched Zina's gun from the console where she'd placed it only moments before. But Zina had the second Glock in her jacket pocket! Ada stood beside her chair holding the gun and feeling useless. She would use the gun or throw it to Alex only if Zina threatened to use the gun in her pocket. She was dimly aware of a voice on the police megaphone but the blood pounding in her head drowned out the sound.

  Zina broke away from Alex and lunged for a boat hook clipped to a handrail beside her. She jerked it off and swung it ferociously at Alex's head. He jumped to his feet and caught the long metal bar before it made contact, dragging Zina toward him. She dropped the boat hook and thrust her hand into her jacket pocket, as if suddenly remembering the gun.

  Alex was a half step ahead of her. He caught her wrist as she began to draw the weapon and tried to tear it from her fingers, but she resisted like a tigress, scratching at his eyes with her free hand.

  Finally Zina yanked the gun free and stood back, pointing it at Alex's chest with a tiny smile of triumph.

  The voice on the megaphone was audible now, and Ada heard a command to put down the gun. Zina gave no sign of having heard the order. Alex stood his ground, ready to pounce, but Ada knew that to do so would have been suicide.

  'Zina,' Ada said, raising her own gun, 'I'll defend him if I have to. I won't lose him. You've had your life. Give up and let me have mine.'

  'Time to learn one of life's hard lessons, Ada,' Zina said. 'Betrayal has a price. You've made your bed and now you have to lie in it. But your bed will be cold and empty. Your precious Marlowe will never share it with you. Say goodbye to him.'

  The megaphone crackled again and this time the order was loud and clear.

  'Put down your gun. Now!'

  For a second Zina was distracted. Ada caught Alex's eye and his sharp look told her what would come next.

  Alex threw himself at Zina, grasping for her gun and forcing her backward and over the rails. His momentum carried him with her and they hit the water together.

  All Alex could think about was the gun in Zina's hand when they went over. If she really wanted to kill him, or anybody else, getting wet wasn't going to stop her. He had to get the gun from her.

  The water was murky, tossed and churned by the passing of the cruise yacht. The harbour lights hardly penetrated the surface. Alex knew the depth in this part of the harbour was no more about thirty metres but the bottom was impossible to see. Zina's arm was around his neck and her weight was pulling him down. He grabbed at the gun in her free hand but she twisted away from him like a serpent. Her face glowed white and ghostly in the darkness.

  He managed to free himself from her grasp and saw her body twist away. The dark shape of the Radiance was almost directly above him. He pushed himself upward to the surface to suck in air and get his bearings.

  Ada was leaning over the railings, her face distraught.

  'I'm alright,' he shouted. 'Where is she?'

  Ada shook her head. 'She hasn't come up yet.'

  Had Zina found her way to the other side of the Radiance? He doubted it. She'd drifted off in the opposite direction. The only other vessel nearby was the police launch, now only about twenty metres away. The officer on deck held a radio in one hand and with the other was gesturing to Alex to get out of the water. Alex ignored him. He had to get Zina's gun before she surfaced and tried to shoot her way out of trouble. He had to at least find her location.

  He pulled off his trainers and tossed them up onto the deck of the Radiance. Then he went under again and swam toward the police launch. If Zina was near the launch he would see movement, but the water was too cloudy at that distance. He surfaced for two seconds to grab a lungful of air, and then went under again. He estimated he was near the half mark when he saw a dark figure separate itself from the underside of the launch's rear. Had she been trying to board the vessel from behind? The possibility of Zina attempting to take over a police launch singlehanded didn't surprise him in the least.

  He saw the dark figure hang suspended for a moment and he knew Zina had seen him in the distance. She lifted her right arm and he knew a bullet was coming his way. He saw an explosion of bubbles from her hand and immediately curled himself into a ball to minimise his target area. At the instant she fired the police launch gunned its motor and swung in his direction. The sudden surge threw off Zina's aim and the swirling trail of the bullet missed him by metres. When he righted himself the dark figure in the distance had gone. Had she been hit by the launch's propeller? Had she surfaced and struck out for one of the nearby ferry wharves? A ferry was manoeuvring itself into position in the area where he'd last seen Zina. If she was still there she would be in trouble. The ferry pilot would not be expecting anyone in the water at this early hour.

  He surfaced and found himself only metres from the police launch with an officer yelling at him to board. He took the officer's arm and hauled himself on deck.

  He looked across at the Radiance and saw that Ada had switched off the motors and the yacht was drifting back toward the sea wall. He waved and she blew him a kiss in return. For the first time in hours he felt like smiling.

  He nodded as the police launch officer gave him a stern lecture regarding his behaviour in the water and the dangers of disobeying police instructions. When he explained the reasons for his actions the officer pointed toward the Radiance. A local area police officer had boarded the yacht and was moving it into a mooring position beside the wharf steps. A female police officer on the steps behind the yacht was staring directly at him.

  'Explain it all to DI Barlow,' he said. 'We'll take you to her and then we'll begin a search for Lorenzina Stone. Hang on, sir.'

  Ada was waiting for him on the wharf steps. She folded herself into his strong arms as if this was the first time he'd held her. For a time when he was in the water she feared she would never see him again. He kissed her gently on the lips and the warmth of his body against hers told he was very much alive.

  'It's so good to hold you again,' she said. 'Where is Zina?'

  Alex shook his head. 'I lost sight of her after she took a shot at me. She was close to the police launch. She might have been injured, or worse, when the launch swung around or when one of the early ferries passed by.'

  Ada noticed the female police officer watching them with polite interest.

  'Detective Inspector Barlow,' she said and extended a hand to them both. 'Ralph
Marlowe has explained the basics of this case to my superiors and I've been told to get the details. My area is involved because the kidnap victim is a Paddington resident.'

  'Is my grandfather safe?' said Ada.

  'He's been taken to his home. He's expecting a visit from you later this morning.'

  Ada felt a flood of relief overcome her. After so many tense hours of worry about him he was finally safe. Alex put an arm around her and she leaned against him for support.

  'My immediate concern is Lorenzina Stone,' DI Barlow said to Alex. 'Where did you last see her?'

  'On the far side of the police launch,' he said. 'She took a shot at me.'

  'We've found one gun on the Radiance,' DI Barlow said. 'She had a second weapon?'

  Alex nodded. 'Both Glocks. One belonged to her security head Striver Twist.'

  'Marine area command are bringing in divers. If she's still down there they'll locate her.'

  Ada found it hard to hold back her tears at the thought of Zina's body somewhere out there in the cold, dark waters.

  'We're investigating Striver Twist's death,' DI Barlow said.

  'He has copies of security code in his wallet,' said Ada. 'They'll show evidence of what's been going on at Argentum.'

  'These will support your claims against Mrs Stone?'

  'They're crucial, 'Alex said. 'That's why Zina kidnapped George. To force Ada to return the code.'

  DI Barlow nodded. 'We're also investigating the death of Nikolay Tursunov.'

  'Self defence,' said Alex. 'George Byron will support me on that.'

  'You both have a lot of explaining to do. We take a dim view of citizens running around armed, however justified they might think they are. We're also unhappy about being bypassed when illegal situations develop. Three people have died. There could have been more.'

  'We had no choice,' said Ada. 'My grandfather's life was in danger.'

  DI Barlow took a deep breath. 'I understand you've both barely slept in the last twenty-four hours. Your father has some influence with my superiors, Mr Marlowe, and I've been told to go easy on you. I want you both clear-headed when give your full statements so I'll allow you some time. I expect to see you at the Paddington local area command office at zero three hundred this afternoon.'

  She nodded at them and walked briskly up the steps to a waiting police car.

  Ada leaned against Alex and gazed out onto the water. The eastern sky was beginning to glow with a pre-dawn pink. Two police launches farther out were coordinating diving teams and early morning ferries were being delayed.

  'Is Zina out there?' she said.

  'It's unlikely she survived. I think she was hit by the police launch or a ferry. If she'd made it out of the water someone would have seen her.'

  'She could have had a completely different life. She could have done some good for the world.'

  'I'll never understand you,' Alex said. 'She tried to have me killed, and she was on the point of killing you more than once.'

  'She got in over her head, got mixed up with the wrong people.'

  'I won't argue with you. You know her better than I do. But she's gone now. We have ourselves to think about, and our future.’

  Ada felt tears on her face. She remembered something buried deep in her memory, a pair of strong arms holding her, rain on her face, green forest around her. Was it a jungle somewhere? Colombia? A feeling of safety and being cared for, so long ago. No matter how much people changed for the worse, good memories remained. Ada stared at the dark, swirling waters, her eyes straining to find Zina until Alex pulled her away and held her tightly.

  'Time to let her go,' Alex said. 'Your grandfather is expecting you.'

  She walked with him back to the SUV and sat quietly during the trip to Paddington. She had to accept that Zina was gone. Now she had her own life to live.

  'I could sleep for a week,' she said, after a long silence.

  'After today you can sleep as long as you want. But from now on you'll be sleeping with me.'

  'I have no objection to that,' she said and rested her hand on his thigh.

  CHAPTER 13

  It was near sunrise when Alex wheeled the vehicle into George's driveway. Ada hurried in to find her grandfather at the kitchen table, still strewn with oyster shells from the morning before.

  Ada kissed him and sat down beside him. 'Time to clean this up,' she said. 'The oysters gave me the clue to where Zina was hiding you. That gave us a big advantage.'

  'You saved my life, Ada. I think Zina meant to kill us all eventually.'

  'Twist would have been happy to do the job for her,' said Alex.

  Ada described the events of the last two hours at circular Quay. 'When we left, her body still hadn't been found.'

  George took her hand. 'Don't feel sorry for Zina. Our nature determines the path we take. We all have a choice, and she made hers.'

  'I'll always remember her as she used to be. Before she began to change.'

  'Good memories are worth holding onto,' said George. He smiled suddenly. 'Will you be wanting your room today?'

  'Your granddaughter might be residing elsewhere from now on, if I can persuade her,' said Alex.

  'So that's how it is,' said George, smiling. 'As your guardian, I approve.'

  'I'll be back often,' Ada said. 'We can watch Jupiter together.'

  Alex's phone rang. He listened for half a minute and then hung up.

  'My father,' he said, 'in a hurry as usual. He's going back to Melbourne for a few days, then up to the Sunshine Coast to visit my mother. Maybe they'll get back together again. Who knows? I hope so. Anyway, we have the Vaucluse house to ourselves. I'll use the studio to start work on my reports tonight. But we need sleep first. Then the police this afternoon.'

  'I need fresh clothes,' Ada said, remembering she'd left her overnight bag at Bondi. She skipped upstairs to her room, bundled fresh underwear, shirts and T-shirts into a large shopping bag and returned downstairs.

  Alex shook George's hand. 'We'll talk much more later. I'll probably want to interview you.'

  Ada kissed George. 'Love you, Grandad,' she said.

  'You too, Miss Ada.'

  Outside the sun had risen and the sky was bright with midsummer morning light.

  ***

  In the Vaucluse house Ada made a beeline for the ground floor shower beside her bedroom.

  'Join me upstairs when you're ready,' Alex called as he disappeared up the stairway.

  As she passed the kitchen she snatched a peach and a soft pear from a fruit basket and gobbled them down with a raw hunger she hadn't felt in years.

  In the shower she let the warm waves wash over her and watched the dust from the tunnel gather in a pale pool around her feet. What a day! What a night! She swayed with weariness. In her bedroom she chose blue and pink pastel colours from her bag of shorts and T-shirts and breathed in their freshness. After dressing she felt invigorated, but for how long? If she lay down now on a bed, or anywhere, she was sure to dissolve into a deep sleep.

  Upstairs she found Alex in shorts, washed and bare chested, stretched out on a luxurious double bed in a room that overlooked the blue expanse of Rose Bay.

  He patted the sheets beside him and she stretched out against the warm length of his body. He lifted himself on one elbow and looked down on her, his eyes drinking in her shape and softness, the curve of her neck and the stretch of the shirt across her breasts. She was keenly aware of his maleness and the strong lines of his face.

  'I've set the alarm for two,' he said. 'That'll give us time to get to the Paddington police station at three.'

  'I'll be glad when it's all over.'

  'It'll go on for a while yet,' he said. 'Through the courts and in the media.'

  'You've got your story. That was what you wanted all along, wasn't it?'

  'I thought it was. But I didn't count on you being part of it.'

  'Is that your way of saying you're glad you met me?'

  'Honest answer? Not at first.
Frankly, I thought you were a pain in the neck. You had an answer for everything.'

  'I still do.'

  'But now I read you better,' he said. 'Now I can be one step ahead of you.'

  'Can you really?'

  Ada felt his warm hand stroke her thigh. 'I know what you're thinking right now, for example,' he said.

  She tried hard not to blush. 'That's not fair. It proves nothing. I could do the same to you.'

  'Try it,' he said.

  She put her hand between his thighs and felt the quick hardness of his response.

  'You see?' she said. 'We control each other's emotions and physical reactions.'

  'That's the way it should be for people like us.'

  'Like us?' she said.

  'Two people who love each other.'

  'How many times have you told me you love me?'

  'Many times,' he said, kissing her lightly on the lips. 'Don't you remember?'

  'It's all a haze. Too many things have happened. Tell me again.'

  'I love you. Is that enough?'

  'For the moment,' she said. 'I give you permission to repeat it as often as you wish.'

  'Actions speak louder than words,' he said, kissing her again, this time with more urgency.

  Ada was aware of her quickening breath and the touch of his lips along her throat.

  'Do we have the energy for this?' she asked.

  'That's a dangerous question to ask a man. Are you daring me to prove it to you?'

  'I'm sure you need no encouragement.' She pushed him onto his back and leaned over him. 'We can sleep later. We have until midday at least.'

  She kissed him gently as he sank back onto the soft pillow, allowing her eyes to roam over his body, savouring its long, lean shape and imagining all the pleasures it held in store for her.

  She felt his body relax slowly under her touch until his breathing became deep and even. She kissed him again and then lifted her head, bemused at his sudden sweet calmness. Could it be? How was it possible? Was he...? Had he...? Was he asleep?