Miranda's Viking

by Maggie Shayne

  "There'll be no risk to you, my dear. I'll take full responsibility for any repercussions, I promise you. We have to do this." He studied her face. "For your father," he added quickly.

  Miranda became certain all at once and she nodded firmly. "Yes, you're right. Call me as soon as the arrangements are made."

  One week later, Miranda stood on the deck of Mermaid, a former minesweeper built for the British Royal Navy in 1942. She'd been acquired by an oil company in '67, and fitted with sonar transmitters and receivers, as well as two submersible remote camera videos for use in monitoring underwater pipelines.

  Mermaid was now the property of Cryo-Life Industries. It galled Miranda that once again Saunders had gone to the company for funding, and it baffled her that they had agreed. He must have dangled before them the hope of finding another Ice Man, or perhaps suggested they might still locate the original one, to gain their cooperation so readily. It galled her still further that Jeff Morsi would accompany them as Cryo-Life's representative.

  Still, she had other worries besides Jeff Morsi's infuriating presence. She turned to look at Rolf standing at the rail. The sea wind blew his golden hair back off his shoulders, and he leaned into it as if in ecstasy.

  Miranda frowned. He hadn't so much as touched her since that time in the car. She hated herself for panicking the way she had. It was ridiculous for her to think, even for one uncontrollable moment, that Rolf could hurt her, could force her the way—She stopped the thought. That was in the past, and she had to find a way to leave it there. She'd discovered something about herself since Rolf had come into her life. She was not as immune to the touch of a man as she had once thought. When he touched her, when he kissed her, she felt things she'd never felt before. Longings, desires, tiny flames igniting throughout her body. She was sure no one else could inspire those wonderful feelings in her. No one ever had. But Rolf could. And now he was angry or hurt, and mistrustful of everything she told him. She was afraid she'd lost the only chance she would ever have to feel like a woman.

  Of course, she couldn't blame him. She'd reacted like an idiot. God, if it had been anywhere else, she might have been all right. Why the car? Why did it have to be in that tiny damned car?

  For a moment she wondered just why she felt so certain he wouldn't hurt her, knowing what she did about him. He'd admitted to being the dreaded Plague of the North, to ruthlessly raiding coastal villages, to robbing and quite probably raping and killing.

  No. She felt a sudden conviction that it wasn't so. No man capable of such atrocities could caress her as tenderly as Rolf had. She tried to recall every word her father had written on the subject, to trace in her mind the source of the rage which had driven him to violence so long ago.

  He'd been a trusted friend of Knut… right up until the charge of treason and murder, and then the exile. There'd been only a single witness against him, she recalled reading. The daughter of a nobleman. And, as her father had noted, it had been the nobles who usurped the throne of Norway, and handed it to Magnus.

  That was all in the past. The needs of the present demanded her attention now. The preparations were complete. The equipment had been checked and double-checked, the plans gone over. They only awaited the last few members of Erwin's handpicked crewmen and then they could depart. There was nothing pressing to be done at the moment, except talk to Rolf. She could think of no excuse to put it off, though his attitude this past week had been discouraging in itself.

  She came up behind him, entranced by the waves of his wind-whipped hair. He knew she was there before she said a word, and he turned slowly, leaning back against the rail and eyeing her. "There is something on your mind?"

  She stood near him, head tipped back. "I want to talk."

  He shrugged lazily. "Talk, then."

  "You're angry with me."

  His gaze was hooded. She found herself sorely missing the changing colors she'd seen in the depths of his eyes before he'd chosen to hide them away. "You are mistaken. I have no anger toward you, lady."

  "I think you do. And I know it's because of the way I reacted that time in the car, when you kissed me. But it isn't fair of you to refuse to let me explain. I just want a chance to make you understand."

  He shrugged again, refusing to answer her.

  "Would it matter if I told you that my reaction had nothing to do with you? It's me. I have certain… problems, things in my past that I haven't dealt with. I can see I need to face them now, and I will."

  The veil over Rolf's emotions lifted a little to reveal the heat of anger in his eyes. "You thought I would rape you. You were so afraid that your heart thundered in your chest." He stared hard at her. "You deny this?"

  She bit her lip. "It was a brief panic, that's all. It would have happened no matter who had been kissing me. It wasn't you."

  He shook his head. "You found yourself in the passionate embrace of a barbarian. It is little wonder you felt fear."

  "You aren't listening." She sighed deeply. "It isn't you. Something happened to me once, and—"

  "Will you tell me of this thing that so troubles you?"

  Footsteps approached, then passed, and Miranda glanced over her shoulder to see Jeff Morsi striding across the deck. She could easily imagine what Rolf might do to him if he ever found out. Swallowing hard, she faced Rolf again. "I can't. I'm sorry. You'll just have to trust me. I'm telling you the truth."

  "Trusting you is difficult, Miranda. I once trusted a woman so like you as to be your twin. My reward was betrayal, and nearly death."

  "Adrianna," she whispered. He said nothing, but she turned his words over and over in her mind. "Was she the one who accused you of murder?"

  He pursed his lips, and finally gave a curt nod. "Her broŏir, my friend, stood accused. She betrayed me to clear him."

  "Did he do it?"

  "Are you so sure I did not?"

  "It isn't impossible, you know," she went on, ignoring his comment. "The nobles put Magnus on the throne. They could have been plotting to frame you from the start."

  Rolf released a laugh that sounded more like a bark. "Then I am twice the fool. I never suspected—"

  "Were you in love with her?"

  He shrugged again, averting his gaze. "Half the men in Norge were in love with Adrianna."

  "That is no answer."

  "It is the only answer you will get, lady."

  She felt mulish the way she pressed on. "Why was your exile carried out even when Magnus took the throne? I would think he'd have approved of your supposed treason against Knut."

  "Magnus was no fool. He knew where my loyalties lay." Rolf turned as he spoke, staring once again out to sea.

  "Then the charges were false. You just said it. You were loyal to Knut."

  "Stodva." He uttered the word without inflection. "Cease this interrogation, Miranda, and come to the point. What is it you wish to know?"

  "Only the truth, Rolf. What made you do what you did? Which of the crimes attributed to the Plague of the North are true, and which are embellishments added by generations of storytellers?"

  He sighed, nodding as if he suddenly understood something previously beyond his grasp. "I am útlendur maŏur, an outsider, unproven. You wish to hear me defend myself against the charges, to listen as I confess my crimes or attempt to explain them away. I will not do it, lady. Believe of me what you will. Judge me by whatever evidence you choose, be it the words of those who are now ashes in the wind, or the man you see before you. Do not ask me to convince you of the one or the other." His gaze remained on the horizon and his last words sounded like a dismissal.

  Miranda sighed hopelessly. He didn't need to convince her of anything. She already believed him innocent of the murder, and incapable of the brutalities of which he'd been accused. She'd only wanted the details and… All right, she admitted to herself, perhaps she'd wanted a little reassurance, as well. She'd wanted confirmation that she wasn't letting her growing fondness of him interfere with her common sense. Why couldn'
t he grant her that much, at least?

  She lifted a hand toward him, but let it fall when she heard her name shouted. She turned to see Fletcher Travis jump from the small gangplank and trot toward her, and she couldn't stop the smile that leapt to her lips. "Fletch! What on earth are you doing here?"

  He grinned in return, coming toward her and leaning on the rail as Rolf did. "Hey, you didn't think you were going to sneak off on some grand adventure without inviting me, did you?"

  She gave him a teasing look. "Since when do shipwrecks interest the famed numismatist?"

  "Since his favorite archaeologist is sneaking off to locate one, that's when," he quipped. "Besides, I'm an archaeologist, too, and furthermore, there are liable to be some pretty interesting coins if you find the site."

  "Oh, we'll find it," she said softly, glancing toward Rolf. "Make no mistake about that."

  Rolf saw the emotion in her eyes as she expressed her faith in him. Would that it were genuine. He knew too well it was not. She feared and quite possibly despised him. She believed him capable of heinous crimes, and even of violence against her. It tore at his gut that she could think it of him even now. It tore at his pride that she'd asked him to defend himself against her assumptions. He wouldn't. Let her think what she wished. It mattered not to him.

  Oh, but it did. How very well he knew that it did!

  "Hello, Rolf, how are you?"

  Travis's arm was resting around Miranda's shoulder when Rolf reluctantly faced the man. Rolf's glare must have penetrated, for the man lowered that arm all at once and offered a friendly smile that seemed genuine.

  "Gott kvöld, Travis. I am eager to be away," he answered honestly. "Will you be accompanying us?"

  "Unless you have objections," Travis said. His tone of voice conveyed little meaning, but in his steely eyes Rolf saw more. Something the man was not saying.

  "You are welcome to join us, do you wish."

  "Good. I, uh, have my luggage to bring aboard. Mind giving me a hand, Rolf?"

  Travis wished more than Rolf's aid in carrying, and Rolf knew it. He nodded, and the two men walked away toward the gangplank, leaving Miranda behind at the rail. At a small car near the dock, Fletcher picked up two suitcases and handed one to Rolf. "I wanted a word with you, away from Miranda."

  Rolf nodded. "Já, I discerned as much."

  "I might be overreacting, but I'm worried." He slammed shut the trunk from which he'd taken the cases, turned, and set his case on the ground. "This entire expedition is being kept very quiet."

  "With reason. How did you learn of it?"

  "I overheard Jeff Morsi and Erwin Saunders discussing it as I entered Erwin's office yesterday. You know, it's highly unusual to keep something like this under wraps."

  "There is a possibility of great wealth to be found. Miranda believes the one who broke into her home was seeking information about the missing treasure, as she calls it. The secrecy was to keep that one from learning of the trip and attempting to sabotage it, or to steal the treasure for himself."

  Travis nodded. "That's alt just fine, but suppose he already knows about it?"

  Rolf frowned. "Explain yourself."

  "I'm just saying, what if the guy already knows about this trip? What if he's just waiting for you to lead him to the site? What then? With so few people knowing what you're up to… Do you see what I'm saying?"

  Rolf considered this possibility. "If the man wishes to steal the plunder, he might wait until it is recovered and take it from us. It would sorely aggrieve Miranda."

  "And what if it isn't the treasure itself he wants? What if it is only the credit for locating it he's after?"

  "I do not understand," Rolf admitted.

  "If Miranda pulls this off she'll be in demand by every university from here to Alaska. She'll gain the respect and standing in the scientific community that most people work their whole lives to achieve. That kind of acclaim is worth more than the plunder."

  Tilting his head, Rolf studied Travis. He needed to look down only slightly. The man was nearly his height, and solidly built. A worthy opponent, but a valuable ally. "You are saying there may be one who wishes to claim it was he who located the drakkar, and the treasure it holds? But to do that, he would need to silence—" Rolf stopped suddenly, now understanding Travis's alarm. To claim the credit, all who knew the truth must needs be silenced. Rolf feared not for himself, but for Miranda.

  "Now you see why I've decided to come along," Fletcher said, bending to pick up his case once more. "It's a farfetched scenario, but not impossible."

  "The villain would likely follow by sea," Rolf said, turning the possibilities over in his mind. "He would need stop us before we could tell anyone of the find. Perchance he has implanted a spy among us, to keep him abreast by means of that magical box Miranda calls radio."

  "Magi—" Travis glanced up, frowning, but let the matter drop. "You're right, there might be a rat on board. We'll keep a sharp eye on those crewmen Erwin hired."

  Rolf nodded his approval. "It is good that you wish to protect Miranda. I accept your help with gratefulness."

  "Protect her," Travis said thoughtfully. "Yeah, and maybe I ought to add that it's all I want. She's my friend, Rolf. That's all. I love her, but like a sister. You got that?"

  Rolf shot the man a suspicious glance. "Why think you I care?"

  Travis's dark brows went up. "You're kidding, right?"

  Chapter 12

  Rolf stood once more in the prow, leaning into the night wind. He felt as if it were his body knifing through the deep blue waters, his breath stirring the air. This time no sails. No oarsmen. Only the dull throb of the ship's heart, pulsing with energy, moving them along like a great living thing, kind enough to carry them all in her embrace. He felt as if he'd come home. Here, in the chill air, in the dark of night, he forgot, for a few precious moments, about Miranda and what she thought of him.

  His respite was all too brief. For in the fickle way of the sea breeze, voices carried in odd patterns. "Looking for me?" Jeff Morsi's words were laden with suggestion.

  "What do you think?" Miranda's voice trembled, though it seemed she sought to make it biting.

  Rolf straightened from his position on the rail and turned slowly. They were not in sight. Probably somewhere on the starboard side.

  "I'm not an idiot, Miranda. I think you're looking for your muscle-bound boyfriend."

  Rolf listened for her ardent denial, but heard none.

  "Does he know what a cold little bitch you are, I wonder?"

  "Jeff…" It was little more than a whimper. Rolf frowned hard and started toward the sound of their voices.

  "Or have you changed?" Morsi went on. "I wonder—"

  "Jeff, don't—"

  "Oh, come on. Just a little experiment. I'm dying to find out what he sees in you."

  Rolf came upon them. Miranda's back was pressed to the rail. Morsi's arms entrapped her there. As he leaned over her, his face drawing nearer to hers with each second, she arched backward until it must have been painful. Rolf almost smiled, waiting for her to deliver a little pain of her own. Surely she would kick the bastard in his vulnerable groin, or stomp his foot, or pummel his chest. Any moment now she would coolly threaten to rip his heart out, did he not desist.

  She didn't. Her face went white and Rolf heard her strangled efforts to breathe combine with her choking sobs. Even from where he stood, he saw her body tremble. What was wrong with the woman? Was she going to stand there and allow this? Apparently she was, for Morsi leaned closer and caught her mouth beneath his. He quickly moved his arms from the rail on either side of her to capture her head in his hands as he cruelly kissed her.

  Rolf lunged forward, gripped Morsi by one shoulder and whirled the man around.

  "Rolf." Miranda had time only to gasp his name before she spun, lowered her head over the rail and retched violently.

  "This is a private conversation, Magnusson. Do you mind?"

  "I mind a great deal." Rolf swung
a fist at the bastard's face, but Jeff was ready. He ducked quickly and as he rose drove a fist into Rolf's stomach. Rolf took the blow admirably well, he thought. He clenched his stomach muscles in the instant before the fist landed, and though it hurt, he managed not to flinch. The reaction, or lack thereof, had the desired effect. Morsi paused to peer slowly up into Rolf's face, a stunned look in his eyes.

  Rolf hammered him with one blow. Jeff Morsi crumpled to the wooden deck.

  Rolf began to reach down to him, but before he could, Miranda launched herself from the rail and into his arms. His anger abated slightly as he closed his arms around her. She was shaking, her entire body rippling like the water's choppy surface. "If you touch her again, I will kill you, Morsi. Make no mistake." Rolf scooped Miranda up into his arms.

  "No, Rolf. D-don't say—" She hugged his neck, burying her face there, stammering as she tried to speak. By Thor's justice, why did she react this way?

  "It is said." Rolf turned away from the beaten man, unsure whether his promise had been heard or not. Morsi lay very still, blood trailing down his neck.

  Rolf carried her to his cabin, closed the door and turned the lock. The light still burned, just as he'd left it, filling the small cabin with an amber glow. He laid her upon his bed as gently as he could manage, then straightened and took a step backward. For a moment he only stared at her, trying to fathom the reason for her failure to act in her own defense. He wondered what might have happened had he not heard her voice. How far might that villain have taken his demented game? Rolf's anger simmered anew.

  "Explain yourself, woman."

  Miranda's gray eyes widened and she blinked away the tears that had begun to coat them. "Wh-what?"

  "Why do you allow Morsi so much?"

  She shook her head, bewildered and wounded by the look in her eyes. "Allow him? Rolf, he didn't ask. He had me cornered. You saw him. How can you—"

  Rolf shook his head and blew a loud sigh. He walked away from her across the cabin and back. Standing close to her again with hands on hips, he searched her eyes for an explanation. "You recall the time I first kissed you? Despite my size, my strength, you crushed my unclothed foot and wrenched yourself from my arms. The next time I made a move toward you, you threatened me with a blade large enough to eviscerate me. The time after that, you offered to make a large hole in me with your little gun, and proceeded to demonstrate that you could carry out the threat. In your car you pounded my chest with your fists. I do not—" He stopped suddenly as some odd constriction formed in his throat.