They had to stop at the building manager’s apartment for the key. That required another round of explanations. Finally, she held the sack of tacos while Jake fiddled with the borrowed key, finally opening the door to her small, second-floor apartment. She couldn’t wait to collapse onto her ugly but comfy couch and stuff her face. Then later she had to go face her boss at the university and tell him about Brad. The cops, at least, had taken care of notifying his parents.
“Fuck me!” Jake swore. She almost answered “later” until she realized it wasn’t an invitation. He’d gone stock-still in the doorway, so she had to lean around him to see in.
She dropped the food and clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from throwing up what wasn’t in her stomach. Holy shit! Trashed would have been a polite word for what someone had done to her place. The furniture was slashed, shelves were dumped and even the dishes were smashed all over the shredded carpet. Worse yet, for Heidi, all her books were torn apart and strewn around the room.
* * * * *
Jake saw her go white, which galvanized him back into action. He spun her away from the door, sat her down on the steps leading to the second-floor walkway of the courtyard apartment, then he pushed her head down between her knees. “Breathe,” he ordered. When he found the person who did this, he was going to kill him. Painfully. Slowly. With his hands.
“Ow!” She squirmed and he let go of her head, relieved to see she was breathing normally again. She didn’t try to move, though, just slumped there on the stair.
He pulled out his cell phone, dialed a number off a card in his pocket.
“Steve? Jake Delos here. We’re at Heidi’s apartment. I think you need to see this.”
The agent promised to be there in five, so Jake hung up and plopped down next to Heidi on the steps.
“He’s on his way,” Jake told her.
“Who?”
“Shit. I didn’t even introduce you, did I? That was Steve Marinucci, from the DEA. The guy in the gray suit.”
“Cool.” She said it totally without inflection.
He sat down next to her, smoothed her back with his hand. “I don’t think this could be related, though. Not unless the drug runners have some major contacts within the SDPD.”
Then she sighed deeply. “Or they traced the registration on the Zodiac, or found the waterproof laptop with owner information on it.”
“Shit.”
“No kidding.” She swallowed hard and went on. “Brad insisted on the boat and most of the gear being in my name, just to piss off his parents. So if the drug runners have someone in the States, maybe they searched my apartment to find out what I was doing in Mexico.”
“Fuck.” He was on a real verbal roll here.
“Yeah to that too,” she agreed. “Hey, Jake?”
“What?” He knew his answer would be yes, no matter what. Right now, he’d probably give her any damn thing she asked.
“You said you find things.”
“Uh-huh?” What did that have to do with anything.
“How much do you charge?” she continued.
He shrugged. “Usually ten percent of the item’s value. Why?”
“How much to help me find the men who wrecked my home and killed my friend?”
Chapter Three
Jake was not in a good mood by the time he got Heidi back to his boat. It took an hour to talk to the cops, then another three hours to finish going through Heidi’s apartment. Whoever had ransacked the place had done a thorough job of it, leaving virtually nothing intact. It was an even bigger mess after the cops dusted for prints, and poor Heidi was even more messed up after the various agencies each took another round of statements.
The SDPD detective was openly hostile, but the lab crew was polite, and the presence of Marinucci helped keep things from turning too ugly. Finally, the rest were gone and Marinucci stood on the stairs, chain-smoking his unfiltered cigarettes. Heidi carried a grocery sack with a few books and mementos that had escaped destruction, while Jake carried another with some bits of jewelry and toiletries. No clothing had been salvageable.
“All my dishes, most of the furniture, all toast.” She clutched a photo album to her chest as she leaned on the railing of the walkway, looked out at the small courtyard pool. She’d wept when she’d seen that though the cover was damaged, most of the pictures of her family were intact. There were deep purple circles under her eyes, and the scrape at her temple looked red and angry. Jake felt a powerful urge to flatten somebody. Starting with the SDPD. “Good thing I have renter’s insurance. But I think I can kiss my security deposit goodbye.”
“You going to a hotel?” Marinucci asked. He followed them out the door and taped it off after he was out. “Or you staying on Wonder-boy’s boat?”
“Wonder-boy?” She raised one pale eyebrow, and the corner of her lip quirked upward.
Jake cringed, but was willing to take the jab if it made Heidi smile.
“I, umm, may have helped out the DEA a time or two,” he admitted sheepishly. “Diving and stuff.”
She still looked confused, so he tried again. “I’m a good swimmer. In the old cartoons, the male Wonder-twin can turn into water.”
“He dives without equipment,” the agent added, with a laugh. “Managed to do a hostage rescue in the middle of the night without anybody hearing or seeing a thing. We all figured he must have just turned into water and slipped on board.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Anyway, the name sort of stuck with a few of the Feds.”
“Mostly because it pisses you off,” Marinucci admitted with a grin, before turning to Heidi with a more serious expression. “You could do worse than stick with him ‘til we’ve got whoever did this behind bars. Unless they found what they were looking for here, whoever it is may well try again.”
Jake squirmed, even though he’d been going to suggest the same thing. He didn’t like the idea of Heidi being alone at some cheap hotel and he didn’t think she could afford much else, but he wasn’t sure that throwing the two of them into forced proximity was a good idea. Not with the combustive attraction they’d discovered that morning.
“Thanks for the recommendation,” Heidi replied. “And I have no idea what they could possibly have been looking for, so I don’t know if they found it or not. But I’ve already hired Mr. Delos to help me sort this out.”
“You did not!” Affronted, Jake drew up to his full height and glared down at her. “I told you I didn’t charge friends.”
“And I told you, I don’t take charity. I may be making monthly payments for the next twenty fucking years, but if you’re going to play bodyguard, I’m damn sure going to pay for it. And I’m staying at a hotel.”
Marinucci laughed and stubbed out his cigarette. “And on that note, I’m outta here. Have fun, kids. I’ll see you at the boat at noon.”
Neither of them paid a bit of attention as he left.
“No hotel.” His voice had risen, but he couldn’t seem to help it. “Boat’s way safer. Nobody gets on or off that I don’t know about.”
“Fine. But you’ll bill me.” She poked her finger into his chest as she bellowed back at him.
“Bullshit.” Why were they standing on the stairs yelling at each other? Jake didn’t have a clue, but they were definitely drawing an audience. Not that that bothered him. He grabbed her waist, pulled her close and gave her a hard, deep kiss. Then he stepped back, and watched the shock on her face evolve into a smile.
“That’s why you want me on the boat?”
“Uh-huh.” She had to ask? He must be slipping. But his attraction to her, oddly enough, wasn’t the important part. “And because it’s safer.”
“I cover expenses. Food, gas, whatever.” She was the most stubbornly independent woman he’d ever met. Well, after his mother, perhaps. But the queen of the merfolk was independent on a whole different scale.
“Halvsies on the food. We’ll negotiate the rest as it comes up.”
“Okay.” She went up on
her tiptoes, planted a quick buss on his cheek. “Deal. Now can we please go eat? The tacos went cold and slimy, like, hours ago.”
They walked to the trolley and took that to the mall. No point running up cab bills if they didn’t have to, she reminded him. He tried to argue but lost. Hell, he’d buy a freaking car and not blink at the cost if it meant easing the fatigue on her face, but she wouldn’t even let him catch a cab. No fancy food for Heidi, either. They fortified themselves on gyros and fresh lemonade, before ducking into a cheap clothing store, where she stocked up on T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops, adding some sports bras and briefs, a one-piece swimsuit and a fleece hoodie. Not a single ruffle or scrap of lace in the pile. Damn. She was the lowest-maintenance woman he’d ever met, but she was still drop-dead gorgeous. Where had she been all his life?
Then they stopped for groceries. While Heidi picked out rice, fruit, and fresh seafood, Jake stocked up on several bottles of white wine. He had one little problem with Heidi staying on his boat. For the next few nights, he was going to have to sneak off for his midnight swim. So his plan was feed her, pour a good bit of wine into her, and send her to bed before midnight. It was a good, solid plan, he told himself, ignoring the niggling little voice that was probably his residual excuse for a conscience.
Of course that plan went straight to hell the minute they got back to the boat.
“You mind if I take a nap?” She was yawning as they climbed aboard the Siren. “I’ll cook dinner later, but right now I am absolutely beat.”
Shit. If she slept now she might well be wide-awake at midnight. Then he looked closely, saw she was swaying slightly as she walked, and his gut constricted. Hell, with the day she’d had it was a wonder she was still on her feet at all.
“No problem. I’ll wake you up in an hour or so. That’s the drill with concussions, right?”
She yawned again. “That’s fine.” Then she squeezed her eyes shut and leaned heavily against the wall of the pilothouse. “Shit. I need to make some phone calls first, and I forgot to pick up a pay-as-you-go phone.”
“You can use mine.”
“That’s more that I owe you. Jesus, Jake, you saved my life. Now you’re stuck with me on your boat. I really feel like a leech here.”
“Here we go again.”
“Huh?” She looked up at him through narrowed eyes.
He closed the gap between them, taking both her elbows in his hands. “Haven’t we already had this argument?”
She shook her head, eyes unfocused. “Probably.”
“Then let’s skip to the end.”
He kissed her gently this time, coaxing and nibbling with his lips until she was kissing him back. Her shopping bags fell to the deck with a muffled thump as she launched herself into his arms, nearly knocking him back over the rail. Her long, strong arms went around his neck and she plastered her body to his, allowing him to feel every luscious inch.
“I thought you were tired,” he murmured.
“I am,” she replied in a breathy whisper. “But I need to feel alive, Jake.”
He wanted desperately to take her up on her offer, but he discovered, somewhat to his surprise, that he had a trace of decency left in his soul. Gently he eased her away from him.
“Later, sweetheart. When you’re not wobbling on your feet. Right now you need to sleep.” He made sure she could see the desire in his eyes so she’d know he wasn’t rejecting her. With a small nod, she allowed him to lead her down the stairs to the boat’s cabin.
“Stay with me,” she asked. “Just for a while.”
“You got it.” He pulled back the covers and tucked her in, then lay down on top of the blanket beside her. He propped himself up on one arm and gently stroked the hair back from her face with his other hand. “Go to sleep, Heidi. I’m right here.”
* * * * *
Heidi woke in Jake’s bed, feeling far better than she had any right to feel.
Oh sure, she was still tired, and sore in a dozen places, but she was alive and in one piece and safe, and she hadn’t completely fallen apart. On top of all of it, she was starving.
First things first. After opening her shopping bags and sorting out a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and some clean underwear, she left them on the bed while she went to the head to take a quick shower.
Several minutes later, and a lot more awake, she returned to the bedroom wrapped in an oversized beach towel to find Jake standing in the doorway.
His dark eyes raked over, reminding her of a hungry shark.
Immediately Heidi froze and felt her skin heat with a flush that probably went all the way down to her toes.
Jake took a tentative step toward her, then stopped. “Dinner,” he said thickly. “I just came down to wake you for dinner.”
She smiled. “Time to go prove I can cook, huh?”
“No. It’s ready. I wanted you to get some sleep.”
She shot him a dirty look before edging toward the bed and her clothing. “Fine. Don’t let me feel useful.”
He shook his head. “Tomorrow’s another day. You can be on KP then. Even Viking goddesses deserve a day off now and then.”
There he went, calling her a goddess again. He’d done it before, when she was crying on his shoulder. Even if she knew it was silly, it still made her insides feel all squishy and warm.
Dinner was a pleasant interlude, the most normal part of a long, horrible day. They sat on the deck, eating stir-fried ahi and vegetables with a fruit salad on the side, watching the sun set over the ocean. For the first time, they had a chance to really talk, about books and music and the places they’d sailed. She told him about her research with the Pacific white-sided dolphins, and he seemed genuinely interested.
“So what kind of name is Delos?” she asked him. He was so dark that she’d assumed he was Hispanic, with maybe a bit of Asian or Native American thrown in to account for the almond-shaped eyes,
“Greek,” he replied, surprising her. “Though it’s been pretty much diluted by now. My father was born in Argentina. In fact, Jake is a corruption. It was originally Che. I’m pretty much pan-Pacific in heritage. A little Filipino, a little Russian, some Polynesian, I think. How about you? Is everyone in Minnesota descended from the Vikings?”
He was teasing of course, but she replied. “A lot of us are. My mom’s family was German and Scottish, though. I got the name Heidi from my German great-grandmother, and it has been the bane of my existence for twenty-nine years.”
“What’s wrong with Heidi?”
“Are you kidding? Between the name and the blonde hair, most people assume my IQ is in single digits. Heidi is fine for a little girl, but it’s way too cutesy for a scientist.”
“Ah. Well then, Freya, since I cooked, you can do the dishes.”
Freya. The queen of the Norse gods. She smiled at the nickname, suppressing a shudder of desire. “I don’t know where anything goes,” she returned, helping him clear the plates from the table. The fish had been seared to perfection, the rice was light and fluffy and the fruit salad fresh and tart. He could cook for her anytime he wanted, and she’d gladly do dishes for weeks if that was the price he demanded for sharing perfection. Aside from the headiness caused just by being close to Jake, she’d had three—or was it four?—glasses of wine and she was feeling positively flirty.
“You’re a scientist, you’ll figure it out.” The sun was setting over the skyline, painting the sky in luscious sherbet tones of tangerine and raspberry. She took a second just to enjoy it, then felt a wave of guilt crash over her as she remembered that Brad would never see another sunset.
Jake caught the plate before she could drop it, then he set the dishes back on the table and caught Heidi by the shoulders.
“Heidi? What is it? Did I say something wrong?”
She shook her head as the tears began to flow in earnest. “No. It’s just…everything.” She grabbed his T-shirt and pulled him close before burying her face in his chest.
“It all just caught up wit
h you, didn’t it?” His arms came around her and he stroked her back, lips muttering softly against her hair.
She nodded against him, sobbing harder.
He shifted them, sitting down and drawing her into his lap. Big as she was, it wasn’t a position she was used to, but that didn’t register until later. “Poor thing. I’m so sorry about your friend, sweetheart. I know how much it sucks to lose someone you care about, believe me.”
She did. She also trusted him, more than she would have ever thought possible. So she clung to him and sobbed out her terror and anger and loss.
* * * * *
It was ten minutes to midnight by the time Jake slipped out of bed and up on deck. His skin was already tingling, that electrical current under his skin that warned him when the change was near, but he’d had to wait until Heidi was sleeping. After her meltdown earlier, he’d been reluctant to leave her alone. After tucking her into bed, he’d spent another few hours holding her and trying to keep his libido in check.
She’d actually held up well, he mused, better than most people would under the same circumstances. She’d kept it together later too, when she’d spoken to a friend at the University. Afterward, she’d told Jake that someone had been in her department office asking about her today. He’d have to check that out with Marinucci tomorrow, but something in his gut said it wasn’t the good guys.
He climbed down to the swim deck and lowered himself quietly into the dark waters of Mission Bay, careful not to make any noise to attract attention from any of the other boats moored nearby. During his full moon cycle, he usually anchored well out to sea, but rescuing Heidi had put a definite kink in his schedule. The polluted, oily waves lapped at his skin as he slipped under the dock for the change. As soon as his transformation was complete, he filled his air pockets and dove deep, propelling himself out of the marina and away from shore before surfacing again. It was the work of minutes to leave the bay and enter the open ocean, and he swam hard, putting himself through a strenuous workout. He’d sleep well after this. Somewhere along the way he’d remembered that he hadn’t slept last night at all, but then he never slept much during the full moon. Too much adrenaline or something in his system.
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