Her cheeks paled. “Wh-What?”
That did it. Gave her something else to chew on. Rafe’s smile widened. He loved when she went speechless around him. “Come on, Querida. We need to make tracks.”
Rafe gripped the rope, nodded at Shane to tell him he was ready and started his descent. When he was five feet over the water, he kicked his legs to propel himself to the rocky ledge of the pool.
He unhooked the harness and waited while Lisa made her descent. As she did, he took a look around and breathed in the damp air. The scent of earth was strong down here. Sunlight filtered through the roots and vines near the opening of the cave above, giving the room an eerie dark quality Rafe wasn’t wild about. He figured one good earthquake was all it’d take to bury them alive, and he said a quick prayer that wouldn’t happen while they were down here.
Stalactites hung from the ceiling in the dim space. Sediments created swirling patterns in the massive structures. Lisa probably knew the name of every single cave formation. If he asked her, he could get a crash course in geology.
He decided not to ask. He didn’t want to be down here any longer than necessary.
She landed on the rocks next to him and unhooked her harness. “Off belay,” she called back up to Shane.
“Belay off,” Shane replied. “Look out below.”
Shane lowered the tanks into the cavern. Rafe tugged them to the platform, and Lisa unhooked the ropes. They worked quickly, suiting up and readying for the dive without talking.
Shane’s head popped over the side when they were almost finished. “Sixty minutes. Check your watch and keep an eye on your gauge.”
Lisa frowned up at her brother. “I’ve got it. You just watch for unexpected guests.”
Shane disappeared over the edge, grumbling something they couldn’t hear. Lisa turned toward Rafe. “Are you ready?”
As ready as he’d ever be. He nodded.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, let’s get down so we can get back and celebrate.”
He pulled on his mask and waited while she slipped into the water. She still looked a little uncertain, but there wasn’t a heck of a lot he could do about it at this point. When all but her head was submerged, he followed.
He’d dived in some pretty amazing locations, but nothing prepared him for the underwater view he was getting now. As Lisa flipped on her light, he caught his first glimpse of a world few get to see.
The walls of the hole were magnified by the turquoise water. Stalagmites rose around the edges, surprisingly fragile looking in the eerie light. Below, darkness beckoned, indicating the tunnel went straight down. The water was warmer than he’d expected, and when he looked up, the dim sunlight at the surface glittered like jewels.
Lisa caught his attention, and he shook off the wonder as he gave her the okay signal. She nodded and pointed down. He waited while she secured the guideline that would lead them back to the surface and then followed as she turned for the bottom.
She’d been right again. It was a fairly straight drop with only a few small turns in the cave. His rhythmic breathing calmed him as they dove deeper, enough so he barely noticed the tube growing progressively smaller.
Twenty minutes into the dive Lisa pulled up and signaled they were near the bottom. Rafe checked his equipment, saw his tanks were fine and nodded at her.
The room was small, no more than ten feet by ten feet. Openings on both sides indicated the tunnel veered off in different directions. He’d glimpsed Lisa’s map before they’d come down and knew this cave went on for hundreds of meters below the surface.
Lisa’s light swept over the cave floor. Stalagmites rose from the ground as they had above, and she swam around each one, taking a careful visual exploration before fanning the sand.
Rafe hung back by the guideline and let her explore. He recognized the importance of this moment, that if Tisiphone were really down here, Lisa needed to be the one to find it. She was the expert, he was the novice.
Besides, hanging back gave him the opportunity to watch her work. To see her in her element. And damn, she was good. She was meticulous and careful, and absolutely gorgeous in her curve-molding wet suit without even intending to be.
She darted out from behind a stalagmite and motioned for him to join her. His adrenaline jumped and thoughts of her sinful centerfold curves slipped to the back of his mind. He swam forward in anticipation.
But when she pointed down, his heart nearly stopped.
***
Shane checked his watch, glanced at the sinkhole at his right and frowned. Lisa and Rafe had been down going on twenty minutes now. It was too soon to stress, but he couldn’t help it.
Sitting back waiting while someone else put their life on the line wasn’t easy for him. Watching Lisa do it for a piece of rock didn’t sit well with him, either. He felt better being here, but being here was a relative term under the circumstances.
He’d set up a beach chair along the edge of the hole, tucked the ropes into a bag underneath his seat and was now wishing like hell he’d remembered his Tic Tacs. A light layer of sand covered the ground. Beach grass grew like weeds everywhere. Flowering shrubs he didn’t have a clue how to identify were littered across the ground and around the edge of the hole.
Part of him wished he was back on the boat with Hailey. Man, she was a looker, blond and stacked and exactly what he didn’t need. He sure as hell hadn’t expected her when he’d hopped a plane to rescue his sister.
They hadn’t seen another soul since they’d left the beach, so when a blonde in a yellow bikini sauntered up wearing dark sunglasses, a beach bag slung over her shoulder, he sat up and withdrew his thoughts from the voluptuous police officer who’d been occupying way too much of his mind lately.
The girl in front of him was long legged and wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat that shielded her face partially from view.
“Now this is a surprise,” she said as she got closer.
Shane stood, thankful for the leather holster pressed against his lower back where he’d concealed his Glock in the waistband of his cargo shorts. People on this small island were friendly, and her presence shouldn’t have thrown him off guard, but ever since Lisa had shown up in Chicago and told him about the Furies, he’d been on edge.
“The beach is that way, handsome.” She pointed over her shoulder and smiled. “You look a little lost.”
His gaze swept the length of her body. She couldn’t possibly be hiding anything in that low-cut bikini. “Looks like that’s where you should be headed.”
Her smile widened. “I was just there. Heat gets unbearable this time of day.” She pointed down the path behind him. “My house is that way.”
“You live here?”
“I wish. A friend of mine has a house I’m visiting for the week. I’m Chris.” She offered her hand. He shook it cautiously. “I haven’t seen you around here.”
“Just got in.” He watched as she looked from his beach chair to the binoculars lying next to his feet, then to him.
She tipped her hat up enough so he could see her face. Pretty, but it didn’t ring any bells. “So, um, you don’t look like a sport fisherman or a surfer. And this far inland, you can’t possibly be scuba diving. So what, if you don’t mind my asking, are you doing out here?”
She couldn’t have been more than thirty, and she had the pink cheeks and red shoulders to prove she’d been out sunbathing on the beach. He couldn’t see her eyes through the dark shades, but he guessed they were as nonthreatening as the rest of her. A bit of his tension uncurled. “Would you buy that I’m catching butterflies?”
She laughed. “No.”
Her voice wasn’t familiar, either. “Okay, then how about that I’m a biologist? I’m doing a bird study for the University of Miami.”
“Really?” she asked as if she didn’t believe him.
He nodded. “Yeah. Specifically watching for the Northern Parula. It’s a small bird with blue, yellow, green and white feathers that mi
grated from mainland North America. You haven’t seen it, have you? Darn thing keeps dodging me.”
She laughed again. “No. Sorry.”
He reached for the notebook he’d dropped next to his chair in case someone came snooping around. “I have a picture of it somewhere.”
“That’s okay.” Her eyes sort of glazed over, and he smiled, thankful Lisa had thought to give him a cover, one guaranteed to bore the socks off anyone. “I’m not big on birds.”
He shrugged, notebook in hand. “Little bugger’s really important to us biologists. Not so important to the rest of the world, I guess.”
She rolled her eyes. “I guess. I know nothing about biology. Flunked it in college. Hey…” Her brow lifted as if she’d just had a thought. “Are you going to be around for a while? Because my friend—the one whose house I’m staying at—he’s having a party tomorrow night. Just a small get-together with some of the locals. He’s lived on the island for about a year. Maybe he or some of his friends have seen this bird you’re looking for.”
Shane tensed when she turned to dig through her shoulder bag. “No. Wait. I—”
“I have his address written in here somewhere.” She stepped closer and pulled the bag from her shoulder to drop it on his chair as if she didn’t hear him.
As a precautionary measure, he reached back for his gun.
“Man, I lose everything in this bag. Hold on, I know it’s in here.” She pulled out suntan lotion, a beach blanket, a camera, a paperback. “You’re gonna love him. He’s like all local even though he’s not really from here. He knows everything about this island, too, which could help you. And he makes this kick-ass rum punch.”
Fingers grazing his Glock, Shane stepped to the side as she bent over to paw through the bag. His gaze drifted to her backside and the cut of her bikini. The faintest tan line was visible when she moved and her bikini bottom slipped ever so slightly. This woman wasn’t anything more than a tourist enjoying her vacation. He dropped his hand, feeling foolish for being paranoid.
“Ah, here it is.” She stood with her back to him. “I know you’re just going to love my friend. He has a soft spot for anyone from Chicago.”
His gaze darted up as she whipped around. He tried to grab his firearm. A jolt shot through his body when the Taser in her hand connected, dropping him to the ground. The gun slipped from his hand. His body twitched uncontrollably, but through hazy vision he could just make out her catlike grin as she leaned over him.
She slipped off her glasses. No, not thirty. Older. Fine lines crinkled the skin around her eyes. Recognition finally dawned.
Christy Swanson. Landau’s gallery manager. The one he’d questioned several times after the Hamilton murder. Only then she’d been a tight-mouthed suit who hadn’t given him more than a cold shoulder every time he’d stepped into her gallery. Now she was a black widow about to devour her prey.
“You should have stayed in the Windy City, Detective.” Her Italian accent was thick now. “My friend is not so happy you’re here.”
***
Rafe’s heart started again in deep, soul-pounding beats as he stared at the cave floor. A square three-dimensional outline stuck out of the silty sediments. It was too symmetrical to be anything other than a man-made object; didn’t look like anything that would occur naturally.
Lisa’s fingers wrapped around his forearm, and he glanced up at her wide eyes. Slowly, he nodded for her to go for it. Then watched in amazement as she reached down and fanned the sand away from the object.
Sediment swirled through the water. The number three was clearly carved into the bottom right corner. Lisa lifted the square object and flipped it over, and time seemed to stand still as they both stared at the marble relief. It was exactly as Rafe had expected from his research. Tisiphone, with her wings spread wide, floated in the air, looking up toward the heavens. Notches were carved along the right side of the marble relief, a small chip across the top the only evidence it had taken any kind of beating when it had fallen thirty meters below the surface more than a hundred years before.
Lisa’s eyes glimmered with excitement when Rafe looked up. She smiled around her mouthpiece, hooked one arm over his shoulder and spun him in the water.
His arms came around her waist as her body pressed against his. As much as he wanted to celebrate with her, he wanted out of this darn cave more. He pointed up, and she nodded. She stowed the relief in her pack, and he waited so she could take the lead. They swam quickly toward the surface, using the guideline to propel them.
Relief swept through Rafe. In a matter of minutes they’d be free. Out of this cave and on the verge of a future he was looking forward to starting. For the first time in as long as he could remember, thoughts of next week, next month, next year didn’t leave a pit in the bottom of his stomach. And it was all because of Lisa.
He breathed deeply, thinking about what came next. He’d been keeping Magaera’s location a secret, but now there was no reason not to tell her. He knew she’d be shocked when she found out he already had it locked up safe and sound with Alecto.
Lisa hit the surface a good minute before him. He could see her feet dangling in the water, then disappear, as she hauled herself and her gear up onto the rocks. A smile pulled at his mouth as he swam up. When they got back to the boat he was going to break open that bottle of champagne he’d been saving for this moment, lock her in the stateroom and tell her about Magaera. Together they’d have to decide what to do with the Furies, but he was confident they’d work it out.
Then he was going to tell her he loved her and make sure she believed him. He’d be stupid to let her get away from him now that their business partnership was nearing an end.
He broke the surface. Excitement and anticipation coursed through his veins as he yanked off his mask.
Lisa’s stark white face stopped him cold.
***
Strong hands gripped Lisa at the shoulders and hauled her out of the water.
She gasped as the regulator was wrenched from her mouth and managed one shrill scream when she realized it wasn’t Shane tugging her up. The man with the death grip on her arms was buff and bronze and no one she’d ever met before.
“Welcome back, Dr. Maxwell.”
She jerked around at the female voice. Confusion swamped her as she was dropped on the flat rocks and drew air into her lungs. Her tanks were jerked from her back by the silent man behind her. Looking up, Lisa tried to get her bearings. Recognition flickered through her hazy vision. “Who…? I know you.”
The blond woman knelt at her side. Her eyes were a chilling blue, as blue as the inside of an iceberg. “I’m sure you do.”
Where had she seen this woman before? Lisa knew her from somewhere recent. She sorted through her mental files, looking for the connection she knew was there.
Then it hit her. “Landau’s gallery.”
A feral grin slinked across the blonde’s face. “There and elsewhere. I thought for sure you’d recognize me when you came into the gallery. Imagine my surprise when you looked right through me as if I weren’t even there. We see what we want to see, isn’t that true? We believe what we want to believe. Ironic, isn’t it?” She tipped her head. “Come on, Dr. Maxwell. You remember me. Think hard.”
She drew out the last word, one long syllable that echoed through Lisa’s mind. A memory flashed. Another blonde. A lifetime ago. One who’d been young, and cold, but with the same ice-blue eyes and the same Italian accent.
I don’t care how hard his death has been on you. You’re not getting into this memorial service.
Lisa’s breath caught. “You’re Doug’s sister.”
Christy Swanson pushed to stand. “Bingo. He always said you were smart.” She shrugged. “Half sister, really. We have different fathers and grew up on two different sides of the world, but we’ve always been very close. But then you know that, don’t you?”
“You…you’re the one who’s been following us?”
“I’m not
the only one who wants the Furies. Just the first one to catch up with you.” She looked toward the pool. “Ah, nice of you to join us, Mr. Sullivan. Teddy will take care of your tanks.”
Lisa couldn’t take her eyes off Christy, but she heard the slosh of water, the clang of metal as Rafe was helped from the pool. She felt the tension radiating from him just behind her. “How long have you been following me?”
The gun in Christy’s hand glimmered in the sunlight slanting from the opening above. “A long time. It was clever of you to steal Doug’s research like that. He didn’t see it coming. He really thought you loved him. That you’d wait.” She reached for the pack Teddy the muscleman had taken from Lisa. “He had no idea your only loyalty was to the Furies.”
Something in Lisa’s stomach tightened. “You… Wait. You said you didn’t know who I was that day.”
Christy pulled Tisiphone from Lisa’s pack and grinned, a slow and menacing smile that screamed of victory. “I didn’t. I thought you were just another of his sappy students. He had such a reputation with the young girls, you know.”
Lisa refused to let Christy’s comments distract her. “Then how—?”
“How?” Christy’s brow lifted. “Fitting you ask that now, Dr. Maxwell. You didn’t once think to question it, did you? They never found his body. Didn’t that strike you as odd? That there were witnesses to the crash, people who saw his plane go down, but that there was no physical record of his death?”
She didn’t wait for an answer. Her voice turned hard and cold. “I did. I spent months looking for him, for some kind of answer. Because he was the only family I had left, and I had to know. And do you know what I found? Guess, Dr. Maxwell. Take one good guess.”
“I—”
“I found a man who spent six months in a Caribbean hospital with burns covering 80 percent of his body, and legs that didn’t work anymore. A man who’d finally figured out the greatest treasure was the woman he’d left behind.”
Lisa’s eyes grew wide with disbelief.