Bliss (32 page)

He almost wished his twin could still read his thoughts. That had been one of the hardest things to adjust to when they had been forced to go their separate ways. Seth still had to decide if he could let Darius help, and worse, after ten years of silence, he had to tell his brother why he had called him out of the blue. And that had to be sooner rather than later.

However there was something childish and charming as he watched his brother evoke the ancient gods in their own tongue, taunting them to get him. It used to be one of their favorite games when they were young. When they both had the freedom and privileges of the sea.

Now things were definitely different, for none of the gods listened to them anymore. That Seth knew from firsthand experience.

* * *

Jamie twisted and tilted her head, trying to ease the crick out of her neck. She had been at it for twelve hours, not that she was counting. But even coffee was losing its potency to keep her awake. In fact, she had re-read the last sentence she’d been writing on her thesis three times—it still wasn’t any better.

“Still at it?” asked Trevor Lancaster, as he sauntered in still wearing his suit and tie.

Jamie guessed that was all he ever wore, even on the weekends. She also suspected the suck-up Ivy League graduate had a bed stashed somewhere in the warehouse because he was always around. After all, he wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to impress their boss—Dr. Nathan Caskett, millionaire and self-appointed director of the new department he personally funded.

Thanks to Caskett, she was getting the chance to finish up her graduate thesis while working in the field. The fact both she and Trevor were currently competing for the only permanent spot within the department made her hate both her boss and her coworker. Caskett liked mind games. This was one of them.

They had both been hired because they were top in their class. At the end of the summer only one of them would get the coveted position, which offered a salary of over sixty thousand dollars a year—something no graduate made in the first year doing marine research.

“You know you shouldn’t drink all that stuff. It will rot your stomach,” said Trevor, giving her dirty coffee mugs a look of disgust.

Jamie had to bite her tongue to keep from telling him not only had she drunk most of the pot but it had been made yesterday and she was downing it cold. The last thing she wanted to do was engage Trevor in a tête-à-tête. He always found a way to knock her down, something she was well used to in her life.

Ignoring him, she closed her laptop, neatly stacked her papers and stuffed everything into her large duffel bag. “Time to go.”

“Oh you might as well sleep in tomorrow. Caskett’s out of town. He’s still out looking for the big one,” said Trevor, casually claiming the chair next to her, making sure she noticed him flex his arm muscles.

To anyone else, Trevor would be considered a fine specimen of a man. At five feet nine with blond hair and light brown eyes, he could be equally charming. None of that worked on Jamie. Standing, she towered over him. That was the thing.

At well over six feet, she had yet to meet a man who caused her to raise her eyes for a good look and while she admitted his body was okay, it didn’t even give her pause. The fact he was smart was the only reason she tolerated him.

Stacking her stained coffee mugs in a neat row along her desk, she tucked one last article into her duffel bag. She smirked at the disgusted look on Trevor’s face when he realized she wasn’t going to wash the dirty mugs.
Why bother washing them when I’ll just use them tomorrow
.

“Thanks for the tip. Think I’ll head home now.” She dodged her way past him, hating that he hadn’t bothered to move his chair back. Instantly, she quelled her heart. Wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, she kept her hands in her pockets to avoid accidentally touching him. When she made it safely past him, she hiked the duffel bag over her shoulder and sauntered away.

“Want me to clean those for you?” yelled Trevor, trying once again to prolong her departure.

“Sure, knock yourself out,” she replied, opening the outer door with her key card while punching in her identification number.
Security is a pain in the ass
. She wondered again why there was so much high-tech security when there was nothing worthwhile to steal. All the scientists had portable laptops they took home or on the road with them.

Trevor and the other scientists often joked that Caskett housed a wealth of treasure he kept hidden in his back room. It was the only room off limits. Caskett was the only person who went in and out of it. That along with his bizarre library classified him as unusually strange in her eyes.

While she admitted to having a fixation with marine life, Caskett’s passion to prove the unknown went beyond what was genuinely acceptable in the tight-knit scientific community. The only reason he was tolerated was because he was filthy rich. He backed his own research ventures, hired his own scientists, built his own labs and all to prove there really were sea monsters, and other unknown sea creatures out there.

She had jokingly asked him if he believed in the Loch Ness Monster only to be chastised for asking such a stupid question. Of course, had been his answer, but Nessie didn’t interest Caskett. It was creatures of the deep, creatures of the sea, even myths and legends of mermaids that drew him.

And that was why his library was bizarre. While it had state-of-the-art scientific literature and journals, it also had rows of books that detailed sightings of mermaids, sea creatures and more. While she felt drawn to those books, she excused it as giving into her early childhood dream for a fantasy world—after all, anything was better than what she had.

So, tonight as a reward to herself, and stashed safely at the bottom of her duffel bag was
Myths and Legends of Mermaids from the Seas Around the World
. She viewed it as her late-night light reading, and hoped it would calm her enough to get some sleep.

Unlocking her car, she dumped her stuff on the passenger seat and yawned. The knowledge that she had a good two hours of thesis work ahead of her at home almost made her groan, but she didn’t get where she was today without functioning on little sleep and lots of dreams.

Without a doubt, finishing her thesis would be a welcome relief because after that she’d move onto her next goal, securing a permanent position with Caskett so she could save up while working part-time on her Ph.D.

Who said I don’t have fun in my life?
She sped home to her small studio apartment that still had unopened boxes stacked high to the ceiling. After four months, she still hadn’t found time to unpack.
Maybe this weekend
. She grimaced knowing she’d rather do anything but.

* * *

After a month working with Caskett at the Institute of Oceanography, Jamie still took the long way to get to her desk. She didn’t care if the other researchers teased her for avoiding the elevator, the wharf or any of the vessels berthed at the two docks. She simply avoided the people. She had been hired because her cutting-edge research on immunological diseases in sea mammals was excellent. She knew that and so did the rest of the researchers.

No, there was nothing wrong with taking the scenic route to her office. After all, it was located on the basement level and there was no other way unless she took the elevator, which was not going to happen. Highly claustrophobic by nature, she avoided elevators at all costs.

At five-thirty in the morning she wasn’t expecting anyone to greet her anyway. Sliding her security card through the outer door’s electronic slot, she then punched in her code and took the long corridor, which led to Caskett’s floor. She heard the commotion long before she spotted anyone. With a swipe of her second electronic key, she punched in another security code and waited for the small click. Straining, she pushed open the door. Instead of the usual quiet, the place was in chaos.

People she didn’t know were running from one place to another.
Like chickens with their heads cut off
.

“Jesus Christ, make sure those oxygen tanks are working properly. Bunch of dimwits!” screamed Caskett, to a group of young men cowering under his gaze.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Why can’t things go right, just once?” he screamed again. This time the verbal attack was aimed at Trevor, who had the nerve to blush when he spotted her.

“Thanks for the sleepin tip, Trevor,” said Jamie sarcastically, trying to back out the door she’d just sauntered in through.

“Oh no, you don’t. I need you. Come here, Jamie!” screamed Caskett, brushing Trevor off with a disgusted look on his face and a wave of his hand.

That should have made her feel better but it didn’t.

In the short time she’d been working for Caskett, she had learned to despise him. She knew he had hired her more for her looks than her research, and she hated his habit of reading over her shoulder as she typed in her findings. She had tried numerous times to make it plain as day to him she wasn’t one bit interested in him, and would never in this lifetime sleep with him. No, she knew Caskett’s reputation for tarnishing interns, as he jokingly referred to others who had held her illustrious position as student-in-residence.

Realizing she hadn’t responded, Jamie looked up to catch Caskett staring at her.

Great, of all days to be caught wearing shorts and a tank top
. Silently, she made a mental note to keep a stash of extra clothing in her car. Her plan to go into the office early to get some work done in quiet before any of the weekend crew arrived was now out the window. Still wearing her jogging gear didn’t help.

“Nice of you to join us on this luscious Saturday morning, my dear. Do come in. I have a surprise for you,” said Caskett.

Her skin crawled as she caught Caskett’s eyes following her every movement. At six foot one, with long athletic legs and a slim waist, she usually went out of her way to look demure. This morning she hadn’t even bothered putting her long black hair into its usual no-nonsense ponytail.

Walking forward to where Caskett was standing, she was very conscious of her waist-length curly hair moving of its own accord. Reaching into her pocket, she thanked herself for having put extra elastic bands from the file folders she had been reading at one in the morning in her pocket. Slipping the elastic into her hand, she deftly grabbed her hair and had it tied into a tight ponytail just as she reached Caskett. She could tell by his face he wasn’t one bit pleased.

Go to hell
. She bravely asked, “What’s up?”

“Um, not as much as I’d like,” he whispered, standing on his toes to be eye-level with Jamie.

Height has its advantages
. She enjoyed seeing him squirm for a change.

“Caught a beauty this time. A real keeper. Come and see,” said her boss as he tried without success to steer her by the arm to another door—his private, do not enter door.

“What do you mean?” she asked, biting her lip nervously. She wasn’t sure she wanted access to the off-limit room. Across the room she noted Trevor’s evil glare as he stared at her in awe, as did a few other of the weekend scientists.

If Caskett let her in this room that would be a first. She’d be the first scientist since the lab had opened a couple of months ago to be granted access. Why her stomach was churning, she put down to nerves. It made her angry that Trevor’s heated gaze was a promise of retribution but she deserved this after his lie telling her Caskett wouldn’t be in today.

So she did what she always did when faced with a challenge. She squared her shoulders and followed Caskett.

“Are you going to show me those shells now?”

Instantly, Caskett stopped. The shells had been a sore topic of conversation ever since she’d found out about them. No one from the institute had seen them and almost everyone wanted an up close personal peek.

“Don’t ask me again about those shells. They’re gone,” he said, almost grabbing her arms.

A quick movement to the left enabled her to avoid his touch. “So what is it? Did you catch something?”

“You bet. A bottlenose dolphin. She’s charming. She’s got some sort of tattoo or something on her dorsal fin, and she’s gone into shock, so I’m hoping you might take a look at her first. I’m also arranging for a marine specialist to come and look at her. There’s something very unusual about this dolphin, Jamie, and I want you as my witness to help verify my findings,” he said.

The look of disbelief on her face said it all. “Look, I’m not really qualified…my research is on…”

Caskett turned to look at her. She watched as his eyes narrowed. “I know all about your research, don’t forget I hired you. I also know that you’re the only one I have on staff that’s studied dolphins extensively, so you are going to help me. Am I clear?”

Clear as mud
, she wanted to say. Instead she meekly nodded.

As he resumed his walk to his private door, he continued talking. It took all of Jamie’s concentration to follow his line of reasoning.

“When the specialist gets here, I want you to ask him to take pictures to document that tattoo. I also want you to ask if he’s seen anything like it before. My bet is he hasn’t. Then in the morning we’ll start the dissection process…”

That stopped her cold. “You mean to kill the dolphin…”