SeaChange (14 page)

“He’s in front of the cantina,” Wen said. “Steve, is
el
jefé
inside?”

“Mmm-hmm.” There was the sound of a newspaper page turning. “Gotta
love that defensive line. Go Steelers.”

Wen chuckled into his mike. “Meaning the place is full of
oversized thugs. Jake is inside.”

“Since it’s nowhere near football season, I kinda got that,”
Heidi murmured, ducking her head down and letting her hair screen her face as
she perused a rack of scarves.

“Only five dollars,
senorita
,” The vendor, a Mexican
woman in her forties or fifties, sidled over to Heidi. “Three for ten dollars
American.”

Did she stand out that much as an American, even with her
hair colored? It had to be her height. She simply shook her head and moved on
to a display of colorful blankets.

“Señor. My name is César Hernandez. It’s a pleasure to meet
you.” Jake’s voice over the communicator had picked up a distinctly local
accent. Shuffling sounds followed, and she heard Jake agree to be patted down.
Apparently, they didn’t check inside his cowboy boots.

“Fifteen dollars each for the large ones, pretty lady.” The
vendor’s husband came over to take his shot at making the sale. “Very warm,
very soft.”

Heidi shook her head and left that stall. She couldn’t focus
on the conversation over the radio when people were trying to talk to her.

There was a cart selling ice cream just a few yards away.
Perfect
.
She bought a small cone and sat on a nearby bench, taking her book out of her
purse. Nibbling on the ice cream, she pretended to read while her eyes remained
fixed on the cantina door.

Jake explained the story he and Wen had concocted, about a
groundskeeper at a small college wanting to supply “product” to the students.
Monetary amounts were discussed in rapid-fire Spanish Heidi could barely
follow. Finally, the man seemed satisfied. There was a thud, then a pair of
clicks as Jake opened a case and handed over the down payment. She didn’t think
she wanted to know where Steve and Wen had gotten that kind of cash so quickly.

“
Bueno
.” The dealer replied in a smoke-roughened
voice. There was a shuffling of chairs. “We will deliver the first shipment to
your boat tomorrow night. After that, we will contact you monthly with
instructions.”

“A pleasure doing business with you,” Jake replied. He
whistled tunelessly as his booted footsteps clattered on the tiled cantina
floor. Finally Heidi heard a door creak open then slam shut. “I’m out,” Jake
whispered.

“A four letter word for follow,” Steve muttered. “T-A—aha.
Tail.” A loud thunk. “Another
cervesa
,
por favor
,
Luisa,
while
I finish my crossword.”

“Taxi!” Jake gave directions to the marina, and a car door
slammed.

“They are not following the cab,” Wen noted. “Two men wait
by the cantina door. There is every possibility that your driver is an
accomplice. As soon as you finish your ice cream, Heidi, you should get up and
leave. Drive around for a bit, though. Do not go straight to the marina.”

“Gotcha.” She popped the last of the cone in her mouth and
ambled back across the street to her car.

Fifteen minutes later, with Wen’s permission, she parked at
the marina and made her way back to the boat. Jake and Wen were both waiting
for her in the cabin. Jake immediately wrapped an arm around her waist and
pulled her down to sit next to him. She smiled at the contact, though she
flushed a little when he kissed the top of her head. He was acting like he’d
been the one with cause to worry.

“How did you get back here so quickly?” Heidi asked Wen. She
didn’t really expect an answer. Knowing now that Jake was more than human, she
strongly suspected there was more than met the eye about the other two men as
well.

Wen just shrugged. “You can take off your transmitters now.”

She set down her purse after carefully removing the handgun,
then unpinned the silk flower and pulled the receiver from her ear. “So the
transaction is tomorrow night? Where?”

“About a mile offshore,” Jake replied. “They’ll pull up
alongside in the cigarette boat and make the drop.”

“Will you be able to do anything?” Heidi asked Wen. “We won’t
be in U.S. waters.”

“Fortunately, I work for one of those agencies authorized to
act outside of United States limits,” Wen replied. “We’ll have some divers
down, waiting to board their craft when they arrive.”

Heidi shuddered.

“So you can get in your car and drive back to San Diego,”
Jake added. “Steve will have a safe house set up that you can go to.”

Heidi shook her head. “Same old song and dance, Jake. I told
you I’m in this to the end. You need another diver? I’m fully certified.”

Wen smiled. “I do not think you have the hand-to-hand combat
skills to board a hostile vessel. You can be part of the crew on the boat—we’ll
want a couple of sharpshooters hidden on the deck before the transaction. You
and Steve will work perfectly for that.”

Heidi nodded. “I won marksmanship awards all through high
school,” she agreed. “Pistol and rifle. Brad and I practice at a gun club a
couple times a month, just to keep in shape.”

“Damn it, Freya. Is there anything you
can’t
do?”
Jake’s voice was strained, as if he was annoyed. “Besides staying the hell out
of trouble?”

“That would be the biggest one,” she agreed. “Plus, I never
did master my mom’s pie crust recipe.”

They all ate dinner on the boat, then shortly afterward the
two agents said good night, leaving Jake and Heidi alone at last. They moved
the Siren out to deeper waters and anchored, then sat together on the sundeck,
staring up at the stars.

“So do you have to…go swimming tonight?” Heidi leaned her
head back against Jake’s chest, as she sat between his splayed legs. He wanted
her—he always did, it seemed, but for right now, he was content to just sit
here, leaning back against the cabin wall, and hold her in his arms.

He leaned his chin on the top of her head, inhaling the
soft, citrus scent of her shampoo. “Yes. Tonight is only the fifth night of my
change cycle. That’s why I made sure to set the drop-off tomorrow for just
after sundown.”

“Do Wen and Steve know about your—condition?”

“Wen does. Steve knows bits and pieces, but not the whole
story.” Just as he didn’t know all about Marinucci’s abilities. He was amazed
at how well she’d taken the shock of finding out his true nature. Her
willingness to continue their relationship afterward had humbled him.

“How did you hook up with those two?”

He told her the story of Wen’s select little group of “unusual
operatives” who had worked around the Pacific during the Second World War. “Only
Wen knows exactly what each of us was capable of. There are a handful of us
still living—and only two, as far as I know, besides Wen and Steve and I who
haven’t aged significantly.”

“And Steve? Do you know what he can do? What kind of being is
he?”

“Besides teleport? I think he’s a wizard. I seem to recall
he has some minor weather-controlling abilities.”

“Wow.” She heaved a sigh and laid both her hands over his. “I
feel like I fell through the looking-glass, you know. But then, on the other
hand, there hasn’t been time to think too hard about any of this, which somehow
makes it easier to accept. Hard to believe that just days ago I lived in such a
sane, normal world.”

“Did you? With your grandmother’s Sight and your habit of
talking to dolphins? Or did some part of you always know there was something
more out there, and you were just waiting to discover it?” She was such an
exceptional woman, he honestly believed she was born to straddle the worlds of
the normal and the extraordinary. If only they didn’t have such widely
disparate life spans, Jake could almost believe they had a future together.

“Maybe.” She was quiet as they sat there listening to the
sounds of the waves. Then she checked her diver’s watch. “It’s almost midnight.”

“I know. I can feel the tingle running down my spine. It
starts about five minutes before the actual change, so I have time to make it
to the water.”

“You don’t mind if I come swimming too, do you? I don’t want
to slow you down or anything.”

He tilted her head up to kiss her lips, deeply if somewhat
quickly. “I’m not going anywhere—I was just planning to circle the boat. It
will be nice to have some company in the water. But be careful not to stray. My
eyes are better than yours, and I’ll be able to see anything coming toward us
long before you will.”

“Okay. Then let’s go, before you turn into a pumpkin.” She
scrambled to her feet, watching while Jake shucked the board shorts he’d been wearing.
Heidi had on a simple turquoise one-piece, but the way the fabric outlined her
curves made it every bit as enticing as the tiniest bikini. They moved down to
the swim deck, where Heidi slipped on flippers and they dove side by side into
the inky black water.

“God, it’s so warm,” Heidi said with a sigh as they
surfaced. “I never get enough of this.”

“Me either,” he replied with a chuckle. “Though even now, I
still enjoy being able to sit in chairs, read without getting the book wet, and
watch television.” He felt the changes coming over his body as his bones
shifted and realigned and his legs fused into a tail. Heidi couldn’t have seen
much, but she watched him intently anyway, treading water just a few feet away.

“Does it hurt?”

“Not really. We learn to do this as kids, so after the first
few times, we don’t really notice it.”

She reached out her hands and he moved closer, let her wrap
her arms around his waist, feeling the sleek skin where his hips used to be.
She stroked his dorsal fin and Jake shuddered at the sensuality of the touch.
He couldn’t resist dipping his head down and kissing her.

His tail swishing back and forth was easily enough to keep
them both afloat and vertical in the water. Heidi held onto his waist and
returned his kiss, her tongue stroking lightly along his while his hands cupped
her butt, kneading gently.

A few moments later, Heidi giggled. “Gives a whole new
meaning to the word boner, doesn’t it?”

Jake cringed. His lower half was pure dolphin, meaning he
literally did have a bone in his penis—which was currently fully erect and
pressing against Heidi’s thigh. Reluctantly he set her away from him, waiting
to let go until she was treading water again. “Not a good idea, goddess. The
parts just aren’t compatible at the moment.”

“Yeah, I get that,” she said, tossing her wet braid back
over her shoulder. The dark hair didn’t show up in the moonlight, and once
again he felt a twinge at the loss of her silvery-blonde locks. “We can get
back to that in an hour, right?”

“Absolutely,” he promised. “Heidi, I wish—” He wasn’t
entirely sure what he’d intended to say, but a high-pitched squeal interrupted
the thought before he could finish it. Then a feminine voice shrieked, “Che!”

“Leta?” He spun around in the water. “Gods, Leta, is it
really you?” It had been years, but his sister’s sweet soprano hadn’t changed
at all.

“Of course, silly, who else would it be?” She answered him
in Greek, though he’d automatically spoken in English.

“Jake?” He felt Heidi’s soft hand on his shoulder. “What’s going
on?”

“Jesus, I barely know.” He watched as Leta swam closer, her
long dark hair flowing in the waves behind her. She wore a sparkly bikini
top—an affectation some of the younger mermaids had adopted only in the last
hundred years—that glittered in the moonlight. When she launched herself into
his arms, he caught her instinctively, hugging her with all his might. His
voice was thick when he said, “Heidi, this is my baby sister Leta. Leta, this
is my…uh…my girlfriend, Heidi Eriksen.”

Leta slowly extricated herself from his arms and looked over
her shoulder at Heidi. “Girlfriend? But Che, she’s
human
.”

Heidi held out one hand to his sister. “Pleased to meet you,
Leta.”

Leta might still be young for a mermaid, but she’d clearly
grown up since Jake had seen her last. She took Heidi’s hand and nodded
regally, even speaking in English. “Pleased to meet you. Now, if you don’t
mind, I need to talk to my brother.”

“Is anything wrong?” Jake asked. “This isn’t the best time,
Leta. We’re in the middle of something here, and it may not be entirely safe.”

“
Everything’s
wrong,” she replied. “I’ve come to stay
with you. I can’t go back.”

“Well, I think I’ve had enough swimming,” Heidi said
diplomatically. “Jake, I’ll wait for you up on the boat.”

“Thanks.” He wanted to tell her to stay, but he didn’t think
Leta would talk in front of a stranger, so he just leaned over to drop a kiss
on her cheek.

“Is it wonderful living among the humans?” Leta’s voice was
wistful as she watched Heidi climb back aboard the
Siren
and remove her
flippers.

“Not until now,” Jake answered absently. Then he heard what
he’d said and shook his head. “No. That’s not what I meant at all. Leta, what
are you
doing
here? You need to go home. Now.”

“I can’t go home.” She hung her head, her shoulders drooping
sadly. “If I go back, Mother will make me marry Nikolaos.”

“Marry him? Why?” Nikolaos was one of their strongest
warriors, true, just a few years older than Jake. The two had long been rivals,
and constantly coming in second to the other merman had been one of the reasons
Jake had been so frustrated that he’d engineered his own banishment. Niko was a
third or fourth cousin, and with two merfolk parents, he’d often taunted that
he
should be the prince, as his blood was purer than Jake’s. Apparently he’d
found a way to insinuate himself into the royal family. Jake reached out and
wrapped an arm around his baby sister’s shoulders. “I can’t believe Mother
would force you to marry someone you don’t love. Tell me what’s really going
on,
chica
.” The Spanish endearment was one their father had used. Since
Ernesto’s death when Leta was twelve, it was unique to the two of them.

“Things are different now,” she said in a voice more adult
than he’d ever expected to hear from her. “Once you left, everything fell
apart. Uncle Phaeton used your powers to challenge Mother’s rule.”

“Damn it!” The news hit Jake with all the force of a tail
fluke to the stomach. Why had he trusted his uncle? Now his people were in
trouble and it was all his fault.

“Mother won eventually, and Phaeton was exiled,” Leta
continued. “But he had followers—many of them from the families that think
Mother should never have mated with a human. Niko’s parents pushed really hard
to make Niko the heir—but Niko stayed loyal to Mother.”

“So this is her way of rewarding him—making sure he’ll be
your consort when you’re queen.”

“I don’t
want
to be queen,” she declared with a sharp
swish of her tail. “
You
were supposed to inherit. All I ever wanted to
do was sing.”

“Still have the most beautiful voice in the ocean, I’ll bet.”
A low throb began to pound at the base of Jake’s skull.

“I want to get a job singing at one of the human resorts,”
Leta continued. “But Mother disapproves because I’m supposed to be learning
leadership skills. Come home, Che. Take up your inheritance so I don’t have to.”

“Well, I can hardly marry Niko,” he joked. Guilt and dread
coiled in his stomach. He had to do something, but he had no idea what. “Besides,
I can’t enter the colony until the spell is finished. Phaeton included that as
a
geas
in the transformation spell. If I break it, I’ll never be a
merman again. Think you can hold off the wedding for another twenty-two years?”

“Fuck.” Leta moved back and peered into Jake’s face. “Are
you happy, Che? Do you even want to come home?”

“Of course I do. I figured that out less than a year after I
left.”

“Then why won’t you help me?” Her big brown eyes were wide
and brimmed with moisture.

Gods, he’d always been a sucker for Leta’s tears. “I want to
help you,
chica
. I really do. But I’m in the middle of something here
that could be dangerous. Is there somewhere you could hide out for a couple of
days until it’s taken care of? Then we’ll figure out how to get you out of this
wedding.”

Leta shook her head. “Where do you think I could hide in the
ocean that Mother couldn’t find me?”

“Good point.” Something about that statement nagged at the
base of Jake’s brain, but he ignored it.

“Besides, I want to meet your woman,” she added. “Let’s go
up on your boat so I can talk to her.”

“I can’t just yet,” Jake admitted. “One of the rules of my
spell. One hour, seven nights a month. No exceptions.”

“Oh pooh!” Leta pouted. “We could change into dolphins and
race.”

“Sorry. I can’t do that either.”

“Wow. You really let Uncle Phae do a number on you, didn’t
you?”

“Yeah.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying not to
grimace. “I guess I did.”

“So what do we do now?”

He could hear suppressed laughter in her voice, and he only
wished it was funny instead of tragic. “I have an idea. Hey, Heidi!” He raised
his voice so he could be heard from the boat.

“Yes?” She was up on the sundeck, waiting for him. That
thought made him smile.

“Come on down to the swim deck, will you?”

“No problem.” He heard her moving about, and he turned to Leta,
motioning her over toward the boat.

“Heidi is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. If
anyone can help us figure this out, she’s the one. Now,
mi
hermana
,
you are going to tell us everything you know about what is going on with our
colony.”

* * * * *

Heidi rummaged through her clothes and ended up pulling out
a pair of drawstring cotton pajama pants to loan to Leta. While Jake’s sister
was nearly as tall as Heidi, the brunette beauty was much, much slimmer.

“Here,” she said, handing the soft knit garment over to the
other woman who stood in the
Siren
’s cabin with a towel wrapped around
her waist. “These should work.” Apparently Jake had spent enough time in the
human world to be freaked out by the idea of sitting and chatting with his
sister naked from the waist down—at least after Jake’s hour was up and they’d
joined Heidi on the boat.

“Do humans really wear clothing all the time?” Leta asked as
she unselfconsciously dropped the towel to pull on the pants. “Even in the
privacy of their own homes?”

“Umm—most of them do,” Heidi answered cautiously. “Unless
they’re bathing or sleeping.”

“How odd. I suppose I shall have to get used to it.” She
shook out her long, curly black hair and sauntered back into the salon, leaving
her wet towel in a heap on the rug.

Heidi shook her head. She was
so
not going to run
around being Princess Leta’s personal servant.

“Look, Leta,” Heidi heard Jake say as she followed the
mermaid out into the salon. Jake stood in the galley beside the refrigerator. “I
don’t think you have any idea what the human world is like. Are you prepared to
work long hours every day, just to earn money for food and clothing, not to
mention shelter? And you’ll still have to spend at least half your time
swimming. How will you explain that to an employer? No, what we need to do is
find some way to talk Mother out of this marriage business so you can go home.”