Fatal Tide - Iris Johansen [11]
“Kelby.”
He turned to look at her.
“Thank you. You were kind to me today.”
“Hey, everyone gets ambushed occasionally by an attack of sentimentality. It doesn't happen often with me. I got off easy.”
“And I'm sorry you came to Athens on a wild-goose chase.”
“I'm not.” He smiled. “Because I have a hunch it wasn't a wild-goose chase. I want Marinth. I'm going to have it, Melis.”
“Good luck.”
“No, luck's not enough. I'm going to need help. I was going to get it from Lontana, but now I'm left with you.”
“Then you have nothing.”
“Until you get off the ship. I made you a promise that I'd make no demands today. All bets are off once you step onto dry land.”
She felt a surge of panic as she watched him walk away from her. It was difficult to ignore that absolute confidence in her emotional state.
Difficult, not impossible. All she needed to do was go home and heal her wounds and she'd be as strong as ever. She'd be able to think and make decisions. Once she reached the island she'd be safe from Kelby and everyone else.
“She's giving up.” Archer's hands tightened on the rail of the cruiser. “Dammit, they're going back to Athens.”
“Maybe she'll come back and search tomorrow,” Pennig said. “It's getting dark.”
“Kelby has enough strobe lights on that ship to light up the entire coast. No, she's giving up. She'll be running back to that damn island. Do you realize how difficult that's going to make it for us? I was hoping for just one more day here.” Well, he wasn't going to get it. Nothing was going as it should. The woman should have been vulnerable. It was what he'd planned. But Kelby had stepped into the picture and formed a protective barricade around Melis Nemid by his very presence. “I need to get to the bitch.”
“What if she doesn't go home? Kelby might have paid her enough to have brought her on board with him.”
“Not if Lontana couldn't get her to go with him. He told me she wouldn't have anything to do with it. But she knows, dammit. The bitch knows.”
“Then Tobago?”
“Tobago's a small island and she's a familiar face there. That's why I wanted to get her here.” He drew a deep breath and consciously smothered the rage surging through him. He'd been hoping to go the simple route and avoid complications. Patience. It would all come out right if he didn't make any foolish moves. “No, we'll just have to find a way to make her leave the island and come to us.”
And make sure she broke down and gave him what he wanted before he put an end to her.
Kelby stood at the rail and watched as Gary helped Melis from the tender to the dock. She didn't look back at either him or the ship as she moved quickly down the dock toward the taxi stand.
She had dismissed him. The realization brought Kelby a mixture of amusement and irritation.
No way, Melis. It's not going to happen.
“I didn't think she was going to hold up.” Wilson had joined him at the rail. “Today had to be damn hard for her.”
“Yes.”
“Her friend Gary didn't have any doubts. He said he'd known her from the time she came to live with Lontana when she was a teenager, and she was always the toughest little scrapper he'd ever run across. You'd never guess it. She looks like she'd melt in the rain.”
“No chance of that.” He watched her get into a taxi. Still no look back. “And that air of fragility can be a powerful weapon for a woman.”
“I don't think she'd use it. I think she'd hate to admit that she wasn't strong.” He glanced at Kelby. “Not everyone's like Trina. So don't be so damn judgmental, you cynical bastard.”
“I'm not judging. I couldn't care less. I just have to take stock of any ammunition she might have.”
“You didn't get what you wanted from her?”
“Not yet.”
“So what do we do?”
“I take the next plane to Tobago. And you find out everything you can about Lontana and Melis Nemid.”
“How far back?”
“All the way, but concentrate on the last year. He only tried to contact me in the last month, and according to what you found out from St. George he wasn't acting normally for the past six months.”
“If the suicide