Fatal Tide - Iris Johansen [90]
“Lontana.”
He stiffened and looked behind him.
Black hair drawn back in a queue, dark eyes staring at him with implacable ferocity.
His heart leapt with terror.
He turned to run. An arm encircled his neck.
He was dead seconds later.
Kelby met Nicholas at the tender. “Would you like to tell me where you've been?”
“Maybe.” He came on board. “How's Melis?”
“Asleep. She was exhausted. She almost fell unconscious when she hit the bed.” Kelby glanced toward the east. “Lontana?”
“The poor man fell off the cliff and broke his neck.”
“I see. You didn't have to do that. It wasn't your responsibility.”
“Melis didn't want you to do it. If she decided later that Lontana should be punished, it would have hurt her to do it herself.” He shrugged. “I was the logical choice.”
“Why?”
“The crazy son of a bitch was always going to be a threat to you as long as you held on to Marinth.”
“But the threat was to me, Nicholas.”
“A threat to my friends is a threat to me.” He smiled faintly. “It's an old shaman saying.” He turned away. “Good night, Jed. Sleep well.” He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “Do we tell Melis about Lontana's unfortunate demise?”
“Not right away. She's had enough to face lately.” He hesitated and then said gruffly, “Thanks, Nicholas.”
Nicholas nodded and strode down the deck.
Melis slept for a solid eight hours. But when she woke she still felt drugged—and lonely. Kelby had held her until she'd fallen asleep, but he wasn't with her now.
Well, what could she expect? He'd been kind, but he didn't want her leaning on him forever.
And she didn't want to lean. She'd taken a hard blow, but she had to get up and start swinging.
She got out of bed and headed for the shower. Twenty minutes later she was climbing the steps to the deck. Nicholas was throwing fish into the sea and he turned as she came toward him. “Good afternoon. You look a lot better. How do you feel?”
“A little weak and sore. Nothing that food and taking it easy for today won't cure. How's Pete?”
“Hungry.” He threw another fish down to Pete, who was hovering near the side of the ship. “He'll hardly let Susie have any. She doesn't seem to mind though.”
“I can see that.” Susie was rubbing sympathetically against Pete. “She knows he's hurt.”
“Are you sure we shouldn't bring him aboard the ship to take care of him?”
“Not unless we want to kill him. Kelby took out the spear, and I stopped the bleeding and gave him an antibiotic. He'll heal faster in the seawater.”
“I thought he was a goner when you brought him back.”
So had Melis. That blood had terrified her. It was only later that she'd realized the attack could be used to make Archer believe he'd finally broken her. “We were lucky. Archer's man had to work fast. It was a glancing strike, or it could have done serious damage.”
“How soon do you think it will be before he's his old self?”
“Soon. He'll tell us. He knows his body. Nature is a wonderful thing.”
“That's good. I like the guy. I like both of them. They kind of get to you.” He made a face. “Even though your blasted dolphins have turned me into a nursemaid.”
“It's good for you,” Kelby said as he came toward them. “You need a little softening.”
“The pot calling the kettle,” Nicholas said. “One of you will have to do the next feeding. I need to jump in the tender and do a little reconnoitering.”
Kelby nodded. “To see if Archer's taken off?”
“It's a possibility.”
“He won't go,” Melis said. “Even if he didn't still want the papers, he's furious. He'll think we fooled him. We sent him running and he'll want revenge.”
“Against you,” Kelby said. “This might be a good time for you to stay in your cabin and let us take care of business.”
“He'll be just as angry with you. Are we all going to hide under the bed?” She shook her head. “We have to put an end to it.” She turned to Nicholas. “I'll take care of Pete and Susie. You spend your time keeping an eye on Archer's ship. We need to know what's happening.”