Deception Cove

Chapter 10

THEY USED THE DINGHY TO TAKE SOME EMERGENCY equipment and camping supplies ashore. The fog was still hovering out over the water but it was moving in slowly, swallowing the cove as it approached.

Houdini, evidently oblivious to the ominous mist, quickly discovered the pleasure of surfing with a life preserver. He frolicked in the shallow water, clinging to the device with his two front paws while he paddled with his hind legs. Every so often he caught a small lapping wave that carried him up onto the sand. He chortled madly and immediately set out to catch another wave.

Alice took one last look at the dark fog offshore and turned to watch Drake establish camp for the night. She liked watching him, she realized. He went about the business of setting up the tent, bedrolls, and small amber lantern in the efficient, competent way that characterized everything he did. He had put his sunglasses back on, she noticed. Evidently what little daylight was left was too much for his sensitive eyes.

“I’m sorry I’m not much help here,” she said. “I’ve never gone camping in my entire life.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Drake rezzed the amber lantern. “Harry and I used to camp out a lot here on Rainshadow. Got it down to a fine art.”

“I can see that.” She walked toward him across the sand. “I assume the amber lantern is for my sake. I appreciate it. Will it bother your eyes?”

“Not as long as I keep my glasses on.”

She watched him take a small gadget out of a pack. He aimed it at the pile of kindling and driftwood he had made. A flame shot out from the device. The kindling caught immediately.

“What is that thing?” Alice asked.

“Basically it’s just a fire-starter, an ignition device. But it’s been modified in a Sebastian lab to function as a small blowtorch, if necessary. I’ve got two of them. You can have one.”

“Good grief, why would I want a blowtorch?”

“Makes a handy weapon.”

She winced. “I see.”

Drake crouched in front of the fire, watching the flames through his sunglasses. “Fire is one of the few forms of normal energy that can be used inside the Preserve.”

“Are there a lot of dangerous animals on the other side of the fence?”

“Until recently, the only dangerous critters we had to worry about were the human variety. But that’s not true any longer.”

“Right, those mutated sea creatures who are living in the cave pools.”

“And maybe other things as well.” Drake glanced back over his shoulder at the dark woods that bordered the cove. “There’s so much psi in the ecosystem inside the Preserve now that it’s bound to have an effect on the plant and animal life.”

Houdini splashed out of the cove, dragging his life preserver by the cord. He paused to shake the water from his fur and then trotted over to the fire. He stared at the emergency rations.

“I think he’s hungry,” Alice said.

“I know I am.” Drake got to his feet. “Time to open up some of those tasty instant meals. Sorry I forgot to bring the wine.”

Alice smiled. “So am I.” She glanced toward the cove. The cruiser was slowly disappearing into the fog. “Why do I have the feeling that I’m never going to see my suitcases and my costumes and props again?”

Drake ripped open one of the containers. “Don’t worry, we’ll come back for the boat and your stuff after we take care of business on the island.”

There was nothing in the suitcases that could not be replaced, she reminded herself. Nevertheless, her whole life—or what was left of it—was in the two suitcases she had been forced to leave on board the boat.

Get a grip, woman. You’re alive and so is Houdini. That’s all that matters. She did not doubt for a moment that they had all been in serious danger a short time ago.

“You saved us, Drake,” she said quietly.

“What?”

He opened another container and then a third.

She watched him break a seal on each package. The scent of heating food wafted toward her.

“Piloting the boat through those awful currents and that fog was brilliant work,” she said. “You saved all of us.”

He glanced at her, amber light flashing on his glasses. “You and Houdini wouldn’t be here in the first place if I hadn’t brought you here.”

“Yes, well, we are here and you saved us. That’s all that matters tonight.”

He looked amused. “You’re a real live-in-the-moment kind of woman. A lot of folks would be pissed as hell at me if I’d brought them into a situation like this.”

“It wasn’t like my life was going so great in Crystal City. At least now I’ve got a shot at getting Ethel Whitcomb out of my life and making a few bucks to boot. I can contemplate a whole different future, thanks to you.”

“We’re not there yet.” He glanced toward the fog-bound cove. “You were serious when you said that just about everything you own is in those suitcases, weren’t you?” he said.

“Yes.” She settled down on a large chunk of driftwood. “Ethel Whitcomb has done a pretty good job of destroying my life this past year. It’s amazing what you can do to another person when you’ve got a lot of money and power.”

“You’ve been living out of a couple of suitcases for damn near a year?” Drake asked. He sat down beside her and handed her one of the emergency meals. He gave another one to Houdini and took the third for himself. “That’s all? Nothing in storage? No property?”

She watched Houdini explore his emergency meal. He seemed enthralled with the little compartments in the plate, each of which was filled with different food. He dithered between the pear crisp and the stew.

“It wasn’t like I owned a lot of stuff before Ethel set out to ruin me,” Alice admitted. “Nevertheless, I had a job, a car that was almost paid off, some savings in the bank, and a couple of credit cards.”

“All gone?”

“My job in the museum gift shop vanished first because Ethel Whitcomb owns the Whitcomb Museum. The director, Aldwin Hampstead, had no choice but to let me go after Ethel put some pressure on him. The car was mysteriously repossessed soon after that. The credit cards got cancelled. When I realized what was going on, I managed to get my money out of the bank before Ethel could find a way to put a lien on it, but it was a near thing. I’ve used up all of my savings just trying to stay one step ahead of the Whitcomb thugs. You’d be surprised how much it costs to buy new IDs every few months.”

Drake whistled softly. “You really have been on the run.”

She ate some stew. There wasn’t much flavor but it wasn’t terrible, and best of all it was pleasantly warm. Houdini made his decision. He went for the pear crisp.

“Good choice,” she said. “Always eat dessert first. You never know when one of Ethel’s creeps will show up.” She paused and then smiled a little as a thought struck her. “I have to say that is definitely one bright spot about returning to Rainshadow. It’s highly unlikely that Ethel Whitcomb’s people will come after me here, not now with this fog and all communications down.”

Drake ate some of the stew. “If they do manage to follow you, they’ll have to go through me to get to you. That’s not going to happen.”

The mag-steel edge on the words was so lethally honed she was pretty sure that it could have drawn blood.

She managed a breezy, flippant smile. “Oh, wow, I’ve got a bodyguard now as part of our deal?”

“Yes,” he said, very seriously.

Some of the survival-mode tension that had been churning inside her for the past year eased a little.

“I believe you,” she said.