Exhale (18 page)

“I’m not hungry.” She grabbed the PB & J, climbed around the bumper, and tossed the sandwich into the cooler. Iri silently traded places with her, and she took the wheel.

As she cranked up the engine, Zoe narrowed her eyes on Guppy, still splashing like a kid in a pool. “I’ll bet you think this is really funny, don’t you?”

Elizabeth stepped back. “Uh, are you talking to me?”

“No, I’m sorry. I’m talking to myself. Because I’m a head case.”

You’re no head case. Far from it. You just hear things other people don’t. Doesn’t mean you’re crazy. It means you’re special.
Guppy swam closer to the boat, spyhopped, and fixed her gaze on Zoe.

While Elizabeth
ooh
-ed and
ahh
-ed over the whale’s unusual behavior, Zoe became entangled in a magical web. The visual lock between her and Guppy choked time’s forward progression.

Staring into that big brown orb was like gazing down Alice’s rabbit hole just before the fall. The eye changed. Colors, shades, and gradients swirled in a mesmerizing vortex, pulling Zoe in. She couldn’t have looked away if she wanted to.

Time sputtered to a full stop and then hit reverse. The whirling eddies in Guppy’s eye revealed decades of accumulated knowledge—images of whales through the ages, growing. Evolving.

But it wasn’t just their physical attributes that evolved. Collective, societal wisdom passed through generations of humpbacks long before Guppy, far beyond whaling days to the origins of the earliest Aboriginal people.

Zoe saw herself swimming as one of the whales—she became
Mugga Mugga
, the sacred spiritual totem of the Woppaburra People—a part of the Whale Dreaming. Cool water glided over her pectoral fins, the knobby bumps on the leading edges helping her swim faster. Without the need for legs, her flukes easily pumped up and down, propelling her forward.

A simple but epic realization seized her.

Being a whale was being free.

Music filled the ocean, so loud that it traveled across hundreds of miles. Hums and chirps, upsweeps and moans—the individual notes blended into phrases and then into bigger themes. But these songs weren’t merely a form of communication, as most scientists believed. They were ancient lyric poems, passed down through the ages. With beautiful flowing words, symbols, and imagery, they told detailed stories of the time before man.

Goosebumps riddled Zoe’s skin.

The humpbacks were a highly intelligent species of storytellers and
she
understood them. Far more advanced than humans, they were keepers of primordial memory. Guardians of knowledge for the entire planet.

Holy shit. Zoe had always known there was much more to humpback song than what science had thus far revealed, but the level of complexity, the layers, the immensity of—

“Zoe?”

She startled and shook her head. Standing under the canopy with both hands gripping the steering wheel, she blinked several times. “Sorry.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Worry painted Adriene’s face. “You’re acting weirder than normal today.”

Yeah, no kidding. What the hell just happened to her?

Your mind is accepting the possibility of the impossible,
Guppy said.
Your true nature—the one you’ve denied all your life—is beginning to emerge
.

“I’m good.”

Was she? The strange experience with Guppy left an electric charge zapping like lightning in her brain.

Her mind raced through the countless research possibilities and intense study she could devote to proving whale intelligence once and for all to the scientific community. Sure, it would take years, but imagine how this information would change the landscapes of whaling, politics, philosophy, ethology research—hell, even human psychology. She couldn’t begin to fathom the implications.

Be careful, Zoe. I shared our sacred knowledge to prove you can help the Wæters, not to expose our secrets.
Guppy slid into the depths, the white on her side glowing blue-green under the water.

You’re a Wæter Elemental?

Yep. If you wanna help us, then do what comes naturally.
She fluked up for a deep dive.

But, I don’t know what that is. What should I do?
All this speaking in riddles was really annoying. She needed answers, not more questions.

Talk to your lover boy.
Guppy’s laughter trailed behind her as she swam north.

“Great.” A heavy breath escaped Zoe’s lungs. She pointed the Zodiac’s nose to the heading on the radio direction finder and hit the throttle.

Pressure to get back in contact with Gavin mounted from every side—Adriene, Guppy, the man himself. They were all right for different reasons, but Zoe couldn’t help thinking that if she got tangled up with him, she’d end up brokenhearted like she had with Randy.

Her heart and her head at odds again, she chose practicality over hormones.

For now.

Chapter Sixteen

After work that evening, Adriene and Elizabeth asked to stop at the grocery store for pasta fixings. They wanted to try a new recipe Iri suggested. Her brain sweating, Zoe pulled into the lot and dropped the three of them at the door.

Damn, the sun had really sucked the energy out of her today.

Once she parked, she unrolled the windows and turned off the engine. Watery beads dripped down the back of her neck. She gathered her long ponytail and lifted it, hoping to catch a cool cross breeze. No luck.

She kicked off her sandals, rested against the door, and propped her feet on the dashboard.

This weather had her worried. She’d seen a lot more whales with sunburns this season than ever before, and the migratory data was especially disturbing. If temperatures continued to rise, it could have a serious impact on the krill and schooling fish populations off Antarctica. Plankton needed cold water in summer to thrive. And since they were at the bottom of the food chain, everything else—whales included—depended on that cold water too.

“Well, if it isn’t the mistress of mayhem,” someone said outside the window.

Zoe straightened and dropped her feet to the floorboard. She glanced at the bald, tattooed guy standing between her car and the one next to it.

His lascivious grin tripped defensive instincts. She quickly surveyed the parking lot for anyone nearby. Not a soul in sight.

Where was her phone?

“Uh, I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.” She’d never seen the man before. Definitely would have remembered the skeletal designs decorating his head, the cunning, black eyes, and jagged scar on his leathery face.

He leaned in, close enough to kiss her.

She jerked away. “Whoa, there, mister.”

Resting his elbows on the window grooves, he stretched his wolfish grin wider, revealing two rows of crooked, yellow teeth. His gaze melted down her chest to the crux between her legs. He licked his lips.

Her heart pumped twice its normal speed. Zoe tried to turn the key she’d left in the ignition, but he grabbed her by the hair, exposed her throat, and snatched the key ring with clawed fingers. He tossed it to the pavement.

Oh, God.

“Where the fuck you think you’re going? I wanna talk to you, bitch.”

“Get your hands off me, asshole.” With her neck stretched back and skull pushed against the headrest, she dropped her voice to the most threatening tone she could muster.

He snickered and shoved her head to the side. “Now that’s more like it, darl.”

Bile climbed Zoe’s throat. She was going to throw up.

“I told you, you have the wrong person.” If she could get out of the car and scream, maybe someone would hear her. It was seven o’clock, and there were fifteen or so cars in the lot. Someone
had
to come out of the store sooner or later. Hands trembling, she scampered across the seat to the passenger side.

He slammed the door lock button with a dirty palm. His bitter laugh chilled her. “No, I never met anyone more right. All that fucking and sucking you did to me and my mates. Mmm, mmm good, that was. We’re keen for another go. Especially after that
job
we did for you.”

Chest heaving and heart screaming, Zoe tore through a mental inventory of what she could use for a weapon in the car. What little she had was in the trunk.

Jesus Christ, she couldn’t think straight. What should she do?

He’d locked her in. She couldn’t roll up the windows or drive away. Between her dyslexia and the panic attack about to hit, she wouldn’t even be able to read her phone’s contact list, let alone get a phone call off. What was the Australian emergency number?

“Get away from me!” she shrieked.

He stepped back from the car, hands raised. With a quick glance around, he said, “Calm down. We wouldn’t want anyone calling the police. I was just having a bit of fun. You didn’t seem to mind it the other night.”

“Zoe?” Adriene’s faraway voice reached her, and Zoe almost burst into tears with relief.

The bald guy turned around, scowled, and took off running. Elizabeth and Iri stampeded through the parking lot, Adriene hobbling behind them on her crutches. Iri changed direction and went after the creep. Elizabeth rushed up and dropped the grocery bags on the pavement.

The weight pounding Zoe’s gut eased. She expelled a heavy breath, unlocked the door, and got out.

Elizabeth’s eyes peeled wide. “Oh, my God, what happened? Are you okay? Who was that guy?”

Dazed, Zoe nodded. “I’m fine.” She was
not
fine.

Adriene half-hopped, half-ran up. She tossed the crutches to the ground, and threw her arms around Zoe’s shaking shoulders. “Did he hurt you?”

“No,” she mumbled into Adriene’s neck. “It’s okay. He just scared me.”

Adriene pulled back, but kept her hands on Zoe’s upper arms. “Tell me what happened.”

“Honestly, I don’t have a clue what his problem was. He came up and acted like he knew me. Then he grabbed me by the hair and shoved me. I’ve never seen him before.” She felt dizzy. She leaned against the Land Rover for support.

“That fucking bastard.” Adriene’s nostrils flared.

“What did he say?” Elizabeth asked.

“Terrible, sexual things. I couldn’t tell if he was messing with me or if it was truly a case of mistaken identity. Either way, he needs his ass beaten.”

She peered around Adriene and Elizabeth. Two male figures stood fifty or so yards away under the store awning. With one hand twisting the bald guy’s arms behind his back, Iri spoke into a cell phone. The stranger didn’t try to break away or even move. Just stood there, staring off into space. How the hell had Iri calmed him down so fast?

“I hope he’s talking to the police.” Zoe flattened her expression and started across the blacktop.

When she reached the two men, Iri cast an appraising glance over her. Once he seemed satisfied she was all right, he said, “The police are on their way.”

She nodded. “Thank you, Iri. I owe you big time.”

He inclined his head and tightened his grip on the man, who flinched. “You have something you wish to say?”

“Sorry. Thought you were someone else.” Her attacker’s vacant black eyes lifted to the darkening sky.

“That was a hell of a mistake.” She folded her trembling arms across her chest. “What were you planning to do? Rape me? Kill me?”

He didn’t look at her.

“People like you should be carted off, stuffed in metal boxes, and left without water in the outback. Pig.”

When he still wouldn’t respond, she shoved him. She couldn’t help it. With all the adrenaline pumping through her blood, she had to let off some steam.

Iri straightened the man’s loose body with another twist to the arms. At least he got a gasp out of the guy. The apathy and total lack of remorse sickened her.

Swirling blue lights spun from the nearest side street, and a police car entered the lot. The officer parked and approached them with a hand resting on the butt of the gun at his hip.

After Zoe relayed the events, the policeman put the guy in the back of his patrol car and ran the driver’s license through the computer. Iri said nothing while they waited. Elizabeth parked the Land Rover in the nearest available space, and she and Adriene joined them outside.

About ten minutes later, the officer returned. “Looks like this bloke is a suspect in a murder investigation. He may be involved in some thefts as well. You did the right thing by calling, miss.”

Murder?

Zoe faced the police car and met the bald guy’s hard gaze through the window. The corners of his lips lifted in a smug grin. Alternating heat and chills raced up and down Zoe’s back.

“You’re going to arrest him, right?” she said.

“Absolutely.” The officer tapped his notepad with his pen. “I have your statement, but we may need you to come to the station to answer more questions.”

She narrowed her eyes on the murderer. “I’d be happy to.”

They exchanged contact information, and Zoe returned to the car. On the way home, her nerves settled a bit. Her brain thinking more clearly, she replayed the attack in her head, hoping she might recall more information she could share with the police.

When she got to the part where the guy talked about sucking and fucking his mates, her blood chilled.

His mates.

There were more of them.

Chapter Seventeen

Once everyone settled in for the night at the research house, Zoe closed the door to her room and sat on the bed, cell phone clutched tight in her hand. After the altercation at the grocery store, she conceded it was time to talk to Gavin.

Zoe carefully entered the numbers from the card that had come with the flowers and hit the ‘call’ button. It rang several times without an answer. As she pulled the phone away from her ear to hang up, the line burst to life. The chaotic crackle of background noise and a howl filled the speaker.

“Who are you, and how did you get my number?” a dark voice growled. It was him. Female laughter rose up.

Crap.

“I’m sorry, wrong number.” She ended the call and shook her head.

Stupid, stupid, stupid
. Staring at the phone like it was covered in poison, she rubbed her forehead. What did she expect? Of course he was out partying. That’s what musicians did. Probably surrounded by gorgeous women just like he’d been backstage in Brisbane. Maybe he’d already picked out one or two to take home tonight.