Lisa’s eyes glimmered with excitement when Rafe looked up. She smiled around her mouthpiece, hooked one arm over his shoulder and spun him in the water.
His arms came around her waist as her body pressed against his. As much as he wanted to celebrate with her, he wanted out of this darn cave more. He pointed up, and she nodded. She stowed the relief in her pack, and he waited so she could take the lead. They swam quickly toward the surface, using the guideline to propel them.
Relief swept through Rafe. In a matter of minutes they’d be free. Out of this cave and on the verge of a future he was looking forward to starting. For the first time in as long as he could remember, thoughts of next week, next month, next year didn’t leave a pit in the bottom of his stomach. And it was all because of Lisa.
He breathed deeply, thinking about what came next. He’d been keeping Magaera’s location a secret, but now there was no reason not to tell her. He knew she’d be shocked when she found out he already had it locked up safe and sound with Alecto.
Lisa hit the surface a good minute before him. He could see her feet dangling in the water, then disappear, as she hauled herself and her gear up onto the rocks. A smile pulled at his mouth as he swam up. When they got back to the boat he was going to break open that bottle of champagne he’d been saving for this moment, lock her in the
stateroom and tell her about Magaera. Together they’d have to decide what to do with the Furies, but he was confident they’d work it out.
Then he was going to tell her he loved her and make sure she believed him. He’d be stupid to let her get away from him now that their business partnership was nearing an end.
He broke the surface. Excitement and anticipation coursed through his veins as he yanked off his mask.
Lisa’s stark white face stopped him cold.
Strong hands gripped Lisa at the shoulders and hauled her out of the water.
She gasped as the regulator was wrenched from her mouth and managed one shrill scream when she realized it wasn’t Shane tugging her up. The man with the death grip on her arms was buff and bronze and no one she’d ever met before.
“Welcome back, Dr. Maxwell.”
She jerked around at the female voice. Confusion swamped her as she was dropped on the flat rocks and drew air into her lungs. Her tanks were jerked from her back by the silent man behind her. Looking up, Lisa tried to get her bearings. Recognition flickered through her hazy vision. “Who…? I know you.”
The blonde woman knelt at her side. Her eyes were a chilling blue, as blue as the inside of an iceberg. “I’m sure you do.”
Where had she seen this woman before? Lisa knew her from somewhere recent. She sorted through her mental files, looking for the connection she knew was there.
Then it hit her. “Landau’s gallery.”
A feral grin slinked across the blonde’s face. “There and elsewhere. I thought for sure you’d recognize me when you came into the gallery. Imagine my surprise when you looked right through me as if I weren’t even there. We see what we want to see, isn’t that true? We believe what we
want to believe. Ironic, isn’t it?” She tipped her head. “Come on, Dr. Maxwell. You remember me. Think hard.”
She drew out the last word, one long syllable that echoed through Lisa’s mind. A memory flashed. Another blonde. A lifetime ago. One who’d been young, and cold, but with the same ice-blue eyes and the same Italian accent.
I don’t care how hard his death has been on you. You’re not getting into this memorial service.
Lisa’s breath caught. “You’re Doug’s sister.”
Christy Swanson pushed to stand. “Bingo. He always said you were smart.” She shrugged. “Half sister, really. We have different fathers and grew up on two different sides of the world, but we’ve always been very close. But then you know that, don’t you?”
“You…you’re the one who’s been following us?”
“I’m not the only one who wants the Furies. Just the first one to catch up with you.” She looked toward the pool. “Ah, nice of you to join us, Mr. Sullivan. Teddy will take care of your tanks.”
Lisa couldn’t take her eyes off Christy, but she heard the slosh of water, the clang of metal as Rafe was helped from the pool. She felt the tension radiating from him just behind her. “How long have you been following me?”
The gun in Christy’s hand glimmered in the sunlight slanting from the opening above. “A long time. It was clever of you to steal Doug’s research like that. He didn’t see it coming. He really thought you loved him. That you’d wait.” She reached for the pack Teddy the muscleman had taken from Lisa. “He had no idea your only loyalty was to the Furies.”
Something in Lisa’s stomach tightened. “You…Wait. You said you didn’t know who I was that day.”
Christy pulled Tisiphone from Lisa’s pack and grinned, a slow and menacing smile that screamed of victory. “I didn’t. I thought you were just another of his sappy students. He had such a reputation with the young girls, you know.”
Lisa refused to let Christy’s comments distract her. “Then how—?”
“How?” Christy’s brow lifted. “Fitting you ask that now, Dr. Maxwell. You didn’t once think to question it, did you? They never found his body. Didn’t that strike you as odd? That there were witnesses to the crash, people who saw his plane go down, but that there was no physical record of his death?”
She didn’t wait for an answer. Her voice turned hard and cold. “I did. I spent months looking for him, for some kind of answer. Because he was the only family I had left, and I had to know. And do you know what I found? Guess, Dr. Maxwell. Take one good guess.”
“I—”
“I found a man who spent six months in a Caribbean hospital with burns covering 80 percent of his body, and legs that didn’t work anymore. A man who’d finally figured out the greatest treasure was the woman he’d left behind.”
Lisa’s eyes grew wide with disbelief.
“Imagine his agony when he learned that woman—that manipulative wench—had gone on with her life like he’d never even existed,” Christy said. “That she’d stolen his research and killed his baby even before he’d awoken from his coma. That she’d only been with him because of the Furies.”
Bile welled in Lisa’s stomach. “No,” she whispered. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Doug was alive? All this time? “No. That’s not what happened. It—”
“Lisa—”
Shane?
His weak and muffled voice drifted to her from somewhere at her back, but she couldn’t turn to look. She couldn’t find the strength to move a single muscle. Memories swept over her, emotions she’d buried long ago.
“Don’t lie to me!” Christy shouted. “Did you think you could steal from us and we wouldn’t ever know? That we wouldn’t figure it out?” She shook her head. “Oh, you were good, playing the devoted girlfriend, the innocent mother-to-be,
and all the while you were planning your deception, like the conniving bitch you really are.”
An emotion other than shock finally coursed through Lisa. She pushed quickly to her feet. “How dare you. You don’t know anything about me.”
Christy rammed the butt of her gun into Lisa’s cheek, knocking her backward into Rafe.
The coppery tang of blood filled Lisa’s mouth. Rafe’s muscles went rigid against her back.
“Remember who you’re talking to!” Christy yelled, waving the gun. “I know everything about you.”
Controlled fury pumped from Rafe’s body, but he didn’t speak. Lisa shifted out of his arms, refused to wipe her bleeding cheek and forced her gaze back to the madwoman in front of her.
The gun in Christy’s hand shook. She took two deep breaths, struggling for calm, then let out a long deep breath as if to force herself to relax. “It looks like we won’t be doing business after all, Mr. Sullivan.”
Metal clanged as Teddy fiddled with the tanks behind them.
Christy’s grin turned smug when she looked back at Lisa. “Don’t tell me he left that part out.” She snapped the fingers of her free hand. “Probably forgot because he was too busy fucking you.” She moved the gun between her hands, ran her palm down her hip. “We made a deal. Well, Doug made a deal with Mr. Sullivan and his business partner. They were going to sell us the Furies when they had all three pieces. I was really looking forward to that moment. Doug was really looking forward to that moment.” Pain reflected in her eyes, and her voice dropped. “But things change. I know he would have wanted to be here.”
Would have? Lisa wanted to ask just what had changed but couldn’t find the words.
“That’s only one.” Rafe finally spoke, his voice hard and edgy. “You still don’t have the others.”
“Not yet. But I will. Maria will get them for me. She’s been
quite chummy with Mr. Kauffman.” Disgust ran across her face. “Men are so stupid. They’ll do anything for a piece of ass.”
The bodyguard moved back to Christy’s side and spoke for the first time. “They won’t be diving anymore.”
Christy eyes remained trained on Lisa. “Good. I’d hate to think she’ll get resourceful and find her way out of here.”
Reality swept over Lisa. The psycho woman was going to leave them down here to die. “You won,” she said, hoping Christy would see they weren’t a threat. “You have what you want.”
Christy shook her head slowly. “What I want is for you to suffer. The way Doug suffered. The way
I’ve
suffered all these years taking care of him. You don’t have any idea what it was like for him. For us. For me. If anyone deserves the Furies, it’s me.”
Teddy moved toward the ropes and slipped on the harness.
Christy pointed the gun over Lisa’s shoulder at Rafe. “The only thing I want is for you to suffer the way someone suffers when they’ve lost everything.”
“Ms. Swanson,” Teddy cut in, sounding nervous.
She ignored his warning. “Who means more to you, Lisa? Your lying thief of a lover or your useless brother? Choose.”
Fear squeezed Lisa’s chest. She tried to push forward, but Rafe gripped her by the arm and wouldn’t let go.
“No?” Christy asked. “Fine. I’ll choose for you. Doug never liked him much anyway.” She jerked the gun sideways and fired.
Shane grunted and tried to roll out of the way. The shot echoed through the cave.
Lisa jerked out of Rafe’s grip and stumbled toward the cave wall. “Shane!”
“That ought to keep you busy for a while,” Swanson said in a chilly voice.
She swung the gun back toward Rafe. A wicked grin moved across her face. “She has no loyalty, you know. She’ll fuck anything that moves. Better you know now.” She stepped back toward the ropes. “You got me, Teddy?” she called up.
Her bodyguard was poised on the ledge above, the gun in his hand aimed down at Rafe. “Yes. Go ahead.”
Swanson tucked the firearm into the waistband of her cargo pants. She slung the pack over her shoulder and snapped on the harness, then glanced at Rafe. “Don’t worry about your pretty wife, either. We’ll take care of her.”
It was all Rafe could do not to lunge forward and pound the woman’s face into the rocks. The only thing that stopped him was the hired thug above with the nine-millimeter pointed at his chest. He wouldn’t be any help to Lisa or Shane dead. And they’d need him if they were going to get out of this.
More agile than she looked, Swanson used the rope to
maneuver up the slick walls to the top of the cavern, then disappeared over the edge. Scraping echoed from above just before darkness spilled over the cave as the opening was covered.
Rafe grappled for the helmet he’d dropped at his feet and flipped on his light. A steady beam filled the space, casting shadows across the rock walls. Lisa was bent over Shane, staring at her blood-covered hands.
Shane groaned and tried to roll to his side. Blood soaked through his T-shirt near his right shoulder.
Rafe pushed Lisa out of the way and checked Shane’s injury. On his knees, he pressed the palms of both hands against the wound to slow the flow. “Hold on.”
Lisa hadn’t moved from where he’d pushed her back.
“There’s a first-aid kit in my pack over there, Lisa. Get it. Quick.”
She still didn’t move.
He looked up sharply. Her eyes were wide, staring at Shane and the blood oozing between Rafe’s fingers.
“Lisa,” he said firmer. “Goddammit. Get me the first-aid kit.”
She blinked twice and looked at him like she didn’t have a clue who he was. Finally, she moved as if she were operating in slow motion.
Shane coughed and winced as Rafe applied more pressure.
“You still with me, Shane?”
“Yeah. Shit. That burns.”
With one hand on the wound, Rafe reached for the open first-aid kit Lisa held out. He propped it on the rocks near his knees, grabbed the bundle of gauze and packed it against the wound. “Gonna burn a little more. Lisa.” He looked up. “Take off your wet suit.”
She didn’t argue, which told him how out of it she really was. The zipper rasped as she slid it down and pulled the garment from her body. With one hand, Rafe took it from her. “Come here. I need you to put both hands here.” He
took her arms and placed her hands over Shane’s wound. Blood soaked through the gauze.
“I…” Her face paled.
“Don’t let up on the pressure, okay?” He moved his hands to both sides of Shane’s shoulders. “I need to get this under you. On the count of three, okay?”
Shane nodded.
Rafe helped him sit up, checked the back of Shane’s shoulder for an exit wound and slid Lisa’s wet suit underneath him. Then he unzipped his own suit and ripped off his T-shirt.
Blood pooled around Lisa’s fingers. She looked down and paled further. “Oh, God. I think I’m going to be sick.”
Wonderful. That was all he needed. Rafe pushed her hands out of the way and pressed down on the wound again, freeing her. “Gimme your T-shirt first.”
She slowly peeled the cotton from her body leaving her in the black bikini she’d worn beneath her suit. He was pretty sure her face turned green before she scrambled to the corner of the dark cave.
Shane coughed. “My tough-girl sister.”
Rafe tried to ignore the sounds of heaving from the recesses of the room. She wasn’t sick simply because of what had happened to Shane. She was still in shock from the news that Stone was alive.