A Thousand Kisses Deep (9 page)

Pushing the crazy thought out of her head, she said, "The data in Simon's computer outlined the past twenty years of Onyxx. It listed agent requirements, and even went through the early years when only recruited military men qualified for the elite force. It profiled over fifty agents. At the present, as you know, things are different than they were in the early years. Agents no longer need to come from military backgrounds. The only requirement is that they are single. The rat fighters are civilian rebels who possess extraordinary survival skills. How am I doing?"

"Keep going."

Eva chose her next words carefully. "There was a section dedicated to the Chameleon, with a list of his triumphs over Onyxx. It seems he has become the ambassador for international criminals looking for full-time employment."

"Does the file confirm who he is?"

"I'm coming to that. When I hacked into Simon's computer and found the file things started coming back to me. Things I'd forgotten."

"Important things?"

"Only time will tell. The memory of the suckers put me on Adolf Merrick's trail and then one day a few weeks ago, after learning how to contact him, I gave him a call. And the rest, as they say, is history."

"Not quite. What happened when you called him? Relay the conversation so I know you're telling me the truth."

Eva frowned. "All right. I explained to him who I was."

"And?"

"And he didn't believe me."

"Why would he?"

"Exactly. He said Eva Creon was dead. It was the first I'd heard that. I thought about it, considered all that had happened, how I was living. Had been living before I went to live with Simon. The world believed I had died with my mother."

"But you were able to convince
Merrick
otherwise."

"The suckers could hardly be refuted. Only three people knew about them. Merrick, my father and me. Well, my mother, too, but she's truly dead. I saw the flames take her. After I reminded
Merrick
of the suckers, I told him why I was calling. That I wanted to read my father's file."

"And did you tell him why?"

"You know I didn't."

"He told you the file was confidential, right?"

"It was understandable for him to be wary of Paavo Creon's daughter, I suppose."

"You'd risen from the dead."

"Yes, I suppose it looked that way. And how could he trust a woman rumored to be the Chameleon's daughter?"

"Exactly."

"The data Simon had on Onyxx suggested that my father and the Chameleon were one and the same. I got the feeling that none of what I told
Merrick
on the phone was news, except my resurrection from the grave."

Eva waited for a reaction from Sly McEwen, but his stoic good looks never cracked, and his blue eyes never blinked. She supposed he hadn't survived his tour as one of
Merrick
's elite by giving away what he was thinking, or what his next move would be.

But then she hadn't survived four years playing games with Simon for amusement's sake, either.

She said, "He's mastered the game, you know."

"Who has?"

"The Chameleon."

"What game is that?"

"Survival, of course. Can you imagine what kind of scandal the news media could create if the world learned that a government agent had gone rogue and was now the richest criminal in the country? It's been fourteen years, and Onyxx can't stop him."

"Should he be stopped, do you think?"

Eva didn't answer.

"Is your father, Paavo, the Chameleon?"

She shrugged. "What do you think?"

"I think, yes. What changed
Merrick
's mind about giving you the file?"

"I gave him the location of one of the Chameleon's compounds."

This time Eva got a reaction. Sly McEwen's blue eyes narrowed, the muscles in his arms bunched, and his big hands formed fists.

"You're
Merrick
's informant?"

"Is that what he's calling me?" For some unexplained reason Eva was pleased, and she smiled.

"You're the reason we were sent to Castle Rock?"

"Yes."

"You're the one who fed
Merrick
the bullshit story?"

"It wasn't bullshit."

"The Chameleon wasn't there."

"I never said he was going to be there. I said the compound was his. And it is. And I imagine that's what you reported back to
Merrick
, and when he called me afterward, besides being angry, he was also ready to take me more seriously than he had days earlier."

He came to his feet, his height and shoulder breadth doubling his intimidation. "Serious enough to strike a bargain?"

"Yes."

"The file for more bullshit?"

"The file for the Chameleon's location on a certain date."

"And he fell for that? He believed that you would hand over your own father?"

"Offering the location is no guarantee that you'll be able to catch the Chameleon."

"Not too loyal of you, either way."

"This coming from a man who shot and killed his father, then spent twelve years in prison paying for it."

"Stepfather."

"Give me the file, and in return, I'll give you a date and location. You'll get an opportunity to identify the Chameleon, and maybe even get close enough to catch him."

Suddenly Eva didn't like the way he was looking at her. As if she were some worthless barnacle clinging to a cave rock.

"What's wrong?"

"You set
Merrick
up to set me and my team up."

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it. But everything worked out. Adolf Merrick now believes me, and you have a chance to become a hero. And I get…" Eva paused. "I get to remember what I've forgotten. The last missing puzzle pieces," she whispered to herself.

She didn't intend to detail what those puzzle pieces were. This man would never understand, or believe her if she tried to explain it. She could hardly believe what she'd begun to remember herself. Maybe Simon's madness had finally rubbed off on her. Either way she was in too deep to turn back now.

Her words didn't seem to appease him. In fact they seemed to add fuel to a smoldering fire that had started to burn in his eyes from the moment she had mentioned she was
Merrick
's informant. She saw his fists open, then close again. Saw his jaw clench tight.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because your bullshit game killed Sully Paxton, you little bitch. He never made it back to D.C. And Jacy Madox may never walk again."

Eva blinked. She didn't know. Adolf Merrick hadn't mentioned any casualties. In defense of her actions, she said, "You're supposed to be the best special ops fighters at Onyxx. You're the rat fighters."

"So it's our fault we got set up and shot to shit."

Eva winced at his tone. She felt awful. No, she felt worse than that. She also felt cornered. "Yes. I mean, no. But…"

He curled his hand around the handle of the knife sheathed high on his thigh and started to advance on her. Eva backed up. "What are you going to do, kill me?"

"Something like that."

"I have a deal with
Merrick
. You need me alive."

"The game of the hour, Eva Creon, is run like hell." He motioned to the water. "Get going."

She inched toward the edge of the rocks. Another few steps and she'd be forced into the water. "Wait!"

"I'm giving you at least a chance. You've got a minute head start. Move!"

Chapter 7

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U
ntil now Sly had been sympathetic to Eva's situation. How could he help it, after listening to the tapes? She'd been living in hell. Still, this minute he wanted to strangle her. Sully was dead and Jacy's future would likely consist of him viewing the
Montana
mountains from a wheelchair off the front porch of his cabin.

That one very poignant fact leaped to the forefront of everything else as Sly watched Eva dive into the water. He waited a full minute, breathing fire, and keeping his eyes on his watch. When the minute ran out, he pulled his goggles over his eyes and dived off the rock.

Like a shark on the hunt, he headed straight for the passage that led to the open sea. She had exited the sump and was trying her damnedest to reach the surface when he saw her. He pulled harder with his arms, kicked faster with his legs, and easily gained on her. A few more kicks and he reached out, locked his hand around her ankle, and gave a hard jerk backward like he'd done before. Her momentum lagged, and with one quick calculated move, he was beside her, encircling her waist.

She tried to twist free as he headed in another direction, thrashing and clawing at his arm. Her fight was impressive, but futile. Sly had no intention of letting her go. His entire reason for giving her a head start out of the cave was simply to prove to her that he was superior in strength and speed.

He knew approximately how long she could stay underwater. He'd observed her earlier while she'd explored the shoals surrounding the skerry.

He'd enjoyed watching her. She was as graceful as a mermaid. A competent diver. She could actually hold her breath for a long three minutes below the surface. But he could do better—another gift LeRoy had given him back in the day when his stepfather's psychotic boredom had extended to playing a game LeRoy liked to call, "How bad do you want to live, you little shit?"

The game required a bathtub full of water, Sly scared speechless, and LeRoy's black disposition magnified by several empty bottles of whiskey.

Sly scissor-kicked his powerful legs as he swam toward another cave passage. When she saw where they were headed, that he intended to enter another sump, she renewed her efforts to free herself.

Her lungs couldn't be stinging already, he thought. They would eventually, then the stinging would become a slow burn, before they turned hot like someone had lit them on fire with a match. That's when you knew you were in trouble.

No, Eva wasn't there, yet.

Eva stopped fighting halfway through the cave passage. What was the point? It was too late now. Sly McEwen had proven to be stronger than she was, and unless he had a tank of air stashed somewhere around the next turn she wasn't going to last another minute.

She had been in a number of sea caves in the past four years, but it hadn't been until last year that she had attempted any of them on her own, and never this one. Nemo had labeled this sump the death channel for a reason. He had explained that it was twice as long as any of the others and required air tanks to successfully reach the cave on the other end.

She forced herself to relax, trying to conserve the last of her air. Why, she didn't know. She was going to die either way. She felt a wave of dizziness take her, then a burning sensation in her lungs.

Death by drowning…

She had never imagined that was how she would die. There were times when she had thought Simon would kill her by mistake. That he would take one of his games too far. Once she'd imagined being forgotten in the clothes chute. But never had she imagined that she would die surrounded by so much beauty.

She closed her eyes, let her body go limp. In that second she felt Sly McEwen's arm loosen around her waist. Their momentum slowed, then stop completely. She blinked open her eyes, tried to focus on the small lights surrounding his water mask. His hand palmed the back of her head. Then he brought her close, covered her mouth with his and began sharing his air.

The reality of what he was doing didn't register at first, but when she realized what he was offering, she greedily accepted the air and chose life over death. Within seconds she was lucid again, the burning in her lungs subsiding enough to allow her mobility.

When she was in command of her senses, he was moving again, taking her with him once more as his legs propelled them farther into the deep.

His power underwater was incredible, and unbelievable. He swam through the channel with the speed of an eel now. With renewed hope, Eva began to kick her legs and become a helpmate instead of a burden.

Several seconds later the passage opened up and Sly McEwen started kicking his way to the surface, powering them upward until they broke out of the water like they'd been shot out of a cannon.

Eva gasped and began to cough as he swam with her in tow until her feet touched bottom. He quickly picked her up then and carried her to a narrow strip of sandy shore, depositing her there without saying a word.

Too exhausted to move, she lay there as he walked away from her. His breathing was a little irregular, but that was all. She studied his broad muscular back, then his sculptured ass and long legs in his water tights. She had known he was strong, but the word somehow seemed inadequate at the moment. After giving her his air, he should be as weak as she was. Shouldn't he be?

He shook his head and shed the water that clung to him. Staring out over the water, he said, "Sully was a good agent. More than that—" he turned to face her, his jaw set, and his blue eyes drilling her with disgust "—he was a good man and my friend."

Eva looked away, sick inside, and angry that he could so easily shame her into feeling guilty. He didn't know her. Didn't know how she'd been living. What she'd endured. He had no right to judge her.

She'd never given any thought to anyone dying when she'd offered Adolf Merrick the location of Castle Rock. She only wanted him to reconsider giving her a copy of her father's file.

Her lungs still hurting from the long swim through the sump, she said, "I'm sorry about your friend."

"It falls short. If you were a man, I would have killed you down there."

Unable to stand the contempt in his eyes, she glanced past him, noting that this cave was larger than the others, less rocky, and not as dark. The sandy beach was spare but comforting in a way she hadn't imagined it would be. She supposed coming so close to dying was affecting her thinking. How could she feel any amount of comfort here with a man who wanted her dead?

Across from where she lay were outcroppings of vertical rocks. She looked up and found the source of light—a fissure in the rock some thirty feet up allowed a slice of sky to peer through.

"Simon's guards will be looking for me if I don't surface soon."

"Let them look. They won't find you here."

"They might."

"Only if they're carrying air tanks on board. They're not."

The comment was spoken with confidence. He must have found a way to inventory the guard's boat before they had left Lesvago to follow her. The thought reminded her of how he'd left her room in disarray.

"Did you find anything of interest in my room this morning?"

"I found the coffee too sweet, and the bed too soft." He glanced around, then up to the fissure. "If you're thinking of running, there's your escape route." He brought his eyes back to her. "Unless you were faking it down there and you really can hold your breath four and a half minutes."

Four and a half minutes…

Was that how long they had been underwater?

The memory of what had transpired between them down there had her searching out his lips. He'd shared his air with her and it was the only reason she was alive. His lips parted, the smile that followed cold and smug, telling her he had locked into her thoughts.

"So is the Chameleon's daughter a chip off the old block, Eva? Are you a player in his world, or do you have your own agenda? What are you looking for in that file?"

She definitely had her own agenda. But she was done sharing information with him for the moment. She studied the man
Merrick
had sent to her. He had squatted down to lean his back against a sizable rock. There was a raw-looking scar on his shoulder. It was fairly recent. Had he gotten the injury while at Castle Rock?

She looked past him to the water, contemplating what it would take to escape.

"Four and a half minutes," he reminded, answering her silent question. "You don't have it in you."

"So now what?"

"Now you convince me that bringing you out of here alive is worth my trouble."

There would be no convincing this man of anything if he didn't want to be convinced. Eva shook off the thought, as well as the first signs of a nasty migraine knocking at the base of her skull. Not now, she thought. She couldn't think clearly when her head was splitting in two. Correction, she couldn't think at all. H
er
migraines were of the debilitating kind. She would
be
at his mercy, and it was obvious Sly McEwen didn't know the meaning of the word.

Before she
lost her faculties and became a slug in the sand, she said, "I'm worth keeping alive. I'm your link to the Chameleon. I know where he's going to
be
in a few days," she lied. "I get the file and you get the location. It's a simple deal."

"How do I know this isn't another trick? That you're not going to double-cross me like you did
Merrick
?"

"Castle Rock is owned by the Chameleon. I told you why I gave
Merrick
that information."

"Maybe this entire game has been orchestrated by you and your father. In the past he's targeted Onyxx agents. Maybe this is his way of weeding out the rat fighters."

Her headache was on the move. Eva pressed her fingers to her temples as if that would, or could, delay the inevitable.

"Another one of your famous headaches?" The ache inside her head was making her feel nauseated. Making it hard to speak. "Need a pill?"

If only she had one, she thought.

She rolled to her side and drew up her legs as she watched him shove to his feet and stalk toward her. She felt dizzy and she knew the color had left her cheeks. She closed her eyes, wanting to cry, refusing to give in to the weakness.

He crouched beside her and studied her face.

"Where are they?"

She blinked open her eyes. "Where are what?"

"The pills?"

"In a waterproof pack onboard the skiff."

"Poor place for them to be, don't you think?"

She tried to sit up, but he shoved her back down and pulled his knife from his sheath. For a moment she thought he intended to kill her. Instead he drove the blade into the sand beside her and took her hand and curled it around the handle. "I spied some sea snakes down there. That's in case one decides to pay you a visit. I'll be back as soon as I can."

He started to get up. Eva let go of the knife and grabbed his arm. "You can't leave me. What if—"

"What if I don't come back? Then I guess you'll become a bone pile, won't you? Or you could use the knife."

"Closer," she whispered, afraid of him, yet so very desperate.

He leaned over her so his face was mere inches from hers. She could feel his breath on her cheek. Still smell the distinct scent of bay rum.

"
Merrick
's men are supposed to be loyal. Are you?"

"I extend my loyalty to a damn short list of people, Evy. Your name isn't on that list."

Evy…
An odd sensation came over her and she smiled feeling close to the name for some odd reason. "You have a nice face."

"You have nice legs, and a memorable ass."

"You're going to leave me here, aren't you?"

"Tell me something to make me want to come back."

Her head was pounding fiercely. She closed her eyes and tried to think of something that would ensure his return. She could tell him about the party. She could tell him that the Chameleon would be there. The location wasn't an option because she still didn't know where it was going to be held, but…