Adrenaline (10 page)

“You’ll be back on the street … indefinitely,” Jammer had told her, as if he were proud to know how to use the word. “First the train station, now your boyfriend cuts me. You’re lucky I’m not killing you.”

The way she saw it, he
was
killing her, one day at a time.

Either she got off the streets and out of Boston, or Raul would get to her. She turned away from the mirror, keeping her eye on the street for Strike or Lee. Because men like Raul don’t forgive and forget.

The shadows were growing long on the Common when she saw her White Knight. And saw that he had seen her. He was jogging—running, actually. Moving faster than she was used to seeing someone out for exercise. She looked to see if he was being chased, and quickly searched the street to see if Jammer was nearby.

Safe on both counts.

She looked back at her White Knight, and their eyes locked. Carly raised her hand and said, “Hey.”

Suddenly, she was dreadfully afraid that he would turn his head and just keep running—and for a moment, it seemed as if he was going to do just that.

But he didn’t. He veered direction and crossed the street. She couldn’t help but grin, watching him now. He flew!

“Hey, yourself,” he said, stopping. He bent deeply, stretching as he regained his breath. Sweat poured off him.

She touched the back of his head. “Yuck.”

He straightened up, and she let her hand fall along his cheek and then his chest. His heart was pounding furiously.

“You always run so hard?” she asked.

“I’ve had sort of a tough day. Working out hard clears my head.”

She ran her fingers down his side. He was in wonderful shape. Muscular, but not a weight lifting freak. She was startled to find the stirring of physical interest in herself. How long has
that
been, she thought, amused.

He didn’t stop her, but she didn’t read any encouragement either. He said, “What are you doing back here? I thought I cut you free.”

“Jammer got me at the bus station.” She looked up and down the street again. “In fact, let’s get off the street.”

He shrugged and followed her into the alley alongside the bar. She flushed, embarrassed. He probably thought she had done tricks there, which she hadn’t. And indeed, when she turned to face him, he was already looking at his watch and looking back at the entrance of the alleyway. “I’m not looking for anything,” he said.

“I’ve been looking for
you.”

“Why?”

“To say thanks, first of all. I don’t know why you did what you did, but it meant a lot to see somebody kick Jammer’s ass. He’s still wearing the bandage on his head.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been a little out of control lately.” He looked upward, as if making fun of himself. She thought he was pleased, but he was hard to read.

She smiled. “Jammer wants his sword back.”

“Tell him life is full of disappointments.”

“Uh-huh.
I
know that, but he has a hard time hearing it.”

“Has he been beating you over what happened?”

“Like it’s his hobby,” she said, looking him in the eyes. She didn’t see much of a reaction, but she was happy he was still talking with her. Not that he seemed all there. He seemed interested and distracted at the same time, the way he would look away and then focus back on her.

“Can I ask you something?” she said.

“Sure.”

“Why did you do it?”

He laughed shortly. “Damned if I know. I’ve been getting myself into all kinds of trouble lately.”

“That’s all?”

He smiled at her coldly. “It wasn’t love at first sight, if that’s what you were thinking.”

She looked away, briefly, so he wouldn’t see the hurt on her face. She knew better than to expect anything, but it seemed like a part of her still did.

“I will say I was impressed the way you were taking him on,” he said. “Even when you knew you couldn’t win.”

That warmed her, and she told him simply, “I’ve just had enough.”

She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. He started to pull away, but then let her. She moved closer, pressing herself against him and whispered, “Take me to your place. I’ll do anything you want, won’t cost you anything.”

He pushed her back. “No.”

She was surprised the way the word kicked the breath out of her. She usually took rejection with nothing but relief, but this bugged her. She had really wanted to thank him, in the best way she knew how. “You like girls, don’t you?”

“Just fine. I just need to keep healthy. I’ve got a lot of things to do.”

“I’m clean! No drugs, no HIV. I was tested just last week. That’s why I need to break away now, while I still can.”

“Uh-huh.” He looked at her silently, and, instinctively, she shut up and waited.

“I don’t know that much about hookers,” he said, after a moment. “This whining about getting away—is this just a pipe dream all of you talk about for entertainment, or are you really trying to make it happen?”

She held back her immediate answer. She let her eyes rest on him until the count of five, and then said, quietly, “I will get out somehow. The question is whether or not I get out with most of my skin. Jammer has promised to ruin my face if I run again, and I believe he’ll do it.”

The guy paused, looked away, and then came back to her. “Well, if you want to thank me, there may be a way.”

She went silent. Her heart quickened but she settled back, looking at him closely. His distraction wasn’t so much nervousness because of the situation, being in an alleyway with a hooker. There was something else. No matter what he had said, she decided their meeting was not just a coincidence, or her keeping her eyes out for him.

He had come looking for her.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

He pulled her closer, and she could feel his breath on her cheek. She inhaled the scent of him, his sweat was clean. “I’m not sure exactly at this second,” he said. “I got sort of a setback in my career today, but I recover fast. And I’m going to be making some plans. I might need a friend who knows her way around Boston. Someone who can put me in touch with people who can get me things.”

“We working girls know a lot of people.” She smiled up at him. “It’s in the job description.”

“How about for passports?”

“Sure, I know somebody.”

“And guns?”

“Even easier.” She looked at him curiously. “What exactly do you do?”

“Until this morning, a corporate officer in a Fortune 500 company.”

“So you’re rich?”

“Not anymore. As of now, I’m probably Boston’s newest member of the street. The question is whether or not I stay. I could land a new job tomorrow, but I’m not sure I want that for myself anymore.”

“What is it you want?”

He shrugged. “I’ll start with paying a few people back for what they did to me. And I need to put my hands on some cash, a lot of it. From there I’m going to do some traveling. See the world without the kind of timetable I’ve been keeping. Carve out a life that’s more in keeping with who I am.” He laughed suddenly, and the smile lighting up his face made her soar right alongside him. “I feel a lot better than I should, under the circumstances.”

“Okay,” she said. Her mind was racing, and she was seeing at least one point where their needs met. “I think we can help each other. My name is Carly, by the way.”

He hesitated, then told her his.

“Geoff, let me ask you something.”

“What’s that?”

“Do you consider yourself a nice guy?”

He grinned. “No one has ever asked me that before. No, I’m not a nice guy. Not at all.”

“That’s good,” she said and meant it. Because she had come to firmly believe in the past two years that you only get what you deserve.

Diagonally across the street, from the back of an old van, Jammer put down the binoculars and touched his cousin’s shoulder. “Follow that guy,” he said. “I told you that bitch was up to something.”

Chapter 9

Alex knelt down in the cockpit, looking into the warm glow of the cabin. He said, “The tables are too close and the headwaiter looks sort of churlish. But the chef is radiant, and I have high hopes for the wine I brought.”

“Ah, you Boston boys talk so smart,” Lisa said, sweetening her southern accent by a few thousand calories. She stepped up on the ladder to kiss him. “Welcome aboard, Alex.”

Steve was right behind her, and he and Alex shook hands, both grinning hugely. Steve said, “Took you long enough to get down here. We’ve been in town coming on two months.”

“Just got here a few weeks ago myself. Going after that cabin cruiser I told you about.” He looked around the boat, taking in the new woodwork, the teal cushions, the gleaming cabin sole. “My god, this lady came back from the dead, didn’t she? Last time I saw her, you were shoveling mud and seaweed out of the bilge.”

Steve inclined his head to Lisa. “The yard did the bulk of the refit before we sailed her here. Lisa oversaw it all and has been doing all the finish work herself.”

“Boggles my mind how you got so lucky,” Alex said. His gaze stopped on the picture of Ray along with the two of them. He rubbed his chin, and said, quietly, “I have a copy of the same photo. Still gives me a jolt to see it here.”

Steve saw Alex’s eyes well up briefly, and he felt Ray’s absence himself, a tightness in the back of his throat. Alex had been their divemaster in the navy. Back then, he had been an old man in his early thirties. Now, there was more gray than black in his hair, and time and sun had deepened the wrinkles about his mouth and eyes. Still, his eyes were as bright and cheerful as ever, his handgrip as strong.

Lisa kissed each of them on the cheek. “The best part of moving to Boston is right here. Now, Alex, sit down, and tell us about the latest job.”

Alex opened the bottle of wine and told them about the cabin cruiser that had tangled with the tow cable of a string of barges in a deep fog. “Everybody got off. Damn lucky there. And me, I’ve got my line of credit, I’ve done enough dives to feel like I can bring her up and turn a few bucks. Hull isn’t bad at all—she’s a big Egg Harbor—looks like she rolled and sank before the barge came over her. I won’t actually start the salvage until next week. I’m still pulling my crew together.” He looked at Steve. “I need a first mate if you want a break from this high-priced life of yours. Try a little adventure for a change.”

Steve smiled wryly. “We’ve got all I can handle.”

“We never knew the corporate life was so dangerous,” Lisa said. She told Alex about Geoff.

Alex sat back, listening carefully. When she was finished, he said, “This guy sounds like a lunatic.”

“I thought he was going to murder me on the spot when I slapped him,” Lisa said. “But I guess he was afraid of Steve.”

“I don’t think he’s afraid of anything,” Steve said, mildly. “Certainly that’s his reputation. And even this stunt might have worked for him.”

“How so?” Alex asked.

Steve made a face. “For all his talk about a new leaf, Jansten admires winning above everything else. So if Geoff had succeeded in motivating Harrison to achieve a climb that was well beyond his skill, that would have meant something to Jansten.”

“You think so?” Lisa said.

“Jansten was hardly calling him or Harrison off.”

“Even though ‘motivating’ was nothing more than a bribe?” Alex said.

“Success is success, in Jansten’s book.”

“In that case, I guess you’re a hero today for getting that guy off that rockface,” Alex said. “So your position is now solid.”

“Seems that way. Jansten announced to everyone there that I’m the acting president until the board makes it formal at the end of the month—complete with pomp and circumstance, reporters, the whole bit.”

Alex shook his head, amused. “And I knew you when.”

Later that night, Alex joined Steve on the deck. They stood at the mast looking out over the skyline of Boston, just as Steve had a few nights before. The dream slipped up from his unconscious, as if Ray were trying to join the party.

Alex looked back at the twenty-five-foot Blue Water in the slip beside
The Sea Tern.
“Jesus, that would make a sweet dive boat.”

“It’s on loan from the company. I keep it around and test it, enjoy it.”

“Give it to me. I’ll put it to work.”

“You give me an honest rundown on how it works out, we may do just that.”

Alex grinned. “Can’t beat that. I’ll give you a written report in triplicate.” He paused. “You do any diving lately?”

“I’ve got my gear, but I haven’t done anything up here in Boston yet. I’ve been too busy.” That was the truth, but it sounded like an evasion. He added, “Besides, you know diving isn’t the charge for me it once was, particularly in cramped spaces. You saw how much help I was bringing up
The Sea Tern.”