Heads or Tails (23 page)

Without waiting for him, Sherri took off across the lane, straightening as she did so. Irritated by her brazen actions, but intrigued by her discovery, he followed her. Soon enough, they were both standing at the window, peering through.

‘It’s his!’ Sherri squealed. ‘Look-there are some catering supplier catalogues on the passenger seat. He had those on him all the time!’

Ardhi felt a thrill go through him. ‘If Link’s here-’

‘Then Ivyanne hasn’t gone
anywhere
,’ Sherri finished triumphantly.

Ardhi gripped her arm. ‘This is incredible, Sherri! They’re still here! But where?’

Sherri lifted her hand to the window and peered in. ‘Look at that parking ticket-he got here on Wednesday night, and he’s paid up until this Friday.’ She tapped on the glass. ‘And see the faded one next to it? He was here on Sunday night too, but only stayed for one night.’

Ardhi thought back to the weekend, when Sherri had called the restaurant line at The Seaview to see if Lincoln answered. But instead, a recorded message had come on, announcing that the resort was closed for the weekend for annual fumigation.

‘They’re
all
here,’ he said. ‘Together-bunkering down. We need to comb every property, especially the waterfront ones-the bigger, the better. There are too many complicated relationships going on for them to be squashed into a penthouse like sardines.’ He leaned over and impulsively kissed her on the cheek. ‘Which means the crown is here too! It has to be!’

Sherri smiled. ‘I assume one of us will be staking this place out on Friday to see if a certain man comes this way?’

Ardhi gave her a sidelong look. ‘Why just one of us?’

‘Because the hole you’ve dug is deep enough without the sight of Lincoln having you reaching for the shovel again, and burying us all.’

Ardhi had to smile despite himself. His protégé was absolutely right.

12.

It took almost a week for things in the house to return back to normal. Garridan and Ivyanne were stiff with each other for days, speaking in clipped polite tones only when necessary. Lincoln still didn’t know what had been said-but Ivyanne hadn’t snuck out again, nor had Lincoln been held accountable for it. At least
that
was a small mercy.

Ivyanne spent her days out in the yard practicing her new skill-similar to how people did target practice with beer cans, except she had a saw horse loaded with objects of various weights and sizes and practiced pulling them towards her. It became apparent very quickly that she truly was a mystic. Once she had mastered pulling things into her hand, she concentrated on dropping them at different points, like flexing a muscle. It was interesting for the guards to watch-they shouted out encouragements and found various things for her to levitate. By Wednesday, she could pull Sahori ten feet. Garridan she could move only two. Once, when Tristan had jeered if she could pull on a specific area of his from his perch on the roof, Ivyanne had yanked him clean into the pool below by said area. Lincoln still laughed every time he remembered the look on Tristan’s face. Apparently, it hadn’t been the pleasant experience Tristan had hoped for.

The tension in the house eventually flat-lined to the point where they could all make small talk without snapping at each other, dividing into various camps based on compatibility. Lachlan and Sahori spent a lot of time together, exchanging skills and talking with animation about a variety of things. They were more at ease than the rest of the mers, clearly loving the experience, especially Sahori who like Ivyanne, had been kept on a very tight leash. This was the first time she’d been allowed into the world unchaperoned and was milking it, trying new foods, staying up as late as she could and flirting with every willing recipient.

Camus and Garridan were making strategy plans for flushing Ardhi out and defeating him-disappearing into the surveillance room for hours at a time to talk tactics out of Ivyanne’s earshot, who still couldn’t handle hearing Ardhi’s powers (or rather how he’d
used
them) spoken of. Lincoln could see that they were enjoying themselves immensely despite their serious natures-and really what could entertain a man more than playing the role of hero/general? Spy/warrior? When Lincoln, Tristan and the other boys joined in on their conversations, voices became deeper, eyes shone and triggers were fingered with barely restrained glee. Lincoln would leave those discussions with a manly swagger that he’d later reflect upon and laugh about.

Price and Tristan hung out sporadically, but Tristan locked himself in their room a lot, typing away and making calls Lincoln was never close enough to hear, while Price seemed to spend an awful lot of time on the phone, texting someone and smiling a lot.

The recipient of those texts was revealed on Thursday, when Price broached the subject with Lincoln in his usual direct way-asking Lincoln if it was ‘acceptable’ if he ‘courted’ Adele.

Lincoln told him to go for it, though secretly he doubted Adele would. She was too much of a diva to be satisfied with someone so quiet and centered with no credit rating. But he encouraged Price to try, on the hope that if he succeeded, the Tristan Loveridge Fan Club numbers would deplete accordingly.

Saraya, who had been quiet all week, and especially reserved around Tristan, spent most of her time with Joyce and Pintang, usually watching Pintang cook while Joyce regaled them with three lifetime’s worth of anecdotes. She was a lovely older woman who admitted to coveting a daughter of her own, having only born Dalton herself. Because she had a background in nursing, like his own mother, Lincoln often caught himself drifting towards her to bask in the maternal glow.

Lincoln’s mother was on his mind a lot. Lincoln remembered the way she used to pump him for information about Ivyanne, as curious as he about her life, and fascinated by her beauty and the other ‘girlish’ qualities that Lincoln couldn’t provide. She’d often commented on Ivyanne’s understated attire, clearly daydreaming about pinning the girl down and attacking her with ribbons and sequins. But towards the end, she’d stopped asking about Ivyanne, obviously disappointed that official introductions were never made, and had started encouraging him to date other girls in school, while his father remained indifferent to the subject as a rule.

He wondered what his parents would think now, if they knew what was going on. Lincoln had sent his father away three days after Ardhi’s attack, wanting him removed from the possibility of another violent confrontation. Chase had called six times to check in, but hadn’t asked for any details, clearly at a loss to provide either advice or encouragement for a species he didn’t really understand. Lincoln was happy to keep it that way-he didn’t want to add to his father’s worries. Besides, what would he tell him?

Before he knew it, the weekend was upon them again and Lincoln knew that Ivyanne was desperate to get them out of her hair. It had been decided that on the weekends, the guard would be dismissed, the house would be locked down like a fortress, and Garridan would take Ivyanne and Saraya far out to the reef to live as real mer were intended to-hoping that indulging Ivyanne in forty-eight hours of swim time would prevent her going out the window again. Lincoln fretted about her being out from under his watch-but he trusted Garridan to pick somewhere safe. Besides, the resort needed him, and going along with the queen wasn’t an option anyway.

So arrangements were made and bags packed. Sahori, Lachlan and Price would accompany Lincoln to The Seaview, off duty officially, though he knew they would be on red alert the whole time. Camus and Joyce were taking their boat down to visit Dalton at the yacht club, Tristan was flying back to Sydney that afternoon to get some more work done, Pintang was going to see her parents and Garridan was squirreling Saraya and Ivyanne away to some remote island he wouldn’t disclose the name of to anyone but Camus.

‘This is incredible!’ Lincoln said early Friday morning when he had his first bite of Pintang’s banana french toast. There were so many complimentary flavors on his tongue at one time that he couldn’t even pick which stood out the most. ‘Where did you come up with the idea of cooking them in the skin?’

Pintang waved her hand. ‘Just something I picked up once.’

‘This really is good,’ Tristan agreed from his position by the rear kitchen door. He was on duty, but Pintang had made him breakfast as well, which was he was eating on his feet-and without the bacon of course. ‘I should have let you make me breakfast a long time ago.’

‘I believe I offered once,’ Pintang cracked.

Lincoln glanced at Tristan, and saw the other man smile. ‘Yeah well…. true.’

Lincoln immediately glanced over at Ivyanne, relieved to see that she didn’t flinch at Pintang’s flirtation with Tristan. Part of him had been terrified that she’d consider his suggestion to screw Tristan to get him out of her system. He’d meant it at the time, but he still sincerely hoped she didn’t actually
need
to follow through with it. She’d never actually responded-rendering him unconscious instead of continuing the row, making Lincoln feel uncertain about where the lines were drawn in the sand now. He supposed he had no choice but to deal with whatever happened as it happened and stop wasting valuable energy worrying about what yet hadn’t.

He had another mouthful of maple-syrup soaked toast before initiating contact with her. ‘Are you excited about going to the reef Ivyanne?’

She smiled at him. ‘What do you think?’ She chuckled lightly. ‘I’ve had my bag packed since Wednesday.’

‘What’s in the bag?’ Tristan asked.

‘A book.’ Ivyanne grinned. ‘And that’s it.’

‘No swimsuit? Ahh...to be a fly on a coconut tree…’

Even Lincoln laughed at that, once again, agreeing with his nemesis. To prevent the conversation going downhill, as Ivyanne’s eye-rolling hinted was possible, Lincoln turned his attention back to Pintang-waving a forkful of syrupy toast at her.

‘And just so you know, you’re welcome to come back with me Pintang…. Chef’s Lee’s days are numbered now that you’ve served me this. His job is yours anytime you want it.’

‘Oh no you don’t!’ Tristan put his empty plate down on the kitchen table and shouldered his rifle once more. ‘I’ve found a perfect location, right here in Airlie Beach for Pintang to make her culinary debut.’

Pintang stopped what she had been doing, gaping at Tristan. ‘Come again?’

‘You found her a
restaurant
?’ Ivyanne squeaked.

Tristan nodded, grinning. ‘It’s small and cosy, waterfront, and because it shares a plot with a hairdresser, the rent isn’t horrendous as some of the locations around here. I think you could turn a profit easily with it.’

Pintang made a face. ‘Though I appreciate your effort Tristan, ‘
Not too horrendous’
rent is still more than
I
can afford at the moment!’

‘You don’t have to!’ Tristan was grinning. ‘You’ve got yourself a backer.’

Pintang’s oven-mitt ensconced hands went to her cheeks. ‘
You
want to back me?’

Tristan shrugged. ‘If that’s okay with you.’

Pintang squealed and raced around the bench, throwing her arms around Tristan. ‘Of course I do! Tristan, this is incredible! You’re such a
sweetheart
!’ She planted a big, wet kiss on his cheek. ‘My own restaurant? For real?!’

Lincoln had to restrain a sigh as Tristan upstaged him once more. What was a job offer compared to a lease? He dared another look in Ivyanne’s direction and saw that her delicate jaw was clenched. There was no way she could resent Pintang’s gift, that wasn’t her style-so clearly it was the affection between the new partners that was bugging her. Lincoln swallowed and tried to look happy for Pintang, knowing he was a shit head for worrying about Tristan’s generosity making him look bad. He definitely had some evolving left to do! Besides, how could he resent what was about to bring Pintang and Tristan closer?

‘I think you’ve earned a break,’ Tristan said fondly, blushing from all of the attention. For once it seemed genuine and not a show put on for Ivyanne’s benefit. ‘And you’re an incredible cook. The sooner we get you out here, the better.’

Pintang looked awed. ‘Can you afford it?’

Tristan snorted. ‘Okay now let’s not start off this joint venture by offending me,’ he joked. ‘I’ve been running numbers all week and it’s more than feasible.’

‘
That’s
what you’ve been doing?’ Lincoln asked.

‘Yep.’ Tristan said. ‘And Sven’s on board too-we’ve been wanting to branch out into a different sort of investment for awhile but had no time to look around.’

‘But...didn’t you lose contracts when everyone thought you were dead?’ Ivyanne asked. ‘Sven mentioned that. Have they come back?’

‘Groveling.’ Tristan confirmed. ‘But we don’t need them anyway-Especially now that Absalom have offered me a job
twice
the size of the one I originally flew to Hawaii for.’

‘They did?’ Ivyanne asked, eyebrows shooting up. ‘Really this time?’

‘Yep! And I had a Skype conference with Mark Schorer just to be sure that it wasn’t another ploy.’ He grinned. ‘It’s amazing what surviving a plane crash can do for your career, isn’t it?’ He turned back to Pintang. ‘Anyway-I’ve already managed to finagle the keys out of the broker handling the place. We can go down and check it out as soon as my shift’s over.’

‘Oh my goodness!’ Pintang looked as though she might float away. ‘I love you, you know that?’

Lincoln felt like he was going to lose his breakfast.

‘When you say you’ve been offered a larger job with Absalom….’ Ivyanne began, her musical voice somewhat strained, ‘are you inferring that you’ve signed a contract in
Anaheim
?’

Tristan looked at her, some of the light fading from his eyes as his face rearranged itself into a more reserved expression. ‘Actually Ivyanne,
this
non-fabricated deal is for San Diego.’

‘San Diego California?’ Lincoln repeated.

‘You’re going to have to go back to the U. S.’ Ivyanne’s words were stated, not asked, and her complexion had lost it’s color.

Tristan nodded. ‘Three weeks and six days from now, I’m out of here.’

Lincoln computed what was going on-read between the lines unspoken. The time limit...Tristan’s renewed vigor….Ivyanne’s obvious distress.

‘How
long
will you be gone for?’ he asked, beating Ivyanne to the question she was clearly struggling to ask.

Tristan leaned against the door, but looked at Ivyanne when he responded: ‘Six weeks. Don’t worry-I’ve discussed it with Garridan. If we haven’t nabbed Ardhi by the time I leave, Sahako is going to fly in and replace me while I’m gone. I’m not
happy
about leaving, but I can’t continue to neglect the company either, not when it’s been offered this kind of opportunity. And it’s me Mark wants heading the project, not Sven. Trust me, I put out feelers.’ He paused. ‘Hopefully Ardhi will come after me again anyway.’

Lincoln didn’t know what to think. On one hand, he was overjoyed at the prospect of getting Tristan out of his hair for six weeks. But on the other... Ivyanne’s shaken demeanor spoke volumes about how unhappy she was at the prospect. Lincoln realized once again, how well Tristan was playing the game.