Jenn Vakey - Rilynne Evans 07 - Revenge with Murder (2 page)

“No, you can’t stab a shark.”  Ben sat his fork down as he rolled his eyes and looked at her in complete disbelief.  “And I like to think that in the event that anything like that was going to happen, the universe would tell you,” he said.  “Have you seen anything that would suggest you will be devoured by a man eating shark?”

“No,” she said with a resigned sigh.  The thought of it gave her chills.  “You know that doesn’t mean anything, though.  I don’t see things before they happen.  I’m sure I would end up seeing it just as it was about to take a piece out of my leg.” 

That wasn’t entirely true.  Rilynne had, in fact, known at a young age that her ability to see things in the lives of people she knew centered on the past or presence.  Very rarely was she able to see anything before it happened, and even then it was never more than an hour or so.  That all changed over the last year, though.  On several occasions, Rilynne had seen event long before they happened.  One such vision she received almost a full year before the actual event.  Upon thinking about them, though, she realized that each one of them had one thing in common.  They were all about Ben.

She was sure that he would be flattered by the fact, but she had decided not to tell him.  Many of them were warnings; they showed her what would happen to Ben if she kept down the path she was on.  Without any experience with this type of flashes, and with no one to talk to about them, she was left with a worried twinge whenever she thought of them.  In one way, she saw it as further proof that they were meant to be.  On the other, she worried every time she saw something about him that it could mean something terrible was going to happen.

“I have no doubt that if something truly terrible was going to happen to you that you would get a warning,” he said confidently.  “Besides, do you really think I would let you go down if I thought you would be at any risk of danger?  True, I would get a life time supply of pity if you were to die on our honeymoon-” she again threw a handful of sugar packets at his face, “-but then I’d have to sell the house and go through the trouble of finding someone else.  That’s just too much work.”

Rilynne didn’t know what to say, so she just laughed.

“Hurry up and finish eating, or we won’t have time to go on that hike,” Ben said as he reached for the last piece of bacon on his plate.  “I don’t want to have to put it off if it can be avoided.  We’ve already got a few things booked that I would hate to have to shuffle around.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she mumbled.  After taking one last bite, she sat her fork down and pushed her plate away.

“Don’t ‘yeah’ me,” he stated.  “A few of these things have already been paid for and can’t be cancelled.  And I don’t really… wait,” he said, shifting his gaze from his plate up to her.  “You didn’t really bring your gun on our honeymoon, did you?”

Rilynne felt her cheeks grow warm.  It seemed to be enough of an answer for Ben, because he just slowly shook his head and looked back to the last of his breakfast.  “It’s not like I’m carrying it around with me,” she said defensively.  “It hasn’t left my suitcase.”

“Looking past the why at the moment, how did you even get it out here?”

Rilynne shrugged.  “It was locked and checked.  Since we flew to Hawaii and took a boat across, it wasn’t really that difficult.  And as for the why, does it really surprise you?”

“No,” he replied, pushing his chair back and standing up.  “Not in the slightest.”

After paying the cashier at the counter, Ben took Rilynne by the hand and led her back out onto the quiet street.  They walked silently back to their house, not seeing another person the entire trip.  Rilynne fought off the urge to drop down onto the bed when they walked in.  She had eaten too much and felt like she needed a nap.  Instead, she pulled on her hiking outfit and waited in the chair by the door for Ben.

“How far are we from the head of the trail?” he asked when he stepped out of the bedroom.  He walked over and pulled her to her feet. 

“Not far,” she said.  She paused before pulling the door open as she looked him over.  He didn’t often wear a hat, but he looked good when he did.  His shaggy hair was pushed out of his face just enough for her to see the gold flecks in his eyes.  She reached up and ran her hand gently down his cheek.

“What?” he asked when he looked down at her loving
expression.  She just grinned and shook her head before walking out the door.

*     *     *

“No,” Ben said firmly as he looked up at the steep hill.

“Why not?” she chuckled.
  “It looks like it would be a fun climb.  Besides, it’ll take about an hour off of our trip.  That will leave us with more time to spend at the waterfall before we have to head back.  It would be nice to relax and enjoy the view for a little bit.”

“Then we’re taking the long way around,” he stated.  He took her by the arm and pulled her toward the path to the left.  “With how clumsy you are, we will end up spending the rest of the day getting you patched up.  I also don’t think you’re supposed to go scuba diving with a concussion.”

She shot his a spiteful look before turning back toward the first path.  “I’m not that bad,” she said defensively.  “Besides, aside from that one stretch there in the middle, it looks like it would be a much easier hike.  I know we would miss out on a couple of the sites that are listed on the map, but it would be much quicker.  I think it would be worth the risk.”

“Well, that’s just because you don’t want to go scuba diving,” he smirked.  He slid his hand gently down her arm and took her firmly by the hand.  “And when have you ever wanted to take the quick and easy path?”

With a resigned sigh, she followed him onto the tree lined path.  “You know, I used to think you were the clumsy one,” she said.  Ben looked over at her with a look of pure bemusement.  When he didn’t speak, she continued.  “You didn’t seem to be able to go a day without dropping something when I was around.  I actually remember thinking to myself that it was strange how you could be so good at your job when you were so clumsy.”

For the first time in months, she caught sight of his ears flaring red.  It was something she found herself striving to accomplish, though it was proving to be an increasingly difficult task.

“What can I say?” he said as he tried to shrug it off.  “You were a bit distracting.”

“Were?” she chuckled.  “Have I lost my charm?”

Ben pulled her in closer and gave her hand a gentle squeeze that sent shivers up her arm and through her chest.

“Trust me,” he replied softly.  He looked down and met her eye.  “You’re distracting in a whole different way now.”

Now it was her own cheeks she felt growing warm.  She opened her mouth to respond, but the words wouldn’t come.  Not wanting to let him see the effect his words had, she turned to admire the scene around them.

Rilynne couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful place.  The jungle to the sides of the path was dense, hiding the sources of the sounds coming from within it.  Scattered in with the bright green of the trees were vibrant flowers in nearly every color of the rainbow, along with the occasional selection of fruit.  Calling it paradise was an understatement.

“Do we have to go back next week?” Rilynne asked.  She slid her fingers down his arm and took hold of his hand.  “Couldn’t we just stay forever?”

Ben laughed as he helped her over a tree that had fallen over the path.  “If I thought for a second that you would actually be happy in a place like this, I would pack us up and move in a heartbeat,” he replied.  “You know as well as I do that you wouldn’t make it a month before you were itching for something to investigate.  You wouldn’t be able to help yourself.”

She smirked and pushed him gently with her elbow.  “I’m not that bad,” she insisted. 

“You couldn’t even resist bringing your gun on our honeymoon,” he laughed.

“Oh, hush,” she stated, but she knew he had a point.  “I could be happy here with you.  Or a place just like this.  I’m sure you would be able to keep me entertained.  Definitely for more than just a month.”

“I’ll tell you what,” he said, a note of excitement in his voice that wasn’t there moments before.  “When you are ready to retire, if that day ever actually comes, we can get a small private island and spend the rest of our days there.”

Rilynne smiled as she tightened her hold on him.  “Promise?”

*     *     *

“I really don’t know about this,” Rilynne said as Ben helped her strap the weight belt onto her waist.  Though she tried to suppress it, she could hear the fear sounding through her voice.  As the boat gently rocked with the waves, she could feel herself growing sick.  She couldn’t remember ever feeling so nervous, or at least when someone’s life wasn’t hanging in the balance.

Ben placed his hand gently on her cheek and looked deep into her eyes.  “You’re going to be fine,” he said with an air of confidence that hit her deep.  “Just remember what you learned in your class.  Relax and control your breathing.”

“That class took place in a lake,” she stated.  “And you know I was nervous enough about even doing that.  If Matthews and half the guys in the department hadn’t been there, I probably wouldn’t have done it at all.”

“Why do you think I suggested everyone get certified together?” he joked.  “I knew you wouldn’t give them any reason to give you a hard time.  It’s one of the few things
that will outweigh any fear that you have.”

She glared up at him.  He was right.  Although she knew that every member of the homicide team trusted her and had nothing but respect for her, they never passed on an opportunity to give her a hard time.  While some instances were inevitable, she wouldn’t willingly give them ammo if it could be avoided.

“Keep an eye on your dive computer and you won’t have any problems,” Ben said.  “As soon as you get down there your nerves will calm, I promise.  I’m going to be right by your side the whole time, though, so if anything does go wrong I will take care of you.  I’m not going to let anything happen.  Are you ready?”

Rilynne wanted to say no, and to tell him that she just couldn’t do it, but she pushed her fear down as deep as she could and gave him a quick nod.  It didn’t do anything to settle the knot building in her chest.  As it grew tighter with every breath she took, it felt like she was on the verge of a full panic attack.

“Good,” he said softly before kissing her on the cheek.  “Turn around and I will help you with your BC.”

The gear was heavier than she remembered.  As petite as she was, she felt like she was going to topple over with every move she made.  She probably would have when strapping her fins on had Ben not been holding on to her.

As soon as everything was in place, Ben checked her twice before pulling his mask on and nodding.  “You’re first, and I’ll be right behind you.”

She nodded and pulled her mask down over her face.  Her heart was racing so violently in her chest as she placed her regulator in her mouth and positioned her hand over it and her mask, that she could hear it drumming in her ears.  After one last deep breath, she closed her eyes and leaned back.  As soon as she felt her body hit the water, much of the tension she had been feeling melted away.  Moments after she raised her arms to motion that she was okay, Ben dropped in and was at her side.

By the time they had swam down to depth, the last of her fear had disappeared.  In fact, Rilynne felt more relaxed than she ever could have imagined.  She now understood why Ben loved diving so much.  He had been so excited after becoming a dive master last fall that she knew there wasn’t any way to get out of diving with him.  And he had been right about one thing: this truly was like being on another planet.

After swimming around for a few minutes, Ben grabbed her dive computer to check it before he reached down and took her hand.  Leading her around the edge of the reef, they swam up to the wreckage of a large ship.  She had heard Ben and the boat captain talking about it, but it was more spectacular than she had imagined.  The large wooden vessel lay surrounded by coral and more fish than she could count.  Ben pulled her by the hand as they swam into the large hole in its side.

There wasn’t much inside aside from a few pieces of broken furniture, having been looted long ago by treasure seekers, but the sight was mystifying.  Rilynne slid her hand out of Ben’s as she ventured into the next room.  As she did, she let her fingers graze the wooden walls.

There was yelling, but she couldn’t make it out.  They weren’t speaking English.  There were a dozen men in the lantern lit room.  Each was holding on to something sturdy.  It didn’t take long to see why.  As an echoing crash surrounded them, the room tilted sharp to one side, then quickly back to the other.  One of the men lost his grip on a large beam and rolled into the overturned table.  The two closest to him reached out to grab him, but it was too late.  The room tipped again, this time sending all three into an adjacent wall.

The man closest to the door, still with a tight hold on the beam he wrapped himself around, yelled something and pointed out.  When the others nodded, he thrust himself toward the open door.  As soon as he reached it, another sound filled the room.  Unlike the crashes from the waves hitting, this one held another sound.  This one carried the sound of wood breaking.

Her first instinct when her surroundings came back into focus was to tell Ben what she had seen.  She had actually forgotten they were underwater for a moment until she felt the regulator in her mouth.  The shock of having forgotten, along with the realization that things could have gone bad during her flash had her regulator slipped from her mouth, caused her to panic for a moment, but the feel of Ben’s hand as he reached out for her hand calmed her quickly back down.