Neptune's Ring (24 page)

The path brought Levi to a small flight of
stairs that lead down to the beach. She climbed down and stepped
into sugar white sands that squeaked under her feet. Levi walked to
the edge of the emerald green water and knelt down to test the
temperature. The water was warm to her touch and so clear she could
see to the bottom as far as her eyes could see. Levi slipped out of
her shoes and waded out into the water as a cooling breeze blew
across her skin.

Small fish darted around her ankles as she
waded deeper into the water and her eyes spied a conch shell
several feet ahead of her. Levi bent down and took the large shell
in her hands. She turned it in her hands marveling at the perfect
edges of the bright pink shell. The shell was an incredible find.
It was so rare to find a fully intact and perfect conch shell and
Levi smiled at the treasure she had found. She was about to walk
back to shore when she caught movement out of the corner of her
eye.

Levi turned just in time to see a pair of
dolphins sailing through the air. She stood and watched them frolic
in the calm waters and then when they tired of entertaining her,
they turned out to sea and disappeared.

Levi smiled to herself and walked back to the
beach to retrieve her shoes. She tied the laces together and tossed
them over her shoulder as she walked along the beach. She reached
the back of the resort and climbed up another small set of stairs.
She walked around the resort and checked the boat house to ensure
the boat was secured and with the sun fading quickly, Levi returned
to the house.

She dropped her shoes at the front door and
walked into the kitchen. She rinsed the salt water from the shell
and placed her treasure on the small counter before she walked to
the refrigerator for a cold beer. She picked up her camera and
tripod and walked out onto the porch setting her equipment up to
catch her first sunset on the island. She set the camera up to take
multiple shots every few minutes and sat back to sip her beer and
gaze out across the beautiful water.

She checked on the position of the camera and
made adjustments several times before the sun slipped beneath the
horizon. She took the camera and tripod into the house and carried
it into the office. She would look at the pictures later, once she
tired of the cool breeze on the porch and retired inside the house
for the evening.

Levi pulled one of the oversized chairs close
to the railing and sat back as she listened to the island come
awake. Insects sang in the distance as a pair of loons called to
one another across the still water. Levi laid her head back and
thought of Vanessa as she watched stars begin to appear in the
night sky. “I love you my baby,” she said aloud.

Her beer had been finished for an hour as
Levi marveled at how brightly the stars shone in the darkness of
the sky. The absence of lights allowed the heavens to light up the
night and Levi watched as the blinking light of a passing jet moved
across the sky to a destination unknown. Levi sighed and reached
down to pick up her beer bottle and walked back inside. She closed
the door behind her and clicked the lock out of habit. She was
certain she was alone on the island, but life in the big city had
taught her to not leave safety to chance.

She turned the lights off in the kitchen and
walked into the office where she had left her camera. Levi turned
on the computer and removed the camera from the tripod. She
attached the camera to the computer and hit the download button and
walked to the kitchen to call Cat while the pictures were
transferred.

After a short conversation with Cat, Levi
returned to the office to check on the photographs she had taken.
The computer screen was flashing that the download was complete and
Levi pulled out the chair to watch the slideshow loading on the
screen. The camera took some great images of the beautiful sunset
and Levi made a note to send a few of them to Vanessa to show her
what she had to look forward to on her visit.

Levi watched as the final photos move across
the screen and was about to shut the slideshow down when she saw
several other images flash across the screen. Levi was certain that
she had turned the camera off when she brought it back inside, but
the images on the screen made her doubt she had turned it off. The
first few images were of the desk and laptop. Levi stared in shock
as she watched the photographs slide by and she witnessed the mist
form slowly behind the chair she was sitting in.

Levi pushed the chair back from the desk and
swiveled around to search the room, her heart racing as her eyes
darted around the room. She was totally alone in the house, yet she
felt the hair on her neck and arms standing at attention again.
When she could turn back to the computer she cried out in surprise
at the image looking back at her.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The camera was focused on the desk and Levi
could clearly see the mist form in the shape of a small human. Levi
leaned in closer to the screen to try to make out more detail, but
there was none to be seen. She sat staring at the image on the
screen waiting to see if it would come more closely into focus.
Levi had no idea of how long she sat staring at the computer when
she was jolted back to reality by the jangling ring of the
telephone. She wiped her eyes and reached for the phone.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Levi this is Nat. I was calling to see
how your first day has gone,” Nat said.

“Hi, Nat, everything has gone fine so far, I
am all set up in the house and had enough time to do a little
exploring on the island before it got dark.”

“Have you encountered any problems that we
need to help with?” Nat asked.

“No, Cat has been very helpful and Carlos
brought a small golf cart for my use, so things have progressed
well so far.”

“What plans do you have for tomorrow?” Nat
asked.

“I thought I would do some more exploring on
the island while I still had some free time. I am sure once
construction starts again on Monday things will stay very
busy.”

“I am sure they will,” Nat said. “Is there
anything we can do for you?”

“No, I am good for now, Nat,” Levi
answered.

“Give us a call sometime tomorrow when you
can then.”

“I will, I promise.”

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence
on the telephone. “Levi?” Nat said.

“Yes, Nat, what is it?”

“Are you ok, you sound kind of, well
distracted,” Nat said.

“I’m sorry Nat, I was looking at some
photographs of the sunset when you called,” Levi said, which was
true.

“Ok, then, I just wanted to make sure you are
fine,” Nat said.

“Fine and dandy,” Levi said, hoping her voice
came out steadier across the phone lines.

“Call us tomorrow then and enjoy your
exploring,” Nat said.

“Thanks for calling. I will talk to you
tomorrow,” Levi said and placed the telephone back on the
receiver.

Nat put the phone back on the cradle and
stared at the phone for few seconds. Liz watched her lover and when
she looked up she had a puzzled look on her face.

“Is everything ok?” Liz asked.

“Levi said everything was fine, but she
sounded, I don’t know, just distracted,” Nat said.

“Well we have placed her in a very stressful
situation, being isolated from everyone,” Liz said. “We have to
trust Levi to tell us when she needs a break or if something isn’t
going as well as planned.”

“I know you are right, but something in her
voice left me unsettled,” Nat said.

“Do you want me to call Levi back?” Liz
asked.

“No, no, she has promised to call us
tomorrow,” Nat said. “Maybe she just needs a good night’s
rest.”

“Ok, we will give her until lunch time to
call and if we haven’t heard anything we will give her a call,” Liz
said.

When Levi turned back to the computer screen
she was shocked to find she was looking at a dark screen. She moved
the mouse and the photographs came back into view. She moved
quickly through the images of the sunset and frowned when the
pictures of the office flashed across the screen. The figure in the
mist was gone. She scrolled forward to the other photographs and
they showed the desk, laptop and chair as clearly as day.

Levi wiped her eyes and looked back at the
screen. Was she more tired than she thought or were her eyes and
imagination playing tricks on her, she pondered. She let the
slideshow run through one more cycle and still there was nothing
out of the ordinary. Exasperated, Levi turned off the computer and
walked into the bedroom.

She had just finished brushing her teeth when
the telephone on the bedside table began to ring. Levi picked up
the receiver and was pleased to hear Vanessa’s voice on the other
end.

“Hello, my love,” her sexy voice said.

“I am so happy you called Vanessa,” Levi
said.

“Is everything alright?” Vanessa asked.

“Yes, I am just missing you terribly,” Levi
said.

Vanessa relaxed and settled into the large
desk chair. “I miss you too love and have been dying to call all
day. Are you all settled in?” she asked.

“Yes, I have the house set up with supplies
and I even had a chance to explore the island. I also took some
beautiful photographs of the sunset to share with you,” Levi
said.

The mention of the photographs brought the
misty images back to Levi and she shivered as a chill passed
through her body.

“Levi, are you there?” Vanessa asked.

“Yes, I am right here, my love,” she
said.

“I asked if you were planning to send me some
of the photographs through the internet,” Vanessa said.

“I am sorry, yes, Vanessa, I will send them
first thing in the morning,” Levi said. “I think I am more tired
than I thought,” Levi said as she felt weary.

“Fresh air can make you tired,” Vanessa
teased. “Why don’t you go to bed and give me a call when you wake
up in the morning.”

“Good idea, baby, I love you,” Levi said.

“Sweet dreams, baby girl, I love you too,”
Vanessa said.

“I will call in the morning,” Levi said and
hung up the phone.

Levi sat in the middle of the big bed and
looked around the room. There were no misty shadows or scary sounds
in the house and she slowly began to relax. The soft thumping sound
of ceiling fan reminded her of her bungalow as she reached over to
turn off the light and crawled beneath the covers.

The physical and emotional turmoil of the day
had left her drained and she easily slipped into a deep sleep. In
her dreams, she and Vanessa were entwined in a passionate embrace
and Levi hugged a pillow tightly into her body as she slept.

Deep in the shadows of the far corner of the
room the mist began to reappear and move slowly toward the bed. It
hovered over the edge of the bed as an image slowly formed and a
slight hand reached out to brush a lock of hair from Levi’s face.
The mist surrounded Levi on the bed and then as quickly as it
appeared it dissipated into the night.

An ache in Levi’s back woke her the next
morning. She looked over at the clock and saw that it was almost
nine and she had slept for nearly twelve hours. She climbed out of
the bed and stretched to relieve her body of the kinks from
sleeping so long and walked to the bathroom for a hot shower.

Levi wrapped a towel around her body and
walked to the kitchen to start the coffee brewing while she dressed
for the day. She slipped on shorts and a tank top and stepped into
her favorite running shoes before returning to the kitchen to pour
a mug of coffee. Levi walked out onto the front porch and sat in
the same chair as the previous night and enjoyed the beautiful
morning as she sipped her coffee. The warmth of the morning sun
chased away the chill from the previous night.

When she walked into the kitchen for a
refill, she picked up the phone and dialed Vanessa.

“Good morning, my love,” she said when
Vanessa answered.

“Hello, my darling, I miss you so,” Vanessa
said. “Did you sleep ok last night?”

“I must have died. I didn’t wake up until
almost nine,” Levi said.

“That island air must really be good for
you.”

“It is so beautiful here Vanessa, I can’t
wait for you to get here,” Levi said.

“I am counting the days.”

“Can you make them pass quicker?” Levi
asked.

“Just say the word and I will abandon ship
and hop on the next plane,” Vanessa teased.

“No, darling, I could not deprive a ship full
of gorgeous women their dazzling Captain,” Levi said with a
chuckle.

“Aww, there isn’t a woman on this ship that
turns my head the way you do,” Vanessa said. “Seriously though, if
it’s unbearable, I will fly down and come back Tuesday when we are
due to depart.”

“That is very sweet of you to offer, but I
will have to get used to sharing you eventually,” Levi said.
“Besides, the construction will start tomorrow and things will be
getting busy. You will just have to make sure you call me every
night to let me know just how much you love me.”

“That is very easy for me to do. I love you
with every cell in my body, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of
my life with you,” Vanessa said.

“I can’t wait either,” Levi said. “I look
forward to waking up to you beside me every day.”

“Soon baby,” Vanessa promised. “What are you
planning to do today?”

“I thought I would do some more exploring on
the island today. Yesterday I found the most perfect conch shell,”
Levi said. “I saw dolphins too.”

“That is wonderful baby,” Vanessa said. “I
can’t wait to share those moments with you.”

Vanessa heard the page over the system and
knew she was needed in the control room. “Baby, I need to go for
now, but please take your cell with you and I will call you
later.”