Down to the Wire (14 page)

Early the next morning,
TL counted Rissalan currency into my hand. “I’ve reserved a car to take us north of here, then we’ll catch a boat over to the island and mansion. The reservation place knows you two are picking it up. Be back here in one hour. I’ll meet you out front.”

“Yes, sir.” I folded the bills and stuffed them in my pants pocket.

Wirenut and I slung our backpacks on and left TL.

As we strolled down the hotel’s tile hallway, I cut a quick glance in Wirenut’s direction. From the puffiness of his eyes, I’d say he’d had no sleep.

I hadn’t seen him since he left his and TL’s room last night. I’d gone to mine and crashed. I had no idea what time Wirenut returned or if TL had gone out looking for him.

Looping my arm through Wirenut’s, I laid my head on his shoulder. “I love you.” I knew he knew I meant sister to brother.

The last time I’d told anyone that, I was six years old, and I’d said it to my parents.

With a sad smile, he kissed my temple. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard those words.”

He was probably afraid to care again. Everyone he’d ever loved had died.

We took the stairs down a flight, crossed the lobby, and exited the hotel. We slipped on sunglasses to cut the early-morning glare and headed up the cobblestone street.

Unzipping my front pocket, I rifled around for my ChapStick and pulled out a lollipop. “I didn’t put this in here, did you?”

Wirenut shook his head.

Thinking of you
was printed on the stem.
David.
I grinned. “It’s from David.”

“I see that. And I know you two have been e-mailing each other, so you can stop trying to hide it.”

I poked him in the ribs. “You’re not supposed to know that.”

Smiling, Wirenut looped his arm around my neck. “Come on.”

I unwrapped the blueberry lollipop and popped it in my mouth.
Mmmm.

“Do you mind if we make a quick stop at the café? I told Katarina I’d meet her there. We have time. I want to tell her good-bye. Maybe get her number or something.”

I smiled, glad to see his mood lifted. “Sure.”

We cut down an alley in the direction of the café and walked in silence. Ahead of us, a red-haired woman opened bright blue shutters. As we passed, I peeked inside. Her children sat around a wood table eating breakfast. A warm, sweet scent floated from their kitchen. The old-world, homey scene brought a contented curve to my lips.

“Let me stop here for a second.” He pointed up the alley to where it opened onto a dirt street.

The old, sun-charred jewelry lady, the same one from the marketplace, had spread out her things on a doorstep. She sat on a blanket behind them, creating a new piece.

Wirenut perused her handmade items. He pointed to a gold necklace with an amber stone. “That one. It matches Katarina’s eyes.”

Aaahhh.
I hugged him. He was the best guy ever. Except for David, of course.

Wirenut laughed. “What’s that for?”

“Nothing. You’re a great guy. That’s all.”

Ducking his head, he pulled out his wallet. His embarrassed, shy avoidance made me want to hug him again. He paid the lady, took the wrapped necklace, and we continued on our way.

I stuck my lollipop back in my mouth, but I couldn’t stop grinning.

He shoved my shoulder. “Stop it. You’re ruining my bad-guy image.”

We shared a laugh as we rounded the corner to the café.

Katarina stood under the green canvas awning. Behind her, the waitress set the outdoor tables, getting ready for breakfast. No customers had arrived yet.

Katarina watched us approach. She didn’t smile or wave or anything. In fact, she didn’t seem happy to see us at all.

We stopped beside her and Wirenut slipped off his sunglasses.

“
Jimmu
,” he greeted her softly, as if sensing something wasn’t right.

She smoothed her long hair behind her ear. “Hello.”

And then nobody said a word. We all just stood in silence, Katarina looking at Wirenut and me and him looking back at her.

Biting her lip, she dropped her gaze to the ground.

Wirenut switched what’s-going-on eyes to me.

I shrugged. I had no idea.

He cleared his throat. “Um…here.” He held out the wrapped necklace. “I bought you something.”

She took the small package. “Thank you.”

Wirenut clasped her hand. “Katarina, what’s going on?”

She swallowed. “My father…my father…”

Oh, God, no.
Had her father died?

“My father saw us together at the marketplace yesterday and got really mad. I’m sorry.” A tear slid down her cheek. “He doesn’t want me to see you again.”

In silence, we continued
on to pick up the rental car, then TL, and now here I sat, idly staring out the open passenger window as TL drove up the coast to our destination. Warm, salty air flowed through the car, through my body, relaxing me a little. Clear aqua water spanned to eternity on my right, and jagged cliffs boxed us in on the left. I’d never been one to sit and “smell the roses,” as they say, but this part of Rissala
was definitely the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.

Wirenut sat in the backseat studying the mansion’s schematics and the private island the mansion occupied.

He hadn’t said a word about Katarina. He had to be thinking about her, though. I’d asked him a few hours ago if he was okay. He’d simply nodded and continued analyzing the blueprints. I supposed it was good he had something to occupy his brain.

“Okay,” Wirenut called over the wind. “I’m ready.”

We rolled up our windows, and TL cranked on the air. I turned in my seat to listen.

Wirenut tapped his legal pad. “This mansion’s locked down tight. But I’ve figured it out. There’s an invisible fence surrounding the private island. The fence is located in the water. The only way in is to swim under it.”

TL adjusted the rearview mirror. “How far down?”

“Hundred feet.”

A hundred feet?
I’d had only a couple of diving lessons back at the ranch as part of our PT. But that’d been in a twenty-five-foot-deep pool.
A hundred feet?
That was
really
far down.

“You’ll do fine,” TL reassured me, as if sensing my wandering, I’m-starting-to-freak-out thoughts.

“There’s only one location we can swim under,” Wirenut continued. “The opening is located on the west side, fifty feet off the island’s shore. Once we’re through the invisible fence, we have to scale the east wall of the mansion. There’re only five windows on the east side. We’ll have to climb between the fourth and fifth windows. Once we’re on the roof, we’ll rappel
down through the fifth chimney into the mansion. According to the X-rayed image GiGi pulled up last night, we’ll be in the room where the sword is located.”

Wow. As always, very thorough.

TL turned off the coastal highway onto a dirt road. “Good work.”

“One last thing.” Wirenut pressed the off button on his handheld, electronic schematics. “With this particular security setup, one misstep rigs the mansion to explode.”

Explode?

Hours later, TL pulled into
a marina parking lot. “Whatever I say or do, you two play along with it.”

Wirenut and I nodded.

I held up my finger. “Can we talk about the exploding thing again?”

Both guys sighed. “GiGi, you’ll do fine.”

They’d said that about a zillion times since Wirenut mentioned it. Their not-this-again, chorused answer made me smile. They knew me too well.

TL slid the keys from the ignition. “Give GiGi and me a second.”

With a nod, Wirenut exited the car.

TL turned to me. “Under no circumstances do you show any recognition of the person we’re about to see. Understand?”

“Who are we about to see?”

“Do you understand?”

I
hated
when he didn’t answer my questions. “Yes, sir.”

TL opened his door and climbed out. “Get your stuff, kids. It’s going to be a
fuuun
day.”

Kids?

Beside us a couple with twin boys pulled towels, fishing rods, duffel bags, and other vacationy things from their car. Other than them and us, the marina parking lot sat empty.

TL popped the trunk. He handed a cooler to Wirenut. “Carry that. We got some yummy munchies in there.”

When had we gotten a cooler? And “yummy munchies”? TL would never in a million years say “yummy munchies.”

Wirenut must have thought so, too, because he laughed.

TL ruffled Wirenut’s hair. “Whatcha laughing at, sport? It’s going to be a
beee-uuu-ti-ful
day.” He tossed a couple of backpacks at me. “Carry those for me, girlie girl.”

Sport? Girlie girl?
I tried not to laugh.

Slinging diving bags over his shoulder, TL slammed the trunk. “Glory
be
, it’s magnificent here. Maybe we’ll see some of those
enooormous
stingrays.”

He led the way across the marina parking lot and onto a wooden path. Trees bordered both sides and opened to a rocky beach. The path led to a dock that stretched out over the water.

TL pointed off to the right. “Look at that water. Have you
ever
seen
anything
so gorgeous in your life?”

Wirenut cut a quick glance in my direction, and we shared a smile. TL was never this talkative or happy.

“Well, have you?”

“No,” Wirenut quickly responded. “Never have.”

We came to the end of the dock, where a rickety wooden boat floated, tied off. Behind us, the parking-lot family boarded a safer-looking one.

TL sat his dive bags down. “Here we go. Doesn’t look like much. But we’re going to have
tooons
of fun.”

Shielding my eyes from the early-afternoon sun, I surveyed the twenty-five-foot weather-beaten boat. It didn’t appear as if it could float, much less take us safely five kilometers to the private island and mansion.

A crash-bang echoed from the small pilothouse, followed by a string of curses. Dressed in filthy overalls, a woman stumbled out, rubbing her ball-cap-covered head.

She snorted, hacked her throat, and spit.

Nasty.

She took off her cap. Long, greasy, black hair fell down her back. Scratching her scalp, she looked up at the three of us and stretched her lips into a toothless grin.

I froze.
Nalani?

What was TL’s wife doing here? The last time I’d seen her, we’d been in Ushbania running for our lives. She hadn’t looked anything like she did now. She’d had teeth. And manners. And clean hair. She’d been beautiful.

Nalani put her cap back on. “Welcome aboard, maties.
Mi casa es su casa.
” She snorted a laugh. “That’s Spanish, not Rissalan.”

TL tossed her the dive bags. “We’re sooo excited. My name’s Tim. That’s Stan holding the cooler and Dana with the backpacks.”

Wirenut and I waved. Well, I waved. Wirenut nodded because of the cooler. I tried to catch Nalani’s eye, but she was completely in role. A stranger to us. Someone we’d hired for the day.

Nalani saluted. “Call me captain. Now get on board. Times a wastin’. We’re shoving off in one minute.”

She disappeared into the pilothouse. The engine sputtered to life a second later. We loaded our things, untied the boat, and motored away from the dock.

I stood beside Wirenut, watching the rocky beach disappear until only water surrounded us. An unsettled feeling weighed down my stomach, and I thought back all those years to the plane crash I’d been in with my parents. All the water. Swimming. Crying for them…

Sighing at the memory, I glanced over my shoulder to the pilothouse. TL stood just inside the door, staring at Nalani’s back as she drove the boat. My heart ached for him. For both of them. It had in Ushbania, too. Their covers prohibited them from interacting like a couple.

He took a step into the pilothouse, peering over her shoulder. His fingers trailed across her lower back as he pretended interest in the boat’s control panel. He shifted a little closer, and, although I couldn’t see real well, I thought he kissed her on the neck.