Excerpt of Fatal Tide by Iris Johansen

Northern Iraq January 6, 1991

Cool water, smooth as glass as Kelby swam through it.
Jesus, he was thirsty. He knew all he had to do was open
his lips and the water would flow down his throat, but he
wanted to see beyond the arched doorway first. It was huge
and ornately carved, beckoning him forward. . . .

Then he was through the arch and the city was spread
before him.

Giant white columns built to stand forever. Streets laid
out in perfect order. Glory and symmetry everywhere . . .

"Kelby."

He was being shaken. Nicholas. He came instantly
alert. "Time?" he whispered.

Nicholas nodded. "They should be coming back for you again
in five minutes. I just wanted to make sure we're on the
same page. I've decided we scratch the plan and I take
them out by myself."

"Screw you."

"You'll blow it for both of us. You haven't had anything
to eat or drink in three days, and you looked like a truck
ran over you when they brought you back to the cell."

"Shut up. It hurts my throat to argue." He leaned back
against the stone wall and closed his eyes. "We go as we
planned. I give the word. Just tell me when they start
down the hall. I'll be ready."

Go back to the sea. There's strength there. No thirst that
couldn't be satisfied. He could move without pain through
the buoyant water.

White columns shimmering . . .

"They're coming," Nicholas murmured.

Kelby opened his eyes only a slit as the door was
unlocked. The same two guards. Hassan had an Uzi cradled
in his arm. Kelby was so hazy he couldn't remember the
other guard's name. But he could remember the toe of
hisboot as he kicked in his rib. Yes, he could remember
that.

Ali, that was the bastard's name.

"Get up, Kelby." Hassan was standing over him. "Is the
American dog ready for his beating?"

Kelby groaned.

"Get him, Ali. He's too weak to stand up and face us
again."

Ali was smiling as he came to stand beside Hassan. "He'll
break this time. We'll be able to drag him into Baghdad
and show the whole world what cowards the Americans are."
He reached down to grab Kelby's shirt.

"Now." Kelby's foot lashed upward and connected with Ali's
nuts. Then he rolled sideways, knocking the Arab's legs
from beneath him.

He heard Hassan mutter a curse as Kelby leapt to his feet.

He got in back of Ali before he could get off his knees,
and his arm snaked around Ali's neck.

He broke it with one twist.

He whirled to see Nicholas smashing the Uzi into Hassan's
head. Blood spurted. Nicholas hit him again.

"Out." Kelby grabbed Ali's pistol and knife and ran to the
door. "Don't waste time on him."

"He wasted a lot of time on you. I wanted to make sure
he'd gone to Allah." But he was running after Kelby down
the hall.

In the front office another guard jumped to his feet and
reached for his gun. Kelby cut his throat before he could
lift it.

Then they were outside the hut and running toward the
hills.

Shots behind them.

Keep running.

Nicholas looked over his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. Go on, dammit."

Sharp pain in his side.

Don't stop.

The adrenaline was draining away and weakness was dragging
at every limb.

Go away from it. Concentrate. You're swimming toward the
archway. No pain there.

He was running faster, stronger. The hills were just
ahead. He could make it.

He was through the archway. White columns gleamed in the
distance.

Marinth . . .

Lacy golden fretwork.

Velvet drapery.

Drums.

Someone coming toward her.

It was going to happen again.

Helpless. Helpless. Helpless.

The scream that tore from Melis's throat jarred her awake.

She jerked upright in bed. She was shaking, her T-shirt
soaked with sweat.

Kafas.

Or Marinth?

Sometimes she wasn't sure. . . . It didn't matter.

Only a dream.

She wasn't helpless. She'd never be helpless again. She
was strong now.

Except when she had the dreams. They robbed her of power
and she was forced to remember. But she had the dreams
less often now. It had been over a month since the last
one. Still, she might feel better if she had someone to
talk to. Maybe she should call Carolyn and--

No, deal with it. She knew what to do after the dreams to
rid herself of these trembling fits and get back to
blessed normalcy. She tore off her nightshirt as she left
the bedroom and headed toward the lanai.

A moment later she was diving off the lanai into the sea.

It was the middle of the night, but the water was only
cool, not cold, and felt like liquid silk on her body.
Clean and caressing and soothing . . .

No threat. No submission. Nothing but the night and the
sea. God, it was good to be alone.

But she wasn't alone.

Something sleek and cool brushed against her leg.

"Susie?" It had to be Susie. The female dolphin was much
more physically affectionate than Pete. The male touched
her only rarely, and it was something special when he did.

But Pete was beside her in the water. She saw him out of
the corner of her eye as she stroked toward the nets that
barricaded the inlet. "Hi, Pete. How are you doing?"

He gave a subdued series of clicks and then dove beneath
the surface. A moment later Susie and Pete came to the
surface together and swam ahead of her toward the nets. It
was strange how they always knew when she was upset.

Ordinarily their behavior was playful, almost giddily
exuberant. It was only when they sensed she was disturbed
that they became this docile. She was supposed to be the
one teaching the dolphins, but she was learning from them
every day she spent in their company. They enriched her
life and she was grateful that--

Something was wrong.

Susie and Pete were both squeaking and clicking
frantically as they approached the net. A shark on the
other side?

She tensed.

The net was down.

What the hell . . . No one could unfasten the net unless
they knew where it was connected. "I'll take care of it.

Go back home, guys."

The dolphins ignored her, swimming around her protectively
while she examined the net. No cuts, no tears in the
strong wire. It took her only a few minutes to fasten the
net again. She set off back to the cottage, her strokes
strong, purposeful--and wary.

It didn't have to be a problem. It could be Phil back from
his latest journey. Her foster father had been gone for
nearly seven months this time, with only an occasional
phone call or postcard to tell her if he was alive or dead.
But it could be trouble. Phil had been forced to go on the
run almost two years ago and the threat was only partially
eliminated. There could still be people out there who
wanted to get their hands on him. Phil wasn't the most
discreet person in the world, and his judgment wasn't as
keen as his intellect. He was a dreamer who took more
chances than--

"Melis!"

She became still, paddling in place, her gaze on the lanai
a short distance away. She could see a man's silhouette
outlined against the lights of the living room. It wasn't
Phil's small, wiry frame. This man was big, muscular, and
vaguely familiar.

"Melis, I didn't mean to scare you. It's me, Cal."

She relaxed. Cal Dugan, Phil's first mate. No threat here.
She had known and liked Cal since she was sixteen. He must
have moored his boat at the pier on the other side of the
house, where she couldn't see it. She swam toward the
lanai. "Why didn't you call me? And why the devil didn't
you put the net back up? If a shark had gotten to Pete or
Susie, I'd have strangled you."

"I was going to go back and do it," he said
defensively. "Nah, I was going to persuade you to do it.
I'd have to know Braille to be able to hook it up in the
dark."

"That's not good enough. It only takes a minute to pose a
threat to the dolphins. You're just lucky it didn't
happen."

"How do you know a shark didn't get in?"

"Pete would have told me."

"Oh, yeah. Pete." He dropped a bath towel on the lanai and
turned his back. "Tell me when I can turn around. I guess
you haven't taken to wearing a swimsuit?"

"Why should I? There's no one to see me but Pete and
Susie." She hoisted herself onto the tiles and wrapped the
large towel around her. "And uninvited guests."

"Don't be rude. Phil invited me."

"Turn around. When's he coming? Tomorrow?"

He turned around. "Not likely."

"He's not in Tobago?"

"He was setting sail for Athens when he sent me here."

"What?"

"He told me to hop on a plane out of Genoa and come and
give you this." He handed her a large manila
envelope. "And to wait here for him."

"Wait for him? He'll need you there. He can't do without
you, Cal."

"That's what I told him." He shrugged. "He told me to come
to you."

She glanced down at the envelope. "I can't see out here.
Let's go inside where there's light." She tightened the
towel around her. "Make yourself some coffee while I take
a look at this."

He flinched. "Will you tell those dolphins I'm not going
to hurt you and to stop screeching?"

She'd barely been aware they were still beside the
lanai. "Go away, guys. It's okay."

Pete and Susie disappeared beneath the water.

"I'll be damned," Cal said. "They do understand you."

"Yes." Her tone was abstracted as she went into the
cottage. "Genoa? What's Phil been up to?"

"Search me. A few months ago he dropped me and the rest of
the crew off in Las Palmas and told us we were on vacation
for three months. He hired some temporary help to sail the

Last Home and took off."

"Where?"

He shrugged. "He wouldn't say. Big secret. It wasn't like
Phil at all. It was like that time he went off with you.
But this was different. He was on edge and he wouldn't say
anything when he came back and picked us up." He
grimaced. "It's not as if we haven't been with him for the
last fifteen years. We have shared a hell of a lot
together. I was there when he brought up the Spanish
galleon, and Terry and Gary signed on a year later. It
kind of . . . hurt."

"You know when he becomes focused on something he can't
see anything else." But she had seldom known him to close
out his crew. They were as close to family as Phil would
permit near him. Closer than he would let her come.

But that was probably her fault. She found it difficult to
be openly affectionate with Phil. She had always been the
protector in a relationship that had sometimes been both
volatile and stormy. She was often impatient and
frustrated with his almost childlike single-mindedness.

But they were a team, they fulfilled each other's needs,
and she did like him.

"Melis."

She glanced at Cal to find him gazing awkwardly at
her. "Would you mind putting on some clothes? You're one
gorgeous woman, and even though I may be old enough to be
your father, it doesn't mean I don't have the usual
responses."

Of course he did. It didn't matter that he'd known her
from the time she was a teenager. Men were men. Even the
best of them were dominated by sex. It had taken her a
long time to accept that truth without anger. "I'll be
right back." She headed for the bedroom. "Make that
coffee."

She didn't bother to shower before she put on her usual
shorts and T-shirt. Then she sat down on the bed and
reached for the envelope. It might be nothing, totally
impersonal, but she didn't want to open it in front of Cal.

The envelope contained two documents. She took out the
first one and opened it.

She stiffened. "What the hell . . ."

Hyatt Hotel

Athens, Greece

"Stop arguing. I'm coming to get you." Melis's hand
tightened on the phone. "Where are you, Phil?"

"At a tavern on the waterfront. The Delphi Hotel," Philip
Lontana said. "But I'm not going to involve you in this,
Melis. Go home."

"I will. We're both going to go home. And I'm already
involved. Did you think I was just going to sit around
doing nothing after I got that notification that you'd
deeded the island and the Last Home over to me? That's the
closest to a last will and testament I've ever seen. What
the hell's happening?"

"I had to turn responsible sometime."

Not Phil. He was as close to Peter Pan as a man in his
sixties could be. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid. I just wanted to take care of you. I know
we've had our ups and downs, but you've always stood by me
when I needed you. You've pulled me out of scrapes and
kept those bloodsuckers from--"

"I'll pull you out of this scrape too, if you'll tell me
what's happening."

"Nothing's happening. The ocean is unforgiving. You can
never tell when I'll make a mistake and never--"

"Phil."

"I've written it all down. It's on the Last Home."

"Good. Then you can read it to me when we're on our way
back to the island."

"That may not be possible." He paused. "I've been trying
to get in touch with Jed Kelby. He's not been answering my
calls."

"Bastard."

"Maybe. But a brilliant bastard. I've heard he's a genius."

"And where did you hear it? His publicity agent?"

"Don't be bitter. You've got to give the devil his due."

"No, I don't. I don't like rich men who think they can
make toys of everything in the whole damn world."

"You don't like rich men. Period," Phil said. "But I need
you to contact him. I don't know if I'll be able to reach
him."

"Of course you will. Though I don't know why you think you
have to do it. You've never called in help before."

"I need him. He's got the same passion I have and the
drive to make it happen." He paused. "Promise me you'll
get him for me, Melis. It's the most important thing I've
ever asked of you."

"You don't have to--"

"Promise me."

He wasn't going to give up. "I promise. Satisfied?"

"No, I hated to ask you. And I hate being in this spot. If

I hadn't been so stubborn, I wouldn't have had to--" He
drew a deep breath. "But that's water under the bridge. I
can't look back now. There's too much to look forward to."