Deep Waters

back to the main road.
    His car was parked behind a stand of fir trees. He yanked open the door, leaped into the driver's seat, and started the engine. He did not turn on his head lights until he was a hundred yards down the road.
    Elias waited at the edge of the drive for a few minutes, curious to see whether Swinton would head back toward the Voyagers' compound or into town. The headlights turned left when they reached the intersection. Toward Whispering Waters Cove.
    Elias walked slowly back to the cottage. He went up the porch steps and opened the front door. He removed his shoes and went into the house.
    Crazy Otis was muttering anxiously beneath his covered cage.
    "It's all right, Otis. I'm here."
    Otis calmed and then, true to form, turned a bit surly. "Hsss."
    "My sentiments, exactly." Elias did not turn on the lights. He went to the window Swinton had used for his breaking and entering. "He either got lucky or he was watching the place all evening. When he saw me leave to take Charity home, he probably assumed I'd spend the night at her place."
    "Heh-heh-heh."
    "Yeah. Heh-heh-heh. Little did he know that I was using the evening as a Tal Kek Chara exercise in self-discipline and restraint." Elias gazed out into the night. "Idiot." He paused. "In case you're wondering, Otis, I was referring to myself, not Swinton."
    "Heh-heh-heh."
    Elias walked through the small cottage. The bare decor left few potential hiding places. It would not have taken Swinton long to go through the limited possibilities.
    "I don't like guests who forget to remove their shoes, Otis."
    Elias was not surprised to see that the only thing that appeared to have been disturbed was the carved chest in the bedroom. One glance inside revealed that Swinton had pawed through the contents.
    The one item in the chest that Elias cared about, Hayden Stone's journal, was still safe at the bottom. He picked it up and turned it in his hands. He had not been able to bring himself to read it yet.
    He replaced the journal and closed the lid of the chest slowly. It was possible that, having struck out at the house, Swinton had headed into town in order to break into Charms & Virtues. Elias hoped he wouldn't make too much of a mess.
    "Everyone here in Whispering Waters Cove seems to think I'm a man of mystery, Otis." He went into the bathroom to turn on the shower. "Hope they're not too disappointed when they find out I'm just an innocent, hardworking shopkeeper with no ulterior real estate motives."
    "Heh-heh-heh."
    Elias emerged from the shower a few minutes later. He rolled out the futon and settled down on it. He folded his arms behind his head and contemplated the shadowy ceiling.
    "So, Otis, what was it like, sleeping in Charity's bedroom?"
    "Heh-heh-heh."

6

    Water is deepest beneath the place where it appears the most calm on the surface.

    —"On the Way of Water," from the journal of Hayden Stone

    The sight of Phyllis Dartmoor striding briskly into Whispers on Saturday morning did not brighten Charity's day. The mayor of Whispering Waters Cove looked even more determined and aggressive than usual. Charity wished she could duck out of the back door, but there wasn't time.
    That would have been the coward's way out, any way, she told herself. It was just unfortunate that she'd had very little sleep, having spent the long night in stead lying awake, trying to analyze Elias.
    It had not been a productive task. She had replayed the final scene at her front door a thousand times, and by dawn she had been forced to conclude that she'd had a narrow escape.
    Sure, she had laughed at the time, even teased Elias. But in the cold, harsh light of day, it was clear that she had been in an unfamiliar, extraordinarily reckless mood last night. Make that the whole of the last week. Playing with fire, that's what she was doing. Not like her at all. That kiss on the bluff a few days ago had done weird things to her.
    Amazing what could happen to one's normal sense of caution when one realized that one no longer suffered from panic attacks in a man's embrace.
    Today it was breathtakingly obvious that she could easily have been swept up into a very dangerous liaison last night. And it would have been her own fault. She had spent the whole evening flirting outrageously. She had wanted Elias to lose control again, the way he had on the bluff. She had wanted to see the passion flare in his eyes, feel his strong, sexy hands on her, know that she could turn him on.
    Thank