Deep Waters

might sue."
    Jennifer lifted one shoulder in an elegant little shrug. "I doubt if that would do any good. I'm sure Gwendolyn and her friend, Rick Swinton, have made certain that the money is well protected."
    "Maybe nothing much will change after the spaceships fail to arrive," Charity suggested. "A friend of mine says that people who want to believe in something will often go on believing in it even in the face of overwhelming proof that it doesn't exist."
    "Your friend may be right." Jennifer's gaze shifted to a point just beyond Charity's right shoulder. Her eyes narrowed. "Some people who turned over their savings to a swindler might prefer to continue to believe rather than to admit they'd been conned. But others might get a little pissed when they discover the truth."
    Without waiting for a response, she twirled her shopping cart around with a single-handed grip on the handlebar. The cart obeyed instantly. It never even wobbled. Under Jennifer's guidance, it maneuvered down the aisle with the pinpoint precision of a fine European sports car.
    Charity watched in admiration. Some people had all the luck when it came to selecting shopping carts.
    "My, my. Little Miss California seems to be in a snit today," Gwendolyn Pitt drawled behind Charity. "And you can bet she isn't feeding that low-fat frozen dinner to Leighton. Oh, no. I expect that he'll be clogging up his arteries with beer and nachos down at the Cove Tavern again tonight. Sweet Jennifer is probably hoping that he'll conveniently drop dead from a heart attack."
    Charity turned reluctantly. Gwendolyn was in full Voyager regalia. Her long blue and white robes looked even more bizarre than usual against the mundane backdrop of a small-town grocery store.
    The guru look was an interesting contrast to the shrewd, assessing expression in Gwendolyn's eyes. Charity was fairly certain she could still see signs of the successful real estate broker beneath the exotic attire.
    "Hello, Gwendolyn. Ready for the big night?"
    "Of course. All the Voyagers are ready. We have been preparing ourselves for this night for months." Gwendolyn watched Jennifer disappear around the corner of the aisle, and then she switched her sharp gaze to Charity. "I'm sure everyone in town will find it fascinating."
    "You can bet we'll all be there on the bluff." Charity grabbed hold of her cart handle and prepared to escape. "Of course, if this fog doesn't lift, we might not be able to see the starships arrive."
    "Don't worry," Gwendolyn murmured. "The entire town will find out soon enough that something interesting has happened."
    Nothing yields so easily as water, yet nothing is so powerful. He who seeks to follow the Way must first acknowledge his own strengths and weaknesses.
    Hayden Stone's advice burned in Elias's mind as he whirled through the last movement of the twisting, gliding pattern. He breathed out and allowed the leather belt to seek its target. The end of the belt struck with the speed and accuracy of a snake. It wrapped itself around the empty aluminum pop can and crushed it.
    Elias drew a deep breath and bent down to pick up the crumpled can. Not good. He had used too much force. His control was not what it should have been today.
    He walked to the edge of the bluff and looked out over the fog-shrouded cove.
    His timing and calculation had been off during the entire practice session, and it didn't take an hour's contemplation on the Way of Water to figure out why.
    Memories of last night kept getting in the way of his concentration.
    Elias gazed into the gray mist as the images crashed through his head.
    Charity sitting down beside him at the edge of the reflecting pool.
    Charity sliding her fingers through his hair as she offered him her mouth.
    Charity looking into his eyes and knowing what the news of Keyworth's suicide attempt had done to him.
    Charity trembling with passion as she lay beneath him.
    He'd been wrong about one thing. There had been no problem making love to Charity on the futon. He could have made love to her on the floor or the beach or anywhere else, for that matter. The thing that worried him the most at the moment was not knowing when he would be able to make love to her again.
    The hot need simmered inside him. Last night had only whetted his appetite. Today, instead of satisfaction, there was only a deeper hunger.
    They had agreed that there would be no more games between them. But this morning she had made it clear that she was still prepared to