Deep Waters

wrinkled her nose. "Uh-huh."
    "Why?"
    "What do you mean, why?"
    "I just wondered why you believed me, that's all. It's not like I've given you any proof of my intentions."
    "Contrary to popular opinion, I don't find you to be nearly as mysterious and enigmatic as everyone else seems to think you are."
    It wasn't, he realized, the answer he was looking for. But he did not know what that other, more elusive answer was, so he would have to settle for this one. "What about the photos?" he asked. Charity shuddered. "I wish I could burn them, but I'm afraid that wouldn't solve the problem."
    "The good news is that they're color Polaroids. That means it's highly unlikely that there are any duplicates."
    Charity looked up quickly. "Are you sure?"
    "The photographer would have had to take the originals to a sophisticated photo lab to get them copied. And no reputable lab would handle them. That's the reason for using a Polaroid in the first place."
    "Well, that's something at least I'll take the pictures to Phyllis first thing in the morning before we leave for Seattle. Lord knows what I'll say to her, but she needs to know what's happened."
    "Want me to go with you?"
    "No. It would only humiliate her further if she knew you had seen them."
    "You may be right. Although, judging by those pictures, she's not exactly the shy, retiring type. Who would have guessed that the mayor of Whispering Waters Cove was into whips and leather?"
    "Someone knew," Charity whispered. "And he tried to use the information. I wonder what piece of slime did this to her."
    "Rick Swinton." The stunned shock in Phyllis's face transmuted itself into tight-lipped rage. Her hand trembled as she stared at the photos she held. "That lousy son of a bitch. That goddamned, sleazy bastard. I told him I wouldn't pay. I was so sure he was bluffing."
    "Swinton?" Charity was briefly startled. "Well, I guess that makes a certain kind of sense. He is definitely a low-life."
    "The lowest form. And to think I thought he was devastatingly sexy when he first came to see me last month." Phyllis's mouth twisted. "He wanted to talk about reaching an accommodation between the community and the Voyagers, he said. Suggested we go out to dinner. Insisted we drive to another town so that we could have some privacy."
    Charity sat tensely on the pale sofa in Phyllis's elegant taupe and beige living room. She tried to think of something helpful or supportive to say. Nothing much came to mind. "That's when he took the photos?"
    "No. That was just the start of our affair. He didn't take the pictures until a couple of weeks ago."
    "You've been seeing him ever since the Voyagers came to town?" No wonder Phyllis had taken a rather laid-back attitude toward the problem of the Voyagers' presence in Whispering Waters Cove, Charity thought. Phyllis had been laid-back in more ways than one.
    "You can't know what it was like. Rick was incredible in bed. I had never met a man with enough stamina to keep up with me until I met him."
    Charity swallowed. "I see."
    Phyllis stared at the bowl of cream roses on the glass coffee table. "He was the only man who had ever really responded to my needs. He understood the fantasy. But I broke it off after he took the pictures. He said it was all part of the game, but it made me nervous. I had to think of my career. Then he came to me with his demands for blackmail."
    "The bastard."
    "I tried to get the photos back. I searched his motor home for them the night those silly Voyagers were all down on the beach waiting for the spaceships. But I couldn't find them."
    So it had been Phyllis she and Elias had seen leaving Rick Swinton's motor home, Charity thought. One small mystery was solved.
    "It's none of my business, but I think you did the right thing when you refused to pay blackmail," Charity said. "Obviously when you didn't meet his demands, he tried to retaliate by leaving those photos under my door. Not exactly a brilliant stroke of revenge."
    "He must have believed that you'd use them against me somehow. If nothing else, he wanted to humiliate me. Rick has a thing about getting even with people. But I thought he was just bluffing with those photos."
    "A real charmer."
    Phyllis dragged her eyes away from the roses and gave Charity a searching glance. "You didn't fall for his charms."
    "Not my type."
    "Lucky you. It irritated him, you know."
    "What did?"
    Phyllis shrugged. "The fact that you refused to go Out with him. He mentioned it once or twice. I