Risky Business

she heard the splash at the side of the boat, she was at the rail like a shot.
    “Jonas, did something happen? Why—” She found herself looking down the barrel of a .22.
    “Señorita.” Manchez tossed his mask and snorkel onto a bench as he climbed over the side. “Buenas noches.”
    “What are you doing here?” She struggled to sound indignant as the blood rushed from her face. No, she wasn’t brave, she realized. She wasn’t brave at all. “We had a deal.”
    “You’re an amateur,” he told her. “Like Sharpe was an amateur. You think we’d just forget about the money?”
    “I don’t know anything about the money Jerry took.” She gripped the rail. “I’ve told you that all along.”
    “The boss decided you were a loose end, pretty lady. You do us a favor and make this delivery. We do you a favor. We kill you quickly.”
    She didn’t look at the gun again. She didn’t dare. “If you keep killing your divers, you’re going to be out of business.”
    “We’re finished in Cozumel. When your friend brings up the case, I take it and go to Merida. I live in style. You don’t live at all.”
    She wanted to sit because her knees were shaking. She stood because she thought she might never be able to again. “If you’re finished in Cozumel, why did you set up this drop?”
    “Clancy likes things tidy.”
    “Clancy?” The name David Merriworth had mentioned, Liz remembered, and strained to hear any sound from the water.
    “There’s a few thousand in cocaine down there, that’s all. Afew thousand dollars in the case coming up. The boss figures it’s worth the investment to make it look like you were doing the dealing with Sharpe. Then you two have an argument and shoot each other. Case closed.”
    “You killed Erika too, didn’t you?”
    “She asked too many questions.” He lowered the gun. “You ask too many questions.”
    Light flooded the boat and the water so quickly that Liz’s first instinct was to freeze. Before the next reaction had fully registered, she was tumbling into the water and diving blind.
    How could she warn Jonas? Liz groped frantically in the water as lights played on the surface above her. She had no tanks, no mask, no protection. Any moment he’d be surfacing, unaware of any danger. He had no protection but her.
    Without equipment, she’d be helpless in a matter of moments. She fought to stay down, keeping as close to the ladder as she dared. Her lungs were ready to burst when she felt the movement in the water. Liz turned toward the beam of light.
    When he saw her, his heart nearly stopped. She looked like a ghost clinging to the hull of the boat. Her hair was pale and floating out in the current, her face was nearly as white as his light. Before his mind could begin to question, he was pushing his mouthpiece between her lips and giving her air. There could be no communication but emotion. He felt the fear. Jonas steadied the spear gun in his arm and surfaced.
    “Mr. Sharpe.” Moralas caught him in the beam of a spotlight. Liz rose up beside him. “We have everything under control.” On the deck of her boat, Liz saw Manchez handcuffed and flanked by two divers. “Perhaps you will give my men and their prisoner a ride back to Cozumel.”
    She felt Jonas tense. The spear gun was set and aimed. Even through the mask, she could see his eyes burning, burning asonly ice can. “Jonas, please.” But he was already starting up the ladder. She hauled herself over the rail and tumbled onto the deck, cold and dripping. “Jonas, you can’t. Jonas, it’s over.”
    He barely heard her. All his emotion, all his concentration was on the man who stood only feet away. Their eyes were locked. It gave him no satisfaction to watch the blood drain from Manchez’s face, or the knowledge leap frantically into his eyes. It was what he’d come for, what he’d promised himself. The medallion on the edge of his chain dangled and reminded him of his brother. His brother was dead. No satisfaction. Jonas lowered the gun.
    Manchez tossed back his head. “I’ll get out,” he said quietly. The smile started to spread. “I’ll get out.”
    The spear shot out and plowed into the deck between Manchez’s feet. Liz saw the smile freeze on his face an instant before one formed on Jonas’s. “I’ll be waiting.”
     
    Could it really be over? It was all Liz could think when she awoke, warm and dry, in her own bed. She was safe, Jonas was safe, and the smuggling ring on Cozumel