Sea Haven 01 - Water Bound

laughter changed everything. Nothing mattered. Not pain. Not what was in that storage unit. Only Rikki and the way she just let him find his way. He had his identity in place and he’d sent away for his
    “lost” items. He even managed a police report in San Francisco where poor Levi Hammond had been mugged. His mother was Russian, his father American. He was born in Chicago. He liked his new past. It was all very normal.
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    He let his mind rest while he went on autopilot. His body found its way to the third row, where several smaller units were housed in a long line, all looking exactly the same. It didn’t matter, his feet took him to the eighteenth mini garage. Using the hem of his shirt, he punched in his code. He kept the code the same, as one nobody would know but him. Nevertheless, he entered the storage unit with extreme caution, going on full alert the moment the door unlocked.
    Before entering the enclosed room, he went very still, reaching with his senses, ensuring there was no one lying in wait. Next he inspected the door itself for hidden traps before cautiously stepping inside. The suitcase was exactly positioned where he left it, but he didn’t approach it. He studied the floor for signs of disturbance first. There was a light sprinkling of dust over the concrete surrounding the single shelf where the suitcase rested. He could see no prints and the spiderwebs were intact. Still, he was careful as he made his approach, studying the case from every angle before he touched it.
    He was tempted to open it and inspect the contents, but he didn’t want to chance being discovered, better to walk away while no one was around.
    He walked back to the truck and slid in. “Let’s get out of here.”
    Rikki obediently started the engine and drove onto the highway, a small frown on her face. “You think someone is going to come after you, don’t you?”
    “Yes.” His reply was deliberately abrupt, clipped, a signal to back off.
    “But if you were Sid Kozlov, won’t everyone think you died? The odds of you surviving were minuscule. They have to believe you’re dead. They only recovered a few bodies, it’s a big ocean. Eventually others may wash onto shore, but that isn’t guaranteed and the more time that passes, the less likely it is.”
    He kept his eyes on the rearview mirror. “They won’t accept that I’m dead, Rikki. They’ll come looking.” She glanced at him, but he didn’t look at her—he was too busy watching the road around them. “Do you want to go to the boat?” he asked.
    “Yes, but we’re not going to,” she said firmly. “I’m taking you home and you’re going to rest. You’ve been up too much today. And who is
    ‘they’? Have you figured that out?”
    He shrugged, not arguing with her. He wanted her to at least be on the water, even for a short time in the harbor, but he was hanging on by a thread.
    “I’ll tell you when we’re in bed. In the dark.”
    “I’m fine with that.”
    Rikki drove in silence, wanting Lev to rest. She found herself enormously pleased that he’d wanted to go to the boat. That told her he was 167

    aware that she had difficulties if she was away from the water too long. A storm was supposed to hit around midnight, and she intended to sit in her swing on the porch and enjoy every second of it. Lev was looking gray beneath his skin. She doubted if anyone else would have noticed the changes in him, but she was aware of every breath he took, and he was hurting again.
    When she would have turned onto the road leading to the farm, Lev stopped her. “Keep driving. Isn’t there a back entrance?”
    “I can take the road just past this entrance, but it’s much longer and leads through the forest, so it’s quite a distance coming in through the back.
    The back gate is kept pad-locked.”
    “I take it that no one travels on that road?”
    “Rarely. There’s two undeveloped properties off this road and I’ve never seen anyone come out this far, but then I don’t take it that often.” She glanced at him. “It’s really long.”
    “Good. Drive in about a mile and then stop on the road and let me examine it.”
    “For what?”
    “It rained, remember? This is a dirt road. I’ll recognize the tire tracks of the bastard stalking you.”
    She turned that over in her mind, afraid to hope. “Lev, are you certain there was someone up on the ridge?”
    “I told you I wouldn’t lie to you and I won’t. He loves fire, Rikki. It would be