The Turning Tides - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,30

trendiest, most fashion-forward people around. I oohed and ahhed over each piece, listening as Cruz described the group show at design school he’d taken top honors in.

“When it got around that I knew Evelyn Pond, everyone at school wanted to be my best friend.”

“The famous Evie,” I laughed. “I remember the day you first met her.”

“Did you hear? She’s taking me and Brad to Argentina next week to meet my sisters! In her private jet!”

“That should be nice,” I smiled.

“Nice?” he exclaimed, “You can’t even imagine! I went from being an only child to having two sisters– just like that!”

“Oh… I can imagine,” I said with amusement.

Brad cleared his throat from the doorway. “Marina… Will you stay for dinner?” he asked anxiously.

I looked to Cruz, and nodded back at Brad, “I’d love to.” He smiled and headed back to the kitchen.

“Can you believe how great my life has turned out?” Cruz bubbled, shaking his head in disbelief. “Isn’t it amazing what a difference a few months can make? I feel like an entirely new person!”

“Amazing,” I agreed, “But don’t change too much.”

Cruz was different… lighter and more flippant than ever. He trusted Brad completely, and was blindly traipsing through the minefield of first love. I couldn’t help but worry that he should watch his step.

“Don’t you miss Aptos at all?” I asked, looking out the window at the twinkling cityscape.

He followed my gaze, chortling, “Look at that gorgeous skyline. You can keep your foul sunshine and healthy ways– I’ll take the city any day!” Cruz had clearly embraced his life among the well-heeled sophisticates that called the towering metropolitan apartments home.

When dinner was ready, Brad called us out to a beautifully set table, and we sat down to a delicious meal of Chicken Cacciatore. Brad was really sweet, I thought– not at all creepy like Yuri. I should probably try and give him the benefit of the doubt. Then I suddenly had the awful realization that he may have been the one that had slipped away from me on the rooftop.

I watched him carefully over dinner. He lived in the building… He had a tall, athletic build. Like Yuri, he was under Evie’s protection. He could have seen me leave this morning and followed me to my mermaid meeting.

“So, Brad, what did you do today?” I asked him.

He looked startled, “I– I went to a client meeting.”

“With who?” I asked.

“Geeze! Aren’t you Little Miss Nosy?” scolded Cruz.

“That’s okay,” said Brad, telling us both about a new account he was trying to land decorating a high-end realtor’s office. I wasn’t sure if I believed him or not.

After dinner I begged off, skipping coffee and thanking them both for their kind hospitality. Cruz wanted to escort me to my Dad’s apartment, but I insisted I could find my way up one floor on my own.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to make it in okay?”

I nodded and hugged him, walking out. “Hey Cruz,” I paused.

“What?”

“That’s what she said.”

I could hear him laughing as he closed the door.

~

Chapter Eight

ARMED

~

I walked into the basement security center in the morning, finding myself alone with Yuri. He stood respectfully, but I averted my eyes and skirted around him. I’d decided the best way to deal with Yuri was to simply ignore him. Unlike Boris, I wasn’t entirely convinced that his bizarre obsession with me was a thing of the past. I still didn’t like the way he looked at me.

I turned the corner to look in the lounge for Paul, and found him sitting on the couch with a laptop. He snapped it shut and set it aside.

“Hey there,” I waved. “Ready for my de-bugging lesson?”

“Yes ma’am,” he replied, gesturing to the couch next to him. I set my purse down between us and looked at the gadget he produced from his breast pocket.

“This,” he held up what appeared to be an old cell phone, “is an electronic detection device. This baby can detect GPS trackers, hidden cameras– even wireless phone taps.”

He led me out into the parking garage, stopping at one of Evie’s sports cars and demonstrating how to sweep it both inside and out, showing me how to adjust it to test for different transmission frequencies. He pointed out some of the less obvious places that a bug or tracker might be hidden.

He motioned to a row of cars and handed me the device, “Go to it.”

I took it from him with a grin and started in on the first car in the row.