Page 97 of Perfume Girl

She shook her head, amused, and then changed the subject. “I hope Ruben makes it.”

I shifted gears as we hit the waves. “He’s in great hands.”

“So you’ve met Ruben before today?” she asked. “You’re at the center a lot?”

“As much as I can be, yes.”

“My man of mystery is opening up.”

Reaching out, I rested my hand on her inner thigh and she placed her palm on my hand. The connection felt good. Iwasopening up and now all I needed was for her to do so, too. She was still so guarded.

Our gazes scanned the ocean and now and again Raquel raised the binoculars to take a better look.

“Over there!” She pointed east.

Turning sharply, I directed the boat toward what looked like an orange canoe and at the same time called our location in to the coastguard.

“Oh, God,” Raquel was seeing what I saw.

A rush of dread hit me when we neared and I realized the canoe was upside down. “Hold the wheel,” I shouted.

“Are you going in?” Raquel sounded panicked. “You need a life vest.”

“I need to get under there.” I leaped up onto the edge of the boat and dove into the ocean. When I hit the water the chill felt like knives stabbing my flesh. I swam swiftly towards the canoe.

The sea rose and fell with a dangerous swell. No wonder she couldn’t get back, the tide was fierce out here and those dark clouds were ominous.

After grabbing the side of the canoe I drew in several deep breaths and sank below the water, bracing myself for possibly finding a drowned girl as I swept my hand along for where a body could be.

Surfacing, I sucked in air. “She’s not here.” I flipped the canoe right side up. “She’ll have a life vest on.”

Raquel pointed urgently. “Over there!”

A freak wave rolled me upward and then lowered me and I saw the girl floating with her life jacket on…and she looked unconscious. The engine thrummed behind me letting me know Raquel was close behind.

“Astor,” she called out. “I saw a fin.”

I spun round to look at her. “Shark or dolphin?”

“Get in,” she was panicked. “Get in the boat.”

“What kind? It makes a difference.”

“I don’t know.” She looked freaked. “I think it’s a shark.”

I tried to follow her line of sight but the swell prevented me seeing pretty much anything other than a bob of orange. “I can reach her.”

“Oh, my God, there’s another one.”

“You know that thing we’re working on with you?” I called up.

“What thing?” she yelled.

“That sense of adventure.” I wiped water out of my eyes. “Now’s a good time for it kick in.”

She called after me, something about a life vest but it was hard to hear. With broad breaststrokes I closed in on the woman who was pale and still. As I got closer I noticed she was Japanese, and she looked like a teenager. Relieved we’d found her, I allowed myself to glance around for any sharks. I sent out a prayer they’d not dived beneath us.

A trickle of blood flowed down her brow. Maybe she’d hit her head on the canoe. Maybe fatigue had caused her to drop her paddle and she fell in trying to grab it.