“So whatever is in those containers . . .” Gregori’s eyebrow rose even further.
“May very well hold the answers I need,” Beka said. “The problem is, if he is taking them down as far as the bottom of the trench, I can’t dive that far. I’ve gone down as far as I could and didn’t see anything, but he must be tucking them away in some hidden spot. The Selkies and Merpeople looked for anything unusual before they had to abandon their homes, but they are too frightened to go back and search any further.”
“Do you want us to try and grab him when he comes back up?” Alexei asked, always happy to take the direct route. “We could beat on him until he tells us where he hid the rest.”
Gregori snorted. “Use what little brains you have, my large friend. Trying to hold a Selkie on the ocean would be as much use as trying to hold a sunbeam on a clear day. To catch this one, we will have to wait until he is on land.”
“Oh, right,” Alexei said. “Then what will you do, Baba?”
“Don’t worry,” she said, a plan forming in her head as she watched the empty boat bob up and down on the swells. “I can’t dive down that far, but I know someone who can.”
* * *
WHEN THEY RETURNED to the shore where they had left Beka’s Karmann Ghia and the Riders’ motorcycles, Beka stared pensively at the fast but not very large boat they’d used to follow Kesh.
“I hate to say it, but I think we are going to need a larger boat than this for what I have in mind,” she said.
Alexei looked vaguely guilty. “Uh, that is probably just as well, Beka. We, uh, sort of borrowed this one, and I should probably get it back to its owner before it is missed.” He whistled a bar or two from an old Russian tune, gazing off into the distance so he wouldn’t have to meet her eyes.
“Alexei! Gregori! Don’t tell me you stole this boat!”
“Very well, Baba,” Gregori said placidly. “We will not tell you. But Alexei is correct; we should probably return it soon.”
Beka sighed. She was right back where she started, needing a boat, and only knowing of one she could use at a moment’s notice. At least Marcus already knew about her mission. And about Chewie, who was her secret weapon.
“That’s okay,” she said. “I think I know where I can get a boat that will take me out there. Then it is just a matter of finding the canisters and figuring out what Kesh has done to poison the water. Once I know the cause, hopefully I’ll be able to fix it. And then I can turn Kesh over to the Queen to face her wrath for everything he’s done.” She said it all so confidently, she almost convinced herself.
“It sounds like you have everything under control,” Gregori said. Beka thought she detected a strange tone to his voice. “Perhaps you no longer need us after all?”
She peered at him, and then at Alexei, who still wasn’t meeting her glance. This wasn’t about the stolen boat, then. Or at least, not only about the stolen boat.
“Out with it,” she said. “What’s going on?”
Alexei shrugged, like a mountain shifting during an earthquake. “I have a bad feeling.”
“A bad feeling?” Beka repeated. She scowled at Gregori, hoping he would be slightly more forthcoming than “a bad feeling.”
Gregori let out a tiny sigh. “We are concerned about Day,” he said. “He should have been here long ago, and we’ve had no word from him at all. We contacted Barbara and Bella, and neither of them has seen him. It is . . . worrisome.”
“Worrisome, yes,” Alexei said, absently chewing on the braided end of his beard. “I t’ink maybe that sonofabitch has gone and found some trouble without us. That is not right.”
That was an understatement, Beka thought. She didn’t really understand just how the Riders communicated with one another, but she’d never heard of one being lost without the others knowing where he was, and more or less what he was up to. And if Alexei said he had a bad feeling about Mikhail Day, bad enough that his accent was this thick, then he and Gregori had to be truly anxious.
“Look,” Beka said, “you guys have been a huge help. I never would have tracked down Kesh’s involvement without you. But I’m sure I can handle it from here. You two should go look for Mikhail.”
Gregori gazed at her solemnly for a moment, assessing, and then he gave a small nod, his usually expressionless face hinting at equal parts remorse and relief. “When it comes time, do not try to tackle this Kesh by yourself, Baba. Tell the Queen your suspicions and she will send her guards to assist you.”