Chapter 22

The Harts spent the afternoon looking into the history of the whales around the island. Based on the movements they found for the whales, they figured the Russians had been on their way to New Zealand when they discovered the pod of whales the divers had seen the day before and followed them to the Bora Bora area.

What they couldn't figure out yet was how Captain Paul, Nico, Paul, and Hazel fit into the whole event.

When they arrived back at the resort, the Harts decided to take a stroll along the beach before going to their bungalow to change for dinner.

"Ahhh, Darling," Jennifer started, walking on the high side of Jonathan to keep out of the water, "What a glorious place. I wish my mind was not distracted by thoughts of whales, whalers, drugs and whatever else comes our way." She sighed heavily.

"I agree. The beach is lovely." He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "But it pales in comparison to you. And while spending our time on those things is less than ideal, everything's better with you." He pulled her to him and kissed her.

"You are good for my ego. I think I'll keep you around," Jennifer said breathlessly, pulling her head back to gaze into his bright blue eyes.

"I certainly hope so, Mrs. Hart."

"Mrs. Hart," she repeated, tasting the words. "I really like the sound of that." They turned and resumed their walk. "You know, I keep thinking about our dive with those beautiful creatures. What an amazing experience that was. Thank you, Darling."

"It sure was. And there's no one else I would rather have experienced it with."

They walked up to the door of their bungalow. Jonathan grinned at her, and her knees began to feel like jello. "Why don't you come into my room, Mr. Hart." Jonathan's arm slid from her shoulders to the small of her back, and he used his hand to spin her around to face him. He brought his other hand to her face and pulled her tight against him, again kissing her. The passion in this one was almost more than she could handle, and she reached out to the door behind her to steady herself, except the door didn't hold, it swung open at her touch. Jennifer was thankful for Jonathan's tight hold on her; otherwise, she would have landed on her backside. "Jonathan…"

"Stay here, Darling," he responded, stepping through the door.

He heard her gasp as she saw the condition of their bungalow. She stepped into the room behind him and moved to the left of the door. She wanted to stay out of the way until he gave her the all-clear. Jennifer watched as Jonathan carefully stepped into the sitting area and towards their bedroom.

It was about that time she saw the movement behind Jonathan. She called out his name as a large man, dressed in black with a ski mask on, jumped up from the other side of the couch and landed on Jonathan's back.

Jonathan's knees buckled from the added unexpected weight, causing the two men to fall to the ground. Jonathan's quick reflexes allowed him to move out from under the intruder and come up swinging. The figure ducked and lunged, grabbing Jonathan by the waist and pushing him into the wall, knocking the wind out of his chest. For the second time, Jennifer yelled his name as the figure pushed off Jonathan and ran out the door beside her. She ran to Jonathan's side, "Darling! Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he answered, trying to stand and catch his breath at the same time. Jennifer slid her arms around him to keep him steady and move him to sit on the couch a moment. "Could you tell who that was?"

"No, but he was big."

"Hey, are you guys ready…" Paul started in a jovial tone, but it quickly turned to one of concern. "What happened?"

"We just arrived to find someone in our bungalow." She reached up and brushed the hair back from Jonathan's face and smiled at him, "Jonathan ran him off. You didn't see anyone run from here."

"No, we didn't see anyone. Are you ok?" Hazel stepped in, her nursing instincts taking over.

Jonathan straightened up, "Yes, I am fine. Thank you."

"Are you sure you still want to go to dinner?" Paul asked.

Jonathan looked at Jennifer before answering, "Yes. We just need to change. Hang on a moment."

After they changed, the four of them made their way to the restaurant, chatting about diving and getting to know each other a little better. Once they were all seated at a table, Jennifer, Jonathan, Paul and Hazel dispensed with the small talk and began talking whales. "Right now, Japan and Russia are the world's leading whaling nations, despite the Endangered Species Act of 1973. That act is supposed to provide for the conservation of the endangered or threatened species and the conservation of the ecosystems on which they depend," Paul began educating the group.

Jennifer asked, "So in the traveling you've done, you have also started to study whales?"

"Something like that. I watched the industry while I was stationed in Japan and was frustrated by it. Then when I was moved to Russia and saw their industry was nearly as big, I began to get angry."

"Paul has made it something of a pet project to help save the whales since then," Hazel offered.

Jennifer looked at Jonathan, wondering how the person Nico had described could possibly be the same one with whom they were currently having dinner. Catching his gaze, she guessed he was wondering the same thing.

"Did you know that in 1970, these two countries were responsible for nearly half of the whales caught in the world? And those are just the ones reported. There is heavy speculation Russia doesn't report all they catch."

"Seriously?" Jennifer wondered aloud. The idea made her stomach turn.

"Speculation. So what you are saying, Paul, is that no one really knows the number of whales they catch," Jonathan sought clarification. "And any number currently given is both wrong, and probably too low."

"Exactly. That is what I'm saying."