Chapter 106
"Ryan?"
To say Ryan was surprised was an understatement. The person who had inadvertently started the events rolling which led to his ongoing obsession, was standing before him. He hadn't interacted with the other two as much while he was working with Cleo's step mother, Sam, all those years ago. He had to think for a moment about what their names were. Rikki, Zane's….what were they then? He couldn't remember if Rikki and him were together at the time. He did know that Zane was still completely hung up on Rikki, and wasn't really giving Sophie a second glance, despite her obvious interest. The other woman…B…Bella, that was it.
Rikki responded, realising no one had spoken for a few minutes (and Cairo was looking increasingly uncomfortable as everyone stared gobsmacked, something that they didn't think was possible for the confident man to feel).
"My client owns that necklace that you want to take, and I am here to try and get it off you, Cleo and Bella had some vacation days, so they came along,"
"Well…" Ryan said, "I have bought it fair and square off Cairo here, and I've travelled to pick this thing up. I'm not leaving without it."
"I suppose that is your answer, my dears," Cairo said. After checking Ryan's ID and paperwork, he handed the case over to the other man, and shook his hand. "Enjoy."
Cairo proceeded to disappear into one of the other rooms of the complex. Erin followed.
"There is no way we can persuade you to part with it?" Cleo asked Ryan pleadingly.
"I'm afraid not," he said, clutching the small case closer to his chest. It was a subtle display of protectiveness. Cleo looked away, disappointed.
"Well, it was nice to see you again, ladies," Ryan said, starting to backing towards the door, "Good bye."
They watched Ryan leave, feeling slightly gobsmacked.
"Seriously," Rikki said exasperated. "Why can't anything be simple for us?"
"With our track record are you really that surprised?" Bella said. Rikki just tilted her head back with a huffed sigh, her annoyance obvious.
"I just can't believe that it was Ryan," Cleo said. "Of all people in the world that buy recovered pieces of jewellery, I did not peg the geologist that used to work with Sam would,"
The girls heard Ryan's boat motor start, and they started to walk outside.
"What do we do now?" Bella asked.
"We follow him," Rikki said. "Maybe we can find a way to recover it ourselves,"
"You mean…" Cleo trailed off. Rikki nodded with a sly smile. "But Rikki, we could get into serious trouble…" Cleo protested.
"Oh come on Cleo, it's the only way to get it back, and aren't you forgetting something? I would rather my kids not be brought up by some crazy mermaid colony. Do you really want that?"
"Of course not!" Cleo exclaimed, indignant.
"Then we agree – we find a way to take the thing and get it back to Varine,"
Cleo sighed, and nodded begrudgingly.
Ryan had just left and was starting to get further away.
"I'll follow him," Rikki said. "You guys tell the others, and catch up,"
Bella and Cleo didn't get time to respond. After Rikki had a quick scan to see if any human eyes were watching, she dived into the water and began to follow Ryan's boat.
Typical.
"You go with Rikki, Cleo," Bella said, "I'll go to the others. The mindspeak connection will be better if there is an intermediate mind filling the distance. Then it won't be hard for Rikki to hear the others."
"Okay, sounds good," Cleo nodded. "Catch up quick,"
And with that, the two of them dove into the water, heading in different directions.
OoOoO
When Ryan had returned to his boat, he took the necklace out of its case and admired it. It was truly stunning. He would figure out what it could do and prove to the world that magic and mythical creatures truly existed. He had become paranoid that it would be stolen. He was dubious about how trustworthy people in the treasure hunting industry were. He had heard about treasures hunters being skilled in the arts of the legerdemain- that pieces acquired suddenly vanish from their secure cases. Therefore, he placed the necklace somewhere that no one could take it without his noticing.
OoOoO
Erin came back into the office, after helping to unpack a few new supplies. She was surprised to find the trio gone – she proceeded to look around the base but couldn't find them. Where had they gone? No boats were missing. Maybe some of their other friends had picked them up. Well, it saved her a trip. She grinned. She had gotten money out of that for very little effort on her part. What a great bargain.
OoOoO
Cleo turbosped and caught up to Rikki quickly. Rikki was swimming at a leisurely pace, the boat going much slower than the speed they had been swimming recently.
'Can you hear me?' Bella asked the girls that were on the mainland.
Amongst the bustle of the noisy marketplace, they heard the voice as if Bella was right there with them.
'Yeah, what is it?' Jessie asked, feeling anxious.
'We weren't able to get the artefact so we're going to try and obtain it from Ryan when we can. Rikki and Cleo have gone ahead, but we're going to catch up'
'Who's Ryan?' Emma asked.
'Oh, he is the one who has taken the necklace – he used to work with Sam,'
'Okay, we'll head off. See you soon,' Jessie said.
Once they had convinced the excited Khasha to put down a ukulele that was on sale, they set off in the water. With the speed they were going, they would catch up in no time.
OoOoO
'How do you think the kids are doing, Rikki?' Cleo asked her friend.
'They're strong. I think Varine will be treating them fine – the boys might be a little isolated, but they have each other. I think we would feel it if something happened to them – you know being able to communicate into their minds and everything…I think Varine knows that, and wouldn't risk us giving up on the mission because our kids have been hurt."
'Yeah, you're right,' Cleo said. 'Thanks for that,'
Rikki nodded. She had hope. Besides, being worried would not help the current mission. Retrieving the necklace was their ticket to free their kids. She wouldn't let Ryan of all people get in the way of that.
Bella caught up shortly after. A few minutes following this, the rest of the team arrived.
OoOoO
Ryan stopped at another smaller island, apparently to refuel. He dropped anchor and locked up - going ashore. The mermaids stayed submerged beneath the boat for a moment. The last thing they needed was a local noticing their heads bobbing above the water, and drawing attention to them.
Emma poked her head above the water – the coast looked clear.
'Anna, come with me, and see if we can grab it quickly,'
'I'll check to see when he is coming back,' Jessie volunteered.
They pulled themselves up at the back of the boat – Cleo gave them a hand, moving the water up, pushing their heavy tails on board. Anna promptly dried the three of them off.
'Why can't I go?' Khasha asked. She had been somewhat mournful when her tail had reappeared when they swam off. She was finding this whole thing super exciting.
Rikki just raised an eyebrow. Khasha grinned sheepishly.
Checking around the corner, they tried the door. It was locked of course. Jessie walked onto the dock, and kept watch further away from the boat.
Focusing, Emma froze the lock. Anna unfroze it, heating it quickly. Emma then froze it again. The rapid heating and cooling had made it fragile and so when Anna pulled it roughly, the door opened. Pleased, they stepped inside and began rummaging around carefully.
"Got anything?" Emma asked.
"Not yet," her partner replied.
'I don't think it's here,' Emma said after a few more minutes.
'Where else would it be?' Cleo replied.
'Guys, he's coming back now,' Jessie said.
Emma and Anna made sure that the place looked untouched and started to leave.
'Guys, get out of there!'
Cutting it close, Emma and Anna jumped off the boat. Ryan arrived and was momentarily puzzled at the drops of water that landed on the deck in front of him. As he moved to pull up the anchor, the light of the setting sun caught on part of the necklace. The glint caught Jessie's eye. Her heart sank.
'The necklace, it's around his neck,' She revealed to the others. 'How on earth are we going to get it now?'
A/N: Hello people! Thanks for reading! It amazes me to this day that people are still reading this :P In June I will have been writing this series for about six years :P I started this when I was 15 people - I'm going to be 22 this year. Wow. That is a scary thought.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, tell me what you think. Hopefully the next chapter will be a little more action packed. Hopefully it will not take too long :P However, I am now doing my masters in speech pathology...so there'll be a chapter when I next have free time, haha :P
Thanks so much to the following people for reviewing - I love you guys:
The Writer Es, CrazyHayniac, YaleAceBella12, Guest, Angel Ruth, The Airhead (and her girls)
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See ya next time :)
-Krystalslazz