SAMM I AM

Vicki Corcoran’s POV

Consuela was right; it was going to take a while to feel right again. My blood was already thin after my kidnapping; having Caroline treat me like a juice-box a little over a week later? Bad news.

I needed a blood transfusion, but Nicholas’s blood wasn’t compatible, and he had vampire blood inside him. It allowed him to heal quickly and made him immune to vampire venom last night, thank Luna. Alessandro told him the effects would only last a few days, maybe less since he’d used it for healing his gunshot wound and the slashes Caroline gave him. No one knew what would happen if Consuela used mermaid blood, and human blood would require a visit to a hospital and an explanation I couldn’t give. When my Pack representatives arrived, we’d see if any of them had my blood type.

I turned on the news, resting back against the pillows in the bedroom at Alessandro’s Coven. The coverage was breathless yet shallow; the police hadn’t released all the details yet. A photo of bodies stacked high, decapitated heads piled like cannonballs on top, couldn’t be shown without blurring it out.

I pulled out my phone and started checking messages. My family flying home from their time at Mermaid Beach didn’t say much. I sent a group text, telling everyone I overdid it last night and was spending the day resting up with my husband.

I was watching the weather when my phone buzzed with an incoming call. It was Linda Cartwright, my mermaid friend and reality show producer. “Morning Linda, how is the party going?” I’d made sure she was around for the SAMM, Sharkbait’s Australian Mermaid Mixer.

“It worked, Vicki! I found the one for me!”

“WHAT?”

“His name is Commander Matt Rooney; he is the Commanding Officer of Clearance Diving Team Four out of the Naval Base near Perth. He’s four years older than me, never married, and OH GODDESS is he great in the sack,” she said dreamily.

“Back up a bit, Linda. Tell me how it happened.”

“I slept all afternoon and then worked until one in the morning instead of hitting the welcome party last night. I was finishing up for some deadlines, and I had to talk to my people in California. The time difference sucks, right?” Bedtime in Australia was early morning in the States, especially on the west coast. The only way you’re awake for any time together is if one of you works nightshift. “I came down to the pavilion we have at the beach around midnight; I talked to dozens and dozens of guys, but nothing clicked, you know? I was about to give up because who wants an American woman with a demanding career who's pushing forty?”

“A smart guy. You’re smart, courageous, and you still have a hot body,” I told her.

“I was disappointed and told some of the other women that when I joined them at a table. They encouraged me not to give up yet because some guys were off doing some important stuff. I wasn’t tired, so when they took the vans to pick them up, I asked to go along.”

“What time was this?”

“Three AM, but I wasn’t drunk or anything. We waited at the pier, and when Matt walked off the boat, and I looked in his eyes, I just knew. It was love at first sight.”

“What did he think?”

“He just stared at me, unable to move for a few seconds. Finally, he walked up, put his hand on my cheek, and asked if I was real. I kissed him and proved it.”

I could just SQUEAL. “That’s SO hot! Did anyone get it on film?”

“Yes, but it’s not going on your show because I’m behind the camera, not in front of it,” she insisted. “Things were tight, so I had to sit in his lap on the way back. He told me about himself, and I told him what I did.”

“How did he react?”

“He knows you, and he’s a diver, so yeah,” Linda said. “He retires next month from the Royal Australian Navy and was looking for a job, and I want to give him one. I want you to meet him and approve the offer I made him, Vicki.”

“What did you do?”

“I asked him to be our new Dive Master for Sharkbait Productions. I know you originally planned for an all-girl for the Sea Scout, but that’s not realistic, and we both know it. Married couples onboard can work, with females in front of the cameras.” She was right; limiting it to just women was making it hard to fill out the crew. “We need someone with decades of diving experience, and that’s been Matt’s life. On the bonus side, if we ever need to disarm a sea mine or set a charge underneath a rival ship, we’re covered. The Clearance Diving Team is part of the Australian military’s Special Forces, like the SEALs, but he says they don’t go more than a couple clicks past the waterline.”

“He sounds like a good guy, Linda. I’m happy for you.”

She giggled like a teenager. “Can I bring him to meet with you? I know you’re probably tired, but Matt and I have to fly to Perth this afternoon, so it’s now or much later.”

Damn, that was fast. Linda meets a Navy guy at three in the morning, has him in bed by six, and is flying home with him by two. “Let me make sure it’s all right. They’ve got me on bedrest at Alessandro’s place downtown.” I linked Nicholas, who made the arrangements. “One of Alessandro’s people will pick you up from the hotel in about forty minutes,” I told her. “I can’t wait to meet this guy.”

“I’ll see you soon,” Linda said. I hung up, excited that there was at least ONE couple that came out of this meetup.

I did some reading on the Web about the Clearance Diving Team and Australia’s special forces. Matt would fit right in with Ian, Hammer, Kai, Manuel, and Ricardo.

I was reading about combat divers in the Iraq War when Nicholas told me we had detectives on the way up. The pair, an older man and his younger female partner, talked to the two of us for about twenty minutes. We answered their questions while staying within our cover story; Alessandro hired them for our security, we didn’t talk much, the guys were professional, and we didn’t see them after they dropped us at the pier. I pretended to be shocked when told the officers were dead, and I made the connection to the news I’d been watching. We wrote out and signed statements, and they were gone.

Nicholas got me more juice, then returned with Linda and a tall, dark-haired man with a close-trimmed beard and mustache. “I’ve seen you before,” I said as he walked it.

“Quite,” he replied. “Commander Matt Rooney at your service. We spoke briefly at your Surf Shop appearance in Perth.”

“You asked me to sign my poster with a saying.”

“United and Undaunted, it’s the motto of our unit,” he said. “You’ll be happy to know you and Amy have an honored place on the wall of our ready room.”

I could just bet; the photo from above of Amy and I free-diving in thong bikinis would fit right in. We spoke about his background, and I was impressed. “How are you two going to work things out?”

“I haven’t the foggiest,” Matt answered. “We’ll figure it out. Once I retire, my schedule opens up a bit.”

“Welcome aboard,” I said. “Take care of her; Linda’s the best, but she needs to take a break once in a while.”

“I think we’ve already proven that this morning,” Matt said with a grin. Linda blushed and smacked him, and we spent a little more time getting to know each other.

We spent an hour watching her rough-cut of the episode she was working on, which happened to be the caves off Rottnest Island. Matt had lots of stories about his diving career, including a few shark encounters that were a bit too close. All too soon, they had to leave.

“Thank you, Vicki,” Linda told me as she hugged me goodbye. “I wouldn’t have found him without you.”

“If you’d gone to the surf shop in Perth instead of the hotel to start editing, you’d be married already,” I teased her. There were only so many autograph sessions you could put into the show, and she’d reached her limit. “Send us an invite to your retirement ceremony, Commander. I’d love to see your unit.”

That had Nicholas doing a spit-take and Matt laughing. “The boys would love to meet you, and I’m sure my lady would film it,” he said.

“Linda, you know we were going to do a show about SEAL training? Maybe we could fit in a segment with the Aussie divers?”

“I’ll talk to the Base Commander,” Matt promised. “I’m sure I can find something that will look good on film. And thank you for arranging the meetup, Vicki. My nephew texted me that there are a dozen other couples out of it already. He found his woman too; she’s a Mermaid from a fishing village in Mexico.”

Nicholas looked up. “Maribel?”

“How’d you know?”