Dragos Takes a Holiday (Elder Races #6.5)(24)

She didn’t even try to hold back on the sarcasm. “I think it went well, don’t you?”

Dragos angled his head and just looked at her. Then he started the engine and drove them back to the house.

When they stepped indoors, Pia tried to shake off the tension that had bunched the muscles between her shoulders. Liam had woken up from his nap and was playing on the floor. As he caught sight of them, he squealed in excitement and crawled toward them.

Dragos scooped him up and sat on one of the couches. Smiling at the baby’s happiness, she joined them.

It took the authorities forty-five minutes to find them. When the knock came at the door, Pia took Liam and grinned at Dragos. “We’re going to go play somewhere else for a while.”

His mouth twitched. Enough time had gone by to allow for his temper to lighten. “Have fun.”

Eva followed Pia and Liam outside, carrying wineglasses and a blanket to spread out on for the baby. They walked down to the beach.

Pia settled on one corner of the blanket. Seagulls hovered over silver-capped waves. The early-evening sun on the water was simply spectacular. She took a deep, satisfying breath of fresh air. “You know, a year ago, I would have stayed in the living room to talk to the police with him, and I would have been all twisted up and anxious about it. Then I realized this stuff doesn’t bother Dragos at all. And I mean, not in the slightest. So why should I get wound up if he doesn’t?”

“You shouldn’t.” Eva kicked one foot over the other and stretched out.

Liam pointed at the seagulls, crowed and flapped his arms. Pia and Eva laughed at his round eyes and excited expression.

Twenty minutes later Dragos strolled onto the beach. He told Eva, “Why don’t you and Hugh take the evening off?”

“You sure?” Eva climbed to her feet. “We haven’t really done anything since we got here.”

Dragos looked at Pia, who nodded. “I’m sure,” he replied. “Just stay close, and stay aware. Let us know if you notice anything that seems off.”

“Will do.” Eva grinned. “Have a good evening.”

“Thanks, you too,” Pia said. Dragos stretched out on the blanket beside her. She handed him her glass of wine while Liam crawled energetically over to climb on his legs. “What did the police have to say?”

“Not much.” He handed the glass back to her, stripped off his T-shirt and stretched out with his arms behind his head. “The Light Fae’s name is Rageon Merrous, and he’s been on their radar for some time. He started showing up on the islands around forty years ago. He’s been linked to the disappearance of a few people and implicated in accidents involving others, but they haven’t actually caught him in a crime, nor have they been able to bring charges against him for anything specific. He was gone from the bar by the time they got there. They’re going to send a police car to patrol this neighborhood while we’re here.”

The sight of his bare chest never failed to bring down the level of her concentration. His physique was simply tremendous. A sprinkle of black hair arrowed down the heavy, powerful muscles in his chest. She laid a hand on the ridged muscles of his warm abdomen and looked out to sea so that she could gain some coherency of mind again. He placed one hand over hers and laced their fingers together.

She asked, “Why does he think the Sebille is his?”

He moved under her hand in a shrug. “Who knows? Maybe he’s a family member of one of the ship’s crew. Maybe he feels he’s entitled to it because he’s been looking for the wreck for so long. Treasure hunters are an obsessive lot, and they can get pretty crazy, especially if they’ve sunk any kind of capital into a serious search.”

“If he’s a family member, does he have a point? I mean, would he have a claim on anything in the wreck?”

“There’s a difference in maritime law regarding salvage versus treasure hunting. Salvage involves recovering property where owners have the right to compensation or return of their property. Treasure hunting is a separate matter, because usually there’s no owner to make a claim on the property.” He shrugged again. “That gets more tangled in Elder law, since so many of us are so long-lived. In this case, though, it’s fairly simple. The one with any potentially legitimate claim is Tatiana as the sponsor of the original expedition. The bottom line is, Merrous doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”

She contemplated that for a few moments. “What about Tatiana?”

“If she’s interested in whatever is on that wreck, she can file a petition with the Elder tribunal.” He yawned. “But it’s just as likely she won’t care enough to pay the legal costs.”

She had to smile to herself. Of course he knew so much about treasure rights in maritime law. “So that’s it.”

“Pretty much.” He closed his eyes. “Unless you let me kill him.”

“Oh, no,” she said strongly, twisting at the waist to scowl at him. “You cannot put that on me. You know as well as I do, you can’t kill somebody just because they’re an *. We’ve heard some hearsay and a lot of suspicion, but we don’t know if Merrous has actually done anything wrong. If he becomes a real problem, then one way or another we’ll take care of him. Until then, all of this is just male posturing and hot air.”

His smile was lazy and relaxed. “Fair enough.”