Love on Loch Ness Read online

  Low clouds on the horizon obscured the sunset, bringing on the gray twilight sooner than expected. A full moon peeked through the clouds and hung in the sky like a silver coin, reflecting on the black waters. Flynn maneuvered to the center of the inlet by their cabin, from which the strange, guttural calls most frequently emanated. He dropped anchor, casting his boat lights on the waters. The cool night air gave him an exciting sense of anticipation as he joined Gail at her equipment.

  "So you're a captain as well?" Gail looked him up and down with what appeared to be a new level of respect.

  "I run tours on Loch Ness. This is my boat, the Nessie."

  Gail glanced at the wind-battered paint crusting on the cabin and the cracked wood under her feet. He expected some sort of wisecrack, but instead she smiled. "I like it. It's got character."

  Makes sense a marine biologist would like boats. Flynn shrugged as his neck grew hot. "Gotta do something to pay the bills."

  "I have a boat too. It's a forty-two foot power boat. I bought the vessel with grant money to research the effect global warming has on the reproductive patterns of tuna." She pursed her lips. "Can't steer it, though, so the dead boat sits in Boston's Back Bay. The captain I hired just quit."

  Was Gail hard to work for? Was he an ex-boyfriend? Flynn leaned on the railing as if this were just small talk when he was truly interested in getting to know more about her. "Why'd he quit?"

  Gail flipped a switch and the screens on her equipment blinked to life. "He retired."

  "Oh." An older guy. Not a boyfriend. Somehow, he was placated. "So, what's all this stuff?"

  "Sonar and camera equipment." She pointed to a torpedo-shaped vessel the size of his leg. "This is a high-quality drop camera system. It'll take pictures of the bottom."

  Flynn's eyes widened.

  Gail held up a finger. "Don't get your hopes up. Because of the rotting vegetation, I doubt we'll capture anything exceptional."

  Flynn had struggled over the years to photograph anything because of the peat moss. He'd tried a slew of underwater cameras in his day. "If you don't think anything is down there, then what are you looking for?"

  "Fake fins, plastic humps, any proof of hoaxers." She moved to a box with a small screen. "This is a digital sub-bottom transmitter. The device can send out and receive sonar echoes."

  "You mean you can talk to Nessie?"

  "Or whatever else is down there, yes."

  Flynn traced his finger across the screen. "That does seem helpful."

  "Only if something's there to talk back. I've used the sonar waves on dolphins before, but never a mythical creature."

  "She'll talk back. Nessie's lonely. She's the last one of her kind."

  Gail stopped fiddling with the buttons and put both hands on her hips like he'd just told her the tooth fairy would leave a coin under her pillow. "How do you know?"

  Flynn shrugged and gave her a wicked smile. His answer would rile her. "Just a hunch."

  "A hunch?"

  "Yup."

  Gail took a deep breath. "The first recorded sighting was in AD six hundred sixty-five by the Abbot of Iona who claimed to triumph over a water beast in the River Ness. Sightings have been recorded ever since; in nineteen thirty-three by a local water bailiff and from nineteen sixty to nineteen ninety-one on the British Waterways' converted icebreaker tug, Scott II, which carried tourists on cruises."

  "Yeah I've heard of all of 'em."

  "What I'm trying to say is, Nessie couldn't possibly be that old. It's more likely a species of undiscovered fish, or a large strain of pike or Atlantic salmon. Maybe there are a bunch of them swimming underwater right here, right now." She dropped the drop camera into the water and it disappeared almost immediately, swallowed by the inky surface.

  She'd done her homework, that was for sure. Too bad she was blinded by her scientific prejudices.

  "There's only one. I can feel it."

  "Well, I'm standing right next to you and I don't feel a thing."

  Ow. That hurt. Right like a jackhammer to the central aorta.

  Flynn must have cringed because Gail gave him an apologetic smile. "I'll turn the equipment on, and we'll see."

  They locked eyes. Did Gail hide her hopes as well under that tough scientific rigidity?

  "Got something here." The urgency in Tom's voice grabbed their attention and they rushed to the opposite end of the boat where he stood filming with a handheld video camera. He'd also positioned cameras all over the boat in each direction, taping them to the railing, the cabin, and secured tripods.

  Hope rushed through Flynn's chest. "What do you see?"

  "Waves." Tom pointed to the water. "No boat."

  Ripples, followed by larger waves, hit their boat and caused them to rock. All three of them grasped the front rail.

  Gail's face paled, and Flynn repressed the urge to comfort her. She wouldn't like that one bit.

  Her hands tightened on the rail. "Could be caused by the wind."

  Tom licked his finger and stuck it in the air. "What wind?"

  Gail scanned the horizon. "Or another boat."

  Tom spread his hand, indicating the water around them. "Do you see another boat?"

  "It's dark. In calm conditions like a lake, waves persist much longer than in the ocean."

  Tom gestured to Flynn. "Check the radar."

  Flynn ran back in the cabin. The radar was clear. Not a single canoe or kayak. Eager not to miss anything, he joined them back at the railing. "No boats."

  Gail swallowed stiffly. "The wake of a boat can persist for up to thirty minutes if it's crossing another wake, and the constructive interference produces a large hump of water."

  Tom took his eyes off his camera long enough to glare at her. "What? Are you an expert on waves?"

  "As a marine biologist, I've seen my fair share."

  Flynn held up his hands. "Okay, guys, let's break it up. Focus on the water. See if you can see anything."

  The waves smoothed back to the calm, glassy surface, reminding Flynn of black ice. His hopes disappeared along with the ripples. Tonight would be like every other night on the lake. Just enough hints to keep him going, but not enough to satisfy his curiosity or bring any evidence back to Tabitha.

  Tom settled into a plastic viewing seat and Gail sat on the opposite side. Flynn chose to sit with Gail. He leaned back in the chair as much as he could and stretched out his legs, crossing his ankles.

  So many questions sat on the tip of his tongue. He turned toward her. "What is it? Why don't you want to believe?"

  Gail crossed her arms. "It's not that I don't want to believe. I want the truth."

  Her eyes held fear. Fear of what, he wasn't sure.

  They sat on the stern for almost an hour, watching for any ripples in the water. Flynn wanted to ask Gail a few questions, but even a whisper might disrupt the silence and scare Nessie away.

  Gail started to lean forward more and more until she slouched sideways against him, resting her head on his shoulder, sound asleep. It had been so long since he'd had a woman sleep against him. Sparks crackled inside him, stoked by the light, rosy scent of her hair. She looked so peaceful once her eyes were closed. Flynn had the urge to kiss her freckled cheek.

  "Quite a layover from Boston, eh?" Tom's snarky voice made Flynn jerk up, waking Gail.

  Gail rubbed her eyes and repositioned herself away from Flynn. "The layover's a killer. I'm still adjusting to all those hours I lost."

  Flynn's pocket vibrated. He pulled out his cell and checked the caller. Tabitha. Now wasn't the best time to talk with Gail and Tom present, so he shut it off, feeling a jab of guilt. I'll call her back as soon as I get to shore.

  "Well, it doesn't look like we're going to find anything else out here tonight, and Gail needs some rest, so I say we call it quits." Flynn stood and walked to the cabin just as a mournful call erupted over the water, rumbling the coffee he'd drunk an hour ago.

  Flynn whirled around. Gail's eyes were as wide as two f
ull moons. She sprinted to her equipment and read the screen. "It's coming from underwater, to the north."

  Tom whispered, filming back and forth across the waters. "I can't see anything. Should we get closer for a better shot?"

  "And scare it away! No way." Flynn turned to Gail. "Can you send Nessie back a message?"

  Gail's gaze was glued to the controls. Her fingers flicked over the buttons. "Sure."

  A sound much higher than the mysterious call reverberated underneath them. Gail whispered, "It's the call of a bottlenose dolphin. It's the closest sound I could find."

  A long moment of silence passed as they waited for a response. Flynn squeezed his hands into fists and closed his eyes.

  Please, please respond. He'd spent too much of his life going after a dream for it to be nothing. In fact, he didn't know what he'd do if the noise was proven to be something else besides Nessie. His touring company would go out of business, and he'd let down poor Tabitha right before the end, the time she needed dreams the most.

  A singular sound called back from the open waters with the same pulse and frequency as the dolphin call, the only difference being its pitch was a significant amount lower than that of the original pitch.

  To Flynn, the call was music to his ears. He inhaled in wonder, tears brimming. "It's her."

  Gail's mouth dropped open as she studied the readings. "This is impossible."

  Flynn came over and peered next to her, his arm brushing hers. "What? What does this line mean?"

  "It's gauging the intensity of the call."

  "And?"

  She refreshed the screen and squinted as though she had trouble interpreting the readings. "It says the intensity of the call is twice as great as a noise produced from a 10-foot pilot whale. But it's not the same call. I've never heard this call before."

  "A pilot whale? How big are they?"

  Gail gave him a dead stare. "Big."

  "How big?"

  "Males can grow up to twenty feet long and weigh three tons."

  Flynn ran his hand through his hair, trying to imagine the size compared to his twenty-foot touring boat. "That's pretty darn big."

  "Yeah." Gail returned to the screen. "I'm trying to see if I can get an image on radar at least."

  Flynn resisted the urge to jump up and down or pump his fist in the air. Gail looked scared, and he wasn't about to gloat. "Where's the origin?"

  "It's coming from the debris at the bottom." Gail's fingers flew over the controls. She'd done this before.

  "Can you send the camera?"

  She gave him a steady look as if she'd braced herself for bad news. "Already have."

  Chapter Three

  Shadows

  Gail hit her equipment. Static sizzled and the imaging from the drop camera blinked on and off. Had it been damaged in shipping? Or did some sort of strange electromagnetic field jam the frequencies, making it almost impossible to record anything substantial?

  She hit it again, and a murky mess flashed on the screen. "Loch Ness reminds me of a cross between my mother's spinach and leek stew and a giant puddle full of old, decaying leaves."

  Every image she detected could be a gigantic heap of peat moss — or a twenty-foot-long beast, depending on her rapidly developing imagination.

  It's peat moss. Stop scaring yourself.

  "Look at this echo-sounder." She pointed to a picture of a rather large mass the shape of a torpedo. Two protrusions on either side could be branches or fins.

  Flynn leaned over so close his breath was hot on her cheek. "That's not peat moss."

  Gail checked the depth of the object. "The mass not moving, so it could be a submerged log or a densely packed fish shoal."

  Flynn tapped on the screen. "But look at the shape."

  The shape did make her queasy. She didn't like sitting in a small boat over a whale-sized object that was definitely not a whale. At least sea mammals were predictable. Despite all the hype of movies like Jaws and Orca: The Killer Whale, whales and sharks rarely ate people or boats, especially people on boats. As for Loch Ness monsters, she had no idea.

  "Send out another sonar echo." Flynn gazed over the waters. The hope and eagerness in his eyes made her want to believe him. The feeling was the same she'd had with her dad. Flynn reminded her so much of her dad she had to distance herself from him or the memories would surface.

  "All right." Gail replayed the bottle-nosed dolphin recording.

  They waited, listening to the water lapping against the boat. A single bird cawed in the night.

  Nothing.

  Flynn leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Did you record the one from Loch Ness just now?"

  "Of course." What kind of scientist would she be if she'd missed it?

  His eyes widened. "Play that one."

  Gail felt as though she was playing with fire, or in this case, a large pool of black water, but she'd come for the truth and nothing less. She pressed a button, and the haunting call echoed over the water, goose bumps prickling Gail's skin. Even Tom seemed to shiver as he held his camera.

  Surely, if Nessie was still there, she would answer.

  Nothing. The clump of peat moss wasn't moving, either.

  Gail settled into the passenger seat. Could someone be mimicking their calls using another set of equipment? No. Based on the point of origin, her machinery should be able to differentiate between animal and recorded sound. Unless they had special equipment she wasn't aware of. If so, where was the other boat? They were the only ones on the lake. Could hoaxers be hiding in the forest? Would the signals reach for miles across the lake and then seven hundred feet down?

  That would be quite the prank.

  She had heard of people going to great lengths to create crop circles. She'd even heard of a man getting hit by a car while pretending to be Bigfoot. People with nothing better to do preyed upon good people like her father. Their pleasure in creating a farce made Gail sick.

  She'd catch those punks. All of them, starting here in Loch Ness.

  Flynn seemed to be preoccupied with his phone. He held the speaker to his ear as if hearing a message, then stood like a man on a mission. "Seems like we're not finding anything else here tonight."

  Gail checked her watch. Two o'clock. Boy, did time fly. "I'll bring up my drop camera."

  Tom turned from the rail and shut off his camera. "I'll collect the footage from all the cameras and start reviewing it."

  "Good." Flynn raised the anchor, tapping his fingers.

  Why was he so eager all of a sudden to get back when they'd just made such a big discovery? Who could have called? Gail watched Flynn's profile as he steered the boat from the center of the lake to the dock by their cabin. She enjoyed watching the way the wind played with the tips of his honey-blond hair or the way he worked with his hands — big hands rough and callused from working outside on a ship. All the things that made her cheeks hot.

  Had she fallen asleep on his shoulder? How embarrassing!

  She'd been hard on him, and not entirely truthful. When she'd said she didn't feel anything, she had felt something, but it wasn't for Nessie. It was for him. That scared her more than whatever lurked in those depths.

  She missed her father's naturally open-minded attitude, his penchant for the unknown, and his ability to imagine, to dream outside all the barriers scientists had set. He possessed a limitless heart. Flynn had it all, and then some.

  The boat hit the dock, and Gail picked up her suitcases, already packed. She was relieved to set foot on hard earth. Tom jumped over the railing, equipment in hand, and set off for the cabin without a word.

  What an ape.

  "Want some help?"

  Gail whirled around. Flynn stood behind her, offering his hand.

  "Sure. Thank you." After she'd been so mean, tearing everything he believed to shreds, she couldn't believe he'd still help her. Yet here he was.

  "Quite a night, eh?" Flynn smiled. There was a small freckle on his left cheek underneath his eye. Gorgeou
s. Why did he have to be so charming?

  "It was… eventful." And uneventful at the same time.

  "I'm interested to see how those pictures came out." He jiggled one of the suitcases. "Could have a winner."

  "I'll look them over first thing tomorrow."

  "And you'll tell me first if you find anything, right?"

  She attempted to hold back a smile. Who else would she call? The president of L-PIB? She already had her grant money and they were supposed to be working together.

  "Sure."

  They reached the cabin. Flynn climbed the steps and set her suitcases down in her room. Gail walked to the kitchen, rummaging around in the fridge. A jar of mayonnaise, a chunk of cheddar cheese. Ginger ale. Man, this place needed a woman's touch.

  "If you're looking for something to eat, there are some frozen meals in the freezer." Flynn stood in the doorway.

  "Thanks. You want one too?"

  "No. I already ate." He fidgeted with his phone. "I'm going to call it a night. See you tomorrow."

  "Good night." Gail smiled, but he'd already started up the stairs two at a time. Checking the freezer, she located a mac and cheese meal. The expiration date wasn't that old. She popped the frozen entrée in the microwave, feeling a little lonely.

  The woods must have unnerved her. Or the giant pool of dark water a stone's throw away. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her body as she waited the two minutes for the meal to cook.

  Had she driven Flynn away? That had been her initial intention. Had she come across as too harsh? He was such a nice guy, and cute, too. Would it hurt if they were friends?

  Yes. Flynn believed in the Loch Ness monster, for Pete's sake.

  Still, she wondered what it would be like to hang out and talk about other things. Like how he'd started his cruise business or how he'd picked out his boat. What was his family like? There was so much she didn't know and wanted to.