BLACK MONEY LOVE

Chapter 6

"Always check your gauges," Roma instructed, carefully indicating each one on her own equipment as she spoke."Each one of these gauges is vital to your safety when you dive." She'd covered everything, she decided,in an hour lesson. If she lectured anymore, her students would be too impatient to listen.  It was time to give them a taste of what they were paying for.
"We'll dive as a group. Some of you may want to explore on your own, but remember, always swim in pairs. As a final precaution, check the gear of the diver next to you.
Roma was never careless with herself or her students. Most of them were talking exciting as they strapped on the tanks. She supplied Luis gear. It was checked just as thoroughly as any paying customer's " keep an eye on the honeymoon couple, Luis. They're more interested in each other than their regulators."
" No problem but you look tired."
"No,am fine."
When she turned,he glanced at the marks on her neck. The story had already made  the rounds.
"You sure? You don't look so fine."
She lifted a brow." Sweet of you."
" Well,I mean it. You got me worried about you."
" No need to worry." He was her body guard for the day." The police have everything under control," she said, and hoped it was true. She wasn't nearly sure about Zack.
When the shop was empty,Roma stood, jungling her keys and looking out onto the beach. People travelled in couples, she noted, from the comfortably married duo stretched out on lounge chairs, to the young man and woman curled together on a beach towel. Was it an easy feeling, she wondered, to be half of a set?or did you automatically lose part of yourself when joined with the other.
She'd always thought of her parents as separate people,yet when she thought of one, the other came quickly to mind. Would it be a comfort to know you could reach out your hand and someone else would curl around it.  She held out her own and remembered how hard, how strong, Zack's had been. No,he wouldn't make a relationship a comfortable affair. Being joined by him would be would be demanding, even frightening. A woman would have to be strong enough to keep herself intact, and soft enough to allow herself to merge. A relationship with a man like Zack would be a risk that would never ease.
For a moment, she found herself dreaming of it, dreaming of what it had been like to be held close and kissed as though nothing and no one else existed. To be kissed like that always, to be held like that whenever the need moved you---it might be worth taking chances for.
Stupid, she thought quickly, shaking herself out of it. Zack wasn't looking for a partner, and she wasn't looking for a dream. Circumstances had tossed them together temporarily. Both of them had to deal with their own realities. But she felt a sense of regret and a stirring of wishes.
After setting her tanks aside,she shut the door and prepared to lock it again. After she'd taken two steps away she looked down at the keys again. Without knowing precisely why, she moved each one over the ring and identified it The shop door, the shop window, her bike, the lock for the chain, the cash box, the front and back doors of her house, her storage room. Eight keys for eight locks. But there was one more on her ring,a small silver key that meant nothing to her at all.
Puzzled, she counted off the keys again and found one extra. Why should there be a key on her ring that didn't belong to her? Closing her fingers over it, she tried to remember if anyone had given her the key to hold. No,it didn't make sense. Brows drawn together, she studied the key again. Too small for a car or door key, she decided. It looked like the key to a locker,or a box or... Ridiculous, she decided on a long breath. It wasn't her key but it was on her ring. Why?
Because someone had placed it there, she realized, and opened her hand again. Her keys were often tossed in the drawer at the shop for easy access for Luis or one of the other men. They needed to open the cash box. And Jerry had often worked in the shop alone. With a feeling of dread, Roma slipped the keys into her pocket. Zack's words echoed in her head." You're involved whether you want to be or not."
Roma closed the shop early.

Zack stepped into the dim bar to the scent of garlic and the wail of a squeaky juke box. In Spanish, someone sang of endless Love. He stood for a moment, letting his eyes adjust. " You're late." She waved an unlit cigarette idly as he joined her.
" I passed it the first time. This place isn't exactly on the tourist route."
She closed her lips over the filter as Zack lit his cigarette." I wanted privacy."
Zack glanced around. There were two men at the bar, each deep in separate bottles. Another couple squeezed themselves together on one side of a booth. The rest of the bar was deserted." You've got it."
" But I don't have a drink."
Zack slid out from the booth and bought two drinks at the bar. He set tequila and lime in front of Erica for club soda. " You said you had something for me."
" You said you would pay fifty for a name for a name."
In silence, Zack took out his wallet. He set fifty on the table, but laid his hand over it." You have the name."
Erica smiled and sipped her drink." Maybe. Maybe you want it bad enough to pay another fifty."
Zack studied her collly. This was the type his brother had always been attracted to. The kind of woman whose hard edge was just too obvious. He could give her another fifty, Zack mused, but he didn't care to be taken for a sucker. Without a word,he picked up the bill and tucked it into his pocket. He was halfway out of the booth when Erica grabbed his arms.
" Okay don't get mad. Fifty." She sent him an easy smile as he settled back again. Erica had been around too long to let the opportunity slip away." A girl has to make a living,the name is Pablo Manchez---he's the one with the face."
" Where can I find him?"
" I don't know. You got the name."
With a nod, Zack took the bill out and passed it to her. Erica folded it neatly into her purse." I'll tell you something else, because Jerry was a sweet guy." Her gaze skimmed the bar again as she leaned closer to Zack." This Manchez, he's bad. People got nervous when I asked about him. I heard he mixed up in a couple of murders in Acapulco last year. He's paid you know,to..." She made a gun out of her hand and pushed down her thumb." When I heard that I stopped asking questions. Jerry got himself in some bad business."
" Yeah."
"I'm sorry." She touched the bracelet on her wrist." He gave me this. We had some good times."
The air in the bar was stifling him. Zack rose and hesitated only a moment before he took out another bill and set it next to her drink." Thanks."