Bay of Sighs by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online

bother with the running start but seemed to fold over like water from a pitcher.
    â€œTight, tight in the center,” she said as she tucked, rolled. “Keep tight, knees go loose to push up.” Fluidly, she flowed up to her feet, shot one leg out, one arm. Held the pose like a statue.
    â€œCan I just throw rocks at the bad guys?”
    â€œSometimes.” Annika smiled. “But you can do this. I’ll help you. Tight, tight,” she repeated. “Like squeezing. Try.”
    This time, though she stayed on her feet, Annika moved with her—gave Sasha a tiny nudge on the roll. “Squeeze! Tight! Tight, tight, and push!”
    Sasha landed—wobbled, but landed. Regained her balance, executed the kick and backhand.
    â€œGood! So good.” Annika applauded again.
    â€œI tipped left again. I could feel it.”
    â€œBut not so much as before.”
    â€œYou pulled it off,” Riley told her. “Do it again.”
    â€œOkay. Okay. Don’t help me this time. If I fall on my face, I fall on my face. But I’m going to get this bastard.”
    â€œThat’s the spirit.” Riley slapped her on the shoulder.
    She did it again, wobbled again, nearly overbalanced, but pulled back.
    â€œTogether,” Annika decided. “All three.”
    â€œOh boy, okay.”
    â€œTight. A fist in the belly.”
    Riley nodded. “On three. One, two, three!”

    S awyer stopped at the edge of the lemon grove. “Check it out.”
    With Doyle, he watched the three women spring, roll, spear up. “The brunette’s got speed and form,” Doyle commented. “The blonde’s got game, and she’s coming along. But the mer-girl? Makes it look like a stroll on the beach.”
    â€œYou’d think there’d be an adjustment for her—moving in water, on land. But either way, she just flows.”
    â€œGreat legs.”
    Doyle started forward again as the three women discussed something with Annika gesturing with her hands. And stopped to watch when Riley shook her head, but backed up. And laced her hands into a basket.
    Annika ran toward her, jumped to hit one foot in that basket, and as Riley pushed up, flew into a perfect backflip to land in what Sawyer thought of as the Superhero Lunge. Low, one knee bent, the other leg cocked out, one hand resting on the ground.
    â€œI should be taking videos,” Sawyer added.
    Then Annika spotted them, leaped up to run forward.
    â€œCome practice with us!”
    â€œI could practice the rest of my life and not pull that off.”
    â€œI can teach you.”
    â€œBet you could,” Doyle put in, “but we need to take a hike, get a better sense of where we are, our position, our weak spots.”
    â€œAgreed.” Riley nodded, then looked up at the wide blue sky. “But that’s a big weak spot.”
    â€œWe’ll need to be ready for it.”
    â€œBran’s working on it, and could probably use a break from that. I’ll go tell him we’re heading out. Ten minutes?” Sasha asked.
    â€œWorks for me.” Sawyer smiled at Annika. “You’ll need shoes.”
    They set out with light packs, taking the narrow road up its steep incline first. The day, already warm, offered a baking sun over their bird’s-eye view of sea and sand, of houses jogging down the long slope in their soft roses and whites and umbers.
    As they walked, Sawyer drew maps in his head. He was good at maps—had learned at his grandfather’s knee. The compass—a gift, a charge, a legacy—required knowledge of place and time. The hand that held it, the traveler, needed more than luck and magicks.
    They passed groves of olives, of lemons, and he added them to his mental guide. The gardens, the houses with shuttered windows, the ones with windows open to the air.
    From their high view, Riley pointed toward the mainland.
    â€œCapri used to be part of the mainland, and was