Chapter 10: A Midnight Swim
Somehow the whale had found him. It had snuck up in the early evening and caught him napping on his deck and swallowed him whole. Though, this time, the whale was more a familiar friend than a terrifying monster. He fought to swim to freedom, fighting with a deck chair as he made his way toward the hollow sound of the ocean outside. He struck his hand against the soft flesh inside its mouth, willing it to open, to release him. A phone, lodged under its tongue, began to ring.
This time it was Lydia. She had crumbled first and called him. Any reward was likely to be brief and unpleasant. Romano untangled himself from the blanket, sat up in his deck chair and answered the phone while scanning the beach in the low moonlight for any signs of a whale.
"You didn't call," was the first thing Lydia said.
"Phones work both ways," answered Romano - a rhetorical victory, but one unlikely to be savored.
"Giaccomo. Can we not, please?" Lydia sounded tired.
"What is it, what's the problem?"
"Don't you ever ask yourself what we're doing?" asked Lydia. "Always back and forth, always waiting till the next time. Half living in between. Maybe it's time to move forward or move on?"
"Lydia," pleaded Romano, "we can't have this conversation over the phone. I'll come. I'll come to Liguria. Can you please wait for me to come to Liguria?"
Lydia sighed. "When Giacco'? You have a case. I know you'll never walk away in the middle of a case."
"I would for you," lied Romano. "But, I'm close," he lied again, "give me three days, four, and I'll be at your door."
"I wish I could believe that was true," said Lydia with a sigh. "I'll be waiting. I'll be hoping. But I won't be expecting..."
After his call with Lydia, his stomach filled with dread, Romano knew he wasn't getting back to sleep. So he stripped off his clothes, left them on his deck, and walked across the sand to the water - silver tipped little waves danced for him. He walked in calf-deep and then dived. Long, sure strokes, bred of a lifetime by the sea, quickly had him out past the breakers. He swam for 30 minutes, always keeping an eye out for the whale.