She swam quickly away, and Griffin followed. He watched the sun play on the muscles of her long, light brown legs as she tried to outrace him. Acacia glanced back over her shoulder, eeked to see

him so close behind her, and dove under water again. Griffin gulped a lunglul of air and followed.

Turbulence clawed at him, water and bubbles forced their way into his nose and buffeted his face. Then the water was calm again, and he realised that they'd swum through the waterfall. There was eight meters of space between the rock wall and the cascading tons of water, and Acacia waited for him there. He swam to her, taking her into his arms playfully. Her body was slippery in his hands as she jumped up and licked the tip of his nose. "Very kinky," he said, glancing through the waterfall to the Garners beyond. Nobody was paying any attention.

"Only mildly so, hombre." She locked her arms around his neck. "Hey, mister." She arced her eyebrows conspiratorially. "Ya wanna fool around?"

"I'm not sure I believe you," Griffin said, nuzzling her. "Believe this, then." She kissed him fiercely, lifting her body to him, and Griffin found that one part of him believed her totally. They rolled in the water, blinded by mist and roar and water, aware only of each other. Mouths locked and bodies pressed tightly together; they were a tiny, tangled pocket of heat in the roiling cold.

When they broke, she pulled a few inches away, eyes glowing, huge, breathing a little shallow. "Now that was communication, mister."

"Yesss... I thought I heard something there. What was it saying?"

She hoisted herself tantalizingly high enough to look him squarely in the face. "Me want."

Griffin's hands steadied her hips, adjusting, and they both took a sharp inhalation- "Well. Is this a private party, or what?"

Griffin and Acacia broke away from each other. Tony McWhirter was treading water about three meters away. A grin was frozen, lifeless, on his face.

Acacia flushed guiltily. "Tony! I, uh... thought you were

• . well, I-"

"It's pretty clear that you weren't thinking about me, so save it, Cas."

The dark haired girl shook her head disbelievingly, her hair spraying droplets in all directions. "Tony, don't be mad. You said it was all right if we each had our fun-" She turned pleading eyes

to Griffin for an instant, and he backed away from her. Acacia swam over to Tony and tried to link her arms around his neck. He shook her loose.

"Yeah, well that's true, and it's certainly worked out well for you, hasn't it? I mean, with every available woman sewn up, and four or five loose men running around, you've had plenty of op­portunities to bat those lashes and wiggle your hips. Then, if things didn't work out, well, old Tony's always available, right?"

"Tony, it isn't like that-" Again she tried to hug him, and he pushed her gently away.

"No, Cas. It's all right. I just don't think it's fair that every time you do this to me, everyone ends up thinking I'm the villain." He turned and dived and was gone beneath the waterfall.

Griffin swam over to her, although he didn't try to touch her. She watched Tony go, and some of the vibrancy had gone out of her.

"I'm sorry," Griffin said, not knowing what else to say.

She didn't look at him. "I'm sorry too." Her voice was painfully flat. "I think maybe we had better get back to the others."

Through the rippling vertical sheet of water, the retreating figure of Tony was indistinct and growing smaller with each stroke. Acacia started to speak but the words wouldn't come at all.

Griffin followed her out through the thundering turbulence. He had let his mind stray from business. He wasn't here for fun. And the more he thought about it, the less it seemed that anybody else was, either.

Chapter Eighteen

SNAKEBITE CURE

Griffin was pulling his boots on when Mary-em slapped him on the shoulder... gently. That startled him. "Hey, Gary. Did you know this Rice guy? The guard?"

Griffin didn't let himself react. "Rice? I dunno. Does he work in Dream Park?"

"He did. Owen and Margie were telling us about it. Seems he got killed in the Research building a couple of days ago. The whole place was buzzing with it when they were being prepared for inser­tion this morning."

Griffin kept his eyes on his boots. "Hmnim. Maybe I did hear something about it. I'm sorry. Last week was really hectic." He pulled the laces tight and tied them. "I wasn't paying much at­tention to gossip."

"Well, I just thought maybe you knew him. Maybe he ate at your restaurant now and then?"

"It's likely enough. What happened to him?"

She jabbed him with the tip of a short strong finger. "I thought maybe you could clear that up, handsome. Ah well, get your pack on. Playtime's over." She waddled away whistling tunelessly to herself.

Well, that solves one problem, Griffin thought. He had consid­ered dropping a comment about Rice's death into a group discus­sion, just to see if anyone flinched. For the role of the thief he had too many suspects; and nobody seemed to be acting like a hunted killer. Now the news was out, and he could sit back and watch the results.

It seemed likely that the killer didn't know the guard was dead. The GriffIn's prey might well believe that Rice woke up with a headache and a sore neck. That would make it a game, a com­plex exercise in ingenuity and daring. But murder, that would be different. The Gamer who had chuckled privately about his mar­velous coup might now begin to show signs of panic.

And who was left as suspect? Well, high on the list were Bowan the Black and his lady, Dark Star. Mary-em, S.J., and Tony McWhirter had no apparent alibis for Thursday evening. Neither did Oliver or Gwen. All of the other Gamers were covered, as­suming that those who had already been killed out agreed to sub­mit to the voice stress analyzers.

Unless... Acacia? Was she covered for the entire night? Pride be damned, the lady seemed uncommonly. interested in the Griffin's past. And my body. Damn Fortunato! Did he have no sense of tact?

Come to think of it, what about Kasan Maibang? He was in the Game at that point, and would have to account for his actions like any Gamer.

And what of the workmen who entered Gaming Area A to change the sets? Could one of them have sneaked away from the others...

"Holy mother of mercy," Griffin whispered bitterly. This was quickly getting out of hand. He would have to have Bobbick check that for him as soon as possible.

He stood, breathed deeply and shouldered his pack. The line was forming again, but this time he had a new partner: Acacia. She stood next to him, waiting for Chester's call to move out. She didn't speak.

"Hey, lady. Who's not communicating flow?"

Her smile was faint. "I'm sorry, Gary. Do you mind if I walk with you?"

"I'd like that. Things aren't good with the boyfriend, eh?"

A sigh. "On and off. Off right now. I don't really feel much like talking. Do you mind? I'd just kind of like to walk with you." She looked up at him, and for the first time he saw no strength, no as­surance in that beautiful face, only confusion and loss.

So Griffin walked with her as Chester started the column on its way. Together they wound their way into the mountains, silently sharing the sights and moods of the day.

Together they huddled beneath the branches of a gnarled dead tree as the Ford sent a storm against them. Dora, the spirit of na­ture, raged in the sky and in the earth, and dark clouds gathered, spitting splintered lightning into the mountains. Protected by the Clerical power of Gwen and Owen Braddon they still shivered in the cold rain. The wind plucked at them, and torn brushwood tumbled through the air at frenzied speed. When lightning struck, the ground trembled ominously, and rocks began to fall.