CHAPTER TWELVE.

MARIA TELLS HER STORY.

A knock on his door woke Niklas from a sound sleep. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his bedside clock. It was 11:00 p.m. The knock continued. Not too loud, unhurried -just a steady knocking. He pulled on his shorts and a T-shirt and answered the door.

Tepeu was smiling and holding a large bucket and duffel bag. He walked in immediately. "Ah, Senor Niklas, I was afraid you were not here. This is good, very good. You are here, and we can begin." He dropped what he was holding. From the duffel bag, he proceeded to take out the drill Niklas had requested, and he showed it to him with great pleasure. "See, it is as you ordered, yes?" Tepeu's smile widened.

Niklas stood with Tepeu in the middle of the room. He had hoped when falling asleep several hours ago that he would wake up in the morning, find his clothes that were still missing from the hotel laundry, pack, and make his way to the airport. Obviously, he thought, the fantasy still exists. Well, I guess I have a job to do in the fantasy. Might as well get to it.

Niklas inspected the drill, saw it was the exact one he wanted, and looked over the cement compound that would work as the cracking agent. "Yes, Tepeu," Niklas smiled back. "This is exactly what we need. This should take no time at all."

There was another knock at the door. Niklas wondered who else could be arriving. He was speechless when he opened the door to find Maria holding Elisa's hand. They were both dressed in black pants and black T-shirts.

"Maria," Niklas stammered. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Maria smiled. "Who else will direct the dolphins to the sea? We cannot leave everything to you and Tepeu, can we?"

Maria brushed by Niklas as she walked in the door, and he could smell her lovely scent of sea, and suntan lotion. He had to remember to breathe. "Yes, yes of course. What was I thinking?"

Once in the room, Maria turned. "I also have to release the other dolphins from the inner pool to have them ready in the outer pool at the sea wall when it's time for them to flow to the sea." She stared at Niklas with her hands on her hips, looking determined.

"Of course, of course," Niklas stammered again. He could not take his eyes off her. Finally, he turned away, blushing slightly.

Tepeu placed the drill on top of the bucket and raised his hands. "Now, I must leave you two to discuss the events while I make sure my security guards are taken care of. I had to pay them even more pesos than I had wanted, but we have them on our side. I see you later." Tepeu made his way out the door and closed it quietly as he left.

Maria and Niklas stood in shy silence as they looked at each other and down at Elisa. Maria finally said, "We should go on the balcony, and I can show you what we will do with the dolphins."

Elisa stayed inside and turned on the television, and the two went out onto the balcony. The moon was full; large clouds formed a wall that advanced towards the sh.o.r.e.

Maria moved closer to Niklas. Her hand was almost touching his as they stood at the rail looking down over the dolphin pool below. As she pointed out the pool she would open to free the remaining dolphins, and the point on the beach where the reef opened to the sea, their legs touched. Niklas felt energy, an electricity, pa.s.s through him.

He wondered if she felt it too. She looked up at him, and her eyes flashed an almost telepathic sign -there it was, he was sure: mutual attraction.

The clouds rolled in, covering the moon in their thick cloak. They were billowy, a kilometer high in places. The beach and sea went dark. Maria placed her hand on Niklas's. "You see, the Mayan G.o.ds have brought the clouds to hide our mission tonight -this is a good omen." She smiled at Niklas. Her eyes searched his.

Niklas intertwined his fingers with hers. "You believe in the Mayan G.o.ds?" He did not want this moment to end. This could last forever, just the two of us together, he thought.

Maria looked down towards the dolphin pools. "I think the dolphins believe in the Mayan G.o.ds. The G.o.d Hunab Ku, the sky father, created what they called the Heart of Heaven, according to the Maya. In the beginning, it was only sky and seas, until he created the Maya." She looked up at Niklas." I think the dolphins long for only sky and seas - it would be much simpler for them.

Niklas moved a centimeter closer to Maria, and his body vibrated with the nearness of her. "Do you think dolphins dislike humans?"

"No, they dislike what we do to them. They sense our fascination with them but are puzzled by us." Maria watched two of the dolphins below circle slowly near the sea wall. They were no longer splashing. They seemed to be waiting.

"Why are they puzzled?" Niklas said. He felt his heart start to pound as Maria moved closer and her thigh touched his. He wondered if she could feel his body vibrating.

Maria squeezed Niklas's hand while still staring down at the dolphins. "They do not understand why humans will rush onto a beach to save them, and help push them back in the ocean, when the dolphins strand themselves yet will watch them do tricks and applaud when they are captive."

"Why do you work with the captive dolphins then?" Niklas winced as he asked the questioned. He wished he had not been so blunt.

Maria shook her head. "They are my, what you call, therapy. My husband was a police officer, and he was murdered by drug cartels three years ago in Jalisco. I moved back to Cancun to be with my G.o.dfather, Senor Acun. He suggested I work with the dolphins and got me the job."

"Senor Acun got you the job with the dolphins even though he knew that they want to be free?" Niklas breathed in deeply, looking at Maria. He could see the deep sadness in her, he wished he could hold her, and take it all away.

"Yes, his Elisa had already met the dolphins. They were already in her dreams. He wanted me to be with them. He thought that perhaps I could get them to leave her alone at night." She flipped her hair and looked sideways at Niklas. "I guess it worked. They came into my dreams as well. You could say I was her relief, no?"

Niklas smiled as he looked into her eyes and squeezed her hand. "Yes, you could say you were her relief."

"And you ...you hear them, you swim with them in your dreams. I sense in you a kindness. The dolphins are attracted to you ...and it seems I am attracted to you also." Maria turned towards Niklas and pressed her body into his warm embrace.

Niklas, speechless, wrapped his arms around Maria. "I ...yes, I'm attracted to you as well, Maria."

Maria raised her head, and their lips met for a brief moment, there on the balcony, beneath the cloud-covered moon, until she pushed him away gently." Now, I must go. I have many things to do tonight, and so do you." She kissed him quickly on the cheek and went inside.

Niklas stood on the balcony, wishing she didn't have to leave. The door closed in the outer hallway, signaling she had left with Elisa. He turned and looked down at the dolphin pools again. Tepeu was there talking with the security guards, the same small one and the mountain of flesh.

Tepeu was gesturing wildly with his hands. The large security guard stood, his hands at his sides, saying nothing, only nodding his head once in a while. Niklas looked at his watch; it was 11:45 p.m. He needed to get moving. The Dexpan compound needed to be mixed, and he would do so in the room. He hoped the drill was charged and that the security guards were on side, as well as the Mayan G.o.ds that Maria had spoken of. They would need all the luck they could get.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

MISSION UNDER THE MAYAN MOON.

With the pail in one hand and a sack with the drill in the other, Niklas headed out his room at midnight. He was thankful there was no one around. He looked suspicious. He was dressed in his black t-shirt and jeans, to conceal himself while he worked.

The only life was coming from the nightclub...a steady thump of music sounded in the distance. His feet sounded loud on the tile. He tried to be quiet.

Niklas knew from the amount of all-inclusive drinks people consumed during the day that most guests were probably pa.s.sed out in their rooms by this point. Still, he padded as quietly as possible. No one was on the beach when he reached it. The surf gently washed up on the sand, and he could hear the two dolphins splashing softly on the other side of the sea wall, patiently waiting. They were probably the two that would not go into the pens at night their persistence was paying off. So Niklas hoped.

Niklas surveyed the wall. The yellow tape was still in place, and workers had widened and smoothed the large cracks on both sides to ready the wall for the concrete patching compound they intended to use. Niklas ran his hands over the cracks, acknowledging the great help the workers had been.

He still needed to give the cracks some help, and for that, he would drill four holes in the centre of the wall, between the cracks. He started to drill and found the concrete soft, "lucky day," he whispered to himself.

He thought originally that it would take thirty minutes to drill the holes, the soft concrete gave way to his drill, and he thought each one would take only three to five minutes. He looked up at the cloud covered moon, "Thank you Mayan G.o.ds." He smiled and would have whistled if he thought no one could hear him.

Then the power light on the drill started to blink -the power was draining, and he had only drilled half of the way into the fourth hole. He pressed harder. It stopped.

He threw the drill on the ground and spotted a piece of rebar that the workers had left behind. He grabbed it and plunged it into the hole, he hoped it might push into the soft concrete, and make a hole, but it was no use. The rebar just thudded back and forth and made too much noise. After a few more attempts, he stopped.

Niklas sat there, scrunched down on his haunches, and wondered if there was a Mayan G.o.d of power drills. He blew out his breath and looked once more at the wall. The last unfinished hole was crucial. It was near the top, and if the wall did not crack here, the whole venture would be useless. He looked up at the dark clouds above and suddenly got an idea.

He remembered the workers had been drilling on top of the wall. Swinging himself up, he found two holes drilled down into the wall where the workers had intended to shove reinforcement bars. Niklas jumped back down, grabbed a two-meter length of rebar, and jumped back up. He looked around at all the hotel balconies that overlooked the dolphin pool, praying no one could see him.

He shoved the rebar down each hole and was delighted to find that both were almost two meters deep. The workers had done a better job than he could have. He quickly set to work jamming the bar down the holes to get rid of the excess water and then retrieved his bucket of Dexpan concrete buster. Using the rebar as a ramming rod, Niklas quickly filled both holes with the compound.

He jumped back off the wall and filled the large cracks and the holes he had drilled. Back on track! he thought. Now to wait for the compound to expand and crack the concrete. Packing up his things, he felt a heady sense of accomplishment. Then he heard voices on the path from the beach coming towards him.

Niklas leaped behind a small palm tree and kept his face hidden, hoping no one would see the bucket and duffel bag by his side. A few moments pa.s.sed, and the voices got louder. They were drunken voices, voices laden with vodka and tequila and too much of everything the hotel offered.

As the voices drew near, Niklas recognized them -Pekka and Caroline. They walked slowly by him, keeping each other up in a staggering embrace. Stopping briefly, they engaged in a sloppy, mouthy kiss, and Caroline gave Pekka a free crotch ma.s.sage. Then they moved on.

Niklas only shook his head and muttered under his breath, "Another win for the conference cougar."

When they were gone, Niklas collected his bucket and drill, and crept away from the wall. Standing there on the beach, he realized he had not thought of how to dispose of the empty bucket and drill. He couldn't leave it in his room. He walked quickly to the back of the Sushi restaurant, and dumped the two items in their garbage cans. He hoped no one would notice it as they emptied the trash.

He was tired and shaking as he entered his room. The clock showed 12:45 AM. He decided to take a shower and change out of his clothes which were covered in concrete dust and sand.

Stepping out of the shower, he remembered the only somewhat clean clothes left in his closet were the Mexican beach wedding shirt and the linen pants. With a sigh, he put them on. Then he grabbed a Coronita from the bar fridge, opened the balcony door, and sat down on his bed.

After much hesitation, he decided to call his daughter back in Finland. It was approaching 1:45 a.m., and it was six hours ahead in Finland. He was no longer sure if it was Wednesday or Thursday, but he knew Ansa was an earlier riser.

He dialed her cell phone number and was delighted when he heard, "Ansa Okkonen here." Niklas could hear the confidence in the sixteen-year-old's voice. It made his heart skip.

"h.e.l.lo, Ansa, it's me, Papa," Niklas said after drawing a few breathes.

"Pappa, are you home?" Ansa asked.

"No, Ansa, I'm still here in Cancun. I have one last thing to do, and then I'm coming home." Niklas stared up at the ceiling, and tears formed at the edges of his eyes at the sound of her voice.

"Papa, the lady at the university, Elsa Groop, called Grandpa Magnus to tell him you missed your presentation at the conference again. She said the university will fire you for sure. Papa, have you gone a bit crazy over there? This is not like you."

Niklas ran his hand through his hair. "Crazy ...well, yes and no, Ansa. I have gone a little crazy, but in a good way."

"What do you mean, Papa? How can crazy be good?"

Niklas was silent for a moment. "You know, it's about how you think of crazy. I'm about to do something that some will think crazy and some will think quite sane."

"Oh my G.o.d, Papa, what are you about to do?"

"Ansa, I hope I'm about to free some dolphins, but for reasons ...well, they asked me to ...and -"

"Papa, this sounds more than crazy. You have to stop this."

Niklas could hear the desperation in Ansa's voice. He wished he had never made the phone call. There was no way back from this conversation. "Ansa, you'll just have to trust that what I am about to do will be -" Niklas stopped. He had heard a crack outside. The sea wall was beginning to crack. "Ansa, I have to go." Niklas hung up and ran out of the room.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

A TAIL OF ESCAPE.

Running down the stairs two at a time, Niklas reached the sea wall just in time to see it start to cave and the water from the pool start to gush out. He stood, watching, waiting to see if the dolphins would flow out just like in the vision they had shown him. The water was rushing past his feet.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and whirled around to see Maria standing behind him in a wet suit. "Maria, what ..." He could barely form the words. For some reason he thought she was going to release the dolphins from the inner pool. He never expected her on the beach.

"Someone must make sure they make it into the water and past the reef," Maria said. Her hair was tied tightly back, her face set in determination. She motioned behind her to Tepeu and Elisa, also dressed in wet suits and standing at the waters edge. "We will swim with the dolphins and guide them."

Before Niklas could say anything more, another loud crack sounded from the wall and the large section between the two cracks gave way. A ma.s.sive flood of water poured out in a roar, and the first of two dolphins flew out. Their tails propelled them along with the torrent of water.

The dolphins. .h.i.t the beach and rolled just short of the tide. Tepeu and Elisa were there and started dragging them into the surf by their tails. Niklas and Maria ran back to help. Once the dolphins were deep enough in the water, their powerful tails kicked them out to sea. Elisa rode on the back of one. She was their guide to open water.

Another dolphin shot out of the pool, then another. Tepeu, Maria, and Niklas grabbed them by the tails one by one and pulled them to the ocean, and Elisa rode back and guided them out to sea in twos and threes.

It took only a few minutes, but it seemed like forever, and then all twelve dolphins were free. Elisa rode the dorsal fin of the lead, and Tepeu grabbed onto another, and they rode out into the blackness of the ocean. Niklas could hear the dolphins calling to each other some three hundred meters out.

Niklas looked at Maria, and they began laughing, and hugging, and kissing in the surf. He had never felt more alive than he did at that moment, never more free. He looked into Maria's eyes to see her expression of sheer joy, and he was about to say something when he heard Tepeu shout, "Policia!"

It took Niklas's brain a moment or two to translate policia to the Finnish word polis and then to police. He wheeled around to see two men in black uniforms, armored vests, and machine guns advancing from the wall towards him.

He had no hope of escape. He whispered to Maria, "swim away quickly," and pushed her into the surf. She treaded water five meters from the sh.o.r.e, not wanting to leave. A dolphin rose up beside her, and with her hand on its dorsal fin, she was transported into the darkness.

Niklas only hoped that Maria, Elisa, and Tepeu were far enough out that the lights from the hotel would not give them away. He walked slowly out of the water, his hands half raised by his sides.

He thought of making up a story: he was a hotel guest out for a walk who had just witnessed a strange thing of a wall breaking and Dolphins escaping out to sea. He pasted a grin on his face and was waiting for the first available policeman to tell his story to when a large shadow suddenly loomed over him.

Almost in slow motion, Niklas turned to see the security guard he had called "Mexican Mountain" by his side. He saw the large truncheon in his large hand aimed towards his head. He thought about how much it would hurt if it hit him. It did. It hurt like h.e.l.l. The last thing he heard before he blacked out was a woman's scream.