Back at her DEA office the following morning, Dema mentioned to Captain O'Mally that she had picked up a rumor that the yacht's owner was indeed involved in drug traffic. He thanked her for the heads up and said he would make sure the other agents were keeping tabs on the activities of the ship and its crew.

Several days later, one of the field agents reported that the ship had docked, the crew had left it, and the rumor at the marina was that it was up for sale. Then an agent who had talked to some former members of the crew came in, and before long his report was the buzz of the office.

"Did you hear? According to the crew, the owner and his mate locked themselves in their cabin for days, for no apparent reason."

"I heard it was a pot binge gone bad."

"Yeah, and when some of the crew finally broke in on them they were sitting with their backs to each other in the middle of the cabin. They wouldn't move, they thought they were tied to their chairs."

"Not only that, they thought the ship was in the Caribbean and was sinking."

"They wouldn't believe it when the crew tried to tell them the ship wasn't sinking and was still in Lake Michigan."

"They even refused to believe the crew could get them to shore, so the crew had to take over and run the boat on their own."

"Even after the boat was safe at the dock, they still wouldn't snap out of their delusions, just sat there in the cabin waiting to drown."

"I hear the crew pilfered whatever they could carry off the ship and abandoned it."

"Yeah, as far as the crew members our agents talked to knew, the owner and the mate were still aboard, still in the cabin."

"Those two must have just gone completely nuts."

"Well, that is an occupational hazard of the drug trade."

Dema retold all this at home that evening.

"A DEA team finally went aboard after that," she said, "And Ortega and Rankine were still hiding in their cabin. The team had them both moved to some psychiatric ward in the District."

"You mean they might get turned loose again?" asked Kore.

"No need to worry about that. Even after what the crew had taken, the DEA team found enough evidence on the ship to lock them both up, if they are ever judged competent to stand trial."

"So our little secret is safe," said Naga.

"The crew never mentioned your visit, and no one is believing what Ortega and Rankine have to say about mine."

"Anyone who did would be sharing their room in the psycho ward!" said Kore.

"Ortega was the only one who ever saw you change from the Lamia to yourself, the very first time you came out of it, isn't that right, Dema?" Sedna asked.

"That's true. Even Rankine was only working off of what he got from Ortega."

"Well," said Naga, "Now that it's over, I have to say it was an enlightening experience for me, but not one I want to repeat any time soon."

"Same for me," said Kore, "I don't think I could change shape again if I wanted to, now that I'm out of it."

"And I'm just too old and set in my ways for that sort of thing," added Sedna. "So, Dema, you are still the only real Lamia in this family."

Dema just smiled. She was content to leave it that way.

Miguel Ortega awoke in a cold sweat, as he did almost every morning. He had dreamed of the white snake again. But his new yacht had sunk in the Caribbean, and he was locked in a room on this small island, far from his family home in Cartagena. Never again would he voyage north to the United States. Never again would he have a chance to find the mysterious dark-haired, green-eyed woman he had once desired.