The older man shook his head again. “Didn’t say a word, Dar.
Just told us to get off the boat, that they were taking it. No reason—
no
ifs
,
ands
, or
buts
.”
At that moment, the waitress returned with a large tray. She set down food for both tables, and the conversation ceased while
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everyone got their plates.
Dar pulled her plate over and inspected the bowl nestled beside a steaming baked yam that smelled of vanilla and nutmeg.
The waitress put a basket of hot bread in the middle of their table, and then set down another round of drinks for Jacob’s party. Dar held up her own glass, and indicated Kerry’s, and the woman took them with a smile as she retreated back toward the kitchen.
“So,” Dar took a piece of the bread and dunked it into the stew, then bit a piece off and chewed, “what’d the cops say?”
“Bah.” Jacob waved a hand in disgust. “The usual. Asking us a million questions, telling us how shocked they were, that this never happens, blah, blah, blah.”
Kerry looked up and met Dar’s eyes. One of her pale brows lifted.
“They did, huh?” Dar murmured. “Let me guess. They told you to just file a claim as quickly as you can with your insurance, and they’d do their best to find the boat before it left the island, right?”
Jacob looked at her with honest surprise as Todd blurted, “Yes, that’s right. How’d you know?”
Dar’s eyes narrowed and a faintly unpleasant smile appeared on her face. “Let’s just call it a hunch,” she said. “So, what’s your plan now? You going to head back to the States?”
Jacob was cutting into a steak, and he put his knife down before he answered. “Nah. Figured as long as we were here, we might as well stick around for a few days, get some fun out of the whole damn thing.” He patted his wife’s hand. “Give Minnie here a chance to get over all the nastiness.”
“It was dreadful,” his wife agreed softly. “Ms. Roberts, you can’t imagine how awful it was. Those men were acting like it was one big game to them, like we were just toys.”
Kerry forked pieces of meat out of her stew and ate them as she listened, turning the new information over in her mind. The meal was very good, and she followed Dar’s example in dunking the hot, herb-infused bread into its broth. Jacob and his family seemed to be relaxing a little, and she guessed that after a few days, the horror of what had happened would probably fade.
The pirates, though seemingly scary, had effected their plan in a quick, efficient manner. They hadn’t risked keeping the family on board; they’d just found a convenient spot and simply taken them off, retaining possession of the boat and all its contents. She suspected they’d taken the vessel around to some sheltered cove to rummage through it at their leisure. Quick, efficient, and practiced.
It was obvious to Kerry that they’d done the deed before, and had their routine down pat. From Dar’s earlier comment, she suspected her lover had come to the same conclusion. She wondered if there was anything they could actually do about it.
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“Jake, you didn’t keep a maintenance log on your boat, did you?” Dar asked suddenly.
Everyone looked at her curiously.
Jacob finished chewing and swallowed, wiping his mouth hastily. “Well, not me, no, but my captain did, I betcha. Why?” he asked. “Hey, speaking of—you flew out here, didn’cha?”
Dar shook her head. “No. We’re docked out in the marina. Did your captain keep the log on the boat, or back at home?”
“Boy, you better be careful,” Jacob said. “Don’t you be going out far around here, Dar. I’d sure hate to have what happened to us happen to you.”
Kerry had to muffle a smile at the irony. “We’re always very careful,” she said.
Jacob shook his head. “Well, anyway, I think Rick kept the log with his gear, and I can’t be sure if he left that on shore or not,” he said. “Why, Dar?”
“If he’s got part numbers, and the pirates try to sell the boat, it can be tracked,” Dar remarked mildly. “Might take a while, but—”
“That’s a great idea,” Todd burst out enthusiastically. “Then we can find those creeps!” He turned to his father. “I bet Rick has that book. We should give it to the police.”
“Now, Todd—”
“We can’t let those guys just get away with this, Dad!” the young man protested. “That’s what they all want us to do, just go away, and lick our wounds, and forget about it. No way!” He slapped his muscular hand on the table.
“Todd!” Minnie frowned at her son.
“He’s right,” Dar interjected. She waited until all of them looked at her in surprise. “It is what they want. You’re not the first victims, and I’m betting you won’t be the last.” She rested her forearms on the table. “So, if you do have that log, it’ll help. But don’t give it to the cops.”
They stared at her in shock for a long moment after she finished speaking. “Not the first?” Jacob said hesitantly.
“No.” Kerry took up the conversational ball, giving Dar a chance to eat. “There’ve been a number of hijackings around here recently, but no one wants to talk about it because it would scare people off,” she explained. “I think that Dar thinks…” she glanced at her lover, “it may be a local gang doing it.”
Dar nodded.
“Well.” Jacob looked aghast. “Son of a bitch.”
“Look,” Todd leaned closer to Dar, “whatever you think of doing to maybe stop them, count me in. We need to do something,”
he said. “I’m gonna call Rick as soon as we’re done in here, and I’ll see if he’s got that book.”
“Do you really think…” Minnie spoke up hesitantly. “Perhaps
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the authorities would be better to deal with this, wouldn’t they?”
“You heard her. They’re probably in on it.” Todd stood up.
“I’m so mad, I gotta go kick something. C’mon, Rach.” He held a hand out and assisted his fianceé to her feet. “Let’s go.”
The two young people threaded their way out of the restaurant, disappearing into the crowd.
“Damn hothead.” Minnie’s brother Richard spoke for the first time, removing his face from his beer mug. “What in hell’s got into that kid, Jacob?”
Jacob shook his head, still visibly upset. “Dar, I can’t believe the people here know this is going on and they just let people keep coming in. That’s…that’s…”
“Piracy,” Dar supplied succinctly. “Yeah, well, maybe the cops aren’t in on it, maybe they just don’t want the tourist boat rocked, but something doesn’t smell right to me about the whole thing.”
She finished up the last bit of her stew, wiping the bottom of the bowl with a bit of bread and munching it.
“We don’t want any trouble,” Richard muttered “I think we should just leave and go the hell home.” He looked around. “This place gives me the creeps anyway.”
“That’s ’cause you can’t cope with any place that doesn’t have slot machines in the bathroom,” Jacob snorted. “Just relax, would you?” He turned to Dar. “Listen, Dar, he’s right about one thing.
We’re not looking for trouble here. If the local cops don’t want to stir things up, neither do I.”
Dar leaned her chin on her fist and regarded him.
“Dar, don’t give me that look,” Jacob sighed. “I know what you’re thinking.”
Dar’s eyebrows lifted visibly.
“I’m not a crusader. Never was,” the man stated. “I’ve got my family here, and if that’s the deal and this is all a scam, then I’m willing to do my part and go file my claim and let ’em have it.
Damn thing leaked anyhow.”
“Damn right,” Richard agreed. “Minnie doesn’t need any more trouble, either.”
Minnie looked profoundly relieved.
Dar rolled her eyes toward Kerry and they exchanged looks.
“That’s okay.” Kerry gave them a gentle smile. “We understand.”
Jacob relaxed a little. “It’s not that I think it’s right,” he stated.
“Of course not,” Kerry said. “It’s better you leave it for Dar and me to handle.”
Jacob blinked at her. “Come again?”
“We’ll take care of the pirates. No need for you to get involved.
After all, you’ve been through a lot, and I’m sure you just want some time to rest.”
Minnie leaned forward a little. “Honey, those men are dangerous.”
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“Life is, sometimes.” Kerry smiled kindly at her. “But Dar and I have a knack for getting through things.” She looked up as the waitress returned. “Sometimes you just gotta go for it. Can I get two of the Island Volcano sundaes and another rum punch?”
“Sure.” The waitress beamed at her. She glanced at Dar.
“Anything for you, ma’am?”
“I think one of those sundaes is mine,” Dar replied dryly.
Kerry grinned and then returned her attention to Jacob.
“Anyway, don’t you worry about a thing. We can handle this on our own.”
“Now, wait a minute,” Jacob protested.
Kerry held up a hand. “No, no—we understand completely.”
She sucked the rest of her rum punch down to the bottom, feeling the beginnings of a mild buzz. It surprised her, and she tried to figure out how many beers were the equivalent of one of the punches.
Two? Three? Yikes. That means I’ve already drunk as much
alcohol as there is in six beers. Maybe I should pass on the next rum
punch.
“Well, now, you listen, Dar,” Jacob was saying.
Was it six?
“I know what I said, but if you two really think we should do something…”
Or was it only four?
“You can count on us.”
“Jacob!”
Heh. Gotcha
. Kerry chuckled silently to herself.
An overwhelming smell of chocolate suddenly snapped her out of her musing. Kerry blinked as a bowl was put in front of her: ice cream, fudge, more ice cream, more fudge, a brownie, maybe another brownie, covered in a chocolate shell whose top had a flame coming out of it. “Wow,” she said. “This damn thing’s as big as my head!”
Dar chuckled at her. “I want to do some more checking around, Jake, before we decide what to do,” she said. “But I’ll keep your offer in mind.”
“You do that,” Jacob said.
Kerry contentedly doused the flame of her volcano, and cracked the chocolate shell keeping her from the ice cream inside.
Casually, she glanced around the room, glad not to see the familiar faces she half expected. Maybe the goons had decided to take the night off.
The waitress set down her third rum punch and took away the empty. Kerry eyed it, wondering if chocolate possibly counteracted rum.
Hm. Guess I’ll find out.
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DAR SCRUBBED HER teeth, flicking the occasional glance into the mirror as she worked. She rinsed out her mouth, then poked her head around the corner of the bathroom door and peered over at the bed. Kerry was sprawled across it on her back, looking extremely relaxed.
“Hey, Paladar,” Kerry drawled. “Get your butt over here.”
Drat.
Dar sighed.
The times I choose to leave my voice recorder at
home.
She eased around the door and entered the room, settling down on the bed next to Kerry. “Yeees?”
One green eye opened and looked at her. “You let me get drunk. Bad girl.” Kerry poked Dar in the side. “Boy, are you gonna be sorry.”
Dar grinned at her. “You’re really cute when you’re drunk, did you know that?” She touched Kerry’s cheek, and felt the pressure as Kerry leaned into her fingers. “Besides, you were due.”
“Uh huh. See if you say that when I’m sick as a three-day-dead toad tomorrow,” Kerry warned her. “Hope you like cleaning up.”
Dar slowly stretched out alongside her. “I’ll take care of you, don’t you worry,” she promised.
“I ain’t worried,” Kerry said, reaching over to play with a bit of Dar’s hair. “I got you.” She watched Dar’s face through half-closed eyes. “Y’know how cool that is?”
“How cool what is?” Dar asked.
Kerry turned her head and regarded the ceiling for a few moments. “First time I ever really got drunk was when I moved here,” she said. “I think I went nuts for a while.”
Dar wriggled a little closer and curled her arm around Kerry’s.
“After leaving home? Lots of people do that.”
“S’true,” Kerry agreed. “Nobody telling me what to do, who to talk to, where to go. Felt great.” She looked at Dar’s hand, resting casually on her shoulder. “Like I was an animal, out of my cage.”
Dar chuckled softly. “I’m sure you weren’t that bad.”
Kerry met her eyes. “Yeah, I was,” she admitted. “Then…one night...I still don’t remember it a whole lot, but I woke up in my car—half on the beach near a tree—and didn’t know how’n the hell I got there.”
Dar’s brow contracted.
“Couldn’t remember a thing,” Kerry murmured. “Scared the shit out of me.”
“I bet.” Dar moved closer.
“I remember sitting there, kinda wondering what the whole damn point was?” Kerry shook her head a little. “I felt so empty.”
She turned and looked at Dar. “I felt like...if I’d kept driving, right into the water, no one would have given a crap.”
Dar merely gazed at her compassionately.
“Just another sordid back-page story: senator’s kid, drunk off 140
Melissa Good
her ass, drowns.”
“Ker.”
“S’true, and you know it.” Kerry smiled sadly. “I had no clue what it felt like to really matter to somebody.” She interlaced her fingers with Dar’s. “Didn’t know what it would be like to be a part of someone’s life.”
“Well,” Dar studied her face, “you do now.”
Kerry grinned easily. “Yeeeahh, I sure do.” She rolled onto her side unsteadily and pulled Dar’s hand close to her. “That’s what’s so cool,” she said. “I got you.”
“You got me,” Dar agreed, carefully gathering Kerry up into her arms and hugging her. There was no resistance in her lover’s body; Kerry meshed her limbs into Dar’s embrace with total abandon, humming softly in delight as Dar rocked them gently on the bed. “You got me, Ker, I got you, and that’s how that is.”
“Uumrrrmm. I love you so much,” Kerry warbled, her breath warm against Dar’s neck. “You make my life rock.”
Dar was surprised to feel tears welling up in her eyes. She blinked, and they spilled out over her cheeks, disappearing into Kerry’s pale hair as she swallowed the lump in her throat. She stroked Kerry’s head and kissed her, knowing a moment of pure joy so intense there were no words for it. True happiness was, she’d discovered somewhere in the last year, in making someone else happy. A damn simple concept, really, that somehow escaped all the laboriously written motivational manuals. All that crap about inner balance. Millions of dollars made on a bunch of bs when a single line on a cocktail napkin would do it.
It’s love, stupid.
Dar sniffled.