Authors: Jinx Schwartz
Epilogue
The sea washes all man’s ills away.—Euripides
Log of the
HiJenks
, Sea of Cortez (We’re baaaak! Can you believe it???)
Wind: Calm
Sky: Clear
Water Temp: 71 F. Barometer: Steady
We’re finally back at sea, a whole year since we lost Bud.
HiJenks
is mended, but I wonder if this hole in my heart ever will be. I try to remember the good times, but more often than not I see Bud at the helm of
All Bidness
right before it blew up. I saw the videos from Endeavor and am convinced, as the authorities are, that Bud fired that flare at Gato, not us. Jenks thinks so, too.
Did Bud know he was going to die? Is that why he mailed a handwritten will to his lawyer in Houston just days before
All Bidness
went down in flames? I guess we’ll never know, but whatever happened, whatever mistakes he made, we’re grateful for his generosity. His folksy writing style almost broke my heart.
“I want,” he wrote “my best friends, Hetta and Jenks Jenkins, to have ole Sam Houston. I know they’ll take real good care of him, especially since I also want them to inherit my entire estate so they can buy dawg food. I don’t have any relatives that are worth a damn, so if any of them try to contest this will, you make sure they don’t get one red cent. I guess that’s it. Bud.”
Bud’s lawyer carried out his will to the letter.
Jaime, bless his little cop heart, was a big help with a lot of the Mexican BS (I could write volumes!!!) we had to go through regarding the “incident.” Nikki visited him several times while we were in San Carlos getting repaired, and she and Jaime seem to be getting really close. Close to what, I don’t know. They appear to be torn between romance and duty. Maybe I’ll find out more when she and Jaime cruise on
HiJenks
with us this year. Just call us the Love Boat.
I hear the engines slowing, so we must be at the site. H.
Hetta shut down the computer and joined Jenks on deck. Nothing on the glassy sea gave any hint that here, on a windy night one year before, four people lost their lives to a gulf of greed.
HiJenks
lolled on a slight swell, gently rocking Hetta and Jenks as they stood on deck holding hands.
Hetta scanned—foolishly, she knew—searching for any sign of Bud. Her gaze turned to Jenks and she smiled through her tears. He pulled her close, wrapping her in his arms. Sam Houston whined, wanting in on the action.
Hetta wiped her cheeks and scooped him up by his vest. “I know you miss him too, Sam-dog. But we love you.”
“We sure as heck do, mutt,” Jenks said, scratching the terrier’s ears. “There’re a lot of reasons—several hundred thousand of ‘em—that you’re the dog of my dreams.”
Hetta stuck out her tongue at Jenks. “He doesn’t mean it, Sam. He loves you for your keen mind.”
Canardly sauntered on deck and checked his empty bowl for food. Disappointed, he rolled over, offering his ample tummy to the sun. Hetta and Jenks chuckled.
“I guess I should put him on restricted rations, Jenks, but he was hungry for so much of his life, maybe he deserves to be a mite portly. Wish I had an excuse for myself.” A slight breeze ruffled her hair as she spoke. “Uh, I’m not ready for a windy day at sea. Let’s do it and head for port, okay?”
Jenks went below and returned with a frosty magnum of Mumms, two crystal flutes, and a fifth of Wild Turkey. Opening the bottles, he filled their glasses with bubbly and handed one to Hetta. “To Bud,” he toasted, “we miss you.”
They downed the champagne, and then Hetta picked up the Wild Turkey. Giving the bottle a kiss, she launched it into the sea, yelling, “And remember the Alamo.”
~End~
Author’s Note
I love to hear from readers, so let me know what you think about
Troubled Sea
. You can email me at [email protected]
If you liked
Troubled Sea
you also might enjoy reading about Hetta and Jenks when they met. Hetta Coffey is a sassy Texan with a snazzy yacht, and she's not afraid to use it! This humorous mystery won an EPPIE award, and takes place years before the events in
Trouble Sea
. Take a look at http://amzn.to/ro70QS
Jinx on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/OegHma
Jinx's Twitter handle @jinxschwartz
Jinx's Twitter page: http://bit.ly/peOlj6
Jinx's website: http://jinxschwartz.com
About the Author
Raised in the jungles of Haiti and Thailand, Jinx followed her father’s steel-toed footsteps into the Construction and Engineering industry in the hopes of building dams. Finding all the good rivers taken, she traveled the world defacing other landscapes with mega-projects in Alaska, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
Like the characters in her novel,
Troubled Sea
, Jinx and her husband, Bob, gave up corporate life to cruise the Sea of Cortez. They now divide their time between Arizona and Mexico.