She saw him wince as he shifted in his chair. Putting a frown of concern on her face, she pursed her lips. "Have you hurt your back somehow?" she asked, her tone solicitous.
"I'm a bit sore," he acknowledged. "Not used to all the exercise, I guess. I forgot how much of a workout you get just holding yourself still on a sailboat in the ocean."
"That sounds like a glorious way to get fit. I'd love to try it."
"Mmm." He smiled, letting the opening pass.
"Have you done a lot of sailing?" she asked.
"More than I ever cared to. My father was a passionate ocean racer. He press-ganged me early on. Probably why I don't find it as charming as most people seem to think it is."
"But you still sail?"
"No more than I can help. I'm doing research for a book that has a lot of sailing scenes down here, so I'm using a yacht to renew my sense of what traveling from island to island under sail is like."
"So do you stay on the yacht at all?"
"No. I like to sleep in beds that don't move by themselves. Another holdover from my childhood. If I sleep on a boat, I inevitably get seasick."
"But if you're awake it doesn't bother you?"
"As long as I stay on deck. I have to have a view of the horizon."
"Does it matter how big the boat is?"
"Not to me, it doesn't. You seem curious about sailing," he said.
She smiled at him, taking a deep breath and leaning against the table again.
"I'm a curious girl. I like new experiences of all kinds." She sighed again and took a deep breath, making her bosom swell. I've always thought sailing would be so romantic ... "
"You've not done it?"
"Not on a sailboat," she said, blushing on cue as he chuckled at her 'accidental' double entendre. "I mean ... "
He smiled, waiting.
"I can see this beautiful big sailboat from my balcony. Vengeance, it's called. It makes a girl dream ... "
"Yes," he agreed. "I know the one you mean. She is a beauty, all right."
"I've heard that it's a charter yacht," she said. "I'm thinking maybe I'll find out about chartering it while I'm here. Do you know anything about chartering?"
A tight smile spread across his face. "A bit. I have Vengeance under charter for the next several weeks, you see."
"Oh, Gerald! How wonderful for you. I mean, it's too bad it's just work and you don't like it, but still ... "
"Well, it is work. Otherwise, I'd offer to take you along. I'm afraid I ... "
"I wouldn't dream of imposing, but that's sweet of you, just the same." She glanced at her diamond-studded wristwatch. "Oh! I'm sorry. I've kept you here far too long. I have an appointment at the spa shortly. I'm so glad I recognized you from the picture on your book."
"Me, too, Marilyn. It's always a pleasure to meet a fan. Maybe I'll see you again. How long are you staying?"
"As long as I'm enjoying it. It's looking more interesting by the minute," she said, giving him a coy look as she pushed her chair back.
He started to stand and winced in pain.
"Please," she said, "Don't get up. I understand. I'm off for a deep massage; might be good for you, too."
"Thanks. I'll consider it. Maybe we can get you out on Vengeance one of these days, if I get caught up."
She stepped around the table and bent to kiss him on the cheek. "I'd like that, but only if it's good for both of us." She blushed at his smile. "I mean ... I, um, ... I really want you to finish this next book; I'm so looking forward to it. Now I really must run." She smiled over her shoulder as she minced away in her high-heeled sandals, hips swaying beneath the filmy beach cover-up.
Chapter 7
"So, did you find the problem?" Liz asked, as Nick stepped aboard Vengeance. He had the circuit boards tucked under one arm and held his waterproof briefcase in his hand.
A grim look on his face, he shook his head. "Not yet, but I've ruled out the easy stuff. I wanted to leave the boards here overnight, if that's okay."
"Sure, that's no problem," Liz said. "I guess we're not going anywhere tomorrow, huh?"
"Not unless Gerald just wants an outing. I'll be back in the repair lab until I find something."
"He doesn't seem to like sailing much," Liz observed.
"You got that right. Says he gets seasick if he tries to sleep on a boat."
"We wondered. Kind of unusual for us; most folks who charter Vengeance treat her like their hotel room."
"Yeah, I figured. Don't worry; it's nothing you and Dani have done. He's just a little weird."
"We just want to be sure we're satisfying our guests, Nick. Everybody's different, and this is a new experience for us. You and Gerald let us know if we can do anything to help."
"Thanks, Liz. I'll pass it on to him, but don't worry; you guys are doing great. We wanted a sailboat because if we were doing this with a dive boat or a sport fishing boat, it would attract attention. Gerald's a fanatic on the subject of his privacy."
"That makes sense. Dani and I wondered about that. Don't worry; we're in the business of providing privacy for our guests."
"Good," Nick smiled, nodding his head. "I'd better go check on Gerald; see what's up with him. You didn't see him today, did you?"
"No. We were aboard all day. Dani just went up to the chandlery a little while ago for some paint thinner. Other than that, we haven't been off the boat."
"Okay. Well, have a nice evening. I'll be by early in the morning to pick up the boards again.
"Thanks. Good evening to you, too." Liz said, as Nick made his way ashore.
****
The dark man in the flowered shirt sipped his rum punch as he watched Nick Thompson walk along the quay from Vengeance to the Admiral's Inn. He noticed that Thompson had left his briefcase on the boat with the two women, which struck him as unusual. This was the first time in two days of surveillance that he had seen the man without it.
Seeing that the bartender was occupied with a customer at the other end of the bar, the man reached over and poured his drink into the sink. The punch was lethal; he'd finished the first one earlier without realizing how potent the mix of fruit juice and rum was. He had commented on it to the bartender who had been on duty earlier.
"It's 'cause the rum costs less than the fruit juice," she had explained. "Mos' folks, they like it. Jus' you be careful, though."
He had been buying enough refills to avoid being labeled as a deadbeat, pouring them out while he maintained his vigil. This was the easiest surveillance gig he'd ever had. He had a thick paperback book that he pretended to read from time to time while he kept watch. He could sit here in one spot and see the yacht, the hotel, and that repair shop where Thompson had spent most of the day.
Yates hadn't left the hotel, according to his counterpart. She had staked out the lobby; it was difficult for an attractive, single woman to maintain surveillance from a bar. She had called an hour ago to report that Yates had met a woman for an extended lunch in the hotel dining room. She had seen the woman approach Yates earlier, as he was finishing his breakfast. They had pictures of her; they'd figure out who she was later.
His partner had managed a quick search of Thompson's and Yates's rooms while Yates was occupied with the woman. She had called to tell him that neither room held anything of interest, although the files on Yates's laptop were encrypted. She'd cloned the hard drive, but if Yates had used good encryption software that wouldn't get them very far.
****
Dani and Liz had decided on taking a walk and having dinner ashore. It was rare for them to have time for a meal out by themselves in the middle of a charter, and there was a pizza place about halfway to Falmouth Harbour that Liz enjoyed. They had waited until the cool of the evening to go and had enjoyed a bottle of one of Liz's favorite Italian red wines with their dinner.
They got back to Nelson's Dockyard at about 9 p.m. and strolled along the quay, admiring the boats. It always made them feel good to see how at home Vengeance looked in
the midst of all the pristine showboats. Although she worked hard for her keep, Vengeance was every bit as attractive as any of the little-used boats that were status symbols of the wealthy.
As they rounded the bend in the quay, Vengeance came into view. Her profile looked small against the backdrop of a gorgeous 120-foot schooner tied up next to her. Pausing to take her in, Dani frowned.
"What's wrong?" Liz asked.
"There's a light on in the galley or the nav station. Did you leave it on?"
"No, I'm sure I didn't. It wasn't dark enough below to need lights when we left."
"You didn't turn it on for when we got back?"
"No, Dani. I'd remember."
"We've got company, then. Maybe Nick or Gerald."
"Did you give them a key?" Liz asked, as they closed the distance.
"No, but I showed Nick where we keep the extra key in the cockpit locker in case they needed it for some reason."
"I'll bet that's it, then. I noticed he left his briefcase when he dropped off the circuit boards while you were checking email. He probably remembered and came back for it."
Dani scampered across the passerelle, landing cat-like in the cockpit. "Nick? Gerald?" she called.
When no one answered, she moved quickly to stand against the back of the coachroof to the starboard side of the companionway. The doors were open, although she had locked them when they left earlier.
She motioned Liz to the opposite side of the opening. They each peered below for a moment and then made eye contact, shaking their heads. Dani pointed at her own chest and then pointed below. Liz nodded her understanding; they had done this before.
Dani sprang through the companionway, landing in a crouch on her feet at the foot of the ladder. Before she recovered her balance, a dark figure stepped from the gloom on the starboard side of the ladder and shoved her violently. She skipped back a step and cocked her right leg for a kick, but he was already up the ladder. She was on his heels as he stepped into the cockpit, where Liz kicked his feet out from under him.
"Shit!" he cursed softly as he crashed to the deck in the cockpit. He bounced back to his hands and feet before either woman could tackle him. He sprang from his crouch and catapulted himself across the passerelle, landing on all fours on the rough concrete of the quay. "Shit!" he muttered again as he scrambled to his feet and sprinted away into the dark.
"You okay?" Liz asked.
"Yes. Let's go see what he was up to."
Below decks, they found signs of a hasty but thorough search. The sheaf of papers that held the ship's documentation and their passports was on the seat behind the chart table; they kept it in the top drawer below the table. Nick's high-impact-plastic briefcase lay on its side on the chart table, a small digital camera next to it. A lock-blade pocket knife lay open on the table as well, and from the gouges in the plastic around the clasps, it was clear that the intruder had been trying to pry open the locked briefcase.
Liz picked up the sheaf of ship's papers, flipping through the contents. "Nothing's missing, but they're all mixed up." She and Dani traded off the duty of clearing in when they sailed to a new island. To expedite the paperwork, they kept the documents stacked in a particular order.
Dani picked up the camera, seeing that it was still powered on. She studied the controls for a moment and switched it into playback mode. Liz looked over her shoulder as they scrolled through the photographs.
"Our papers and passports," Liz commented.
"Yes. And here's Gerald, eating by himself," Dani said.
"Looks like the dining room at the Admiral's Inn," Liz remarked.
Dani pressed a button on the back of the camera beside the display and the time and date appeared in the corner of the image. "Looks like breakfast this morning." She scrolled to another picture, this one of a beautiful, scantily clad woman in conversation with Gerald in the dining room. They were standing next to his table, and the woman held a book, extending it toward him.
"I'm surprised they seated her, dressed like that," Liz said.
"Seen her around here?" Dani asked.
"No, I don't recognize her."
"Neither do I." Dani scrolled again, this time stopping at a picture of Nick Thompson boarding Vengeance. "Somebody's keeping an eye on our guests."
"Looks that way," Liz agreed. "I guess we interrupted him before he got his pictures of whatever Nick's got in the case."
Dani thought about that for a moment. "We don't have to tell Nick that," she finally said, casting a sidelong glance at Liz.
"No, Dani. It's none of our business; don't even think about it." Liz frowned.
"But he was ... "
"No. If Nick wanted us to know what was in there, he wouldn't keep it locked."
"He left it on our boat."
"He probably forgot it."
"He could have come back for it," Dani argued.
"He probably figured it was safe with us. Now just stop it. I'm not going to be a party to snooping through our guests' belongings. Besides being rude, it's bad business."
"But we'd blame it on the prowler."
"Basta, Dani!"
"Okay, but I'd still like to know what's in there."
"We know he keeps his laptop in there, and those old, raggedy charts he's always studying. Let it go, please."
"Okay. Sorry. You know my curiosity."
"Yes. Any other pictures there?"
Dani touched the scroll button, revealing a series of shots of the woman in the beach cover-up having lunch with Gerald.
"At least he didn't get away with his pictures," Liz remarked as they came to the end of the camera's memory.
"Don't be too sure of that," Dani said.
"Huh? We've got his camera with the pictures in it," Liz said.
Dani pointed at the Wi-Fi logo on the back of the camera.
"So?" Liz asked.
"So he could have been downloading them to a Smartphone as he shot them. I'm not sure it matters, but we can't assume that he didn't get away with them."
"What do you think we should do now?" Liz asked.
"Might as well call it a night. We'll talk it over with Nick in the morning, I guess."
Chapter 8
Liz and Dani were drinking coffee in Vengeance's cockpit when Nick Thompson came by to retrieve the circuit boards and his briefcase. They had just finished breakfast, and Dani was discussing her intention to investigate last night's prowler when Nick hailed them from the quay.
"Hi, Nick," Liz returned his greeting.
"We were just talking about you," Dani added. "Do you have time for a cup of coffee?"
"Sure," Nick grinned as he stepped aboard.
"Have you had breakfast?" Liz asked, as he sat down. "I could fix you something quick."
"No, thanks. I just ate, but a cup of that coffee would be great."
As Liz poured a cup for him, Dani said, "We had a prowler last night."
"Uh-oh." Nick looked alarmed. "I forgot and left my case here."
"It's all right. Still locked, but it looks like he was about to break it open when we surprised him."
Nick nodded, relief spreading over his face. "So what happened?"
"We went out for pizza, and when we got back, we saw a light in the galley that wasn't on when we left," Liz said.
"We thought maybe you'd come back and used the key I showed you, but I called out for you or Gerald, and nobody answered. I went below, but before I could do anything, he pushed past me and scrambled into the cockpit," Dani said.
"I tripped him, but he was too quick; he scrambled ashore and sprinted away into the dark," Liz said.
Nick grinned, shaking his head. "Pretty gutsy, you two. How'd you know he wasn't armed?"
Dani shrugged. "Thieves who get caught boarding boats usually just want to get away. Anyhow, this one wasn't typical. He appears to have been conducting some kind of surveillance. He left a camera behind with pictures of all our ship's papers and shots of you and Gerald."
"And
some woman eating lunch with Gerald," Liz added. "It looks as if he was trying to pry open your case when we surprised him."
"What woman?" Nick asked after a moment's thought.
Dani took the camera from her pocket and turned it on, scrolling through the pictures. Pausing, she passed it across the table to him.
Nick studied the picture for a few seconds. "I think I saw her in the dining room the other night."
"Did Gerald mention meeting someone?" Dani asked.
"I didn't see him yesterday. He left a message that he was under the weather and was going to eat dinner in his room. Now I wonder ... " he thought for a minute. "He's kind of a skirt-chaser. She definitely looks like his type, but who knows?" He handed the camera back to Dani. "You call the cops?"
Dani shook her head. "No point. They'd just tie us up with making a report and then write it off as some attempt at petty theft, especially since he didn't take anything."
Nick nodded. "Yeah. No doubt." He took a last swallow of coffee. "Well," he said, standing up, "I guess I'd better get to work; I'm on the clock." He went below and emerged in a moment with his case and the two circuit boards. "See you two later," he said, stepping onto the quay.
"Good luck with the repair," Liz said, watching him walk away. When he was out of earshot, she asked, "What do you make of his reaction?"
"Hard to read. He was relieved that his case was intact, but other than that, it's hard to say."
"Doesn't it seem odd that he hasn't seen Gerald?" Liz asked.
"A bit, but maybe Gerald doesn't like to fraternize with the help."
"Or maybe Gerald's distracted by that woman. Wonder if she's got any connection with the surveillance?"
"But why would somebody board us if they were interested in her?" Liz asked.
"No telling. Maybe a jealous husband checking out Gerald?"
"You think he knew her? Planned to meet her here?"
"Thompson said she was Gerald's 'type,' whatever that means. He made it sound like Gerald was always on the prowl."
"Hmm." Liz frowned for a moment. "You still planning to ask around about our prowler?"
"Might as well. Want to join me?"
"Not unless you need me. I'm thinking I'll walk out to the lookout post at the harbor entrance and do a little sketching."
Bluewater Bullion: The Seventh Novel in the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series (Bluewater Thrillers Book 7) Page 4