“Hey,” he said jumping down to shake hands. He looked a little nervous.
“It’s beautiful,” Q complimented, gesturing at the Passion Flower.
“She’s a beaut, isn’t she?” Donnie Meadows beamed.
“Looks like you’re going somewhere,” I pointed out.
“Yeah,” he said sheepishly. “I...we...were just headed--”
He was interrupted by Jennifer bounding up the stairs topside.
“Hi!” she said brightly, then had a sudden thought. “Am I in trouble?” she asked.
“Not at all, sweetheart,” I said with a smile. “I was sorry to hear it when Mack said you were leaving. Q and I just wanted to stop by and give you guys a little going away present.”
She came down the portable steps to join us and I handed her a thin passbook. She opened it and looked at the numbers for a second before her eyes went wide and let out a short “Gawd!”
She handed the passbook to Donnie Meadows and you could almost see him counting the zeros. He shook his head. “This is very generous,” he said, “and after everything you’ve already done.”
We cut the rest of the team their shares, including a half-share for Amber, and a double share for the company to cover expenses. Q and I pooled our personal shares for their going away present. The account was one at an offshore bank, one that we had used so much in the past we decided to buy it some time ago. Had I known banking was so lucrative we would have gotten into the business years ago.
“You did save my life,” I reminded him.
“Still,” he said smiling, “this will buy us a lot of time out on the water.”
That was kind of the object. I was always worried the elder Silva would trump is stepson when it came to cleaning up loose ends. This way finding Don Meadows and Jennifer would be next to impossible. With an endless amount of cash and an equally endless ocean they would disappear into a world that was 70 percent water.
“You kids enjoy yourself,” I said, “and if either of you ever need a job…”
“Thanks, but I think we’re retired,” he said, tapping the passbook.
“Good deal,” I smiled.
Q and I each got a big hug and a kiss from Jennifer and settled for a handshake and man-hug from Don Meadows. We stayed around long enough to help them cast off and watched the sleek sailboat motor out into the inlet. Jennifer came out on the rear deck to wave farewell.
“Think we’ll ever see them again?” Q asked waving.
“Stranger things have happened,” I reminded him.
We made our way back to the car where Amber was waiting with a scrawny, squirmy black and white cat not totally comfortable being held. That explained the courier I saw leaving on our walk back to the parking lot. Amber insisted on driving when we were all together and, to my surprise, Q let her. She explained that since she wasn’t blowing anyone for the money we were paying her the least she could do was drive.
“So who’s this?” I asked, scratching the wiggly cat behind the ears, which he didn’t seem to appreciate.
“This is Zeek,” Amber announced proudly. “Zeek the Geek, The Star’s official new good luck cat. He’s going in to get his shots and…” She made a snapping motion with two fingers.
“Oh,” I said, feeling a slight pang of man-sympathy for our buddy Zeek. “Where are you taking him?”
“Not me,” Amber informed me, stuffing Zeek back into his cat carrier. “Q’s taking him in,” she said, handing the carrier over to a slightly sheepish Q. “The other car’s over there,” Amber pointed to a blue sedan parked in the shade. “Keys are over the visor.”
“The vet!” I said after a moment.
“Deek and I looked her up one day,” Amber grinned. “Her real name is Evelyn Durkee and she has a small animal practice down in Delray.”
“That’s great, Q,” I complimented. “Good for you.”
“Yeah, don’t blow it,” Amber cautioned him.
“I’m not going to blow it,” Q retorted sharply.
“He’s going to blow it,” she said to me. “He gets all nervous and he’s not a good talker on a good day,” Amber pointed out.
“He can be pretty funny in a dry sort of way. If he can make her laugh, he’ll be fine,” I countered.
“Choke-o-rama,” Amber insisted, holding a hand up to her throat for emphasis.
“He’s pretty good in a pinch,” I defended.
“And then there’s the thing,” Amber reminded me.
“You told her?” Q asked me indignantly.
“She told me,” Amber corrected. “What else do you think hookers talk about? She said it was a little weird at first but once she got used to it, she liked it.”
“She already knows about the thing,” I reminded him. “It’s a non-issue.”
“Can we please change the subject?” Q begged.
“Can I see it?” Amber asked him.
“No!” Q said with defiant certainty.
“It’s not like I haven’t seen one before,” she reassured. “Just a peek. Call it medical curiosity.”
“Forget it,” Q said flatly.
“Don’t let her psych you out,” I encouraged. “Go on, you’ll be fine.”
Q ambled off toward the other car and Amber yelled, “Don’t blow it!”
Q raised his middle finger over his shoulder without turning around. We watched him drive off.
“Fred gave me the afternoon off,” she informed me. “You wanna go back to my place?”
“I shouldn’t,” I reminded her, “you’re part of the team now.” That wasn’t quite true, she hadn’t been through all of her training yet but even Fred was impressed with her progress.
“Not this employee shit again,” she said in an exasperated tone. “Tell you what. I’m going to get in the car and go back to my place, take off all my clothes and do naughty things. You can either come with me or stand there and rationalize yourself.” With that she got in the car.
I took it as a sign of weakness that my principles only held out for 10 seconds before meekly climbing in the passenger side.
End of Mission File
Rogue Horse Recovery
Status: Closed
The Rogue Horse Recovery: Book One of the Recovery and Marine Salvage Inc Series (Recovery and Marine Salvage, Inc.) Page 18