Good, Melissa - Stormy Waters - Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series

"I think it's that one." Kerry pointed at the ship aligned on the northeast side of the port. "Yeesh, they're big."

"That they are." Dar studied the vessels. They were all roughly the same size, but all four had different configurations. Two seemed to be tall and squat; the other two were long and lower. Even in the dark, they all bore signs of having better times behind them. She could see patches upon patches of metal on the sides if the light from the streetlamps lining the harbor hit them at a certain angle.

The one on the northeast that Kerry had pegged as "theirs" was one of the longer, lower ones. Dar steered a little closer, keeping a wary eye out for the authorities, her eyes measuring the length and breadth with automatic accuracy. "Damn thing must be a thousand feet long!?"

"Lot of portholes." Kerry noted.

"Oh yeah." Dar agreed softly. The Dixieland Yankee slid a little sideways in the tide, and a strip of moonlight splashed between her and the boat. It hit the water, and Dar leaned forward her eyes catching a ripple on the surface that didn't look quite right. "Hey, Ker?"

"Yeah?"

"Check the bilge real quick, huh? Are we leaking something?"

Kerry scrambled across the deck and hopped over the back wall leaning over and peering at the back of the boat. She held on with one hand and fished her mini flashlight off her belt with the other, keying it on and studying the spot where the engines were churning the water. "Can't tell." She yelled up at Dar. "You're breaking up the water too much."

Dar cut the engines after looking around to make sure they weren't going to drift into anything. "Look quick."

Kerry studied the water, then leaned way over and stuck her hand in, bringing it up and sniffing. Her nose wrinkled. "This stinks, but not of diesel."

"Okay, get up." Dar started the engines again and backed the boat away from the pier, getting to an angle against the moonlight again. She spotted what had worried her--a silvery film on the water they?d just passed through that extended across the surface of the water behind them.

Carefully, Dar turned the boat and followed the oily stripe with her eyes. It went right past them and headed across the cut, fading out from her view as it reached the ship in the northeast dock. "Figures."

"What is it?" Kerry was at the bottom of the ladder peering up.

"Should have thought of that first. It's one of them leaking something." Dar pointed.

Kerry turned and looked, shading her eyes against the streetlamps. Now that Dar had pointed it out to her, she saw the line on the water, and in fact if she went to the side-- "I can smell it." She called up. "Smells like kerosene."

Dar moved their boat sideways out of the stain. One of the customs' boats was now heading their way, apparently noting the odd maneuvers she'd been executing. "Shoulda just stayed out on the reef. Better go grab the registration just in case, Ker."

The other boat pulled alongside and Dar set the Dixie into idle keeping her hands on the controls as the customs officer grabbed hold of the railing. "Hi." She called down.

"You having a problem?" The man called up to her, apparently more concerned for her safety than suspicious.

"No. I saw a slick, and thought I was causing it." Dar pointed. "But it's that tub over there."

The officer shaded his eyes then crouched. "Ah! Yeah." He nodded. "You just out for a ride?"

Kerry emerged, carefully locking Chino inside the cabin. "No, we were diving." She indicated their gear. "We live over there. We saw these big ships coming in, so we were curious."

The customs officer gave her a once over. "Well, don't be too curious. That's our job." He pushed off from the railing. "You folks have a good night."

"Night." Kerry replied politely. "You too."

The customs boat backed away, but placed itself conspicuously between the ship and the Dixieland Yankee. The officers on the rear of the boat watched them as Dar idled for a moment more, then swung the bow around and headed off toward the marina on the far side of the island.

Kerry climbed up onto the flying bridge and joined her partner. "That was weird."

"Of course it was. Do normal things happen to you and me?" Dar asked, as she glanced behind her. "But in fairness, I don't think oil leaks are their department." She took the right fork around the island instead of the left, coming even with another of the ships as she moved slowly through the no wake area.

This was the first ship that had come in, and it was already tied up. There were several figures standing on the deck leaning on the rails, looking at the sights. One waved at them.

Kerry waved back.

The figure stepped forward and exposed himself laughing loudly.

Dar picked up the mic clipped to the console and switched on the Dixie's PA system. "Throw it back, buddy. It's too short."

Kerry snickered, leaning against Dar and hiding her face in her shirt sleeve.

The man's companions laughed as well, slapping the miscreant on the back and shoving him back against the wall. One of them then advanced to the rail, but backed up again as the Dixieland Yankee turned into the marina channel and started to disappear from view. "Hey girlies! C'mon back, yeah? I got me a big one!"

"You know what?" Kerry sniffed reflectively. "I sure hope Shari and Michelle get that one."

Dar chuckled. "I'm sure ours won't be much better. Old salts are old salts."

"Hmm. We could bring our own old salt with us." Kerry mused. "He's still on the payroll, and I bet he'd probably keep those guys off our backs."

"Hmm."

They came around the south side of the island and entered the marina basin, slowing their already slow speed to just above idle. Most of the marina was empty--the owners moving their boats to a more comfortable climate during the summer along with themselves.

Dar angled toward their slip putting the Dixie neatly into place as Kerry scooted down the ladder to jump ashore and tie them off. Her thoughts, however, were on Kerry's last suggestion. Not that she really thought they needed Dad around on their ship.

But wouldn't it be interesting if he were hanging around the others?

Dar shut down the diesels and leaned against the console, weighing the conflict of aiding their business goals at the expense of asking her father to be a part of something not quite...

Would he consider it dishonorable? Or just good strategy?

"Dar? You coming down from there or should I bring coffee up?"

Dar shut down the console and pocketed the keys, then started for the ladder still pondering the question.

KERRY SETTLED INTO her seat glad of the very early morning quiet of the office on a rainy Monday morning. She had a meeting scheduled in an hour with Mark and the technical team for the bid, and she intended on using the time before then to square away the project and tie up a few loose ends.

"Hey, Mayte?" She pressed her intercom. "You there?"

"Yes! I am."

"Did we get the circuit completion on the pier?" Kerry asked. "I don't have anything here on it."

"I will check." Mayte promised. "They were saying on Friday that it would be done."

"Okay, thanks." Kerry set that problem aside. She pulled over a folder with requisitions for the project, and reviewed them. "Yikes! Is this just for the setup team?" She sighed, leafing through the pages. Money to establish an office at the pier and get that up and running, and provisioning for the gear to equip the office. "Damn, IT is expensive." She shook her head and signed the pages, closed the folder and tossed it into her out bin.

"Kerry?" Mayte's voice crackled in.

"Yeesss?" Kerry answered.

Her assistant laughed softly. "You sound so funny when you do that."

"Do I sound like Dar?" Kerry's eyes twinkled.

"A little." Mayte admitted. "Only not so big."