Стюарт Вудс - Indecent Exposure

“Are you getting this?” she asked Bobby.

“Every bit of it,” Bobby replied, snapping away.

“Let me see their faces.”

Bobby showed her the display and zoomed in.

“Holy shit!”

“Who is it this time?”

“It’s the daughter of Senator Eliot Saltonstall and the son of the fucking President of the United States!”

“Holy shit,” Bobby said, taking shots of them climbing the ladder for another dive.

“The only thing better than this would be if the two presidents are aboard.”

“That would be pushing our luck,” Bobby said.

“Are you getting a Wi-Fi signal out here?”

Bobby checked his phone. “Nope, no Wi-Fi, no cell service.”

“Shit, shit, shit! I wanted to send these to Hazel. I can’t even call her!”

“Hey,” Bobby said, “ Trafalgar III is weighing anchor.”

“Let’s get inside,” Gloria said, “I don’t want to be seen when they pass.” They dived into the saloon.

Stone, Holly, Peter, and Celeste sat in the fantail, laughing and toweling their hair. Another tray of Bloody Marys arrived.

“That was fantastic!” Celeste enthused. “We have to start every day that way.”

“You talked me into it,” Stone said, taking a sip from his drink. “Make my next one a Bloody Awful,” Stone said to the crewman.

“What’s that, sir?”

“No vodka.”

Kate Lee appeared in the doorway to the saloon, took one look and retreated. “Who’s that?” she shouted, pointing. They were steaming past Ciao.

“Just another yacht,” Stone replied. “They were anchored some distance from us last night.”

Kate waited until Ciao was well astern before emerging. She waved away a Bloody Mary. “Make it a Virgin Mary,” she said.

“It’s called a Bloody Awful,” Stone said.

“A better name. You never know when I might have to deal with the Russians, so I’ll be drinking very little on this voyage.”

“I will be,” Will said, emerging from the saloon and grabbing a Bloody Mary. “I’m not dealing with the Russians or anybody else, for that matter, and I don’t have to drive a car or tend a four-year-old.” He took a swig. “God, I haven’t had a Bloody Mary for years! It’s wonderful!”

A buffet was quickly set up, containing scrambled eggs, bacon and sausages, and pancakes, with assorted muffins and breads. Everybody dug in.

Stone picked up a large pair of binoculars and scanned the area aft. Ciao was weighing anchor, well behind their support yacht, Scout . “We must have woken them up,” he said.

They steamed west at a leisurely eight knots until late in the afternoon, when Fort Jefferson hove into view. The yacht followed the buoys around the island, and they entered the lagoon with the fort on their port side. They picked up a mooring, and the crew put out a stern anchor from a dinghy to hold the big yacht in place without swinging. Half an hour later Scout came into the lagoon and anchored in the same way, perhaps forty yards away. Shortly, her tender departed and came over to Trafalgar III , then four people in nautical gear came aboard.

The captain came aft to say good evening. “Some people from Scout are doing a communications check aboard, with the radio they installed, and the Secret Service are changing shifts. The others will be going back to Scout soon. By the way, although there’s no cellular service out here, we have a working satphone, and there’s a handset in the saloon, if anyone needs to make a call. You dial zero-one-one, then the area code, then the number, then press ‘enter.’” He went back to his duties.

Kate finished her drink and looked at her watch. “I’d better call Billy and see how he’s making out.” She left the group and went into the saloon.

“I can tell you,” Will said to the others, “Billy is doing just fine. He’d bring that pony into the family quarters at the White House if we’d let him.”

Cocktails were served a little later, and they watched the sun sink into the sea.

Ciao was anchored outside the lagoon, on the leeward side of the island. Gloria watched Trafalgar III through a pair of ten-power binoculars. “Can’t see much,” she said to Bobby. “And they’ve got a stern anchor out, so they’re not going to swing around and give us a view from aft.”

“Gee, I guess I’ll have to take the rest of the day off,” Bobby said, accepting a drink from Judy, then handing Gloria one. “We haven’t had time to catch up,” he said. “What have you been up to?”

“Just between you and me?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’ve been in Bermuda for a week with Benton Blake.”

“Our ex-governor?”

“One and the same.”

“He’s not wasting any time after his divorce, is he?”

“Nor before it. We’re going to be married a little way down the road.”

“I wish you every happiness,” he said. “What’s the guv going to do for a living?”

“He’s joining the big-time law firm of Woodman & Weld as a senior partner.”

“Well, that should keep you both in fish and chips.”

“In champagne and caviar,” she replied.

“I should have expected no less,” he replied. “You’ve always had an eye for the main chance.”

“‘Main chance,’” Gloria repeated. “I like the sound of that. Benton is certainly the main chance for me, and I for him. He hasn’t been happy for a long time, and he deserves what I can give him.”

“And I well know what that is,” Bobby said.

“You certainly do,” she replied, “and if you play your cards right, you might have the opportunity on this cruise.”

He raised his glass. “I’ll look forward to it.”

“So will I,” she replied. After all, she had never been a one-man woman, and she couldn’t see herself starting now, on a cruise like this, not with an old flame aboard.

The following morning, Stone woke at dawn again, nudged Holly, then put on a robe and walked to the fantail and looked around; the only yacht in the lagoon was Scout. He could see the outline of Ciao , the smaller yacht from the day before, anchored off in the lee of the island.

“I’m not stripping off,” Holly said. “That other yacht is full of horny Secret Service guys, and they’re not getting a peek.”

“Then go put on something skimpy and bring me a suit, too,” Stone said. “I’ll wait impatiently.”

Holly went below and returned quickly. “Let’s do it.”

They dropped their robes, Stone put on the suit, and in a moment they were in the water. Stone stroked out a few yards from Trafalgar III , then, facedown in the water, he saw a very large, dark shape on the bottom, shark-shaped, and, he reckoned, twelve to fifteen feet. He reversed course.

“Follow me,” he said, as he reached Holly, “and don’t ask questions.” He escorted her to the ladder, and they climbed aboard.

“What was that about?” Holly asked.

“Very large shark on the bottom,” he replied.

“Oops.” A crewman bearing their Bloody Marys approached. “Not to worry,” he said, “that’s a nurse shark. They spend most of their time on the bottom, and the only danger is stepping on one.”

“Hold those drinks,” Stone said, grabbing Holly’s hand and jumping back into the water.

“Where is it?” she asked.

“That way,” he said, pointing.

She ducked under the water for half a minute, then emerged. “It’s not moving,” she said.

“Nurse shark,” he replied. “The only danger is stepping on it.”

“Gosh, you know everything, don’t you?”

“Nearly everything.”