Melissa Good - Terrors of the High Seas

A small tender was coming around the corner of the island.

Kerry tipped her sunglasses down and squinted, wondering if it was the same boat that had passed them by the day before. It was about the same size, but as yet it was too far away for her to tell for certain. It was coming closer, though, and by its arc Kerry suspected its destination was the dock. She set her book down and reached over to close her fingers around Dar’s wrist.

“Hm?” Dar stirred, turning her head towards Kerry. “What’s up?”

Kerry pointed. “Company.”

Dar pulled off her sunglasses, revealing sharp blue eyes that scanned the newcomer intently, all trace of sleep gone. “Ah,” she murmured. “Our curious friends.”

“It is them? You can tell?”

Dar nodded. “Same ID numbers on the bow.”

Kerry squinted, then turned and looked at Dar in amazement.

“You can read those?”

Her partner gave another nod and a shrug. “Yeah. It’s…” Dar made a vague motion near her face, “close up stuff I have a problem with.” She paused. “Sometimes.”

Kerry wasn’t sure if she should be more shocked by the boat, or by Dar’s frank admission of her vision problems. She finally decided to deal with the boat first. “They’re coming here.”

“Looks like it.”

“It could just be coincidence,” Kerry reasoned. “Maybe they heard about the food.”

“Could be,” Dar agreed, settling her glasses back onto her nose and resuming her relaxed posture. “Guess we’ll find out.”

Kerry felt a prickle of apprehension, unsure of what they might be getting into. She watched the boat come nearer and nearer, then slow as it prepared to dock several slips away from them. It occurred to her that both she and Dar were far out of their usual world, and if real trouble found them, it might not be as easy to Terrors of the High Seas 55

deal with as their usual day-to-day crises were. Dar, however, seemed to be completely at ease, so Kerry leaned back in her chair and opened her book, found her spot and continued to read.

The small boat docked and four people got off, three men and a woman. Two of the men continued up the docks toward the buildings, but the third man and the woman headed toward the Dixieland Yankee . Kerry kept her head down, but watched them from behind her sunglasses as they approached, evaluating them.

They were dressed in sharply pressed shirts and Docker shorts, with conspicuous gold at their throats and wrists, and Kerry got an immediate impression of sophistication and money. The woman had blonde hair a few shades darker than her own, pulled back in a neat tail that exposed an elegantly made up face with high cheekbones. Carrying herself with a sense of aggressive self-possession, she was the one who was leading the way toward the boat.The man behind her was tall, dark haired, and skinny to the point of emaciation. He had a high forehead, and he was carrying an over-the-shoulder briefcase with a satellite cell phone clipped to it.

Maybe they just want to say hello , Kerry reasoned. Maybe they just like the boat. Maybe —

“Ahoy, there,” the woman addressed them. “Excuse me.”

Sounds about as friendly as an auditor with hemorrhoids . Kerry closed her book and looked over, aware of Dar’s watchful alertness next to her. “Hi,” she replied. “Something we can do for you?”

The woman put her hands on her slim hips and regarded Kerry.

“We’re looking for some information. Maybe you could help us?”

Hm . “Sure, if we can. Would you like to come aboard?” Kerry politely replied.

They stepped onto the railing, then down onto the deck and approached the two of them. Kerry watched their eyes flick to Dar, who was to all appearances blissfully asleep. The woman returned her attention to Kerry.

“My name is Christen Mayberry,” the woman stated. “This is my associate, Juan Carlos.” She paused, giving Kerry an inquiring look.

“Kerry.” A sudden impulse toward reticence took hold.

“Roberts.” Her ears heard the faint snort of surprise from Dar, and she smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

Christen cleared her throat. “I represent a salvage consortium.

We’ve contracted to do some research and location work in this area.

We saw you out by the straits yesterday, and I was wondering what your interest here is.”

Kerry sorted through that and felt a sense of relief. “Nothing, actually.” She gave the woman a reassuring smile. “We’re just on vacation.”

56 Melissa Good

“And you picked that spot at random?” the man interjected.

“No.” Dar’s low voice broke in. “I picked the spot because it’s got a great view and nice fish.” She lifted a hand and tipped her glasses down, exposing her eyes, which studied their visitors.

“No offense.” Juan Carlos smiled at her. “See anything good?”

“Moray eel as tall as I am,” Dar drawled softly. “And a lot of clowns.”

“Well, that’s great then.” Christen’s attitude suddenly shifted.

“You going to be around long? Maybe we can do dinner. We’re new around here and we don’t know many people.” She leaned against the back railing. “The locals are pretty tough nuts to crack.”

Kerry and Dar exchanged quick glances. “We’ll be around for a few days, yes,” Kerry replied. “I’m sure we can get together.”

“Great.” Christen smiled. “Nice to meet you, Kerry.” Her eyes shifted to Dar questioningly.

“This is my partner, Dar,” Kerry supplied. “Nice to meet you, too.” “We will be seeing you around, I’m sure,” Juan said. “This is a lovely boat you have.”

“Thanks,” Dar replied. “What’s your consortium salvaging? I didn’t think there was anything around here worth going after.”

Juan looked at Christen. “It’s a private commission,” Christen said. “We can’t really discuss it.” She took Juan’s elbow. “We’ll drop by later to set a date for dinner. Let’s go, Juan.” Christen and Juan turned and jumped off the boat, then strolled down the dock together.

Dar and Kerry watched them go, and then looked at each other.

“What the heck was that all about?” Kerry asked.

“I don’t know.” Dar sat up and rested her elbows on her knees, studying Kerry. She gave a half grin. “What was that name change all about?”

Kerry nibbled her lower lip.

“I’m not objecting,” Dar said. “Just a little surprised.”

Kerry crossed one ankle over her knee and rubbed a bit of sand off her skin. “You know,” she finally said, “I’m not really sure why I did that.” Her head tilted to one side, and she peered at Dar with sheepish honesty. “Let me think about it for a while.”

“Sure.” Dar nodded. “As for our visitors... I don’t know what their game is, but now I’m wishing we’d brought the laptops with us.”

“To find out who they are?”

“Yeah.”

Kerry drummed her fingers on arm of the chair. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to ferret that out the old fashioned way,” she said.

“You don’t think they’re going to be a problem, do you?”

“Nah.” Dar shook her head. “Just some gold diggers. We might Terrors of the High Seas 57

not hear from them again, now that they know we’re not after whatever they’re looking for.” Dar put her glasses back on and resumed her comfortable position.

“That’s true.” Kerry tucked her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around them, gazing out at the sea thoughtfully.

“They were a little weird, though.”

“Mm.”

“Preppy,” Kerry added. “I don’t know, Dar. They just didn’t seem like sea types. You know what I mean.”