Part 25 (1/2)

”Thanks.” Dar smirked at the screen a little. ”Let's see what it found.” She brought up two screens and locked them into concurrency, scrolling down evenly and looking from one to the other. ”That bartender said there had been six; there've been more than two dozen. d.a.m.n.”*149 Kerry was shocked. Two dozen hijackings in the area, and no one had said anything. That information bordered on substantiating a definite collusion. ”Are those from the police files?” she asked, pointing to the piracy records.

”You're joking, right?” Dar looked at her. ”No. Those are the insurance filings.” She nudged a key. ”Ah. Looks like the insurance underwriters are starting to get suspicious. This one's pending investigation.”

”Hm. So the hijackers will get their money, but the guy they hit might not?”

Dar shook her head. ”No, they'll have to pay out, unless they think the owner's in cahoots with the pirates just to make a claim.

Most of the guys who can afford to buy boats like that wouldn't bother.” She ran a cross-check. ”I was hoping I'd see a correlation between DeSallier's salvage operations and the missing boats, but it looks like this is the first time his bunch has shown up in this area.”

”Mm.” Kerry frowned. ”Yeah.” She rested her chin on Dar's shoulder. ”Can you plot the piracies graphically?”

Dar studied the data, then she brought up a code screen and started typing rapidly, stopping only to tab to a different window and clip some data before she resumed programming. After a few minutes, she ran the program and a new window appeared with a somewhat rough outline of the islands, the s.p.a.ce around them dotted with ominous little plus signs. ”Ain't pretty, but there ya go.”

”Hmmm.” Kerry studied the graphic, then sighed. ”No real pattern, huh?”

”Nope.”

”We're hitting big nulls here, Dar.”

”Yeah,” Dar had to admit. ”So much for being a nerd.”

A knock startled them both. Kerry felt Dar's body stiffen, and she put a hand on her arm. ”I'll get that.” Before Dar could protest, she rolled off the other side of the bed and walked to the door, running the fingers of one hand through her hair self-consciously.

She peered through the peephole, relieved to see one of the hotel staff outside. Kerry opened the door and issued an inquiring smile.

”Hi.”

The man held up an envelope. ”Ma'am? I have a note for a Ms.

Roberts?”

”I'll take it.” Kerry extended her hand.

Reluctantly, he gave it to her. ”The gentleman said to make sure Ms. Roberts got that note.”

”She'll get it. I promise.” Kerry pulled her head back inside and closed the door firmly. She turned and nearly jumped right out of her T-s.h.i.+rt when she found Dar standing silently in back of her.

”Yipes! Jesus, Dar!”

150*

”What?” Dar took the note. ”You didn't expect me to be in the room? What's up with that, Ker?”

”I didn't hear you come up in back of me, you fink.” Kerry peered past her shoulder as Dar opened the envelope. It was standard hotel stationery, and the note was written in black ink in a distinctively strong script. ”Who's it from?”

Dar's eyes dropped the bottom, then lifted. ”DeSalliers,” she answered briefly. ”Looks like he wants to set up a meeting to talk.”

Kerry read the note. ”Arrogant SOB, isn't he?”

”I nearly knocked him on his a.s.s outside,” her partner murmured. ”I don't think he likes me much.”

Ms. Roberts.

I will omit any polite preambles. I have business to discuss with you.

I will be available this afternoon to meet with you and determine if this business can be handled between us, or will be remanded to the authorities. Be at my dockside at three.

J. DeSalliers.

”You should have knocked him on his head. Maybe it would have let some sense leak in.” Kerry shook her head. ”Did he forget he was chasing us?” she added. ”Or is this something else?”

Dar folded the note and put it back into the envelope. ”Guess we'll find out,” she remarked. ”Though, if you're not feeling up to it-”

”Ah ah ah.” Kerry clapped a hand over her mouth. ”Don't you even try that,” she said. ”You're not leaving me behind.” Blue eyes widened above her fingers and Kerry removed her hand. ”Isn't going onto his boat a little risky, though?”

”Might be,” Dar acknowledged. ”We'll have to play it by ear.”

She tossed the envelope onto the desk and went to the window, gazing out at the still stormy weather. Am I crazy to be doing this at all? They were away from home, and operating all by themselves.

Dar wasn't stupid, and if she had to look logically at the scenario of two women executives out in the Caribbean playing with fire like this, she'd be forced to admit it wasn't the smartest idea in the world.

d.a.m.n it. Dar knew herself to be a risk taker, and she had a lot of confidence in her judgment and ability to take care of herself, but was this taking it too far? Was she just indulging her own ego?

”You know what?” Kerry had wandered over and leaned on the sill next to her. ”I think we're just natural troubleshooters.”

Dar looked at her.

”We're so used to problem solving, we never really stop to think about it, even if the problem really should be solved by someone else.”*151 A little unsettled, Dar turned and folded her arms. She was surprised to hear her own thoughts so eerily echoed back at her.

”You think someone else should be solving this one?”

Kerry kept her eyes on the horizon and nodded slightly. She turned to face Dar. ”But the people who should be the solution might be part of the problem,” she said. ”That's what you think, isn't it-that the cops are in on it?”

Dar nodded. ”I think they are, yeah.”

”Everyone's att.i.tude seems to be to hush it up. Let the fat and happy tourists keep coming, and if a few get hit, well, then that's okay because most won't and we need their money,” Kerry said.

”They didn't hit us, so we could go along with that, Dar. Just take our boat and cruise on out of here. Let them solve their own problems.”

”We could.”

The green eyes glinted. ”f.u.c.k that.”

Dar smiled.

”I lived the first twenty-six years of my life maintaining the status quo, Dar,” Kerry said, in a firm tone. ”I want to rock boats and make a difference, even if that means taking a risk.” She pointed at Dar, poking her in the arm. ”And you, Paladar Roberts, are a natural-born caped avenger, no matter how much you deny it.”

Dar rubbed her neck. ”I'm not sure I'd put it like that,” she protested. ”But I like to fight the good fight, and win it, if that's what you mean.” She glanced out the window. ”And I don't trust people to fix things just because they're supposed to.”

”I know.” Kerry eyed her with gentle amus.e.m.e.nt. ”I always get a kick out of seeing your log-in checking up on me.” She saw Dar stiffen and realized she'd caught her flat-footed. ”It's like pa.s.sing a senior exam,” she went on quickly. ”Because I know if you don't say anything to me, I did it all right.”