Part 42 (2/2)
Kerry barely waited to get her body clear of the sea before she pulled her regulator out of her mouth and squealed like a pig.
”Eeeeeeeeeeehyhoooo!” She jumped onto the deck and hopped a few times, despite the fact that she still had her gear on. ”Dar, that was by far the most awesome thing I've ever seen!”
Dar dumped her tank and dropped her mask and snorkel into the water well. ”Guess I picked a good one, huh?” she asked with a grin. ”Gimme your stuff.”
Kerry unbuckled her vest and turned, shrugging out of it as the weight of the tank lifted. ”Oh my freaking G.o.d!” She set her camera down and went to the cabinet to grab a towel to dry her face. As she opened the door, she heard a chirp. ”Your cell's squeaking,” she told Dar. ”Bet Bud called back.”
Dar turned from where she was putting up the gear. ”Good. I'll get it in a minute.”
”That place is great.” Kerry walked over and dried Dar's face for her. ”Did you see the caves that kind of went on from the bottom?”
Dar nodded. ”I did. But you really don't want to go in there unless you've had cave training. It's dangerous.”
”No problem.” Kerry reached into the cooler and pulled out a bottle of water, uncapping it and drinking deeply. ”I loved looking up and seeing the sun all that way up. Jesus!” She still felt exhilarated. ”Dar, that was worth the entire d.a.m.n trip.”
Dar turned and walked over, wearing a very pleased grin.
”Glad you liked it.”
”Liked it?” Kerry put down the water and threw her arms around Dar instead, hugging her fiercely. ”Errrooof. I loved it,” she told her partner. ”I got some fantastic pictures. I think I'm going to do a series of underwaters from this trip for the cabin.”
”Mm.” Dar exhaled in satisfaction. She liked underwater shots.
She liked the cabin. She loved Kerry. So far as she was concerned, it all seemed to be falling together perfectly.
Kerry gave her one last squeeze and then released her. ”How 250*
about I make you a special surprise for dinner?”
”Surprise?” Dar inquired. ”Like what?”
”Hardly be a surprise if I told you, sweetie.” Kerry winked.
”Trust me. You'll like it.”
”Okay,” Dar agreed amiably. ”But as hungry as I am right now, you could serve me pureed asparagus on wheat toast and I'd like it.”
Kerry chuckled. ”I'm going to go shower and change.” She gave Dar a pat on the side and disappeared into the cabin.
Dar wiped off her hands and picked up the still-chirping cell phone. She opened it and dialed her voice mail, listening to the phone as she dried herself. Her brow creased at the voice. Instead of the expected Bud, it was Charlie.
”Hey, Dar? This is Charlie. Listen, they let me loose from this joint, and I'm trying to get hold of Bud to come pick me up. Gimme a call here if you've seen him. Cell's not answering, and I'm figuring he got stuck in some d.a.m.n poker game or something.
Thanks.”
”Huh.” Dar studied the phone. ”Now what the h.e.l.l is going on?” She dialed the number Charlie had left and waited. ”Charlie?”
”Hey, Dar?” Charlie's voice sounded relieved. ”Glad to hear ya. You know where Buddy is?”
Dar took a breath. ”Charlie, we thought he was with you,” she said reluctantly. ”He left our room this morning, and he was just going to check on the boat. Haven't heard from him since. I left him a couple of messages, but no answer.”
Hearing voices, Kerry stuck her head out of the door. ”What's up?”
'Bud's missing,' Dar mouthed.
”Well, d.a.m.n,” Charlie said. ”Where the h.e.l.l can he be?”
Good question. Dar ran her hand through her damp hair. ”I don't know,” she admitted. ”Listen, we can...” Her eyes s.h.i.+fted to Kerry.
”Um...”
”Go back, pick up Charlie, and find Bud.” Kerry completed the statement with a wry smile. ”Lift the anchor, Cap'n Dar.” She patted Dar's arm and disappeared again.
”Charlie, stay put. We'll swing back by and get you,” Dar relayed. ”We're out off the western side of St. Thomas, so it'll take a little while.” She acknowledged the grateful response and then closed the phone. She made her way to the ladder and climbed up, her mind turning thoughtfully to the new problem. Bud was a loner, no question about it. The fact that he'd disappeared someplace didn't really surprise her, but he hadn't told Charlie where he was, and that did.
He could just be in a bar somewhere, but Dar didn't think so.
Too many things had been going south on her lately for it to be*251 something as simple as that. In fact, she was beginning to think their vacation was cursed.
All we wanted was a week of peace and quiet. Dar sighed as she adjusted the throttles. Instead, they'd found nothing but trouble and more stress than she'd bargained for. Just wasn't d.a.m.ned fair.
DAR LOOKED UP as she heard Kerry climb the ladder, her motions slower and more hesitant than usual. ”Kerry!” She grabbed for the throttles, slowing the boat as she watched her lover balancing an armful as she attempted to get up onto the upper deck.
”You're gonna kill yourself!”
”Shh. I'm fine.” Kerry managed to get her footing. ”Relax and keep your eyes on the road, honey.”
Dar increased her speed, but couldn't resist keeping one eye on Kerry as she made her way over and settled next to her. ”What's that?”
”Well,” Kerry set down a big covered plate, ”we don't have time for me to make what I wanted, so I compromised.” She uncovered the plate, revealing two neatly made peanut b.u.t.ter and jelly sandwiches and some cookies.
”Mm.” True to form, Dar went right for the cookies, her eyes widening when she felt them. ”They're warm!”
”Well, yeah.” Kerry slid an arm around her. ”I just made them.
Thank goodness for Pillsbury.” She put a Thermos on the console.
”I figure we'll just have time to have lunch before we pull back into dock.”
”You didn't have to do that.”
Kerry leaned back, the wind blowing her pale hair off her face.
”Of course I didn't. But we've gotten so little time to relax on this so-called vacation, I thought I'd better get in some lunch before we have to run off and save the world again.”
”Mmph.” Dar regarded the horizon with a grumpy expression.
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