Part 44 (2/2)

”Okay?” Kerry could hardly believe what she was hearing.

”That's not what those pirates do. I know. I saw them,” she said.

”They weren't Robin Hood and his merry men.”

He gave her a guilty look. ”Didn't start out that way. It was just... One day this guy who was in with us, his cousin came in from the States. Slick guy.”

”Bet we know who that is,” Dar muttered, her eyes fastened on the screen.

Kerry grunted agreement.

”They'd just been doing little stuff-salvage, selling bits of wood and stuff to the shops, that kinda thing,” Charlie explained.

”A little smuggling, just bulls.h.i.+t stuff. But this guy talked them into a deal where he could get them big money, he said, if they could get him abandoned boats.”

”Abandoned?” Kerry said. ”You're not seriously saying anyone believed that those boats were abandoned, are you?”

Another shrug preceded Charlie's continuing. ”Anyway, they got him one, nothing big, just a little skiff, and he sold it off for them. Worked out pretty good. Made it nice. Helped out a lot of folks.” Charlie still couldn't meet Kerry's eyes. ”n.o.body got hurt.”

”Except the guy who lost his boat,” Kerry said.

”They got their money back,” Charlie argued. ”Them insurance companies pay off but good. Probably went out and got him a brand new one, like the rest of them did,” he said. ”He gets a new boat; we get what we need. Who gets hurt?”

”The insurance company,” Dar said.

”They can afford it,” Charlie said, his voice going harder. ”All*261 these folks out here-not the big shots who stay in them hotels, but the rest of us, just trying to sc.r.a.pe out a living-can't.” He finally lifted his head. ”They never went after little people, just the big rollers with more money than sense. The fat cats.”

Dar looked up at him. ”People like me.” She glanced at Kerry.

”Like us.”

Charlie took a breath. ”No, that ain't true.”

Dar c.o.c.ked her head. ”Of course it's true.” She lifted a hand and gestured around. ”I've got a five million dollar condo to go with this, and four times that in the bank, Charlie,” she told him. ”I run one of the biggest computer companies in the d.a.m.n world.

h.e.l.l, they came after me the other day.”

Charlie sighed. ”Jacka.s.ses,” he muttered. ”Bud told 'em to steer clear of you.”

”Gee, thanks,” Kerry murmured.

”You don't understand,” Charlie told her.

”You're right. I don't,” Kerry readily agreed. ”So let me ask you this-if these guys are so wonderful, how come you had to get a loan from the greasy b.a.s.t.a.r.d we paid off this morning?”

Dar's eyebrow inched up at Kerry's tone. She set the laptop down on the table, all its programs busily running, and leaned back. ”Good question.”

Charlie sucked his lower lip for a moment, then shrugged again. ”Same old story,” he said quietly. ”After they started this all up, they'd put up with us taking a few bananas. But when it came to hard cash, it was 'just say no to the dirty f.a.gs.'” His eyes held theirs steadily. ”They tolerate us now. Took a while. Bud just refused to ask 'em to pay down the loan, though.”

Dar just shook her head.

”Like I said, you don't understand,” Charlie said. ”You got it all.” He got up and walked to the door, going out onto the back deck and closing the portal after him.

”Whoo,” Kerry murmured. ”This is getting really icky.”

Dar found herself relaxing, despite the truth of that statement.

She took Kerry's hand in hers and clasped it, then brought it up to her lips. ”He's right, though.”

Kerry's blonde eyebrows hiked up almost to her hairline.

”Huh?”

”I do have it all.” Dar looked steadily into Kerry's eyes, watching the expression on her face soften as warmth crept into the green orbs. ”I don't agree with what they did, but I understand what drove it,” she added. ”It's been tough for them out here, and I think they were looking for a way to survive more than anything else.”

Kerry nodded briefly. ”I know. It's not like they got rich off it,”

she admitted. ”But I can't go along with the fact they think no one 262*

gets hurt. Someone does, Dar. People could get hurt; they could even get hurt themselves.”

”Like they almost did the other day.” Dar sighed. ”Let's save that problem for after we solve this one, huh? I'm about out of crusader coupons at the moment.”

Dar had a point. ”Okay,” she concurred. ”Let me go talk to him.

I know he's under a lot of stress. I can imagine how I'd be acting if I were in his place.” She got up, leaned over and brushed Dar's lips with her own, then eased past her partner's outstretched legs and headed for the door.

Dar exhaled heavily, the air puffing her dark locks up off her forehead as she slumped back into the couch and regarded her laptop. She still felt like an idiot for getting into the situation, but her more practical side had taken over and put itself in charge-at least for the moment. Logic made a lot better platform for problem solving than hysteria.

Dar let her head drop back against the couch, easing a hand behind her neck and rubbing the tense muscles just at the base of her skull. ”What next?” she asked the ceiling. Her instincts were urging her to action, but aside from the digital searching her programs were doing on her behalf, she wasn't sure if there was anything else she could do until DeSalliers called again.

Calling the police captain crossed her mind, but Dar rejected that idea out of hand. Even if she thought he might be on the up and up, and would keep the contact under wraps, she had no such confidence in anyone he worked with. Besides, she wasn't sure he was honest, and she wasn't about to risk Bud's life on it. After all, the people there had no reason to trust or help her any more than they did DeSalliers. We're both just rich Americans, aren't we? Dar's face scrunched into a frown as she applied that label to herself and didn't like the sound of it.

Charlie was right, she realized, but not for the reason he thought. She really didn't understand condoning piracy, but it had nothing to do with not knowing what sc.r.a.ping by was. She'd spent her whole childhood knowing that intimately. Maybe she'd just never bought into the whole Robin Hood thing.

That brought up the question of whether DeSalliers would make good on his threat. He'd avoided using brutal force in their first encounters, but as things had progressed, she'd gotten a sense that he was getting closer to crossing the line.

Okay, Dar, she lectured herself, let's think of this in more familiar terms. She got up and picked up her milk gla.s.s, carrying it back to the galley. ”DeSalliers has a contract he's got to execute. He makes good on it, and he wins-he stays in business, he's got the money to keep going, life is good.” She poured another gla.s.s and stood there sipping from it. ”He probably figured this to be a no-brainer. He's*263 got power, he's got people, just head down here and rope off the wreck, dive it, destroy it, bring back proof, and he's home free.”

She poked in the basket and retrieved one of the cookies Kerry had made earlier, dunking it in her milk and taking a bite of it.

”Think of it from his perspective, Dar. You think you're frustrated? Picture how he has to feel-he's got Bob to deal with, then he runs into you and you wreck his boat, then you keep him from Bob again, then your friends enlist with Bob to mess him up, then you call his contract holder and tell them he's a loser.” Dar finished the cookie and fished around for another one. ”Bet he's got a stuffed Rottweiler with my name pinned to it that he's using for target practice.”

The thought put her in a slightly better mood. ”Okay-so now I've got to convince him I've really got something he's looking for, long enough to trade it for Bud or at least find out where he's got him.” She licked her lips. ”Just like bluffing out a compet.i.tor, Dar.

You can do that.”

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