Part 45 (2/2)

boat, and you're on it,” she said. ”Stop it.” Their eyes locked. ”I'm not my father,” Dar warned him softly.

Charlie examined the glittering blue eyes, cold as ice, that were fastened on him, then he stepped back. Dar released his arm and he resumed his seat on the stern bench. ”When we get off this boat,” he told Dar, ”you ain't stopping me.”

Satisfied with the answer, Dar turned. ”All right.” She looked at Bob. ”This has gotten a lot more serious. You can stick around, but keep your mouth shut, and if we need you to do something, don't make me have to explain it in words of less than one syllable.”

Bob took a step backward. ”Maybe I should just go hang out somewhere else.”

Kerry turned. ”DeSalliers kidnapped our friend Bud and he's threatening to kill him,” she said. ”Sure you want to go out wandering around?”

Bob looked honestly shocked. ”No kidding? I didn't think he...

I mean, yeah, he's famous for all this salvage c.r.a.p, but I never thought he'd get as serious as that.”

”Let's go inside.” Dar opened the door. ”Hopefully, he'll call soon and we'll know where we stand.”

Kerry led Bob inside, taking a moment to give Dar a wry look and a pat on the side as she pa.s.sed her. ”Would you like some coffee?”

Dar gave a tiny moan in response. She turned and waited for Charlie to get up and limp over, standing back to let him enter. He paused as he came even with her and their eyes met again. After a minute, Charlie shook his head and walked past.

Dar turned and briefly surveyed their surroundings. She scanned the nearby boats, a.s.sessing their occupants. Nothing jumped out at her, and of course, DeSalliers' yacht was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes spotted two policemen, however. One was standing near the beginning of the wooden dock, and the other was walking up and down near the beach.

She heard the sound of engines behind her, and she walked to the other side of the boat and looked out over the water. A racing boat was idling into the marina, big, throaty engines rumbling as it moved past them. There was a man behind the controls, with what Dar could only describe to herself as a babe next to him.

The man looked around and caught Dar's eye, producing a smile and a wave in her direction. ”Nice boat!” he yelled.

”Same to you,” Dar responded with wry civility. She watched the boat move past, making note of the name and the Miami Beach home port under it. The racer pulled into a slip two past theirs and disgorged its occupants onto the dock. The man gave the woman a slap on the b.u.t.t and pointed up to a nearby restaurant. He turned*267 and walked the other way, toward Dar's boat.

”Figures.” Dar stuck her head inside the door. ”Got company.

Ker, watch my phone, will ya?”

Kerry had artfully positioned Bob and Charlie as far away from each other as she could in the living area and was preparing coffee behind the galley. ”Aye aye, Cap'n Dar.”

Dar shut the door and walked to the side of the boat to meet their visitor.

”ANYWAY, SINCE YOU'RE a neighbor, I thought I'd pa.s.s the word,” the man said with a wry grin. ”It was a h.e.l.l of a weather system, and since it's headed this way, you might want to check your float plan.”

Dar exhaled. ”We had a bad storm here the other day,” she said. ”I thought we'd finished with the tropical weather this year.”

The other boater shook his head. He was a relatively good- looking man, of medium height and the type of build that indicated he guilted himself into a gym a few times a week. ”Yeah. And you know, I just heard we're up for an El Nino again this year.

Weather's been real weird.”

Dar glanced up. ”Well, if what they say about global warming is true, better enjoy the islands now,” she said. ”We'll be diving them as reefs some day.” Her hand extended over the water.

”Thanks for the warning, Roger. I appreciate it.”

”No problem.” The man clasped her hand. ”Hey, you said your name is Roberts?”

Uh oh. Dar nodded warily. ”Yeah.”

His head tilted and he looked at her. ”You're not any relation to Andrew and Cecilia Roberts, are you? They're my slip neighbors over at the South Beach Marina.”

Oh. Dar managed a relieved smile. ”Yeah. They're my parents.”

”Had a feeling.” Roger pointed at her. ”You look like Andy.

He's a trip. Well, good to meet you, Dar. Have a safe trip back, and watch out for that storm.” He lifted a hand and started back down the docks.

”Small world,” Dar murmured in bemus.e.m.e.nt. ”Small, small world.”

”SO THAT'S WHAT happened.” Kerry put the Thermos of coffee on the tray and added some cream and sugar. She picked it up and brought it over to the table. ”Whatever it is you're looking for, Bob-it must really be there.”

Bob exhaled. ”Yeah, that's what I thought too, when the cops came after me. No smoke without cigarettes, right?”

268*

Kerry looked up with a dubious expression. ”Right.” She set down the tray, and then jumped as Dar's cell phone rang. With a quick glance toward the laptop, she picked it up and opened it.

”h.e.l.lo?”

”Roberts?”

Kerry considered lying, but discarded the idea. ”No,” she answered.

”Put the b.i.t.c.h on the phone right now.”

The door opened and Dar entered. Kerry held up the phone and then directed a rude gesture toward it. Dar's eyes narrowed as she crossed the deck and took the instrument. ”Yeah?”

Kerry dropped to the couch and pulled the laptop over, clicking on the window Dar had running for the cell phone. The program had activated. She noticed Charlie had moved to the edge of his chair, listening intently to Dar's conversation.

”Write this down, Roberts. If you f.u.c.k it up, your little buddy's toast.”

Dar took a deep breath, willing herself to patience. ”Go ahead.”

”I'll give you two coordinates. You be there at midnight tonight. Bring what you've got, plus twenty-five thousand dollars,”

DeSalliers said. ”That's to cover the cost of fixing my boat.”

Considering his demands, Dar pulled her new pocket watch from her shorts pocket and opened it. ”Forget it,” she told DeSalliers crisply. ”Try again.”

There was a momentary silence. ”You're not really understanding the situation, are you? You don't tell me what to do, Roberts; you do what I tell you to do.”

”Listen, moron, the bank's closed,” Dar said. ”If you want to recoup the cost of repairs to your hull breach, gimme the bill or rethink your plan.”

”That's not my problem, Roberts. It's yours. Bring the cash and the relic, or I'll chop this piece of s.h.i.+t up and use him for bait.”

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