For a moment nothing happened, then a dark head appeared over the side, and Kerry saw the boat start to drift away from the dock. "Oh ho." She chuckled low in her throat. "Bad girl."
The craft bobbed closer to her, as the outgoing tide took it gently from its berth. As it passed, Dar stepped onto the side and then onto the ladder, holding something in her hand. She released the wood and dropped into the water next to Kerry, jerking her arm down as she fell.
The boat's engine suddenly roared to life and it veered crazily off, heading southeast at a rapid clip.
They heard a yell from the shore, and Dar swung to the inside of the ladder, grabbing Kerry and tugging her under the dock, a grin visible even in the dim light.
"You are so bad." Kerry snickered, watching the boat disappear into the surf. "God, Dar...what's going to happen to that thing? Someone could get hurt!"
"Nah." Dar nestled her jaw up next to Kerry's ear. "They were about to switch to the other tank. Not much gas left." They both looked up as footsteps pounded on the top of the pier, accompanied by curses. "Now." She uttered softly. "Do we rise up out of the sea and kick their asses, or what?"
Kerry listened to the voices over her head. "It's the reporter, isn't it?" She uttered back.
"I think so, yeah."
Strategy. It was tough to work that out while you were stuck under a dock in the presence of curious night fish nibbling your heels. If they remained quiet, then the culprits had no one to blame but themselves, and nothing to say about Dar or Kerry.
If they confronted the trio, then their complicity in the boat's startling disappearance would be clear, and they would have to deal with the publicity, not to mention calling the police.
It was late on a Saturday night, and Kerry didn't want to spend the rest of the night calling the Marathon County police and explaining the whole shebang.
On the other hand, she really wanted to kick that reporter in the shins. "I think we should go kick their asses." She finally said, hearing the nascent panic in the voices over her head.
Dar merely began swimming to the other side of the pier, tugging Kerry along with her to the ladder on the opposite side. She went first, climbing up to the top of the wooden platform and waiting for Kerry to join her as they stood behind the three intruders.
"Son of a bitch, that ain't stopping," one said. "We better go call the Coast Guard or something...what kinda idiot were you to leave the engine on, Virgil!"
"I didn't!" The other man replied in an exasperated tone. "I told you that ten times already!" He half turned. "Look, Ms. Cruicshank, why don't you just go over there and sit down while we figure out where we're going to go to get a phone and--"
"You could use ours." Dar interrupted this engaging drama, pitching her voice low and projecting it across the dock.
All three intruders jumped, and turned to find Dar?s tall form standing menacingly behind them with Kerry a shorter, more visibly irritated counterpoint to her right. The two swim suited figures were outlined in starlight and threw oddly large shadows across the dock to spill over them.
"Oh...uh...hi." The reporter summoned a weak smile from somewhere.
"You might as well use it before I call the cops." Dar went on. "And then you can explain to them why you're trespassing on private property."
Pat Cruicshank stepped forward. "Okay, okay, just hang on. I can explain this."
Kerry actually just laughed. "So can I," she said, folding her arms across her chest. "And you know, maybe we should call the local paper, too. I'd love to see this on the front page."
Dar glanced at her in some surprise.
"Now, hold on," Pat said. "Tell you what. Let's go up there and we can talk while these bozos figure out how to get their boat back."
"I'm going to call the police." Dar turned and headed for the cabin. "And trust me... I'll press charges." She called back over her shoulder.
"Shit." Virgil sounded panicky. "Man, I told you we shouldn't have done this."
The reporter turned to Kerry. "This isn't what it looks like."
Kerry looked at her, looked at the darkness around them, peered off at the rapidly disappearing boat then looked back at the reporter. Both her eyebrows hiked up. "Okay," she said. "I'm game. Explain to me how three people sneaking up in a boat to a private dock, then creeping toward our house is something other than what it looks like?" She spread her hands out in a questioning manner. "I'm waiting."
Cruicshank hesitated, looking at the two guys with her.
"Okay, never mind. I'm over it." Kerry went to the end of the dock and reached under a bit of rock, removing a small key and opening a locked, watertight box. She lifted the radio receiver inside and keyed it. "Coast Guard, Coast Guard, this is Dixieland Yankee portside, over."
"Wait." The reporter came over to her and lowered her voice. "Listen, I know you've got a right to be pissed off. But would you please just let me explain? This isn't against you. I'm just trying to get some information that will let me work in your favor."
Kerry merely eyed her. "Coast Guard, Coast Guard, come in." She repeated into the mic.
"Please?"
"Dixieland Yankee portside, go head." A man's voice erupted from the radio. "This is Cutter Avalon."
"Avalon, we have a pleasure craft underway without anyone aboard just southeast of us." Kerry unkeyed the radio. "You've got whatever time it takes for the cops to get here. Don't waste it," she said.
"Yankee, we copy, we see it. " The guard officer sounded exasperated. "Good gravy."
"We have the boat operators here." Kerry informed him. "Over."
"Thanks, Yankee. We'll get back with you." The radio fell silent. Kerry put the mic inside and locked the box then turned and headed for the cabin, without another word.
After an awkward moment of indecision, the reporter ran after her.
DAR ENTERED THE cabin shaking her head and muttering under her breath, slamming the door behind her as she evaded Chino's curious snuffling and headed for the phone. Then she hesitated and stopped, putting her hands on her hips. "Chino, if I call the cops, what do you bet it'll be two hours before they get here."
"Gruff." Chino seemed in total agreement.
After a moment's indecision, Dar headed for the bedroom instead, figuring putting on some kind of clothes was probably a good strategic idea before confronting their unwelcome guests. She pulled a shirt and shorts from the dresser and stripped out of her swimsuit on her way into the bathroom, grabbing a towel and drying herself off before she changed.
She glanced cursorily into the mirror. "Ugh." One hand reached up to remove a string of purple seaweed from her neck, and dropped it into the waste basket. "Can't believe I didn't feel that." Pulling on her clothes, she ran her fingers through her wet hair and turned, hearing footsteps on the porch outside.
A single set, and to Dar's ears, a distinctive pattern. She was not surprised when the back door opened and Kerry walked in, her face twitching a little and a stormy look in her eyes. Her hands were half balled into fists, but despite all that, she looked amazingly sexy and Dar couldn't help grinning at her.
"What?" Kerry caught the grin. "Did you call the cops already? I got the Coast Guard."
"Not yet." Dar bumped her toward the bedroom. "Go change. I assume our reporter friend is right behind you? I'll take care of her."
Kerry exhaled, but headed toward the inner door. She paused and turned as she reached it. "Was I doing something funny when I came in? You were grinning."
The door opened abruptly, preventing an answer. So Dar merely looked her partner up and down, and waggled her eyebrows, before she turned to face Pat Cruicshank.