“That’s ’cause you can’t cope with any place that doesn’t have slot machines in the bathroom,” Jacob snorted. “Just relax, would you?” He turned to Dar. “Listen, Dar, he’s right about one thing.
We’re not looking for trouble here. If the local cops don’t want to stir things up, neither do I.”
Dar leaned her chin on her fist and regarded him.
“Dar, don’t give me that look,” Jacob sighed. “I know what you’re thinking.”
Dar’s eyebrows lifted visibly.
“I’m not a crusader. Never was,” the man stated. “I’ve got my family here, and if that’s the deal and this is all a scam, then I’m willing to do my part and go file my claim and let ’em have it.
Damn thing leaked anyhow.”
“Damn right,” Richard agreed. “Minnie doesn’t need any more trouble, either.”
Minnie looked profoundly relieved.
Dar rolled her eyes toward Kerry and they exchanged looks.
“That’s okay.” Kerry gave them a gentle smile. “We understand.”
Jacob relaxed a little. “It’s not that I think it’s right,” he stated.
“Of course not,” Kerry said. “It’s better you leave it for Dar and me to handle.”
Jacob blinked at her. “Come again?”
“We’ll take care of the pirates. No need for you to get involved.
After all, you’ve been through a lot, and I’m sure you just want some time to rest.”
Minnie leaned forward a little. “Honey, those men are dangerous.”
138 Melissa Good
“Life is, sometimes.” Kerry smiled kindly at her. “But Dar and I have a knack for getting through things.” She looked up as the waitress returned. “Sometimes you just gotta go for it. Can I get two of the Island Volcano sundaes and another rum punch?”
“Sure.” The waitress beamed at her. She glanced at Dar.
“Anything for you, ma’am?”
“I think one of those sundaes is mine,” Dar replied dryly.
Kerry grinned and then returned her attention to Jacob.
“Anyway, don’t you worry about a thing. We can handle this on our own.”
“Now, wait a minute,” Jacob protested.
Kerry held up a hand. “No, no—we understand completely.”
She sucked the rest of her rum punch down to the bottom, feeling the beginnings of a mild buzz. It surprised her, and she tried to figure out how many beers were the equivalent of one of the punches. Two? Three? Yikes. That means I’ve already drunk as much alcohol as there is in six beers. Maybe I should pass on the next rum punch.
“Well, now, you listen, Dar,” Jacob was saying.
Was it six?
“I know what I said, but if you two really think we should do something…”
Or was it only four?
“You can count on us.”
“Jacob!”
Heh. Gotcha. Kerry chuckled silently to herself.
An overwhelming smell of chocolate suddenly snapped her out of her musing. Kerry blinked as a bowl was put in front of her: ice cream, fudge, more ice cream, more fudge, a brownie, maybe another brownie, covered in a chocolate shell whose top had a flame coming out of it. “Wow,” she said. “This damn thing’s as big as my head!”
Dar chuckled at her. “I want to do some more checking around, Jake, before we decide what to do,” she said. “But I’ll keep your offer in mind.”
“You do that,” Jacob said.
Kerry contentedly doused the flame of her volcano, and cracked the chocolate shell keeping her from the ice cream inside.
Casually, she glanced around the room, glad not to see the familiar faces she half expected. Maybe the goons had decided to take the night off.
The waitress set down her third rum punch and took away the empty. Kerry eyed it, wondering if chocolate possibly counteracted rum. Hm. Guess I’ll find out.
Terrors of the High Seas 139
DAR SCRUBBED HER teeth, flicking the occasional glance into the mirror as she worked. She rinsed out her mouth, then poked her head around the corner of the bathroom door and peered over at the bed. Kerry was sprawled across it on her back, looking extremely relaxed.
“Hey, Paladar,” Kerry drawled. “Get your butt over here.”
Drat. Dar sighed. The times I choose to leave my voice recorder at home. She eased around the door and entered the room, settling down on the bed next to Kerry. “Yeees?”
One green eye opened and looked at her. “You let me get drunk. Bad girl.” Kerry poked Dar in the side. “Boy, are you gonna be sorry.”
Dar grinned at her. “You’re really cute when you’re drunk, did you know that?” She touched Kerry’s cheek, and felt the pressure as Kerry leaned into her fingers. “Besides, you were due.”
“Uh huh. See if you say that when I’m sick as a three-day-dead toad tomorrow,” Kerry warned her. “Hope you like cleaning up.”
Dar slowly stretched out alongside her. “I’ll take care of you, don’t you worry,” she promised.
“I ain’t worried,” Kerry said, reaching over to play with a bit of Dar’s hair. “I got you.” She watched Dar’s face through half-closed eyes. “Y’know how cool that is?”
“How cool what is?” Dar asked.
Kerry turned her head and regarded the ceiling for a few moments. “First time I ever really got drunk was when I moved here,” she said. “I think I went nuts for a while.”
Dar wriggled a little closer and curled her arm around Kerry’s.
“After leaving home? Lots of people do that.”
“S’true,” Kerry agreed. “Nobody telling me what to do, who to talk to, where to go. Felt great.” She looked at Dar’s hand, resting casually on her shoulder. “Like I was an animal, out of my cage.”
Dar chuckled softly. “I’m sure you weren’t that bad.”
Kerry met her eyes. “Yeah, I was,” she admitted. “Then…one night...I still don’t remember it a whole lot, but I woke up in my car—half on the beach near a tree—and didn’t know how’n the hell I got there.”
Dar’s brow contracted.
“Couldn’t remember a thing,” Kerry murmured. “Scared the shit out of me.”
“I bet.” Dar moved closer.
“I remember sitting there, kinda wondering what the whole damn point was?” Kerry shook her head a little. “I felt so empty.”
She turned and looked at Dar. “I felt like...if I’d kept driving, right into the water, no one would have given a crap.”
Dar merely gazed at her compassionately.
“Just another sordid back-page story: senator’s kid, drunk off 140 Melissa Good her ass, drowns.”
“Ker.”
“S’true, and you know it.” Kerry smiled sadly. “I had no clue what it felt like to really matter to somebody.” She interlaced her fingers with Dar’s. “Didn’t know what it would be like to be a part of someone’s life.”
“Well,” Dar studied her face, “you do now.”
Kerry grinned easily. “Yeeeahh, I sure do.” She rolled onto her side unsteadily and pulled Dar’s hand close to her. “That’s what’s so cool,” she said. “I got you.”
“You got me,” Dar agreed, carefully gathering Kerry up into her arms and hugging her. There was no resistance in her lover’s body; Kerry meshed her limbs into Dar’s embrace with total abandon, humming softly in delight as Dar rocked them gently on the bed. “You got me, Ker, I got you, and that’s how that is.”
“Uumrrrmm. I love you so much,” Kerry warbled, her breath warm against Dar’s neck. “You make my life rock.”