Bob nodded. “If I can prove it, the will’s broken and the rest of the family will take over the inheritance,” he said. “Oh, I won’t pretend to altruism. I’m due for about a tenth of it. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life behind a desk, and that’ll keep me in style.”
Kerry sipped on her juice to keep herself from commenting.
“What the hell are you looking for?” Dar asked.
Bob gave her a wary look. “I can’t say,” he said. “It’s very confidential.”
Kerry rolled her eyes.
“It’s something of my grandfather’s,” Bob said hastily. “We thought it had been destroyed in a fire at his house, but just recently we found out it hadn’t.” He ran a hand through his hair.
“So, I decided to try and find it. I figured the wreck was the only place left to look.”
“You weren’t the only one, I guess,” Kerry finally commented.
“And, I guess you won’t be needing those scuba lessons, huh?”
Having been caught in his earlier lie, the young man cleared his throat and looked away. “DeSalliers boasted he was the best in the business, and my uncle hired him to salvage every speck of the wreck. He’s paying him a king’s ransom,” Bob admitted. “And his reputation is at stake.”
“That’s what he meant,” Kerry murmured, “about being hoisted on his own reputation.”
Bob stared at her. “You talked to him?”
“Long story,” Dar cut him off. “Your plan sucks. He almost caught you today, and if he’s got a few more days to get a salvage barge in place, you’re sunk.”
184 Melissa Good Bob blinked. “Um…well, yeah,” he confessed. “I thought I’d have more time. He surprised me.” He sighed. “I don’t know. It was probably a bad idea to begin with.”
Kerry scratched her jaw, her green eyes in wry agreement with him. “Even if you could find whatever this is, do you really think you can make a case against your uncle?” she asked skeptically.
“People with lots of power and money don’t give it up that easily.”
Bob sat up. “I’m sure the police will help us, once they see the evidence,” he told her. “That’s their job.”
Dar snorted. “Well,” she got up and walked to the door, “good luck.” Her eyes searched the dimming horizon, streaked with gentle orange light. “You’re gonna need it.”
Bob stood up and peered out the window toward the west. “I know I can do it,” he said. “I just need the time to look. If I could only get that bastard DeSalliers off my back for a few days.” He straightened up and turned. “Well, anyway, thanks again. I know you didn’t mean to rescue me for the second time, but boy, I appreciate it.”
Dar remained staring out at the sunset.
“I’m glad we were in the right place at the right time.” Kerry gracefully picked up the ball. “Where are you going now? You can’t try the wreck again. He’ll get you next time.”
Bob sighed. “Yeah,” he said. “I don’t know. Maybe I can check out the drift shops on the islands. Maybe what I’m looking for has already been picked up, and it’s there.”
“Hm.” Kerry made a noncommittal sound.
“Hey, maybe I’ll ask those buddies of yours. They’re pretty savvy,” Bob suddenly added. “Bet they’ve been around…a while, haven’t they?”
Kerry frowned. “Well, I guess. I just met them. They’re old friends of Dar’s, really. Probably they know where to start looking, though.”
“Yeah,” Bob answered briefly.
“Don’t you think DeSalliers has thought of that?” Dar asked from the doorway. “I bet his little gumshoes are looking right now.”
Bob smiled. “He would, if he knew what he was looking for.”
He eased past Dar, then turned with a faint, half-crooked smile.
“But he doesn’t.” He picked up his gear and stepped off the boat onto the dock. “Thanks again,” he said to Dar. “Hope Kerry feels better soon.”
He turned and started walking up the dock, slinging his gear over one shoulder as he carried his tanks in the other.
Dar turned and went back inside the cabin. She found Kerry waiting, one leg slung over the arm of her chair as she finished her juice. “He’ll never find it,” she said. “Whatever it is.”
Terrors of the High Seas 185
Kerry wiggled her toes. “Probably not,” she agreed. “You think there’s anything to his story?”
Dar sat down on the couch and extended a hand out to her.
“C’mere.” She wrapped her arms around Kerry when she complied, pulling her down into her lap and leaning back on the couch. “I don’t know,” she answered. “Right now, I don’t really care.”
Kerry put her arms around Dar’s neck and nuzzled her cheek.
“What a mess.” She found Dar’s ear invitingly close by, and despite the fact that she still felt like heck, she gently suckled the tasty looking earlobe. Dar’s arms tightened around her and she laughed softly.
“Mmm,” Dar hummed. “Feeling better?”
Kerry gave her a kiss on the cheek. “How could I not feel better?” Her lashes brushed Dar’s skin, tickling it and making the dark-haired woman smile. “How about you?” she whispered into Dar’s ear. “You sounded kinda torked before.”
Dar hesitated, then sighed. “Yeah, I’m okay,” she said. “Just too much going on at once, I guess,” she admitted.
Kerry nuzzled her cheek again. “I think we’re due a vacation from our vacation, Dixiecup.”
“Mm.” Dar thought about the trials of the day, then decided dismissing them and simply immersing herself in Kerry’s presence was a much better idea. There was really no point in dwelling on it all anyway. It was over, and in the past. Things had worked out all right. Kerry was okay. She was okay. They knew what was going on. Now they could take off and leave it all behind. They were out of it. Kerry suckled on her earlobe again, blowing gently into her ear. Dar closed her eyes and smiled. Yeah. Everything is all right.
Chapter
Sixteen
DAR WOKE TO the soft clang of the buoy sea bell at the edge of the harbor. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and looked around in slight confusion, taking a moment to recognize the dim interior of the boat around her. She and Kerry were lying together on the small couch, limbs entangled. Dar had no idea what time it was or how long they’d been sleeping, and she found herself quite willing to let her eyes close and drift back into peaceful oblivion.
Not that she could have gotten up even if she’d wanted to. Dar observed the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of Kerry’s chest up close and personal, since she was pinned under her lover’s sturdy form.
Luckily for her, it wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as one might expect, and after she stretched her body out a little, she settled back down and amiably resigned herself to pillow duty. However, after a few quiet minutes, Kerry stirred and made a tiny grumbling sound.
Dar scratched the back of her neck gently. “Shh…go back to sleep.”
Kerry opened one eye and peeked at her. “Thirsty,” she muttered with a hoarse edge to her voice. “Damn pills.”
“I’d get up and get you some water, but, um…” Dar reviewed their tangled bodies.
“But I’m squashing you.” Kerry got her hands on the couch and pushed herself upward, awkwardly getting to her feet. “Ooof.” She wavered a minute, then sat down again, putting her hand to her head. “Whoa.”
Dar immediately sat up. “Hey.”
“Just a little dizzy,” Kerry muttered. “I got up too fast,” she added. “I think.”